Had a misadventure with the hot tub, thought I would share for general amusement.
I have an old Hot Springs Highlife. The Motomassage jet on the lounge has been broken since the day I got it (water comes out, but it just hangs there limp, it doesn't move up and down - I hear some of our forum members have the same problem).
Pool_boy was nice enough to give me some advice via PM. The air control was still working, so he thought there was a good chance it'd work if I replaced the jet. The part came in yesterday, so I decided to jump in the tub (replacement can be done while filled and running) and give it a shot.
Removed the face plate and guide body, noticed the guide body is in upside-down. Hmm, ok, that might cause a problem. I finally got the air hose off:
Item #2 as to why the moto wasn't working: the tube is rock-solid hardened in that position. It doesn't flex whatsoever.
Jet end:
A standard hose clamp with a flathead screw closure. I don't think is standard, but it's not intended to come off anyway, as the other end is supposed to remove from the tub "easily" as it's just held on to the barb by a "rubber o-ring".
Tub end:
Imagine it's 10:30pm, all you have is the soft blue glow of the spa while you're feeling around inside a dark hole for a soft, rubber o-ring. Nope! Sorry, it's actually an incredibly sharp pincer of death that's clearly not made to ever be removed. Apparently my tub assembler wanted to add some adventure.
Anyway, I did obviously get the hose off, but broke the barb in the tub in doing so. I don't feel that bad, as it took me 15 minutes with a hacksaw, needlenose, and a razor blade knife to separate the barb from the hose once it was off, there's no way I ever could have done it inside that cavity.
It'll be freezing here until at least March, so my options are rather limited. At the moment the only thing I can think of is to drain the tub in a few months, use some PVC epoxy and see if I can re-attach the barb. The new jet has a nice, supple air hose with an o-ring, I'm pretty confident that will do the trick if the barb will hold. As a side note, pool_boy helped me out a lot, the shipping was very fast, clear instructions came with the part and I even got a free ruler and pen! Hopefully I'll be able to use the part someday soon.
