Blower Replacement

[delmar]

I just purchased and started using a new (used) Hydropool 670 hot tub, our first hot tub, and I originally thought everything was working perfectly, but it turns out the air blower was shorted out and unplugged by the previous owner. I tried plugging it in and it immediately trips the GFCI so obviously bad. From what I understand this is fairly common for hot tubs.

So it doesn't seem to be a big deal to replace the blower, it's a CG Air SL0 240/60, 5.5A blower. I should be able to match specs fairly easily, re-use the existing cord (as long as it's not shorted/damaged) and be good to go... but I wanted to ask a couple of questions to be sure.

1. Is this a decent blower? Since I'm replacing it anyway, I don't mind spending a few $ for a better unit. Assuming as long as the electrical requirements are the same, then the blower brand doesn't matter much.
2. Is there a significant difference between the CG Air Silver vs. Millennium blowers? Mine is currently a Silver but most blowers I see for sale are Millennium.
3. Is there a benefit to purchasing a blower with an integrated heater, or is this just adding one more thing that can fail?
4. Lastly, my tub has a variable speed controller for the blower. Does this mean I need a variable speed blower as well, or does the controller simply manage the voltage to the blower to adjust the intensity? Would this work if the blower has a heater (#3) or would it cause issues?

Thanks for your help!

John

[Spatech_tuo]

Personally if I bought a tub with a bad blower I'd never know because I'd never turn it on since they're a ridiculous add on (IMHO) so in this instance I wouldn't even replace it (your wants and desires may vary...)!

[CanadianSpaTech]

Whatever you decide you better inspect the one way check valve that protects the blower from water backing into it and can cause it to fail/trip. Don't want to short out a new one when the check valve was possibly the problem in the first place.

[delmar]

Whatever you decide you better inspect the one way check valve that protects the blower from water backing into it and can cause it to fail/trip. Don't want to short out a new one when the check valve was possibly the problem in the first place.

Agreed and will do, thank you.

Having never had a tub before and no idea whether or not we'll enjoy/use the blower, I'm leaning towards replacing it just so we can see it in action. I've read all the comments about them being annoying/problematic and understand the point, but I still kind of want to see for myself.

Thanks.

[Spatech_tuo]

Whatever you decide you better inspect the one way check valve that protects the blower from water backing into it and can cause it to fail/trip. Don't want to short out a new one when the check valve was possibly the problem in the first place.

Agreed and will do, thank you.

Having never had a tub before and no idea whether or not we'll enjoy/use the blower, I'm leaning towards replacing it just so we can see it in action. I've read all the comments about them being annoying/problematic and understand the point, but I still kind of want to see for myself.

Thanks.

OK so while I think blowers are a waste I also understand why people want to try them for themselves so in that case when you reinstall try to locate that air check valve as high as possible, right up under the shell at the highest spot.

[delmar]

OK so while I think blowers are a waste I also understand why people want to try them for themselves so in that case when you reinstall try to locate that air check valve as high as possible, right up under the shell at the highest spot.

OK, so here's another question... I haven't opened up the side of the cabinet to inspect the plumbing for the existing check valve, but assuming it needs to be replaced... is it a major no-no to simply add another check valve on the "dry" side of the current one? Will this just cause too much restriction and/or is just bad practice?

[Tman122]

I loved my blower, while it was noisy it made the water a bubbling fantastic.