Need advice on emptying tub.

[SJK]

I started draining my tub for the first time tonight and its taking forever.  The dealer told me two hours but it's at three and counting and I'd like to go to bed sometime tonight.  My question is, can I leave it empty overnight and scrub and refill it in the morning?  Is their any danger of screwing up pumps or seal if it dries out overnight?

[bob5820]

Go to bed, your seals will be fine.

[Brewman]

Just don't run the tub without water

If you want to speed up the drain process, try a larger size drain hose.  I use a 3/4" garden hose on my spa, but I had it on hand already- to feed my pressure washer.  Some dealers sell quick drain kits.  Some people use submersible pumps to really drain fast.  

Brewman

[Rayman]

I drained mine 3 times in a month, once by myself using the drain plug and 3/4 inch hose..it took all night.  The other 2 times it was the dealer who drained it with a quick wand and it took less than 1/2 hour.  I don't know how much those things cost but I will be investigating it for myself, they must be less than $100.

Ray

[nicker]

I am lucky and have  a 1 1/2 inch drain and my tub drains in about 1/2 hour.  My buddy only has the 1/2 in drain and man does it take for ever.  He used a hose and did a syphon technique and it worked well.  Drained his tub in about 1 hour.  If it took me 3 or more hours to drain my tub Id be investing in some form of pump.  I can have my tub drained cleaned and refilled in under 2 hours.

[Ruby]

I do both, I hook up 1 hose to the drain and use another hose to syphon out of the top.  From the time I start draining to the time my tub is refilled I think is about 3 hours if I remember correctly.  I suppose it would be even quicker to use 3 hoses. Hmm... I'll have to try it next time.

[johnvb]

Of course, if your tub does take a long time to drain, and you don't want to invest in some kind of pump, you can always do it the old fashion way...add extra hoses over the rim and siphon it out, along with the hose drain. Instead of sucking the hose with your mouth to get them started, use water from an outside outlet, to "charge" the line with water (flushing out all the air), then disconnect and let her rip.

[Brewman]

Guess I'm lucky here, with the 3/4" hose, my 500 gallons is gone in about an hour, maybe less.
Brewman

[ebirrane]

I thought I read on here someone purchases either a sump pump or fountain pump to aid in the hot tub draining. Might be worth checking out.

-Ed

[drewstar]

I use a small pump to aid in draining the tub. I'm not sure of the brand, but it's something like this:

http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-~pony+pump-p7975125


They are a very handy thing to have around the house.  

[bulmer4nc]

We use a sump pump hose that I got at Home Depot for around $10.

I run the hose into the yard and put the hose into the tub.  I turn on the whirlpool jet full blast and hold the hose in front of it.  It gets a really good flow going.  After about 10 seconds or so I kill the power and gravity does the rest.  

Our tub is close to 500 gallons and we empty in 15 minutes this way.

[Vinny]

We use a sump pump hose that I got at Home Depot for around $10.

I run the hose into the yard and put the hose into the tub.  I turn on the whirlpool jet full blast and hold the hose in front of it.  It gets a really good flow going.  After about 10 seconds or so I kill the power and gravity does the rest.  

Our tub is close to 500 gallons and we empty in 15 minutes this way.

This is what I do too!

It's cheap and quick!!

[Backpains]

How we drained our tub..is we have a hose that is really old, hubby has fixed leaks in it about 5 times, so he takes it apart (it's hooked together by repair kits) and waaaa laaa we have 5 seperate hoses to siphon water from the tub. Takes about 15 min to drain then the rest of the water that is in the tub I drain with an old fashioned cup and bucket till my back tells me I can't do no more and hubby yells at me to get out of the tub that I'm only going to make my back worse! Anyway that's another story for another day!

[Rayman]

How we drained our tub..is we have a hose that is really old, hubby has fixed leaks in it about 5 times, so he takes it apart (it's hooked together by repair kits) and waaaa laaa we have 5 seperate hoses to siphon water from the tub. Takes about 15 min to drain then the rest of the water that is in the tub I drain with an old fashioned cup and bucket till my back tells me I can't do no more and hubby yells at me to get out of the tub that I'm only going to make my back worse! Anyway that's another story for another day!

I am not familiar with your tub but why do you need a bucket, is there no floor drain.  If not how much water can still be left that you would care about it before filling it back up, I mean 1 gallon or so against 399 gallons fresh shouldn't make much difference should it???

Ray

[tonyp]

We use a sump pump hose that I got at Home Depot for around $10.

I run the hose into the yard and put the hose into the tub.  I turn on the whirlpool jet full blast and hold the hose in front of it.  It gets a really good flow going.  After about 10 seconds or so I kill the power and gravity does the rest.  

Our tub is close to 500 gallons and we empty in 15 minutes this way.

Same here.  Sump Pump hose is basically pool hose - so that would work just as well.   Then I use a shop vac to empty the water from the seats etc.