Spa Leaks - what to do and how to try and prevent leaks
One of the most common jobs we are called out to are leaks on a customer’s spa or swim spa. If you have ever looked under a spa you could probably understand why as there is a spaghetti like assembly of pipes and tubes going in all different directions and connecting into all sorts of devices. Leaks are common as there are just so many points that can fail on a spa.
On your spa there are at least 3 or 4 glued joints per jet that can fail plus the rubber seal or silicon seal joint that seals the jet to the spa. So, if you have 30 jets in your spa that’s already a minimum of 120 possible fail points. And then you have the pumps, heaters, sanitation devices and filters that all interact with the water meaning they can also leak.
Causes of Leaks in your Spa
The most common cause of leaks is probably the pump shaft seals as they are exposed to mechanical wear and chlorinated water which is a very harsh environment for anything exposed to wear and tear. The best way to avoid premature failure of the shaft seal in your pump is to keep the water as natural as possible. This means not over doing the chlorine and never use bromine. Also keep the water in balance testing at least once per week with a quality test kit.
Spa jets and other fittings sealed to the shell of your spa will often leak when the spa has been emptied for a while and then refilled. It's caused by a combination of high chlorine and bromine use and the drying out of the rubber seal behind the jet fitting. The chlorine or bromine damages the rubber seal and then once the spa is empty the seal dries out and starts to perish. Then when you refill the spa you have a leak or several leaks if it's bad enough.
Other Causes of Leaks
As mentioned above there are hundreds of glued joints on a spa and again if the spa is left empty for a long time leaks may result. The tubing under a spa will be supple when running with warm water but if left empty the tubes can tighten up causing the tube to contract just enough to pull the glued joint apart allowing a leak to start. Its not uncommon for these joints to seal up again if it’s a very tiny leak once the spa has been running for a while but eventually it will most likely fail again. So, to avoid this type of leak its best to keep the spa full and warm as often as possible.
Avoiding Leaks in Your Spa
To avoid leaks I always recommend to my clients to keep the spa full and running and keep the chlorine level as low as possible. If you are using bromine tablets get rid of them as they will destroy your spa.
What to do if you're going away or you’re not going to use your spa for a while
Whatever you do - don’t leave the spa empty.
Assuming the water is in relatively good condition (nothing festering in the water) before you turn the spa off, dose it with a bit more chlorine than usual and run the pumps for about 10 minutes to dilute the chlorine. The spa should now be sanitised. Put the spa cover back on so nothing can get in to contaminate the water, and it should be perfectly fine for weeks without filtration. But note the spa cover needs to be in good condition. If it's waterlogged, then there are probably all sorts of things festering in the cover, and this will find its way into the spa water, and you might come back to a big mess. If you don’t have a good cover, I highly recommend you get one, as a waterlogged cover can also suck the heat straight out of a spa.
The other option is to put your spa in away mode or eco mode, or something similar, if your spa system has it. This keeps the spa filtering but not heating.
Discovered a Leak?
Call Urban Pump Services today on 0419 034 790 and we'll discuss your options with you, to ensure your Spa Leak is fixed in the quickest and easiest way possible.
