Jets Keep Popping Out on Beachcomber!

[teebone110]

I have been having problems with the medium jets in our Beachcomber. They do not seem to allow adequate flow output either.
Upon closer inspection there is a "W: printed on the outside of the jet.

I thought I remembered reading once that Beachcomber switched jet manufacurers because of this problem.

I went to the dealer, the guy said to make sure there wasn't any calcium build up on my jets, and clean with a wire brush, well... I did that and they are still popping out, 2 of 4!

Any recommendations??

Thanks.

[HotTubMan]

Depending on when your tub was built, you may be a candidate for a retainer ring replacement on all small and medium jets.

The issue is not a Beachcomber exclusive. Many manufacturers had growing pains with Waterway's "power storm jets" They became standard in Beachcomber models in 2001. Since then Waterway has revised the jets and retainer rings 5 times.

Your jet insert has a number on it: R1, R2, R3, R4 or R5. This tells you what generation the jet is.

As for the calcium, many dealers and spa owners see a white dust on these inserts and beleive it to be calcium. I am not saying it is not on yours for sure, but more often than not the white residue is what is left of plastic that has come of the jet insert. This will happen over time, period. Poor water chemistry will accelerate this process.

How old is your spa? Have you tried to insert different jets in the spots they are popping out? More information will help me diagnbose the issue.

HotTubMan

[stuart]

teebone,
How old is your spa? I'm guessing between 3-4 years?

[HotTubMan]

teebone,
How old is your spa? I'm guessing between 3-4 years?

Stuart;

There were '02 & '03 Beachcombers that needed retainer ring replacements. Waterway had to shrink/weaken the retainer rings after beefing-up the locking clips on the inserts. The retainer rings have R#'s as well. For exapmle R5 jets would not come out and in some cases would not go into R1 retainer rings...

[Steve]

Couple things HotTubMan;
The jets that had a white power on the body when taken out, were often diagnosed as an excess of calcium when in fact it was the jet itself breaking down and becoming brittle. This, along with the jet not staying in its port, was a problem Waterways addressed with their R4 and R5 replacements.

I had never used the retainer ring to fix the issue. The replacement to an R5 would do it on its own. That's my experience with them anyway... :-/

Steve

[stuart]

Couple things HotTubMan;
The jets that had a white power on the body when taken out, were often diagnosed as an excess of calcium when in fact it was the jet itself breaking down and becoming brittle. This, along with the jet not staying in its port, was a problem Waterways addressed with their R4 and R5 replacements.

I had never used the retainer ring to fix the issue. The replacement to an R5 would do it on its own. That's my experience with them anyway... :-/

Steve

and that was on models around 3 to 4 years old right?

[Steve]

Thad be about right Stu.

[HotTubMan]

Beachcomber released a memo in 2004 instructing dealers to replace all retainer rings and jets if a replacement jet was popping out of the same body consistently.

I disgarded these memos when Beachcomber stopped allowing us to perfrom warranty work for them, although I would bet a dealer with access to Service Bench could pull it up.

[teebone110]

Thanks everyone for your input.

My spa is a 550X and it was bought in 2002.

Upon closer inspection of my jets, the two that keep popping out have some numbers on them...

one has a printed "1" on the stem, and underneath it,
it says "218-4000" then it says "R1"
I would assume this is the part number and a defective jet?

the other says, "2" and also  has a part number "218-4000" inscribed on it.  There is no R2 stamped on this one though.

Other jets do stay intact when switched to different ports, but these two jets will not latch for anything.

Should I inspect all of my jets and request that all of them be upgraded because of the Waterway recall?

What should I be asking of my dealer? My warranty expired in October 2004

Thanks

[Steve]

Don't quote me on this but Beachcomber I believe is warrantying any defective Waterway jet whether in warranty or not. It's a recognized flaw and i's not the consumers fault.

Take the defective jets back to your dealer in exchange for an R4 or R5 replacement. Make sure they have them first! Let us know if you have difficulty doing that. I don't suspect you will.

Steve

[teebone110]

Well, as I expected..

Went to the local Beachcomber and " you can PAY to have your defective jets replaced, since your warranty expired 3 months ago."

I do not have a problem paying for replacement parts if it is a maintenance issue, but the thought of being held responsible for something that is not even my fault, sounds totally riduculous to me!

The dealer is well aware of the defective nature of thr R1 and R2 jets, but are refusing to help out their customer.

The worst thing about it, is that I have been back to the dealer at least twice before, complianing about this issue, and they only replaced the jet in question.

I believe that once they had known about this problem, they should have replaced all of my defective (R1 and R2) jets!

Anyway, I am going to try my luck with head office and see if I can get any customer service from them.

What would you do?  :-/

[Steve]

You are 100% right to do that. If I was still with Beachcomber, I'd phone myself!

Call 1-800-663-6557 and ask for Maria Silva. She'll look after you and if you talk to her, say HI for me! She's a great lady!!

Your dealer is a shmuck! And you can tell them that from me too!

Steve

[teebone110]

As the saying goes...
"If you want to get something done right, you gotta do it yourself!"

After a call out to Beachcomber home office, my issue was resolved.

And no thanks to my dealer  

Thanks Beachcomber for standing behind your product!  


and also Thanks to Steve and everyone else for your guidance and knowledge, much appreciated,
and happy tubbin'

[Steve]

Glad you were looked after T.

I don't know too many people that Beachcomber head office has let down. The odd dealer might need a frontal lobotomy but otherwise....

Steve

[HotTubMan]

I don't know too many people that Beachcomber head office has let down.
Steve

Yes you do. What about our mutual friend......LOLOLOL

But thats another story.....