Sundance Rebuild

[BryanLee]

G'day all.. this is my first foray into the spa world.  The GF found an old sundance for free on craigslist, so we figured what the hell, let's see if we can breath life back into it.  We picked it up, and let it sit for a while.

The pump, blower, heather, spapak, ozonator, none of it was actually hooked up.  And most of the pvc lines were roughly cut off.  I finally cleaned up the edge of each of the PVC lines, and glued a male adapter so I could cap all the lines, fill it up, and look for leaks.

So far I found one small leak, that I'm guessing I can pull it apart from the inside and put a new gasket on it.

There's also a small part where it looks like a previous owner cut out a "Venturi vent"(??) and replaced it with a check valve and a T.  When they did this, they cut into the side of the tub, so I have a hole in the tub about 1/8" wide, and two inches long.  Again, I'm guessing there is some type of patch kit that could be used.

I figured out which pipe is the drain line to empty the tub, which is the drain line that goes to the pump, and which is the line that comes from the filter.

Of the other lines, how do I figure out which need to be hooked up to the blower, and which to the pump/heater?

I tried figuring out where each line goes by hooking a vacuum up to the line, and then using some small tubing as a stethoscope inside the tub.  I was able to figure out some, but not all.

Part of my problem is also ignorance, I don't know by looking which "nozzles" are water jets, which are air jets, and which are combination.

Once I actually know what pipes go where, I'm confident in my plumbing and electrical skills to get the rest working.

Dropboxl link for photos and some video... https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1s0t7q0avezfmbg/AABd2sIH9S-sKhQdjaYLNg79a?dl=0

[Tman122]

I couldn't explain it to you without being there and analyzing it and then doing it myself. Yikes that looks ugly. Was it a 2 water pump plus blower system to start? Looks like it to me.

[Jacuzzi Jim]

     The one corner you showed and said they are air jets are not, they should have water flowing through them, just the one at the very btm is air.  The jets for the blower are all the same and smaller diameter ones like the 2 you did a close up on.   With all your already doing I would cap the blower jets off and not worry about them.     The 3 or 4 suctions not drains,  I believe 2 for pump 2. And 1 for pump one I think?    So that white hole at the 43 second mark is the warm water return from the circ pump     I am not sure you can even get jets for that thing anymore?     Some of those 1" white lines are probably used for the air to the jets and controlled by the topside with the 2 dials.     The divertor is also going to have a 2" line running to it from the pump probably pump 1 you could pour water down it and see which 2" line it comes out off. 

    Like mentioned good luck on that one! 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

They cut through the shell?? At least TWICE? Ok, I'd put it back on craigslist and PRAY someone will take it away. You might even offer a 6 pack or a few bucks to get rid of it. Seriously.

Then, keep a close eye on craigslist. FAR BETTER spas come up for free ALL the time.

[BryanLee]

Torn between my handyman desire to fix things.... and the fact that there does appear to be what's advertised as fully working ones for less than $500.

[BullFrogSpasMN]

ya you picked up someone else's trash...re list it and pray someone picks it up from you then find a better project..this time, post pics of it for us to take a look at BEFORE bringing it home 

good luck there are deals to be had if you have mechanical/plumbing skills and are willing to do a little work

[BryanLee]

Yeah, GF found it on CL while I was gone one weekend.  Normally I'll do a lot more research before committing to a project.  Ah well, I have a sawzall and a pickup.  I can get rid of it if that's what it takes ;-)

[Spatech_tuo]

Yeah, GF found it on CL while I was gone one weekend.  Normally I'll do a lot more research before committing to a project.  Ah well, I have a sawzall and a pickup.  I can get rid of it if that's what it takes ;-)

The good used spas on Craigslist are lightly sprinkled among all the ones where the owner wants you to take away their headache (and often charges you to do so). Getting a good used spa on that wonderful site requires patience to begin with and then due diligence to follow up.

[BryanLee]

So far I'm only out about $10 in PVC parts--didn't pay for the tub and hauled it ourselves.  Tempting to spend just a bit more to see if the pump and heater work at least.

[bud16415]

Looks like the previous owner hacked out the stuff they thought were of value and sold them and gave away the rest.

It would make a nice back yard pond if you want to strip it down and bury it with a liner in it. If that’s not your thing the sawzall is the way to go. I’m pretty handy also and it is a no win project IMO.

I saw a lot of used tubs on CL when we were looking and my GF normally is all about saving money but when it came to a used tub there was no amount of cleaning that would pass her inspection so we bought new.

[BryanLee]

I'm a glutton for punishment, and you may all laugh at my foolishness.  Since I've had nothing better to do, I've done a little more research.  Firstly, the tub doesn't leak.  It's been full of water--with a chlorine floater because who doesn't love the smell of chlorine--for over a month now and hasn't leaked.  This gives me hope!  I'm a fool, I know.

So yeah, I want to see if the pump and heater are good.  The heater, I've discovered is a 25amp low-flow vertical sundance heater.  Further research says this heather needs about 9-10 gpm flow through it to keep it from overheating.  The high-temp fuse tones out as good, and the heater measures at 10 Ohms.  So I believe the heater is good. The heater appears to be hooked up with 3/4" braided hose.

The motor/pump are part numbers r611863a and 06120193-2.  It has a 2.5" intake and discharge.  All the jets appear to run off two 2" pipes, and the drains and filter appears to also have 2" pipes.  So this tells me I need two wye's ideally with two 2" legs and one 2.5" leg, although I could probably fudge this with a reducer, who knows.

My question is about the heater.... do I really run all the water from the pump a 2.5" discharge through the heater?  Or should I take the discharge from the heater, put a tee in, and divert a small amount of water through the heater, bring it back to a tee to join the rest (after safety things like flow switch, and ozone venture if I wish), and then through the wye splitted the output to the two hoses leading to all the jets?

Yes, I know I should probably just throw this one in.... but indulge my foolishness, laugh at it.... and please be patient enough to answer some foolish questions? :-)

[Tman122]

My question is about the heater.... do I really run all the water from the pump a 2.5" discharge through the heater?  Or should I take the discharge from the heater, put a tee in, and divert a small amount of water through the heater, bring it back to a tee to join the rest (after safety things like flow switch, and ozone venture if I wish), and then through the wye splitted the output to the two hoses leading to all the jets?

Yes, I know I should probably just throw this one in.... but indulge my foolishness, laugh at it.... and please be patient enough to answer some foolish questions? :-)

You need a Sundance circulation pump for the heater line.

[BryanLee]

Okay, that makes some sense.  I'm assuming I should plumb it using a tee from the line coming from the strainer?

Another though, since this is going to be a franken-spa controlled by an arduino anyway, would it make more sense to get a high-flow heater?  From looking at some websites it appears that the sundance circulation pumps run about $125-$200.  But a universal heater assembly (VersaTherm Universal Heater Assembly) runs about $80.  Could I just plumb a heater assembly in line after the main pump?  Or am I mis-understanding some of the information I'm reading and even these high-flow units use a circulation pump instead of the main pump?

Again, thank you for indulging me