Fixing the Leak
Over the next week, I corresponded with Clyde and Dimension One about fixing the leaks. First, the Slit: the Slit was rather long, and after cleaning off the foam, the plastic shell surrounding the Slit was alarmingly flexible. Dimension One informed me that the tub shell is a plastic called Ultralife, or Centrex. It is very hard, but needs a backing layer of 5-lb spray foam for structural support. The Wad itself is composed of 5 lb foam. I searched the web for 5 lb foam and Clyde called around, but we never found any. In the end, we repaired the Slit with epoxy and fiberglass. I bought a marine epoxy repair kit at Tap Plastics, and Clyde brought some fiberglass cloth. The epoxy is thick enough to fill a void like the Slit, and 2 layers of epoxy/fiberglass seemed sufficient to fix the Slit as well as provide structural support.
The pipe leak was a different matter. The PVC cement had not properly melted the flexible tubing, so only the dried cement had kept the water from leaking in the first place.
Cutting and replacing the joint seemed risky, and there was little room for mistake. Clyde purchased a PVC split sleeve, which we cemented to the flexible tubing. Then we applied a copious amount of epoxy and fiberglass.
hose repair
I also replaced the rotten wood with a piece of treated lumber, which Clyde ripped for me.
Testing presented a problem. Again, I forced water into the central jet, but there was really no way to test our repairs without lowering the hot tub and using it.
So we stapled the pan back in place, and lowered the tub...
And filled it with water...
And rewired the electricity...
And crossed our fingers as we flipped on the circuit breaker.
The hot tub no longer leaks!!!
| Slideshow ^ |< << Slide 7 of 10 >> >| |