1994 Hotsprings Highlife model K, worth a try?

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May 21, 2015
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Cajun country, Louisiana
My parents bought this tub new and kept it well maintained, on a cement slab, protected from weather on 3 sides, under patio cover... and they are offering to give it to me. Is it worth paying to have it moved? Everything was working fine when they last used it a few years ago. They drained it when they stopped using it. It would have to be moved about 10 miles. I wouldn't mind spending a few hundred bucks if something needed to be replaced, but I don't want to end up building a hot tub from scratch one part at a time. Any thoughts?
 
That is a hard call, finding parts for the pre IQ-2000 controller hot springs tubs which came out around 1997 is getting hard. However if it is in god shape and the control box still works it might be worth it. It really is amazing how much improvement there was to the guts of the Hot Spring tubs in the 90's, and just how little has changed since then except for the bells and whistles.
 
Hi Isaac and thanks for your response. I was hoping to get a reply from you, as my searches seemed to indicate you are quite knowledgeable on this subject. I hope you don't mind me asking a few more questions... How would I find out if the "control box" works? Is this something I can do with it empty?
 
I would not count myself as an expert, I just bought a used Hot Spring tub a couple of years ago (1998 Jetsetter J) and had to learn about to in order to repair and maintain it myself.

There are a number of positives and negatives to these 1990's Hot Spring tubs, on the positive the egg shell looking tub material very durable and rarely has problems with cracking, but on the potential downsides the support construction from this era is wood which of course can rot, also these tubs have high density blown in foam insulation so if you do ever have a plumbing leak repairing it can be a major ordeal. As to the control box I don't know much about the pre 1997 control box other than it used mechanical timer and mechanical thermostat and has a reputation for breaking vs the fully electronic boat with digital display that came about in 1997 / 1998 (97 was an in between year with no digital display). Another cause for concern may the heater as the modern titanium tube heaters were introduced with the mid - late 90's. These are things that can be updated with enough time, effort and money, but I just kind of doubt it would be worth it here.


If you were going to move it yourself I would say go for it, but I am not sure it is worth paying someone to move it given that with a bit of shopping you can find a good 10-15 year old Hot Spring tub of similar size (maybe a little smaller) for under $2,000, maybe under $1,500.
 
Thanks for the info. Looks like I have some googling to do! I do not think moving it myself is an option, but I am hoping to find someone to do it for less than the $600 I was quoted by the local dealer, if I decide to get it. I think I will fill it up at my parents house and see what works, then go from there. The wood case is in great condition, but I am worried it might crumble when moved.
 
Spas are more fun than parts to look at online, so I happened to find a Marquis 530 for sale just down the road from me. Don't know the year yet, but it looks much more updated than my mom's spa and has a waterfall. Is this a good brand? I've always heard Hotsprings is an excellent brand, but don't know about others.
 
I used to be a Hot Springs repairman. The Highlife was a fairly dependable model, especially if you have the Endurol surface. Of course, any spa that's around 15 years old is iffy, but I think that Hot Springs is a better choice in a used spa than most, other than Sundance Spas.
 
Marquis is a brand with a fairly good reputation, I would tend to consider it a step down from Hot Spring, but not a big one. I can't comment much on the cracks, but would guess they are likely cosmetic only issues.
 

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Thanks for the info Isaac.

So I found out the Marquis is a 2005 or 06, judging from the picture of the control panel. No insulated cover, small cracks on top of shell, 30 jets, holds 350 gal. What would be a reasonable price to pay? What would you choose between this and the free 21 year old Hotsprings?
 
It really is hard to put a price on use hot tubs as so many people just want them gone and are willing to take little or nothing for them. Having said that It is not uncommon to see asking prices of $1,500 - $2500 for similar tubs in good condition with functional covers, given this ones cosmetic issues and lack of a cover I would not go so high, a new cover will run $400-$500. As to what I would pick I would have to go with the Marquis out of the two, but would also strongly consider to continue shopping.
 
Out of curiosity, I read some of your other threads to see if you posted about maintaining your old tub. One click lead to another, and I read about the mule in the pool! I hope whomever was driving it wasn't hurt, and if so, then you should have submitted a (let's pretend you have surveillance home cams) video of it to America's funniest home videos and won enough money to repair the damage! How is your hot tub holding up these days?
 
Doing ok, except for going through 2 circulation pumps this year at $170 each, changed one out this spring with a cracked ceramic bearing, then had another die on me a few weeks ago, tripping GFCI for no visible reason.

Ike

p.s. on the Kawasaki Mule story the most amazing thing about it is it sheered the hinges on the wood frame double french doors (cleared the doorway by a fraction of an inch), but did not break any of the glass. 4 new hinges is all it took to fix the doors.
 
The Sovereign was / is a very popular model in mid sized "6 person" hot tubs (hot tub sizing is like tent sizing, take the advertised number and divide by 2 for comfortable fit) so 3-4 people in the real world. (note it looks like there were 2 Sovereign's in 2002 the regular and a slightly bigger Limited edition, models I and ILE, the regular Sovereign is 120/240 convertible, but it looks like the ILE is 240V only). It also looks like the ILE is a mirror image layout to the regular sovereign. For features it comes with the Hot Spring single Moto-Massage seat, as well as a fair variety, later Hot Spring tubs after about 2005 tend to have the dual Moto-Massage with 2 sets of moving jets, I can't say much here as my tub also has the single Moto-Massage seat, some people love them some don't I am in between. Controller will be the first generation of the IQ-2020, features will tend to be basic by modern standards, by 2002 it should have LED main light (my 1998 still had a 75W incandescent bulb), but will be blue only not color changing as that did not come out until 2005 or so. 2002 should also probably be the Endurol egg shell looking tub, these are much more durable than any tub built today, just don't have that pearlescent smooth finish everyone seems to want. If you do end up getting it and having to run 240V wiring be aware the wiring requirement for many of the Hot Spring brand tubs is different than many other brands as they require a neutral wire in addition to the 2 hots.


Ike

p.s. note if the jets, spinners jets, moto-massage cover plate, etc are gray or beige, as beige has been discontinued a couple of years ago, but can still be found as new old stock on ebay some times, but will only get harder as time goes by. Most /all parts are still available.
 

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