You know, at some point this will become an actual build thread...
Weather was warm today, currently 46 °F and sunny! Snow is melting at a good clip, but we have another 7-11 inches of snow coming in, starting Monday night, so today was just a teaser for spring. That said, I did
finally get around to pulling off the access panel on the spa and taking a look.
Hmm, what's that rusty wet spot under the pump on the left?
I turned both pumps on high, and took a closer look. At the top of the drain fitting water was spitting out. Not a
ton of water, but it's a leak nonetheless. It seems to go away when the pumps are off, but I think it leaks even with the pump on low. This is the pump that runs high for jets, low for circulation when needed and when heat is called for, so it has a lot of low speed run time even when we aren't using the spa. You can see the water spitting out in the picture, frozen by the flash. Good news is that looks to be an easy fix in that location. Not only is it out front, but if functional, both pumps have gate valves on the inlet and outlet, so I don't even have to drain the entire spa to fix that leak.
I took some other pictures too. We've got a rats nest of wiring, which reminds me of the wiring job in our RV...
Speaking of wiring jobs, the 12 VDC converter is literally thrown on the bottom of the spa, I note the lack of installed cable glands, despite clearly being set up for them.
Visible in that picture is the ozone generator. This is timed to run twice a day, I believe, and can't be adjusted. I know it is still functional to at least some extend as I've occasionally smelled a whiff of ozone, and additionally the FC test reads super high if I test while the ozone is on. I plan to disconnect it at some point, though it would be more useful if it could be set up with a manual mode, as it could be handy to run after a soak to help break down waste before we add chlorine. May be a project for another day, but not a high priority at all. I've got free UV light on sunny days if I open the cover.
Some random thing, perhaps a sensor, at the top of the spa, on the outside of the insulation. Not sure what it is. Anyone have any ideas?
Drain hose. This should be connected to the low point in the spa, and is also connected to the drain points on the motors. You know, the point I have a known leak.
In summary, I have one known leak. Based on what I can see, the other three sides of the spa appear to be stuffed with spray foam, and so if I have a leak anywhere else, I'm probably not going to be able to find it. I suspect it will be a while before I get around to fixing that leak. At the minimum I have to wait for the snow to pass and the return of warmer temps. And since that pump is needed for heat and circulation, I need to get everything lined up for a quick replacement so I don't take our spa down for a long time.
As I go, I wanted to add an aside related to the actual building of the pool. My brother in law and some friends were up here for our housewarming yesterday. Three of of us will be putting in a fence this spring. We're planning for the first weekend in May for fence installation. As soon as the snow melts (and it looks like it will stay gone) I'll get the yard marked and start the layout planning of the fence and pool!
................she will wave her magic wand and it will be right where you look the first time!
