So... how old is it???

[mings]

I want to research the longjevity of hot tubs and common problems.

So tell everyone what city and state you purchased your spa as well as what make, model, age, problems you've had and if you like, price you paid for your hot tub.  

[Michelle]

Wow, that's a lot of things to ask right off the top.  You're not gettin any more from this cowgirl.

[Backpains]

ummmmmm ok...I'll play along...I purchased my hot tub from Billings Montana, Coleman 461, 3 weeks old..and not a problem one yet

[drewstar]

My old tub was a small round 4 person Nordic tub. Pretty basic: open seating, about 12 jets, 1 pump and 1 filter catridge.

I got it free,  3rd  hand from a friend. I thought it was pretty old when I got it.  

It was worn. the skirt was cedar and was never sealed, and was powerwashed by someone resulting in uneven coloring of the wood.  The base was plywood.  Insualtion, except for some spray on foam on the tub shell - was non existent on this unit. To me it seemed primative.

It had been moved 3 times, had a small leak, the skirting was loose in a few places and missing trim. Small, furry woodland creatures had made a home inside the cabinet, the cover was faded and loose fitting,and  the snaps/cover locks were broken. The white plastic in the filter area, despite heavy cleaning, were severly discolored. The plywood base was rotted out....all in all a very worn  tub.  

I honeslety thought the tub was 10-15 years old.

I went through the paperwork and found a notation from the original ower that it was installed in  July 1999. It was only 6 years old when I decided it was time to upgrade.

So, the tub was outside in MA. Was 6 years old and never properly taken care off, and "low end" to start with.

I got it for free, but the winter electric bills ($150/mo  +) sent my wife into fits. It cost me $500 to hook up, 2 days to set up and lasted about a year.   It now sits behind one of my sheds. I need to cut it up and haul it off to the dump, so that's another day lost and $50 to throw it away.

[Drewski]

Hey Drewstar:

I have a buddy who wants to "restore" a similar tub, but is missing a spa controller pack and heater. He found an old HS tub "on the curb" that was missing the control and heater pack. The pump works fine, but he needs to hook up the other stuff. The tub only has "air controls" (the type you push for "on", "off," etc) up top, no control panel. So, if your old tub has the old style "timer" control pack, maybe it will work? Maybe a few bucks in it for you as well?

THANKS!

Drewski

[drewstar]

Hey Drewstar:

I have a buddy who wants to "restore" a similar tub, but is missing a spa controller pack and heater. He found an old HS tub "on the curb" that was missing the control and heater pack. The pump works fine, but he needs to hook up the other stuff. The tub only has "air controls" (the type you push for "on", "off," etc) up top, no control panel. So, if your old tub has the old style "timer" control pack, maybe it will work? Maybe a few bucks in it for you as well?

THANKS!

Drewski

 

I'd be more than happy to help someone out.

The electronic controls I belive are Balboa.  It allowed to turn the 1 pump on and off, turn the light on/off, set the temp (up to 104) and displayed the currect tub temp.  You could also program the filter cyle to run from 2-6 times a day.


Air controls were handled by diverter valves on the tub.

I know nothing about the heater. If interested I could take another look at the tub and possiblely snap a few digital pics.   contact info is in my profile.  

If any of this is useful to anyone, I'd be more than happy to see someone use it, as opposed to sitting in a landfill.

[Brewman]

The responses you're going to get on this poll won't mean much.  You'd need thousands of histories over many years to draw any useful conclusions.

Brewman