Leaking pipe?

[PKDallas]

I noticed today we have a pipe behind our hot tub that is leaking. It's strange, in that it has two pipes going up about 3 feet off the ground, and is topped off by a box containing what appears to be a GFC reset switch?!? The switch only has the reset and test buttons, no outlet plugs. The brown pipe on the right side is either cracked or just not screwed in at the bottom of the coupling, as it is a clean break. There is only water in this pipe, and it is slowly coming out through the pipe.

I'm assuming this is somehow connected to the hot tub, which would explain the water loss we have been having. We've been losing about 3/4 inch overnight, which I attributed to a faulty check valve (replacement parts on the way). Any idea why I would have a water pipe connected to a GFC electrical switch? It looks like the previous owner had to repair it at least once before, as there is white stuff all over the bottom of the coupling.

 

[JasonLion]

Do you have an underwater light in the spa? An underwater light is always connected by flooded conduit to an outlet box that must be fairly close to the light.

 

[PKDallas]

Yes, there is a light in the spa. I have never heard of a flooded conduit. Anything I need to worry about in repairing this?

 

[bk406]

The light is in whats called a wet niche. IOW, the water floods the niche and backs up into the conduit that houses the wires. It's very normal. However, the junction box needs to be above the water line since water will flow back up the conduit to a level rqual to the top of the water in the spa. It appears thats a rasied spa and the junction box is right at the water line. Raising the junction box higher than the water line should take care of the problem.

 

[PKDallas]

The junction box is actually about a foot above the water line. The picture just makes it look level due to the angel. The leak is about a foot off the ground, and below the water level. What would I use to fix this? Simple silicone caulking bead around the bottom of the coupling as a temporary fix?

 

[lightingguy]

Silicon and other solutions of that nature aren't gonna work. You can see someone already tried that at the union connector (where the break is.) You'll need to replace that part of the pipe and make the connections water tight.

Do you know what material the broken section of pipe is?

It's not all that hard a thing to do but would require some electrical experience.

You would need to kill the power to the GFI, remove it, remove the box from the conduits and replace the broken section - and obviously lower the water in the spa so it doesn't come shooting out the pipe.

 

[X-PertPool]

If you want to try to get away with not lowering the water level you can try a large suction cup to go over the light to stop water from leaving the spa. But you'll probably have an easier time just lowering the water level as mentioned before.

 

[mart242]

You would need to kill the power to the GFI, remove it, remove the box from the conduits and replace the broken section - and obviously lower the water in the spa so it doesn't come shooting out the pipe.

Or setup a video camera and not lower the water level when you do the work. Make sure to post the video on youtube and link it here!