Looking for Feedback on Condition of Roberts Hot Tubs Insulated Cover.

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303Michael

303Michael

Active member
Jul 8, 2019
30
Denver, CO
I just took delivery of this spa cover from Roberts Hot Tubs (www.rhtubs.com). Based on at least one other thread I read when doing pre-purchase research, I decided to open up and inspect the vapor barrier, particularly since I paid for a double wrap. On one of the cores, it looks like the vapor barrier split after being sealed and they just closed it up with masking tape.

To me, this just doesn't seem up to quality. Any vapor barrier is only as good as the seal on the closure and I'm not convinced the masking tape either provide an equivalent seal or will hold up long term.

I just wanted to get some feedback here to make sure my expectations aren't way out of line.

Edit: I initially avoided naming the company so it didn't seem like I was trying to shame or pressure them and to give them a fair opportunity to respond but since they haven't replied to me after eight business days I went ahead and updated the thread.

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Do you see the double wrap?

Call and complain and see what they offer.
 
I would definitely contact them - only u can decide what remedy you wish to accept - replacement or discount etc.
Hopefully they have good customer service.
 
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The water is a vapor, which can penetrate through materials quite easily unless they are thoroughly waterproof.

Packing tape is not a waterproof barrier.

In my opinion, it should be an unbroken waterproof seal, not a rip patched with Scotch tape.
 
I hear you @JamesW , it sounds a bit cheesy, but that doesn't change the fact that every cover I have cut up for the trash has taped seams. You may not feel that it is sufficient, but it is standard cover manufacturers practice. Pull the insert out of yours and you will find it taped as well.
I don't build them, just telling you what I've seen in the field.
 
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Your sample has a selection bias, which means that the sample is not a fair representation of the general population.

The bias is a failure bias, which is the opposite of a survivorship bias.

Since you are only checking covers that failed, the sample is automatically biased.

To get a proper sample, you would need a statistically significant sample size and the sample would have to include random covers including covers that failed and covers that have not failed to be able to determine if the tape results in a statistically significant difference between taped or not taped.

 
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Wow ... you'd think these manufacturers never heard of heat sealing plastic. There are all types of heat sealing applicators from bench top models to floor size sealers as well as hand held ones that you can zip along a piece of thermoplastic to create a freeform seal. In the electronics industry, we would routinely send out custom fabricated parts to various vendors for test and approval and we always sealed our devices using anti-static thermoplastic bags that could be purged with dry gas or evacuated and sealed. The equipment is fairly cheap ...
 
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It seems like they use heat sealed plastic.

The problem seems to be that the plastic gets ripped for some reason and then the rip is just patched with packing tape instead of rewrapping it with a proper heat sealed plastic.
 
JamesW said:
It seems like they use heat sealed plastic.

The problem seems to be that the plastic gets ripped for some reason and then the rip is just patched with packing tape instead of rewrapping it with a proper heat sealed plastic.
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This is correct. It looks like it was heat-sealed too tight and it just pulled apart after the sealer arm lifted while the seal was hot. I'd have to double-check the other half but I don't believe it had tape all the way across the seam. The seal was what I expected so I didn't take a photo.

I'll respectfully disagree with packing tape making an acceptable seal. It may not be uncommon but It's definitely not an appropriate method to create a vapor barrier. If the tape was sufficient then I can't see why they would bother trying to heat seal it.
 
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Time for an update. After going back and forth with Roberts Hot Tubs on this issue and providing more photos that showed the inserts on both sides were compromised they said they would send out new inserts.

They just wanted me to pay $217 for shipping of those new inserts.

I gave up and just filed a dispute with my credit card company so we'll see where that goes.
 
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