Another Leaking Power-Right

Just got called out to another leaking Power-Right spa pump and very upset customer since the spa was less then 2 years old.  Luckily he noticed the leak earlier enough the there was no extensive damage to the motor portion.  I explained that Power-Right pumps we notorious for leaks, frankly in my opinion they are the single most problematic spa component I have come across. 

Problem was until just recently I had little choice either replace the entire pump which in the case of this job was more then the customer needed or pump on a Power-Right pump part fully knowing it would be a issue for him in the near future.  THE GOOD NEWS  is while at a supply house bitching about the crappy quality of these Power-right spa pumps and how I was not doing the customer a favor putting on parts that I knew would not last they told me about an adapter plate that allowed me to use an Aqua-Flo wet end which are an industry standard, time test product.  Here is the kicker the retrofit was cheaper then the Power-Right part.

If you have a Cal Spa with a Power-Right pump I am sure you have or will in the near future experience an issue with it an leaks.  I can not stress strong enough that you should look into using this adapter and switching to a much better quality product.  The retrofit was easy and took me less the 5 minutes. 

Want more info on it contact me or talk to your service tech.   I picked up the retrofit from Action Spa Parts in El Cajon.  While they are a wholesale company that will not sell to the general public (to the best of my knowledge they don't).  I am sure they sell your pool and spa store or service technician.  

Do you smell smoke?

One of today's spa repair calls was for a Bullfrog spa not working.  Customer had said that they replaced the circuit board in it about 3 months ago.  They also reported for the last we or so they had a little bit of smoke smell but weren't sure and everything seemed to be working fine till it just stopped working, no power no nothing.

The moment we took off the equipment door the strong smell of something burned was very apparent.  Before we could get the control box opened up we had a pretty good suspicion of what we were going to find.  Sure enough when we opened the box we found a burned up terminal strip and a cooked circuit board.

This can typically happen because one of two reasons: 

1.  The wires were not tighten down properly in the terminal strip.  Make sure you use the correct size screwdriver to get a good bite on the screw and firmly tighten.
2.  The insulation was tighten down instead of the exposed copper wire.  Maker sure you strip back enough wire that you can properly tighten down on the copper and not grab any insulation.  

Finally if you smell any smoke shut down the power and investigate immediately.  It is possible that this could have been caught before any real damage was caused.  As always if you have a spa repair need in the San Diego County Area please give us a call.

Cheaper is sometime more expensive

One of our service jobs yesterday was to a Hot Spring Spa (since we are asked all the time this is a top tier brand that we would strongly recommend) that wasn't heating.  Since we had been to this customers house 23 months prior to replace the No Fault 6000 Heater we assumed it must be something else in the system not letting the heater come on.  When we arrived we found that the relatively new heater we had put in had failed all ready.

While sometimes parts just fail we did a little research on the matter and learned that the generic heater, while made by the same company as the OEM heater was had some hidden surprises in it.  First thing after very close inspection the "generic heater" only had one element in despite the two heater tubes.  The OEM has two elements, this mean is one element fails your spa will still heat.  Additionally the generic heater was stainless steel and not titanium which in time could have also lead to a shorter product life.

We point this out as we often suggest OEM when we see the value in the extra cost and just because a product is made by the same manufacturer it may not be made up the specifications of the genuine product.

So while the customer saved a little initially with a less expensive heater its shorter life span would have meant the heater actually cost much more in the long run.  In this case we absorbed most of the cost so it didn't cost them to much but we are sure there are many others that will end up wishing they had known the differences between the oem and generic.  We are no longer going to offer the generic style heater after learning its short comings.

If your spa isn't heating or need any kind of spa repair in san diego visit our website or give us a call.

Tripping Breaker Equaled A Shorted Spa Heater

     One of todays spa repair was a tripping circuit breaker.  When a breaker trips with in just a few moments of the spa starting up this is often a heater that has shorted out, as was the case today.  If you are in a situation where your breaker is tripping unhook that leads to the heater (take caution to make sure the unhooked leads are not touching anything) and power back up the spa.  If the breaker holds you have a bad heater.  We stock both complete heater assemblies as well as just the elements. 
      In todays case the heater housing appeared to be in good shape our tech elected to save the customer a couple of dollars and replace just the element. 2-1/2 hours later he finally got the element in (the second one he broke the first trying to install it).  This is a very experience tech and it was just one of those things but it did bring up the point that sometime it is better to replace a complete unit rather then just an isolated competent.  While we sell elements only on our spa parts online site we do recommend that you consider the lessons here and evaluate how easy the old element came out.  Installing an element can be tricky at times and it takes very little to damage them when installing.
    If you are a Do It Yourself-er and want to replace you spa heater let us know which type it is and we will happily let you know if we think it is easy to replace just the element or if you are better off iwth the complete assembly.

Inexperienced Techs Can Cost You Money

We repaired a Jacuzzi today that the customer had called us after using another company.  His complaint was that nothing worked on his control and panel, none of the buttons or the display.  Our first thought was the auxillary control panel had failed since this is a rather common issue.  The two control panels are tied in together before the circuit board so one going can cause both to not work at times.  When we got there we realized the circulation pump was not working which meant there more likely a problem with the main board.  It took us just a few minutes to diagnose the problem and few more to install a new circuit board and the Jacuzzi was back up and running like new.

The unfortunate part for the customer is the company he hired before us came out spent over an hour
"fiddling with the spa" before saying it was the upper control.  They ordered him a new upper control that took three weeks to get in and of course that did not solve the problem.  Telling him he had additional problems they "fiddled some more" they then suggest a complete new spa pack for 1200.00.  Having all ready paid them 620.00 and still not working he was not prepared to spend another 1200.  Our total cost was well under what he spent with them and since the upper control was installed he was the proud owner of it even though his old one panel still worked fine.  We did put his old panel back in and suggest he hold on to the new one sell it on ebay.

We are seeing more and more inexperienced techs trying to make repairs on spas and hot tubs with little or no experience, this often cost the customer more then it should.  Please make sure you hire someone with years of experience on your type of hot tub.  

Jacuzzi jets not working

Hello fellow Jacuzzi spa and hot tub owners.   Did a service call for jets that were not working on one half of the Jacuzzi spa.  Found that several jets were falling out and some were evening missing when we arrived.  You should be aware that some Jacuzzi spas need all the jets in to create the venturi that draws the air with the water. Since they had some jets already missing it made others seem like they were not working. We replaced the missing and broken jets at which point the Jacuzzi ran like new again.

The jets were falling and breaking because of bad water chemistry more then anything.  The customer began using bromine tablets a few years ago after previously using a mineral system.  In talking with them the mineral system stopped working as well at it had and the water kept becoming cloudy.  When we check the ozone system we found it was no longer working.  We replaced it and got them back on to minerals which is far less corrosive on the system.  Also happy to say they are now on our monthly white glove program which should also protect them from future troubles like this.

Broken hot spring spa moto massage

Hello San Diego hot spring spa owners amongst the several hot tub repairs yesterday, we fixed a motomassage that was not working.  Spa was 6 years old and frankly there did not appear to be anything the customer did that led to the failure but since this is a common repair we thought we would point out some causes we have seen. 

• Dirty Filters - the moto-massage jet is very flow driven so dirty or old filters can cause it to stop working.  To test simply remove your filters and turn on the unit, if the jet begins to move up and down correctly  then clean or replace your filters. 
• Water Chemistry - this jet seems to be extra sensitive to bad water chemistry that can make the rubber in it less pliable and more likely to split.  Strongly recommend against the use of bromine or other acid type sanitizers.  Check you pH weekly.  
• Sitting Dry - use it or lose it in this case.  We have seen moto-massage jets not work after customers have left the spa empty for extended periods of time and the jet seems to get a permanent shape in it. 

If you have a hot spring spa with such a problem we happy to come out and handle the repair or for you Do-It-Yourselfers we are happy to give you any advice you need.  Remember we can handle any type of hot tub repair you may have so visit our website and schedule an appointment.