Analysis
While Caleb and Uncle Wally relaxed in their hot tubs, I mulled over what to do about the leak. I am an analytical kind of guy, and somewhat lethargic, and had never before worked on a hot tub, and so therefore I was stuck in analysis paralysis. My paralysis was exacerbated by the fact that Dimension One built their spa to be a Black Box.
What do I mean by Black Box? On Uncle Wally's tub (and apparently Caleb's as well), the sides of the tub are covered with wooden slats, which are screwed in place. Behind the siding of all tubs is a layer of insulation. On Uncle Wally's tub, the insulation is in the form of slabs or battens of foam insulation. The foam is removable. Remove the sides, remove the foam, and you have full access to the guts of the beast.
On my hot tub, the siding is not screwed in place, or even nailed. Instead, the siding is stapled from the inside. When I attacked the hot tub with my prybar and mallet (my favorite weapons), I succeeded only in splitting the thin slats. There was no obvious way of removing the siding without destroying it.
Discouraged, I retreated.
I considered calling somebody to haul the whole damn thing away.
After more analysis, I decided to isolate the leak by running a series of Black Box experiments. I raised and lowered the water level, trying to isolate a particular line of jets.
notebook entry 5 May 2004
After a week of experimenting, I believed that I had isolated the leak to one set of jets.
I called two local spa repair shops (Blue Water Pools and Sterling Pool Supplies). Blue Water Pools never returned call, even though I left a message with the receptionist. Blue Water Pools (650 864-9000), screw you! Sterling Pool, on the other hand, did return my call. I explained that my hot tub had a slow leak. We'll fix it, they said, for $65/hour. They seemed quite optimistic, and claiming they handled most jobs in 2 hours. Sign me up!
The service man showed up on time, a promising start. I showed him the hot tub and the puddle. I explained that the hot tub leaked even when the pump are off. Service man frowned. Where is the pump? he asked. I showed him. OK, you have what we call a "slow leak" and I can't fix it. You'll have to call somebody else who can take off the sides, remove the insulation...it's a big job. Make sure to get a couple of estimates; it'll be expensive! Try "Spamasters" or "Spas'n'more."
Clearly, this guy had come prepared to merely swap out a pump. When faced with a real hot tub problem, he quickly threw up his hands and declared surrender.
He didn't try to charge me.
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