Should I Drill a Hole in the Base for Conduit?

[airheads]

I'm getting all set up for my Sundance Maxxus, and am having a concrete slab poured for my foundation.  I am bringing conduit up from under the slab, and my electrical guy said he could put the conduit directly into the tub from underneath for a really clean install, but would have to drill a hole in the bottom of the cabinet base.  There are two 2-1" grommet holes on either side of the cabinet to accomodate the electrical that require no drilling.

My question is  -  is this a good idea?  Would having a hole on the bottom allow extra moisture or vermin to get in?  The slab will be poured flat, where the tub sits, with at least a 2' apron around each side sloping away from the tub.

Thanks,
Larry

[Spatech_tuo]

It should be perfectly fine as long as you know where you're drilling and you seal around the hole after the conduit goes through.

[Brewman]

I'd go with that style if I had to do it all over again.
(Too lazy to dig a trench!)

Brewman

[bosco0633]

i came up from under mine as well.  It is great, you dont see any conduit at all.

[johnvb]

I'd go to the dealer with your tape measure, have him open up his floor model, and find out exactly where that hole/pipe should be.

Also, although you want the conduit to be above the base of the tub  (I would go just enough to be able to connect a compression fitting, again measure how much you need), don’t go too high, that's all the more the installers will have to lift it up to clear the pipe.

[Brewman]

Actually, it it the Maxus, or any other Sundance, you don't have to drill, just cut thru the plastic sheet that covers the bottom.  
Brewman

[Wheeler]

On my Optima, the dealer drilled the bottom of the cabinet for me before delivery.  I don't know about the new Maxxus or older Optimas, but my 2004 Optima had a plywood cabinet floor.  

The dealer drilled about a 3 inch diameter hole through the base plywood in the front right corner, centered about 8.5 inches in from the front (as you face the control panel) and the same from the right side.  Apparently this was the factory "preferred" location for a bottom-fed conduit entrance.  The location is marked on Sundance's info sheet that contains diagrams, dimensions, and other measurements of the spa.  The dealer had ready copies for folks to take home in order to prepare their site.

This way, when I had the electrical done and the slab poured, the conduit was located in exactly the right spot.  I had about 6 inches of rigid conduit left above the slab and then had about 5 or 6 feet of flex conduit attached to that, which was then fed through the interior of the cabinet to the electrical hookup inside the spa.  When the spa was installed, as the crew lowered the spa to the ground from the dolly, we just fed the flex through the hole, dropped the spa down with the pre-drilled hole over the rigid conduit stub, and proceeded to wire it up from there.  Looks great, no exposed wiring or conduit.

I highly recommend checking with your dealer about positioning of your electrical before having your slab poured if you want it to look really great and have the spa exactly where you want it.  They may have access to a similar specs/dimensions document from Sundance for the Maxxus.

[airheads]

Thanks for all the info.  I checked back with the dealer and they did have some spec sheets, but it was for the 2004 Maxxus, and not the 2005.  I called Sundance and asked them directly - they said that they don't recommend putting the conduit up from underneath the base, and the person I talked to said that came direct from the head guy.  I got a copy of the 2004 spec, and all it shows are the outside dimensions with the holes on the side of the tub and no mention of any preferred location on the bottom.  I would like to go underneath, but may just go to the side where I know it can go.

[johnvb]

I guess the next best thing would be come up from the slab outside the tub, near the side electrical  entrance, with one 90 degree turn into it.