Friends gave me a (supposedly) non-working Morgan Hot Tub. Made in 1995, fairly nice model. Mechanically it's in great shape and works beautifully. What was wrong with it you say? Oh, just dry rotted air lines that go to the controller from the pneumatic topside push buttons. They gave up on it and let it sit for 2 years. I drug it home, cleaned it all out, checked out the electrical, replaced the air lines and voila... A perfectly functional hot tub. Yeah, she dribbles a bit at the pump shaft and some of her jets have ceased to rotate around, but overall very, very nice for FREE.

The surround/skirt is needing replaced where their dog decided to eat on it, plus 11 years of weathering. It will eventually get redone.

I can handle all of the mechanical and electrical issues, but the shell has me slightly concerned. It has a handful of hairline splits in the shell. It holds water and does not seem to be leaking. At least, it's not fast enough to show any moisture underneath.

There are no bubbles or seperation (yet) as I've seen described elsewhere in the forums. Just a handful of these small splits. I think some of them showed up after I moved the tub (I drug it 200 miles on a flatbed trailer...).

Is this just to be expected with a 10+ year old shell? Should I rub in some sort of compound to "rejuvinate" the shell and give it some moisture back into it, if such a thing is possible. The shell is still very glossy and "pretty" except in the areas immediately around these few hairline splits. Right around the cracks it looks "dry" and dull. From 10 feet you cannot see most of the damage.

The tub is going to be sitting in my garage for a number of months (probably) until i get my deck built and have a location for the tub. Would keeping a bit of water in the tub help the shell stay "moist" and prevent any worse cracks, or is this not really a moisture issue? Freezing is not much of an issue in south Texas.

Should I let the shell dry completely and then squish silicone down into the splits?

OR ??? Better solution? It was a free tub but it is very functional and so I'd like to make it last at least a few years before I start getting fiberglass splinters in my butt!! lol

Thanks!
-Steve
(lover of hot tubs, just can't afford a brand new one)

Hairline cracks are common in older tubs. The only issue really is that more will come. Unless a piece breaks off (not likely) you shouldn't have any leaks or fiberglass concerns. You could fill them in if it makes you feel better, but as long as you don't have any sharp edges, I'd would just leave it as is. They aren't caused by "drying out" since the material is simple acrylic. There are places that might be able to put a new gelcoat on it, covering everything up, but I can't imagine that would be very cost effective.

None of them are sharp or even very wide, so I'm not going to bother with them. Except for the one up on the molded "morgan" you can't even see them, as they are under water. So far no leaks in the tub.

I just wanted to double check before I got everything all spiffied up and invested some money in the thing.

Headed to Lowe's tonight to get the proper wire and GFCI for the breaker box. Gonna get it installed and give it a good test run to let the controls and motors get warmed up. Also check to see if the heater works. It's not corroded anywhere, inside or out, so wish me luck. A new heater from Morgan's website is only $105, so not a big cost.

Thanks,
-Steve