Jandy Backorder Rumors

See my post here... Impacted by Texas Freeze

My Versaflow was broken and I had several hairline cracks in the manifold. I fixed them with marine epoxy. My wife and I went hot tubbing for the first time in 3 months.
I do have a spare JXI gasket set DM if interested. I can meet you somewhere in Plano.

When I was at Leslie's pool in Murphy to pick up o-ring lube, I was chatting with the guy. He said they are being told August at the earliest before they expect to see parts back in.

baloo said:

Thanks, I think my gaskets look ok for now; but I keep taking the manifold off and on trying to fix the crack. Mine is a bit more than a hairline; but I want hot tub.
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That's a serious crack. But honestly, do you have anything to lose by trying to epoxy it back together? It may be a temporary fix but might get you by till they are available.

Disassemble everything and pull out the valves. Clean everything thoroughly internally and externally with rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits. Drill a hole at the end of the crack to stop the spreading of the crack. Take a Dremel and bevel back the crack on the inside and outside. Sand with 120 grit a large area all the way around the crack on both the inside and outside. Reclean with rubbing alcohol or mineral spirits. Then put a small amount of epoxy into the entire length of the crack and put rubber bands or clamp the crack together. Clean up any excess and allow to drive for a couple of hours (~2+ hours).

Repeat the process over the cracks again and try to fill in some more of the cracks till flush on the inside. Cut pieces of fiberglass that extend about 0.5+ inches on either side of the crack and epoxy fiberglass over the exterior crack. Use a light coat of epoxy but enough to wet the fiberglass. Allow it to dry for a couple of hours.

Verify the interior crack is flush, if not add some more epoxy. Add more epoxy over the fiberglass and get a good strong coat. Allow it to dry for 24 hours now. Sand flush any mating surfaces so you get a good seal. After the cure period, spray paint with a satin black to make it look nice.

Then rebuild the heater (with it not plumbed in) and do a static pressure test. I would use alot of o-ring lube on all mating surfaces to ensure a good seal.

Parts I used when I rebuilt mine:

• Marine Epoxy (slow cure)
  • https://www.lowes.com/pd/LOCTITE-Marine-White-Epoxy-Adhesive/50436714
• Fiberglass Mat (way more than you need)
  • https://www.lowes.com/pd/3M-White-Fiberglass-Cloth/3228210
• Black Satin Spray paing
  • https://www.lowes.com/pd/Krylon-FUS...int-and-Primer-In-One-NET-WT-12-oz/1000460283
• Pressure gauge and schrader valve
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088SC361Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here are some photos of the pressure tester I built. I had to order the pressure gauge but I built the rest with random PVC I had laying around. The link above takes 3/4 NPT male fitting. Heck, I even thought about just encasing the Dang thing a block of epoxy since these manifolds are pure unobtanium.

Hope this helps. You got nothing to lose by trying to see if it works.

Let me know how it works out. If you want more mechanical grip from the epoxy, drill shallow holes all over where the fiberglass will go (like 1/2 way through the manifold thickness) and then fill it with epoxy. It may help lock the joint from separating from the epoxy by anchoring it.

I had some valves on order at 2 places and after being assured they were in stock the ordered were cancelled and I was told they expected zero additional stock for this swim season ... Valves went from ~$60 ish to over $125

Any update baloo? I am curious if you tried to epoxy it back together and if it was successful.

A pool builder here told us Claffey bought over a $1 million in pool equipment when the freeze hit and that's impacted everyone-not sure if he's blowing smoke or if its true.

A pool builder here told us Claffey bought over a $1 million in pool equipment when the freeze hit

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All the big builders do this, not just Claffey

baloo said:

epoxy only on inside; my thought is that the inside should be smooth and water pressure may catch fiberglass and rip it off.

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That was my thought as well when I did mine. For the sanding, you don't want to go too smooth where the epoxy will bond to the plastic. The intent is to give grip to the epoxy.

Awesome news on possible UPS delivery!

Awesome Baloo!