I recently acquired an old hot tub. As you can imagine by getting a 'good deal' on a used spa - you are going to need to replace something. Well when I removed it from the former owners deck, I had to cut both the supply and return lines to the pump/control.
No biggie! When I get it all set back up, I can put new fittings on and re-glue. I wasn't concerned at all. But lets take this a little deeper!
I ordered some replacement parts and as I wait for shipment, I decided to set up the tub and get it working sans the parts I am waiting on (heater element, new seals, etc...). Needless to say, since it is the hot summer days - I was not worried about heating the water, and the minor drips I was getting were tolerable at least for the couple of days that the tub will be in a 'temporary status'. Besides, it gave me an opportunity to practice getting the water chemistry up to speed on this tub. Solution: I used rubber connecters (piece of rubber pipe with 2 hose clamps on them) to connect the return lines and the supply lines.
So... last night I was in the tub with my kids (who are now convinced that the hot tub is far better than the swimming pool!) - when my oldest son said - "Whats that sound?" A quick investigation revealed nothing. It was like a quick pop sound and then nothing. He sat back down and enjoyed the tub.
A short time passed, and this time "I" heard it... a popping sound, followed by a weird swoooshing noise. I asked my son to peek over and take a look at the pump and see if it was doing anything (the skirting is off as I am rebuilding that part too). He replied "yeah - its leaking a little...." and sat back down.
A LITTLE??? A LITTLE?
The tub drained about a foot of water in 30 seconds easy. I jumped out - just in time to grab the two pipes that had come loose just past the outlet of the pump, and reconnect it to the best of my ability while I had the kids turn the jets off at the topside! HAH! Talking about moving some water - the pump easily drained 100 gallons of water VERY quickly.
Lesson learned: DON'T set up a tub 'temporarily' if you can't have the supply lines glued and coupled the way they are supposed to be. Unfortunately this didnt happen right away - as this was the 3rd day of using the tub.. it just freed itself eventually from all the pressure of the pump. Had it loosened on me the first day - I wouldn't have gotten such a laugh from it.
Anyway - thought maybe some of you guys could benefit from a chuckle today!
