Hot Springs Vista Hot Tub Leaking Water

[bearsbeets]

Hi, I recently became a new owner of a used hot tub inherited at my new home - and after draining and refilling the hot tub, I noticed a small leak under the hot tub behind the removable panel in the motor housing area.  This was clearly a new issue, as the water was dripping onto a formerly dusty area of the motor housing area.

I had removed the five filters for cleaning and then re-filled the tub with fresh water (filters still off), and believe the culprit of the leak was that water was getting in under the filter standpipes which I later discovered had unscrewed very slightly for four of the five filters.  I hand tightened the standpipes and a silicone caulk string floated up out of one of them which worried me greatly.  Given this, I started to drain the hot tub again with the intention of fully removing the standpipe + washer base, applying new silicone caulk/plumber's tape/etc., and re-installing.  However, half way through the drain process the leak stopped, which I attribute to the hand tightening of the standpipes.  I have two questions:

1) Do I need to fix to the standpipe issue?  You can see two of the five standpipes in the photo link: https://ibb.co/Yfv9JS3. I would:
- Remove the standpipes,
- Apply bead of hot tub clear silicone caulk to the bottom of the sealing washer (https://www.spadepot.com/Clear-Silicone-Spa-Pool-Adhesive-Sealant-10oz-P2062)
- Apply plumber's tape as needed to the bottom threads of the standpipes
- Re-install the standpipes.

2) There is also one other possible leak source that I'm hoping this forum can weight in on: See the link to a photo https://ibb.co/Yfv9JS3. There's a small screw sized hole in the side wall of the filter housing area where I believe a hose of some sort is typically attached in some form or fashion. Do you know what this is? And could water be getting in there and leaking out the bottom of the hot tub?


Background of hot tub:
Make/model: Hot Springs Vista model SS
Gallons: 500

[A.O.]

Well if the leak quit, maybe you got the water below the actual leak source. Maybe its leaking from a place you had not considered.

I'm still at aww over the fact it has 5 filters..

[bearsbeets]

Well if the leak quit, maybe you got the water below the actual leak source. Maybe its leaking from a place you had not considered.

I'm still at aww over the fact it has 5 filters..

Agreed - 5 filters seems excessive.  But the leak stopping could be due to the water level reducing below the source or because it took ~30 min for the leak to stop after I screwed back in the standpipes because the foam/insulation would have been waterlogged.  So that's why my question is broken into two parts: 1) the ~30 min delay from screwing in the standpipe, or (2) the little screw sized hole shown in the photo.

I'm thinking of going out there and holding a cup of water against the screw sized hole to see if it gets sucked into it.  I want to avoid pulling up the standpipe and resealing if possible.

[bearsbeets]

Update.  The leak re-started after I started filling again.  I had initially stopped filling at the level shown in the initial post's photo, but after adding a couple of inches (leaving about 2 in before that screw sized hole I was asking about as shown in the photo), the leak started dripping frequently from out of the foam insulation area below the filters.

The bottom left area behind the removable plate is shown here in this photo. The leak is coming from the insulation, which is located under the filters. https://ibb.co/KWQwh25

Given this, could the leak be coming from the filters?  Even though they were fully submerged previously and not apparently leaking?  Any thoughts?  It seems my initial two hypotheses were proven incorrect here.  Could I use something like a Seal-a-Leak solution (https://www.spadepot.com/Seal-a-Leak-Spa-Leak-Sealer-16oz-P790)?

[A.O.]

Interesting, I didn't know they made hot tub stop leak. For 13 bucks it might be worth a try, then report back so we know.

[bearsbeets]

Interesting, I didn't know they made hot tub stop leak. For 13 bucks it might be worth a try, then report back so we know.

So I'm not 100% sure, but at least the visual portion of the leak I could see out from under the hot tub (in that little corner with the visible foam), seemed to stop.  I placed a couple of sponges under the area to try to wick up any residual before it settled by the motor(s), and put the side paneling back in place.  Hot tub water levels seem consistent.  So far seems like I might be able to limp into the offseason.