Welcome to our forum.
2012 Hot Springs Envoy. A couple of years ago, I developed a leak somewhere. It seemed to be very close to one of the drain outlet corners. I opened the panel and checked for obvious signs in that compartment. Dry as a bone. Checked the two outlets to see if it was the rubber gasket at the caps. Nothing. I called the dealership and told them that I had a leak, thinking they would send out a technician that would investigate and possibly find the problem. He showed up, looked in the compartment, checked the drain outlets and told me it would have to be taken in to the shop for the leak search. He didn’t do any more than I did, and wrote me an invoice for $125. I called and asked about getting it to the shop. I was told that to the pick up and deliver, it would cost $1000, plus the cost of finding and fixing the leak. Now, the way things have been going, I’m envisioning a final bill of around $3000. I let it sit, drain as it would, and drained a tear every time I wanted to soak. I always kept it filled enough to keep all pump seals underwater. Well, after allowing it to sit, I decided to use it anyway. I refilled it, got the water chems right, and soaked on a few evenings. The leak wasn’t terrible, but it was a leak. About a month ago, I decided to take the matter in my own hands. I purchased a little inspection camera that connects via WiFi to the cell phone. I allowed the water to drain at its own pace so I could tell how close to the bottom it was. With only a couple of inches left in the tub, I figured the leak had to be right at the bottom. This morning, I got my inspection camera and started the inspection. I opened the drain line and watched as about 2 gallons of the remaining water flowed out. I eased the cam into that tube and found what looked like a small split in the flexible tubing, about 4” into the drain. Could this really be what kept me from using my spa for 2 years? If this is THE LEAK, it was going to cost me, most likely, $2000+ to have the stealership repair. I cleaned the inside of the tubing very well, crammed a couple of flushable wipes into the tube to keep the water away, then mixed a good dose of JB Marine weld. I got a chop stick, measured right where the “suspected leak” is and heavily smeared the JB Weld around the interior of the tube, pushing it into the area of the suspected area hoping to create a plug as well as a patch. I’m now going to allow it to cure until tomorrow, and see what happens. Worst case, I’m in no worse shape than before. Next, if it even fixes for a short time, I’ll know to jack up the HT and see how I replace that flex tube, which is right on the bottom of everything. Best case is that this fixed my long running problem until I remove or replace the tub. Money spent doing it myself = $35 for the WiFi cam and $6 for the JB Weld, and my own time.