Water feature knob just came off!

[kervis]

I had noticed a small leak from the water feature knob a while ago.  I figured it must be an O-ring.  I had one replaced a couple years ago, thus my deduction.

Well, went outside to open the tub and prepare for our soak, and I heard an odd noise, like a far away weather siren.  I realized it was coming from the knob!  I turned it, the sound disappeared, and water gushed everywhere.  I turned it off the best I could so that only a minimum of water was leaking out.  

After our soak, I went to turn the knob again and the whole thing popped off!    My hand was on top and held it down, but I did feel like it would shoot up into the sky on a stream of water!  

It is cold and dark, thus I did not take the time to look closely at what could be the matter.  I didn't want to lose any pieces in the dark.

I am thinking that it's just not an O-ring.  Any thoughts? Maybe the kids cranked on it and I need a new spring or something.I hope I can get the parts and fix it myself.

[Vanguard]

Why fix it yourself when you're still under warranty?  Let your dealer fix it for you.

[kervis]

Thank you!

I suppose I had better make a list of other items I'd like looked at as this then, may require a trip charge.

So....IF the part is less than $50, and it is easy to fix, then what?

If I turn off the power to the tub, perhaps the water will stop coming out of that thing.

Just thinking out loud here.

Thank you for the warranty reminder.

[soak-king]

The water for the water feature on the Vanguard is supplied thru the circ pump I believe. So you should stop the leak by unplugging the spa but then you wont have any circulation.  :-?

[Vanguard]

Soak-king is correct, the water for the feature is supplied from the circ pump.

I've never tried to repair that valve.  I don't imagine it would be too difficult.  You can always ask the dealer.  

They should even be able give you the part under warranty and save the trip out.  You would just need to take back the bad part.

[kervis]

The water for the water feature on the Vanguard is supplied thru the circ pump I believe. So you should stop the leak by unplugging the spa but then you wont have any circulation.  :-?

Yes!! No circulation so that the handle, orange o-ring, and all the parts don't go flying all over the frozen yard!  I truly believe it could be like a geyser.

When I turn it "off" , water is still coming out of the handle area and now a small amount is coming out of the water feature too.

I think I will turn the power off to be able to see what the problem is so that I can try to describe to my dealer what the issue is.  

Otherwise, I shall keep it on for the circulation and go from there.

Thanks All!!  

[Flyonthewall]

there is an insert in there, much like a diverter valve in appearance.  shouldn't be too hard to replace.  must have got bound up and sheared off.

[kervis]

Well, I finally got out to the tub during daylight hours!

I turned off the power and removed that long, black insert thing (couldn't tell if any of the part looked sheared off--I think the whole thing just came out) and the knob.  Then the top handle of he knob came off!

I put the O-ring back where I thought it belonged, stuck everything back together, pretending like I knew what I was doing, put it all back in it's place and turned it back on.

Voila!  No leak!  

I think I'll need to silicone the handle of the knob back onto the knob at some point, but for now, it turns on and off and does not leak!

Wahoo!!