New J-470's Cover letting rain in...

[kitchener]

My new Jacuzzi J-470 is sitting empty while I wait for my contractor to finish up some things.  We had some rain yesterday, and today, when I lifted the cover, I found a puddle of water on the bottom, along with some moisture on the underside of the cover. 

I imagine it's the center seam -- when the cover is in place over the hot tub, and there is rain, there is a linear puddle running across the center of the tub at the seam.   Is this par for the course, or do I have a problem I should address with my dealer?

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Covers are sewn together with needle the thread...thousands of holes. A minimal amount of leakage is normal and to be expected. More if the spa is not completely level.

[kitchener]

It's completely level, but the cover isn't -- the Jacuzzi has that high back (raised waterfall) so it creates a bend in the middle of the cover, and rain water gathers there.  Should I treat the stitching area with some sort of waterproofing (scotchguard, or other)?

[kitchener]

Well, after raining all day, today, nothing like opening the cover to the new J-470 and seeing my fresh fill all cloudy from the rain water.  This can't be right. 

[GaryJen]

I'm sorry, that sounds very frustrating... Have you called the dealer to let them know what you are experiencing?

[kitchener]

I left a message with the salesman and haven't heard back, yet.  Until I saw my cloudy water, I thought, oh, a little rain water, no big deal, but at this price point, I don't want to contend with water that goes from well-kept clarity to cloudy every time we have weather, and this must be a little beyond the norm.

[mrpenguin]

You try a tarp to ensure it is the rainwater (I am sure it is from what you said though)

Here are some pictures from the seam area of my 470's cover, not sure if they will help or not.   Mine's under a roof, I can toss the hose on it later to see if needed.

Top View:


With cover folded, looking at the one part and middle section:


With the middle section lifted  (time to clean under the cover I just noticed!)

[kitchener]

Thanks -- I'd just posted this question to you in the thread you'd started, and here you were probably responding to my question as I was writing it.

What tipped me off was when before, when it sat empty, I had the tub spic and span waiting for some construction to finish going on around it.  And after a rain, I found an inch of water down by the drain. 

Now that it's filled, and spotting my now cloudy water, I figure this can't be right.  Must be something going on with my cover, or the way it was installed. 

[kitchener]

As a postscript, Jacuzzi is sending me a new cover, via my dealer.  I took pictures yesterday and that told the tale, I guess.

With the Jacuzzi's high back, I'm surprised this isn't a common problem -- I don't know how you'd avoid water collected in that center, in-dented seam.  Perhaps it should just be more waterproof than it is and that's why I'm getting a new cover.  I suppose one solution is to fashion a cover for the cover so that the water rolls off.