What's the Best Hot Tub

Author Topic: My hot tub projects  (Read 9939 times)

saskvaliant

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My hot tub projects
« on: February 22, 2015, 04:43:51 pm »
I have always wanted a hot tub but was put off by the price, sure I could have gone into hock for one but what if after getting it we wouldn't use it all that much? I trawled Kijiji looking for bargains but people still wanted way too much for old crap. I eventually found an old Mspa for $45 bucks. We went and picked it up and I reasoned if it wasn't good I wasn't out much cash. It didn't come with any plumbing or pumps but I am fairly handy  ;D

On getting it home, I pulled everything out of the cardboard box it had been stuffed in, first problem was the mouse poop in the box... it was full of it so I pulled out the tub, cleaned it out and disinfected it>





I had an air compressor so I rigged up an adapter and blew up the tub and partially filled it to test. Everything seemed water tight and I was happy that the inflatable cover was leak free. They also included two headrests and a drink holder which I found out were optional extras.

Here was where the fun started! Nobody local could supply the heater and pump unit and the one I did find on Kijiji went in minutes. I started visiting my local spa retailer, Halcyon Spa. I managed to get a small circulation pump and heater tube from them, I also got second hand thermostats and pressure switches. I also found my local Habitat restore shop a great place for bits and pieces including another pump ($75 for a 1 horse pump, more than enough for 5 jets).



The big issue was the water connections, they were oddball sizes and nothing I could find would fit.



In the end I took some 1 inch pvc, heated it and formed it to fit the connection internally. Took some patience and a couple of attempts but ended up with a connection I could slip standard piping onto. I glued the connections and slipped on some unions that I could glue to the pipe and the face of the connection. The next thing was the pumps and the heater. I built a large plywood box and wired up the pumps and the heater to mechanical switches, I avoided dry fire by connecting the heater through the thermostat and pressure switch so that the heater circuit was only open when the pressure switch was activated thereby isolating the heater from coming on without water pressure. After painting the box, I finished the wiring, filled the spa with air and water and fired it up.



After totalling everything up, I was probably in the hole for about $400 but have a hot tub that we used all summer and autumn and since the heating and filtering ran off a 1/4 horse power pump, it cost next to nothing to run.

I showed the video of the running hot tub and the electromechanical set up to the guys at Halcyon spa and they wanted to know if I wanted a job... lol

So now this springs project!

Since we liked the hot tub concept I went to Halcyon and asked about  trade in bargains. They had an Omni spa which they had pulled out, no warranties, no guarantees but I managed to get it for $400 delivered. The shell has one minor crack and the cedar has gone.







So far I have found out the spa pack was faulty and I have stripped off the siding. The pump and heater were functional but a couple of jets will need replacing. I winterized it after the strip down and I'm waiting for spring to come to start the rebuild. I have already go the process controller for the heating & filtering control, waterproof speakers and a marine stereo to get some tunes. I will post progress pictures as I get things up and running.

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My hot tub projects
« on: February 22, 2015, 04:43:51 pm »

saskvaliant

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update on the new project
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2015, 09:38:17 pm »
So I have not been able to do much on the tub itself but I have started on the electrics. I have started the dry run on the setup. So far I have sourced parts from Princess Auto, electrical connectors and 2 and 3 position switches and a switch box. I got a GE digital timer from Habitat for humanity, this model has 9 events and seven day programming. I connected up the old GFI cable from the hot tub to the electrical connectors and wired up the timer, driving the single speed half horsepower pump.

Timer:





Connected to the pump:



After making the connections, I set up the time and a test on/off event on the timer and the pump fired perfectly  ;D Oh, excuse the mess, lots of projects on the go and I was never the tidiest person in the world...lol

There will be a separate circuit for the heater, running through the thermostat and the pressure switch to prevent dry fire, another circuit for the 2 speed pump and another for the stereo on the lights. These will be run off a spate 12v transformer. I am thinking of housing all the electrical components in a separate box. This way if I do get a short or fire there will be a gap between that box and the hot tub. Also if I build it T shaped I can house the stereo and speakers in the top of the T.

kingdarb

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Re: My hot tub projects
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2015, 11:14:28 am »
Awesome work on a budget!

saskvaliant

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Omni spa update
« Reply #3 on: August 09, 2015, 04:51:09 pm »
Been a while but that's what happens when you are piecing things together...lol. I started out by replacing all the larger jets in the tub, I say larger but they were only 2 inch mini's. I went with rotator jets and ended up buying 6 of them as I broke 1 of the smaller jets getting the large ones out. Due to the abs construction it was simpler to drill out a larger hole and fit.



I started work on the electronic timer circuit but got a break by finding a complete Balboa INF10 spa pack including the panel for $100 Canadian on Kijiji. I had to enlarge the hole for the panel but again, no big deal



I had to buy the pump cords and light cord and housing but that didn't cost a great deal. I was going to use the circulation pump out of the inflatable but that failed. I had to hunt around but ended up getting an Iron Might from express hot tub parts for $260 Canadian, this was between $60 to $100 cheaper than the local stores, none of which had any 110 units in stock anyway.

I got slice valves and other connections from a local store and put together the twin pump setup in the plywood box I had built for the inflatable tub. There were two reasons for this, there wasn't enough space underneath the tub to fit everything and using a separate box allowed me lots of wiggle room.



In order to run dual pumps, I decided to pull from the stock suction fitting for the jets and the filter stack for the circulation. I ended up buying another suction fitting and drilling and fitting it to the side of the step to act as the outlet for the circulation side. That meant the heated water enters lower than the filter weir, was pushed around the circular tub meaning a more even heat. Doing it this way also meant I could remove two 90 degree fittings from the jet side, increasing flow.

I prepared the ground for the tub at the back of the house. Where I placed it had been in grass for a large number of years so was very stable (we are also on a sand base here so there is minimal heave). I put down landscaping fabric and then a gravel layer to level off and placed the plywood base onto that. I am sure a lot of folks will now be shaking their heads at this but the tub itself is thick abs not acrylic so has a lot of stability and is pretty much self supporting (think roto tub type construction).



The first wet run wasn't a complete success, there was a leak where I had plugged the ozone fitting, some minor weeps on a couple of the jets and a leak on both the suction fitting and the filter stack. I transferred the water to the old inflatable and did some repairs. One of the biggies was on the stack, I had to cut back and then tried a correct spigot fitting, crap.. it was too small as the pvc 2 inch pipe had shrunk over time. In the end I had to heat some solid PVC water pipe I had on hand, spread it using a 2 inch hole saw blade I had, smooth down the rough edge and glue it in. Problem solved :)

The second wet run went great, only a leak from one of the air lines where I had put in spray foam. I dug the new foam out, replaced the joint and everything was water tight. I had to throttle back the circulation side using the slice valve. The new circulation pump would pull all the water from the stack, airlock then take time to start up again then do the same again. I lowered the slice valve until I got just enough flow.

The last thing was the surround. I ended up buying 1 by 3 lumber, fixed blocks to the plywood base and put in multiple vertical straps. I then took vinyl siding and carefully worked it round the tub, attaching it to the vertical strapping. In all I used 5 and a quarter strips for about $60 bucks including the strapping. Some of the ends are a little 'bush' but they will be pretty much out of sight.

before:



After:







Into the setup for roughly $1000 including all the new materials

Quickbeam

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Re: My hot tub projects
« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2015, 04:59:36 pm »
Congratulations on an excellent job! Looks really nice.

saskvaliant

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Re: My hot tub projects
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2015, 05:06:36 pm »
Thanks Quickbeam, will be even better after I extend the deck (roughly out to where the white foam on the ground ends) and put up privacy fencing.

Hot Tub Forum

Re: My hot tub projects
« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2015, 05:06:36 pm »

 

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