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You're luck you weren't on vacation and had the remaining water freeze and crack lines. I wonder if the warranty would have been honored. Hopefully so. You can always post a review on this site and explain what happened. It may save another from repeating your experience.You caught it in time and made the necessary repair.Make up for any bitterness and frustration by savoring the serenity once you are back in the tub.Enjoy!
Neighbor called the other day and said “Hey your hot tub has a leak and water is pouring out the side of your deck.” Just what you want to hear on a cold winter day, and thankful he was walking his dog and saw it. So I rush out and sure enough water pouring out of the front of the box just below the controls. Our tub is a couple years old and a Caldera Geneva. Pretty much the top of the line from a well respected quality brand I’m told. I rush around and get the screws out of the cover and have a heck of a time detaching the LED light same as I did when I installed it. Ended up breaking the little plastic bump off the light holder where it snaps in. I get the cover off and here is what I find. click on thumb to see larger. That is the lower connection of the frog feeder tube. The hose popped off as the hose clamp was junk. I slipped it on and the leak stopped and the clamp being so cheap wouldn’t tighten. 12k for a hot tub and they use a 29 cent hose clamp. I go to the hardware store and buy a couple high quality clamps for $1.50 each one would have been fine. Here is the comparison between the two clamps cheep one on the left. The fitting was super long so I put 2 on. I mentioned before I wasn’t really happy with some of the corner cutting I saw inside the shell. Here are a few photos that show this. Here is the crazy light adapter that makes it so you cant get the cover off. Shows the broken tab from prying. Here is the junky soft wood that backs the panels.Here shows how moisture is wicking in to this crate wood and starting the rotting process at the bottom. The floor is cheap plywood and having been soaked down I’m sure wont help that with a plastic pan on the bottom. When I bought the tub I asked about could they take the front panel off so I could see the guts and they just laughed. If I was one of these companies I would send out covers for the displays with clear Plexiglas windows to show off the quality. I made a list of things once and tried to contact Watkins that I felt would make their tub much better and couldn’t contact them. I replied to the comments page and they sent me a size small tee shirt and told me they wouldn’t post a bad review. All well that ends well. Only lost 200 gallons of water. Just wanted to share.
Quote from: bud16415 on December 12, 2017, 02:32:24 pmNeighbor called the other day and said “Hey your hot tub has a leak and water is pouring out the side of your deck.” Just what you want to hear on a cold winter day, and thankful he was walking his dog and saw it. So I rush out and sure enough water pouring out of the front of the box just below the controls. Our tub is a couple years old and a Caldera Geneva. Pretty much the top of the line from a well respected quality brand I’m told. I rush around and get the screws out of the cover and have a heck of a time detaching the LED light same as I did when I installed it. Ended up breaking the little plastic bump off the light holder where it snaps in. I get the cover off and here is what I find. click on thumb to see larger. That is the lower connection of the frog feeder tube. The hose popped off as the hose clamp was junk. I slipped it on and the leak stopped and the clamp being so cheap wouldn’t tighten. 12k for a hot tub and they use a 29 cent hose clamp. I go to the hardware store and buy a couple high quality clamps for $1.50 each one would have been fine. Here is the comparison between the two clamps cheep one on the left. The fitting was super long so I put 2 on. I mentioned before I wasn’t really happy with some of the corner cutting I saw inside the shell. Here are a few photos that show this. Here is the crazy light adapter that makes it so you cant get the cover off. Shows the broken tab from prying. Here is the junky soft wood that backs the panels.Here shows how moisture is wicking in to this crate wood and starting the rotting process at the bottom. The floor is cheap plywood and having been soaked down I’m sure wont help that with a plastic pan on the bottom. When I bought the tub I asked about could they take the front panel off so I could see the guts and they just laughed. If I was one of these companies I would send out covers for the displays with clear Plexiglas windows to show off the quality. I made a list of things once and tried to contact Watkins that I felt would make their tub much better and couldn’t contact them. I replied to the comments page and they sent me a size small tee shirt and told me they wouldn’t post a bad review. All well that ends well. Only lost 200 gallons of water. Just wanted to share. That's weird because there are plenty of bad comments on there mixed in with the positive ones. One of the improvements to the new Utopia series is the cabinets. Still a PIA to take off but they are nicer. Anyway glad your neighbor caught it in time before some real damage occurred
We have plants in Mexico and all around the world and just being in Mexico doesn’t mean you sacrifice quality. The story I have read a couple times now is Watkins went to Mexico to make the fiberglass shells because USA regulations stopped them from shooting a hotter glass mixture and they felt the hotter glass made a stronger shell.
Quote from: bud16415 on December 14, 2017, 08:07:17 pmWe have plants in Mexico and all around the world and just being in Mexico doesn’t mean you sacrifice quality. The story I have read a couple times now is Watkins went to Mexico to make the fiberglass shells because USA regulations stopped them from shooting a hotter glass mixture and they felt the hotter glass made a stronger shell. Amen. Bullfrog for me had higher warranty claims then either Hot Spring or Caldera this past year. Doesn't mean that the quality is worse on BF, that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. The USA made brands just heavily push the USA mantra, which I totally get, but you are right bud. It wasn't USA regulations though, it was California. They could have come to AZ, or anywhere else, but business said... Mexico makes the most sense. Plus, there are people that actually want factory jobs down there, which is an increasingly hard position to fill in the USA. Just ask Mike Rowe!