Question(s) for hot tub service techs

[fatman]

If there are any service techs who happen to follow this forum I would like to know your opinion(s) and recommendations for a reliable and easy to repair hot tub.  Which ones are the most repair prone? Manufacturers, brand names to avoid? Horror stories? Please don't hold back!

[stuart]

If there are any service techs who happen to follow this forum I would like to know your opinion(s) and recommendations for a reliable and easy to repair hot tub.  Which ones are the most repair prone? Manufacturers, brand names to avoid? Horror stories? Please don't hold back!

That's a hard question to answer! I would be more interested as to why your asking, are you shopping for a spa?

The reason it's hard to answer is that nothing remains the same from year to year but some manufactures maintain a backwards philosophy that seems to take some longer to pull out of than others.

To give you some examples; for several years we worked on more Sundance than any other brand. They had board issues and leak issues that where far above anything else we dealt with. It was more difficult to work on them because the old wood cabinets fell apart when you took them off and the leak issues seemed to be every glue joint in the spa so you had to dig foam and re-plumb!

Hotspring had an issue with shell cracks in the step area and light lens leaks.

Marquis had their leak issues many years ago and had a control issue.

Sundance made a better cabinet, stopped trying to make their own boards and corrected the glue primer issue.

Hotspring reinforced the step area and changed the light lens.

Marquis went to glue/barb/clamp on their plumbing eliminating leaks and started using Balboa controls for reliability.

I can give you similar stories on just about any brand...Most service techs that work on everything don't know about issues with competitive brands until after warranty and most new spas rarely have consistent problems in the first year so it's hard to judge what long term will be.

As a whole though I can say with absolute passion that the most difficult spa it have ever had to get parts for and have had consistent issues with over the years has been CalSpa. I have 8 of them behind my store that we keep trying to get fixed up for resale and have not been able to keep ahead of the issues. Then again I haven't worked on a new one yet...!

[wmccall]

Idea well demonstrated Stuart. For me the Computer industry was the same way.    Seagate hard drives were highly regarded, but the ST251 I think it was had horrible "Stiction" problems and at that time that hard drive sold more than any other in the home pc world.


Since then so many hard drive companies have been bought sold, and absorbed by others its hard to make those comparisions valid.

[JPKeirstead]

If there are any service techs who happen to follow this forum I would like to know your opinion(s) and recommendations for a reliable and easy to repair hot tub.  Which ones are the most repair prone? Manufacturers, brand names to avoid? Horror stories? Please don't hold back!

I think that there are alot of us on here who could give you our opinions, however, I think for the most part, we have affiliations that would not make our opinions as "objective" as I think you may be looking for.  I for one, don't really want to open that can of worms.

[Tman122]

If there are any service techs who happen to follow this forum I would like to know your opinion(s) and recommendations for a reliable and easy to repair hot tub.  Which ones are the most repair prone? Manufacturers, brand names to avoid? Horror stories? Please don't hold back!

I think you first need to determine how much money you want to spend. Then you can see what you can afford in the brands that are close to you. If you end up in the high end of the hot tub spectrum there is 10-15 manufacturers with good reputation. If you end up in the middle of the spectrum there also is a bunch. If your looking for low end there's a few that use the same components as the major players but have less bells and whistles, less service (which may or may not be needed) Once you have decided what brands fit your price point then determine what your looking for in a model, test it wet if possible, then come back and get our opinions of that brand. We may not be able to tell you the history of the dealer, you'll have to get that on your own. But we may be able to get you some opinions on the brand you have chosen.

[fatman]

In response to Tman122, I fully understand that you would like me to narrow the search myself first and then come back to the forum for advice but I really would prefer the advice first. I am trying to avoid after warranty headaches and political correctness. If a tech can tell me the true reputation of a major manufacturer before I have my heart set on a certain hot tub, believe me, I am all ears.

[Spatech_tuo]

In response to Tman122, I fully understand that you would like me to narrow the search myself first and then come back to the forum for advice but I really would prefer the advice first. I am trying to avoid after warranty headaches and political correctness. If a tech can tell me the true reputation of a major manufacturer before I have my heart set on a certain hot tub, believe me, I am all ears.

Your question is just too open ended to be answered the way you want it but I'll say this; sometimes its more important to know who to steer clear of and IMO that's Thermospas and Cal Spas (and the dreaded internet spa boogey man who sells H@ven spas). Others may have additional brands they would put on their "avoid at all costs" list but I'll stop there. I'd personally steer toward Hot Spring, Caldera, Sundance, Jacuzzi, D1 and Marquis as they have good reputations for Quality and Service. There are many other brands I've left off but I'm not trashing them, I'll leave them on my "limbo" list where I don't have too much opinion either way. But that's just MY list of favorites, it is not meant to state facts but only to give an opinion.

[spahappy]

Remember anybodys top 6 or 10 spas will always be subjective to that individuals specific experiences and exposure to them.

I think most techs would agree, most major spa companies that have been around awhile have made improvements to their spas.

I can't stress this enough...

WET TEST
WET TEST
WET TEST

No matter how secure you feel about the spa you picked, if it doesn't fit you, you'll never be happy with your choice. Trust me on this.


Spahappy

[hottubber]

I must,without adought, second the motion of SPAHAPPY. If you don't "wet test" the spa you are considering, you lose.
This is the only way to determine if the spa has what you previously perceived it had. They all look as if they are the one until the day you WET TEST it.
This comment has absolutely nothing to do with the technical aspect of the spa. If it doesn't fit you right, don't buy it.
Agreed

[doodoo]

What Spatech and spahappy said. But I'd also add that there is a great deal to be said about the dealer. What I would consider a top manufacturer that we visited has a sales and store operation that was high pressure while at the same time trashing all other. We ran out and never returned becuase of fears for after service.  

The dealer also makes a difference.

My $0.02 worth

[windsurfdog]

.....and we shall all agree......