The house I bought came with a hot tub built into the deck. It's an older Blue Ridge Spa unit, 5 years it seems, 3 person. I don't have any serial or model numbers however. My problem is rather generic, though. I'll give a little history first.

When we filled it up, it drained out. I determined the leak was coming from under the case, under the deck. Pulled the tub out, took the paneling off, and found the pump end was cracked. The previous owner did NOT winterize, or did a poor job of it. So ordered the part and $75 later, no leaks there. Perfect. Turned on the tub to see how it worked, nothing happened. Saw the "HL Reset" red button in the top left, pushed that in, and everything went on. Beautiful! But wait a second... the top of the vertical heater, where the cap and gasket are, is leaking immensely. So I shut off the hot tub, and we determine the gasket is shot. The water leaks/drains out, and I order the part from 1-800-393-3399. They sell me the cap, gasket, and "funnel" which makes me angry, because the gasket itself is probably only $1. So the parts arrived yesterday.

I put the gasket on and screw the cap back on. Fill the tub. Plug it back in. Trips immediately. I take a look and I notice the heater is still leaking. I twist the cap on tighter, and the leak becomes a drip. Try the plug again, nothing. After a closer look, not only was the gasket shot, but so was the cap! Good thing they sold me everything! So I struggle to get the cap off, draining the water, unplugged, and I get it back on and screw it on tight. I fill the tub back up, and no leaks! Great! When I plug it back in, it still trips immediately. So I unplug the heater cord from the control box, and lo and behold, the tub turns on. Jets work, light works. Heater obviously does not.

My question is, does this sound familiar? Sounds like I need a new heater, but what part is shot? Is it the element?(http://spapartsnet.com/p_Spa.Parts_EHBE ... 7_1_2.html) Something else? I know it's hard to say without model numbers, but if I open it up, will I see anything? The people at the 1-800 number quoted me $180 for a new heater including the housing. I don't know if I should just buy it without knowing where the problem lies.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Andrew

this is were experienced service techs should be called in - they can accurately diagnose and repair - it probably is your heater, but you really qualified to know? Call your local service tech, doesn't cost much to get accurate fast diagnosis and repair

Alacy, this forum exists to help folks diagnose and repair their own tubs because qualified tech help is very difficult to come by in this country. And if you do find it, it'll cost you quite a bit just to get a good qualified tech to come out and troubleshoot the problem - typical expense is between $85 and $125 (USD) and that does NOT repair the problem, just the trip charge and diagnosis.

The individual you are replying to already knows more about his tub than about 80% of the folks out there, so for him to call a tech at this point would seriously be a waste of his money and effort.

Now as far as this tub is concerned, welcome to the world of "I gotta used hot tub AND..."

I would be ABSOLUTELY 100% sure that everything around that heater is DRY. You've messed with this thing so much, drained and refilled and leaked and all that - that it wouldn't suprise me if there was a single drop of water bridging between either of the hot leads going to the heater and a ground point like the case.

A blow dryer seems to help these kinds of situations. If you still have the problem, then do an ohms check (power off to the spa of course) between the power wire going to the heater element and the grounded case of that beer can style heater. If you read anything, then replace the element if it is a removeable type, or replace the entire assembly if not.

Hope this helps.