More Problems with Bullfrog Spa

[FL Person]

I continue to have problems with the orange foam o-ring gaskets coming loose from the Jetpack after the applied silicone fails to keep them secured in place.  This results in "blow-outs," where the o-ring becomes distorted and will not seal the Jetpak to the tub.

I am also now having problems with tripped circuit breakers.  All of the wiring and circuit breakers are properly sized and were installed new when the tub was installed.  The first time the breaker tripped, the tub had completed a 30 minute cycle on High.  I then added some Renew and placed the pump on High again, to circulate the chemical.  After a total of 40 minutes run time on High, the breaker tripped and could not be reset until morning, after the motor had adequately cooled.  Last night, the breaker tripped again, this time after the pump had been on High for only 25 minutes.  I waited again till morning and reset the breaker.  This time, it tripped again, after having cooled over night.

The repair technician was here last week and didn't even look at the spa.  I explained the two problems (he had already resecured the O-rings with silicone on a previous visit) and the technician went outside to call Bullfrog.  After 15 minutes, he came back and told me Bullfrog was sending two replacement capacitors of a higher microfarad rating and 1/16" spacers to be placed between the Jetpak and the foam o-ring gaskets. 

Clearly, these must be known issues, since neither part Bullfrog is providing are direct replacements.  I hope these parts correct the situation as I'm losing patience.

FL Person

[Jacuzzi Jim]

   Ask the dealer to figure out the tripping problem and tell them you would like a new jet pack.    5 year warranty on both, not a fix issue at this point, but a replace issue with the pack.  Tripping problem should be easy to figure out.  Relax about it, but be firm with your dealer, and call BF direct if not taken care of.  They are a very good company and want the consumer happy, unlike some companies we have dealt with over the years. 

[FL Person]

   Ask the dealer to figure out the tripping problem and tell them you would like a new jet pack.    5 year warranty on both, not a fix issue at this point, but a replace issue with the pack.  Tripping problem should be easy to figure out.  Relax about it, but be firm with your dealer, and call BF direct if not taken care of.  They are a very good company and want the consumer happy, unlike some companies we have dealt with over the years.

The dealer here doesn't make the service calls.  They farm-out service to another company.  The o-ring issue has occurred on two of the three Jetpaks to date. 

With regard to the capacitors, I'm not sold on that being the problem.  At least not any longer.  The technician's contention was that the spa was built with undersized  capacitors, which results in the motor becoming excessively hot after several cycles.  The problem with this theory is that the breaker tripped the first time after only 40 minutes and the second time after less than one full 30 minute cycle - vs. "several cycles."  Secondly, if the breaker was tripping because of an overheated motor, it would not have tripped again this morning.  I reset the breaker this morning after the spa had cooled for 12 hours.  The breaker tripped sometime in the next ten minutes when the spa motor was cool and not running.  This seems more like a short.

I will call the repair company first thing tomorrow as I'm not willing to wait for replacement capacitors that don't seem to be the problem in the first place.  Or at least, not the only problem.

FL Person

[Jacuzzi Jim]

   Ask the dealer to figure out the tripping problem and tell them you would like a new jet pack.    5 year warranty on both, not a fix issue at this point, but a replace issue with the pack.  Tripping problem should be easy to figure out.  Relax about it, but be firm with your dealer, and call BF direct if not taken care of.  They are a very good company and want the consumer happy, unlike some companies we have dealt with over the years.

The dealer here doesn't make the service calls.  They farm-out service to another company.  The o-ring issue has occurred on two of the three Jetpaks to date. 

With regard to the capacitors, I'm not sold on that being the problem.  At least not any longer.  The technician's contention was that the spa was built with undersized  capacitors, which results in the motor becoming excessively hot after several cycles.  The problem with this theory is that the breaker tripped the first time after only 40 minutes and the second time after less than one full 30 minute cycle - vs. "several cycles."  Secondly, if the breaker was tripping because of an overheated motor, it would not have tripped again this morning.  I reset the breaker this morning after the spa had cooled for 12 hours.  The breaker tripped sometime in the next ten minutes when the spa motor was cool and not running.  This seems more like a short.

I will call the repair company first thing tomorrow as I'm not willing to wait for replacement capacitors that don't seem to be the problem in the first place.  Or at least, not the only problem.

FL Person

  Uh yeah complete BS     The Bullfrog spa anybody sells will have the same parts or "capacitors" that yours does, and I see no problems with them out of the ordinary.   Unless you live on the sun you shouldn't see capacitors causing problems.  The only time we ever see it, is running the spa's at the fair in August when it's in the 80s/90s and the pumps are ran all day.   The O-ring issue we saw early on, but have not seen it since, and it shouldn't matter that your dealer does not service your spa, someone is responsible for the warranty and that would be who you bought it from.    If there is an independent tech company tell them to take care of the packs, they are not working for free someone is paying them be it BF or the dealer.  They or the dealer really can't wash their hands clean of it in my opinion.   Worse case I will get you BFs # or call for you and see what I can do.  It's total BS what is going on with your dealer!   

[FL Person]

  Uh yeah complete BS     The Bullfrog spa anybody sells will have the same parts or "capacitors" that yours does, and I see no problems with them out of the ordinary.   Unless you live on the sun you shouldn't see capacitors causing problems.  The only time we ever see it, is running the spa's at the fair in August when it's in the 80s/90s and the pumps are ran all day.   The O-ring issue we saw early on, but have not seen it since, and it shouldn't matter that your dealer does not service your spa, someone is responsible for the warranty and that would be who you bought it from.    If there is an independent tech company tell them to take care of the packs, they are not working for free someone is paying them be it BF or the dealer.  They or the dealer really can't wash their hands clean of it in my opinion.   Worse case I will get you BFs # or call for you and see what I can do.  It's total BS what is going on with your dealer!

Thanks.  I'll keep the forum posted. 

FL Person

[Hottubprosne]

This really sucks that you have a crappy dealer. I have sold and serviced 15 different brands of hot tubs and bf has been the most reliable and best company to work with. When the tub is running and trips the breaker feel the breaker and see if its warm at all. It should not be. New breakers fail all the time. Does the tub consistently trip the breaker after a couple of cycles? If so it should really easy to figure out.

[The Wizard of Spas]

This should be a pinned post as well for the new people asking about tubs and what to purchase:  A product is only as good as its local support.  In this case- Bullfrog, a reputable brand- is being failed by its dealer.  Dealers are always half the equation.

[d00nut]

This should be a pinned post as well for the new people asking about tubs and what to purchase:  A product is only as good as its local support.  In this case- Bullfrog, a reputable brand- is being failed by its dealer.  Dealers are always half the equation.

Amen brother!

A Great dealer can make an okay product great, and a bad dealer can make a great brand... bad. 

[FL Person]

This should be a pinned post as well for the new people asking about tubs and what to purchase:  A product is only as good as its local support.  In this case- Bullfrog, a reputable brand- is being failed by its dealer.  Dealers are always half the equation.

I won't throw the dealer under the bus just yet.  It would be preferable if the dealer did their own service but so far, the contract service company has been responsive.

I called the contract service company this morning and before noon, they had their technician back at my place.  It was nearly impossible for him to take any powered readings with his multi-meter because the breaker would trip within 10 seconds of being reset.  He did what he could with his multi-meter (checked for dead shorts) and then decided to replace the capacitor.  The replacement capacitor is of the same microfarad rating as the one removed.  The original was made in China.  The replacement, made in Mexico.  On the bench, the original capacitor checked out within spec.  But regardless, it appears the capacitor might have been the issue.  The breaker is now reset and I just ran the pump on high for two 30 minute cycles.  So far so good.

I'm still not sure why I was told last week I'd need to wait for Bullfrog to supply a replacement capacitor when, lo and behold, today, there was a replacement available.  And I'm still waiting on the "spacers" that will supposedly address the o-ring gasket issue.  And lastly, the front panel (the large panel that when removed, provides access to the pump, etc) has a reinforcement cross brace attached to the back (for lack of a better description).  This cross piece is separating from the panel and the tech took the entire panel back to his shop to secure it with epoxy.

FL Person

[Jacuzzi Jim]

 Hope that's it for the problems!   I would give them one more fix for the pack, if it doesn't work I would want it replaced.   Jeez you don't even have to send a bad pack in.  I do the warranty, order a new pack and we are credited for labor and the pack.   Hard to beat that.   Like mentioned I complained about the O-ring issue right off the bat when we brought them on.   Had a couple fail or worse yet vibrate like crazy.   Since then we have replaced maybe 3 because the sonic weld in behind the pack failed.   Other then that, that's been it. 

  Like I said BF is a really good company that want's to stand behind it's product.

  Their new motto is Make Spas Great Again.      Sorry couldn't help it.. 

[FL Person]

Hope that's it for the problems!   I would give them one more fix for the pack, if it doesn't work I would want it replaced.   Jeez you don't even have to send a bad pack in.  I do the warranty, order a new pack and we are credited for labor and the pack.   Hard to beat that.   Like mentioned I complained about the O-ring issue right off the bat when we brought them on.   Had a couple fail or worse yet vibrate like crazy.   Since then we have replaced maybe 3 because the sonic weld in behind the pack failed.   Other then that, that's been it. 

  Like I said BF is a really good company that want's to stand behind it's product.

  Their new motto is Make Spas Great Again.      Sorry couldn't help it..

We'll see.  As far as I can tell, the silicone has not been adequate to hold the gaskets in place.  On one of them, I used PL Marine Adhesive, which is rated for below-waterline use.  It seems to be holding. 

But after the most recent "blow out" of a gasket that was previously "repaired" by the technician using silicone, I tried the PL Marine Adhesive again and it failed the very next day.  I got the impression that the residue from the previous silicone application affected the bonding ability of the PL Marine Adhesive. The technician secured it again with silicone. 

FL Person

[FL Person]

The saga continues.  The repair guy came out and installed these spacers on all three Jetpaks.  They are siliconed in place between the o-ring and the Jetpak.  Only time will tell if they are a permanent solution.







On to the next issue.  At some point during these service calls, a sound I can only describe as a "chugging" developed in the front side of the tub.  It is intermittent when the motor in on "low" but it has occurred every day.  Of course, even though I've heard it every day for nearly two weeks, it will never occur when the repair technician is here.  I've made a recording.  This is with my phone placed directly in front of and in the middle of the front apron:  Click here for sound recording.

While trouble shooting, the technician noticed some water in the coiled-up clear hose leading from the Ozonator to the Venturi.  He said there should be no water in that hose so he ordered a new Ozonator just in case any water had made its way into the unit.

When he came out today to replace the Ozonator, the first thing he did was reach into the tub with a pair of needle nose pliers and remove a small plastic restrictor from the port inside the tub which dispenses the ozone.  He said he'd just learned that this plug should be removed on spas with an Ozonator installed.  He believes this plug was causing the water to be drawn into the Venturi tube and is the cause of the sound. 

I'm not convinced it's the cause of the sound because that plastic plug has been in there since day-one, yet the sound only developed recently. 

Again, only time will tell.

FL Person

[Jacuzzi Jim]

 So the sound is not normal, and has to be a pump or you have the Oscillator jetpack by any chance, I have heard it make a similar noise, but that seems overly loud.    Did he replace the brown O-ring that goes around the orange fitting/gasket? If not it needs to be there.  I have never heard of the black spacer thing, but if it works It should be ok.   Id still be pushing for a new pack at this point!

[FL Person]

So the sound is not normal, and has to be a pump or you have the Oscillator jetpack by any chance, I have heard it make a similar noise, but that seems overly loud.    Did he replace the brown O-ring that goes around the orange fitting/gasket? If not it needs to be there.  I have never heard of the black spacer thing, but if it works It should be ok.   Id still be pushing for a new pack at this point!

Yes, I have the Oscillator Jetpak but this is 1000% not related to that pak.  The sound is no where near that pak and that pak is almost always off, unless I'm using it.  The sound is without a doubt emanating from the front, underside of the tub...near the pump.

Yes, all of the orange o-ring gaskets have the brown o-ring installed in the groove.  The problem has been with all three Jetpaks.  All three now have the spacer installed.

FL Person

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  All I can tell you at this point is to keep on them, for everything, it sounds like the service company is trying though..