Replacing the guts of a rotomolded spa

[bpardy]

Hi there. I have a rotomolded spa that has developed a small crack inside below the water line that seems to have given me a slow leak underneath. It is within the manufacturer's warranty period and I'm hoping they will approve a replacement, but they say a replacement will consist only of a pre-plumbed, new shell. I'm not positive but I assume that means it will arrive with no heater, pump, ozonator, topside, control box, LED light, and who knows what else missing (jets?).

What I'm wondering is how much of an effort will it be to tear all these parts out of the existing spa and then replace them into the new spa? Am I looking at a half day job for a skilled tech? Full day, more? I'm trying to price out what I can expect this to cost me out of pocket compared to replacing with a completely new spa of the same model, or draining and epoxying the crack, or just trashing the whole thing and giving up.

For what it's worth the crack looks like it is about 1" long, and a bit under 1/8th" at the widest point. Is plugging it with epoxy and calling it a day even an option?

 

[Mdragger88]

I would try to fix the crack after making your claim & taking lots of pics.
It should be basically plug & play with the equipment (maybe some wiring)
Its worth a shot if they will send you a new shell. I know on mine the light & all those other things are right at the opening of the equipment bay.
Do you have somewhere to dispose of the old shell?

Let’s get @RDspaguy ’s input

 

[bpardy]

Thanks @Mdragger88, definitely got a bunch of pics and made initial contact with the manufacturer. I'm hoping, if it doesn't void their warranty, I can try epoxy and check back in with them in a month or so to complete the replacement or not, depending on how things go. Unfortunately the warranty only covers the shell at this point (3 years old) so I'd be paying freight and labor, so a few bucks worth of epoxy sounds like a good trade as long it doesn't burn the remaining 2 years on my shell warranty. Interested to hear what RDspaguy might have to say.

EDIT: Disposing of the old shell is something I hadn't considered, I'm sure I could get it into the pickup bed to take off to the dump somewhere which adds even more cost.

 

[bpardy]

I've contacted several local spa techs who don't service this brand so I may be stuck here having to DIY, still have a message out with a couple more. And the manufacturer says any attempt to repair will void the remaining two years of my warranty on the shell. I'm not positive I'll be able to find a tech to do the parts swap, is this something a reasonably handy DIY person can do, even though I hate touching anything electrical? My choices look like they are paying freight on a replacement shell and hoping I can swap all the parts out myself or voiding the warranty and hoping I can just make this thing watertight again.

Can anyone give me a recommendation on a crack-filling adhesive that would be appropriate for use under the waterline in a polyethylene roto-molded tub? It looks like epoxies are out for polyethylene but methylacrylates may work? Or is this something that's going to need heat and a plastic weld?

Now that I have it drained I can get a good up close photo. It sure looks like a manufacturing defect to me.

 

[Mdragger88]

How much is the freight shipping?

 

[Mdragger88]

A couple different roto molded manufacturers show repairing cracks by simply melting the shell & some extra poly material together then sanding & polishing afterwards. Perhaps you could nip some excess from somewhere unseen?
One says they will send you some!

 

[bpardy]

Thanks for those video links! I didn't run across them in my first few searches, these will be great. I've ordered a plastic weld kit (basically a soldering iron with a different head on it) and I have some scrap bits available from the stair-steps they sell to enter the spa. Still waiting on a number for freight.

 

[Mdragger88]

I too have a rotomolded spa so knowing there’s a fix like this makes feel a little better about my little yeti hot tub lol

 

[RDspaguy]

but they say a replacement will consist only of a pre-plumbed, new shell.

A pre-plumbed shell is just that; a plumbed shell. No frame, cabinet, equipment, insulation, nothing. It's a joke warranty, nobody would do it. The ikea spa, you build it yourself. Did you buy this on etsy?
I'd make them send me the shell just to make them, but fix it anyway. You don't have a warranty to void.

 

[bpardy]

A pre-plumbed shell is just that; a plumbed shell. No frame, cabinet, equipment, insulation, nothing. It's a joke warranty, nobody would do it. The ikea spa, you build it yourself. Did you buy this on etsy?
I'd make them send me the shell just to make them, but fix it anyway. You don't have a warranty to void.

Understood fully. This was a Wayfair buy with a COVID stimulus check. I'm certainly not re-insulating a fresh shell. I'll report back on how the plastic weld fix goes once my tools arrive. Thank you for the frank reality check.

 

[Mdragger88]

Mine too is a Wayfair special! Mine is long past its “warranty”.
Very interested to see how your repair turns out!

 

[bpardy]

Mine too is a Wayfair special! Mine is long past its “warranty”.
Very interested to see how your repair turns out!

It finally cooled off enough outside to even consider working on and filling the spa. I bought a plastic weld kit (real nice product) and went at the crack that I thought was the source of my leak. I think I sealed it up nicely, but after filling the tub up I again had water leaking out underneath it overnight. The crack I was concerned about was probably just cosmetic and the real issue is probably in the plumbing.

I ordered a bottle of Fixaleak to try next. It can't hurt to try.

 

[Mdragger88]

I’d attempt a thorough inspection of every connection you can possibly get to before going with the shotgun fix a leak approach.
After several years a fitting may have wiggled loose or something.

 

[bpardy]

I’d attempt a thorough inspection of every connection you can possibly get to before going with the shotgun fix a leak approach.
After several years a fitting may have wiggled loose or something.

Yeah, that's sure worth a shot. Everything I can reach from the maintenance panel is bone dry like it should be, got a feeling if I get it tilted up on its side that there won't be anything else visible beyond the spray foam insulation but I can try.

 

[bpardy]

So I raised up the tub, and looked underneath. Nothing accessible - just a few foamed in compartments and plain rotomolded underside. No luck there. Filled it up and once it was over 70F I gave it a healthy 8oz dose of Fix-a-leak and followed the label directions to circulate it with pressure. It's now 96 hours later and I still do not have any visible water anywhere outside of the tub. On my last fill, it looked fine for about 12 hours but by the next morning I had water seeping out from under it. I'm afraid to even post here lest I jinx it, but for now things are looking good. My next step is to drain it tomorrow and leave it empty at least 7 days to allow for full curing. Luckily overnight temperatures will allow me to do that.

I am cautiously, tentatively, optimistic.

 

[Mdragger88]