Jacuzzi Hot Tubs heaters

If you decide not to tear into the equipment, use of a quality leak sealer can save you some time and repair money. Although not always a permanent fix, they can be effective on many leaks, with the exception being bad pump seals, which will need to be replaced.

Components associated with spa leaking:

• Pump Wet End Seal
• Heater Assembly Manifold
• Slice/Knife and Gate Valves
• PVC Plumbing Parts & Tubing
• Jet Bodies
• Acrylic Spa Shell

Step-by-Step Repair Diagnostics

A) Disconnect all power to the spa. Inspect the equipment compartment. If leak is under the pump, this indicates a possible pump seal failure. If leak is detected, replace pump or install new seal, as appropriate.

B) Check all union fittings at hot tub pump and heater. Unions can even vibrate loose on a brand new spa during shipment, and should be hand tightened if necessary. If hand tightening is difficult, loosen pump mounting bolts, move components into alignment, then tighten unions and re-tighten pump mounting bolts. Never use a wrench to tighten spa unions.

C) Next, inspect heater, pressure switch and surrounding components. Replace any defective parts as indicated by leak. See Heater Testing

D) Inspect all of the valves. Repair or replace if leak is indicated. Knife style valves are sometimes bolted together and contain a gasket between the halves which can fail, particularly upon freezing or with prolonged poor water quality conditions.

Note: Valves on either side of the pump, when present, are installed at the factory as a convenience to service people (so that they do not have to drain the spa water to replace a pump). In reality, these valves more often do more harm than good, since they are a common source of leaks. Some hot tub owners choose to remove these valves if they have been a leak problem source.

E) Inspect all pipes, jets and connections for leakage. Repair or replace if indicated.

There is only one product that we have ever found that can reliably and permanently fix many leaky PVC components: Plast-Aid. This product forms a molecular bond with the plastic which is stronger than the PVC pipe itself. It is far superior to epoxy compounds.

Leak Detection