Problem tub or problem HS dealerÉIÕm confused

[iggythewetcat]

My HS Jetsetter is about a year and half old. IÕve routinely done water management with nary a problem. Today I went out to put some chemistry in, I believe calcium reducer. The water level was low, but not critical. It was just below the top of the four precision jets. My plan was to top the water up over the weekend when I had more time. I let the jets run, with the cover open for about an hour. I went out to add some chlorine and was surprised to see the jets sputtering or not working at all and the water about two inches lower. I freaked out, I couldnÕt figure what caused the water to disappear! This had never happened before. I called the dealer and explained my problem. He said why donÕt you try to determine where the leak is. You know, remove the door and see if thereÕs water there or any place else. I said, canÕt you do it? What do I know about this stuff? He said, it would cost about $75 an hour for them to come out to look. I replied, whatÕs the warranty for??? Ultimately I removed the door, looked around and could not determine where the water may have gone. I refilled the tub and all seems OK. Does anyone have a clue about what could have happened? Should I have expected more from my dealer?

[st18901]

If it happens again and you see a big puddle - it's a leak.  

If it doesn't happen again, I'm guessing that some space aliens needed to fill their radiator up.

I don't think peaking inside your equipment area is asking for too much. In fact, I think it's a good idea. If you had mice or something worse building something in there, I doubt it would be covered by warranty.

For your sake, if you do lose a lot of water again - I hope it IS puddling inside your equipment area. The alternative (pipe or shell) is a much bigger pain in the neck.

[J._McD]

Well, first I think your expecting it to be a problem, when right now it is a question.  I would suggest putting water in the spa to the proper level and see if everything is operation properly.  Look for eveidence of wherewater could have gone.  Is something wet?  Check the equipment area.

Basically, your HS dealer is saying he wants to be paid for his trip or time to investigate what you can find out yourself.  If you are losing water, it's got to be pretty obvious.  If you fill it up and the water line stays the same for 24 hours and then a couple of days, then a week, well nothing is wrong.

Check it out, find out where the water went.  If you find an obvious problem, then call your dealer back and let him know what you found.  

Have you looked in the EQ area, can you see water anyplace.  If your dealer did come out what would he do first, everything suggested above.

The warranty is to fix defects in material or workmanship and we really don't know what's wrong.

[Spatech_tuo]

Hmmm. If you were really down 2" in that short time frame you would see water around the spa. The sputtering jet are very typical when the water level gets down to the level of the highest jets. I bet the topping off takes care of it but you'll know very soon. After topping it off, run the pump(s) for 10 seconds to get any air out of the lines, turn them off, note the exact water level and cover the spa. Come back later tonight or in the morning and see where you are.

As far as the dealer goes, his thought is similar to mine that you very well may not have an issue so he wants you to confirm it before he sends someone out. I don't really blame at this point. If you really do have an issue then you will find out how good he is.

[iggythewetcat]

I donÕt mean to sound like a whiner. I wouldnÕt ask the dealer to come out if the problem was even remotely obvious. ItÕs was difficult for me to determine if the tub had been leaking because we had about three inches of show which has been melting. It looks wet everywhere, but frankly I still think I would have noticed two inches worth of water somewhere. I mean that must translate to several gallons of water.  

[J._McD]

I donÕt mean to sound like a whiner. I wouldnÕt ask the dealer to come out if the problem was even remotely obvious. ItÕs was difficult for me to determine if the tub had been leaking because we had about three inches of show which has been melting. It looks wet everywhere, but frankly I still think I would have noticed two inches worth of water somewhere. I mean that must translate to several gallons of water.  

Iggy, relax, fill it up and let's see what happens.  Given everything you say, with 3 inches of snow and all, what could you expect more of your dealer than what you can do as well, investigate.  You may discover nothing, and it may not even loose water again.  If it doesn't lose water again, and he finds nothing, it looks like he would like you to pay him for his time.  It seems reasonable.

[Chas]

One or more of the jets may have simply gotten close enough to the surface of the water to shoot over the side of the tub. If you did see water, it could be some distance away. Once the level got low enough for the jet system to suck air, it began 'surging.' I would simply fill the thing and let it go.

[st18901]

and look around for space alien tracks in the snow.

[salesdvl]

Those darn Hot Spring!      Always attracting aliens.  

Watkins really does have an awesome marketing program!!  

[iggythewetcat]

Clearly there were no alien tracks but several squirrels looked guilty and bloated. My suspicions are that Chas is might be right, but itÕs still pretty weird if you ask me.  

[Gomboman]

wmccall, what's up with the strange characters?

[tony]

Letting your jets run for about an hour in the cold with the cover open may have caused enough evaporation to drop the level a couple of inches.  Once it gets below the top jets, it just adds to the situtation.

I know someone who was away for a few days and his cover blew half open while it was cold.  He came back to a half full spa with frozen jets above the water line.  Lucky to have no damage, but this was caused by evaporation.

[drewstar]

If you had the cover off, could the sputter jets sputtered the water out of the tub?

Dont be too hard on the dealer. The warrenty doesn't include running out to your house for every problem/issue/question.  It covers replacing broken parts that have failed.  Usually (and  I too was surprised when I first learned this), a service fee, above and beyond anything under warrenty is charged to the consumer.   This occurs not only in the HotTub industry, but also in applaince repair and in the Automotvie industry (Get your car fixed under the manufactuers warrenty, and you will still pay a $50 co-pay, even though you brought the car in).


Some dealers don't explain this up front and cause some confuion (and annoyance/frustration) when a customer calls and learns that every single little thing is not going to be covered with an emergency repsonse team. :^)

I have had great luck with my dealer via e-mail. They are very responsive to talking with me throughe-mail on parts and service and answering questions.  I don't tie up thier phones. It works great.
Good luck with the leak/water issue.  Please keep us informed!

[iggythewetcat]

OK here’s the bottom line, the water is exactly where it was yesterday afternoon after toping the tub off. One of two things must have happened:

1.      It DID leak and a squirrel preformed a miracle.
2.      It probably was a combination of low flying jets shooting the water out of the tub and evaporation.

I just never would have thought two inches worth of water could literally evaporate in an hour.

Gomboman
RE: strange characters
Were you referring to certain individuals on this forum or the things showing up in my writing? If it was the latter I may have the answer. I often type my emails in MS Word first so I won’t have the bad spelling mistakes you often see here. I then cut and paste and obviously something doesn’t translate. Probably because it’s coming from a MS product, but that’s another forum!

[iggythewetcat]

BTW, I don’t mean any disrespect of the tech people on this forum but don’t you think $75 an hour is somewhat expensive to repair a hot tub? In these parts costs are as follows:

Electricians=$100 per hour
Plumbers=$85 per hour
Master Carpenters=$45 per hour

Not to take anything away from hot tub technicians, but is the level of training and difficulty comparable to the occupations listed above?

The hot tub guy store is about 4 miles from my house. I agree he can’t just run over everyone’s house at the drop of a hat. However, I just walked in his store one day and bought my hot tub on the drop of a hat, and I buy all my chemicals etc there not online like lots of people. Maybe an offer of a courtesy call to my house would have been nice?