It was actually the vent not the roof. We were camping overnight with the grandkids to break up the weekend when their parents were taking a birthday trip to New York City. The campground was also a shorter drive to their Saturday Korean school than from our house.
Chatfield Farms treehouse
Non-honey bee hotel
We visited Chatfield Farms, a second site for the Denver Botanic Garden. These gardens have a more rural influence and they grow vegetables and have an orchard there. The treehouse was a kid favorite and the non-honey bee hotel was built by a girl scout troop. We also talked about Ben Franklin and lightning rods and the kids liked the flooded creek.
Lightning rod on roof
Flooded creek
The Chatfield Lake State Park is near the gardens and we camped overnight. It was amazing to see the weather shift from gorgeous in the afternoon to cold and cloudy at dinnertime.
Campground playground
Blue skies
Then it grew really stormy with thunder and lightning and it began to hail heavily. I caught it on video. It was hard to hear the movie!
Loud hail storm
Pretty soon the hail was piling up like snow. And the roof vent over the rear bed began to leak badly.
Hail piling up
We quickly moved the bedding and put a bucket under the leak. I tried to dry it out but it was coming in fast. I went outside in the terrible weather and climbed to the roof to see that the hail had dammed up around the vent sides. I had a rag that I used to sweep the hail off around the vent. By later that evening the leak subsided although it was too damp to use that bed.
After we got home I found the problem. One of the bolts holding the vent cover on over the lid had fallen out leaving a 1/8″ hole in the side of the vent. The damming of the hail held water against the vent and allowed it to flow through the hole.
The leaking hole in the vent
New vent lid and caulked cover connections
The vent lid was old, yellowed and cracked anyway and I had a replacement I had been planning to install. The new vent lid was a little difficult to put on because I could not lay it flat due to the solar panel installation. But I got it to attach. Then I reinstalled the connectors for the vent cover and made sure to caulk all the bolts well. I bolted the vent cover on and noticed the front grill had some chips from the hail. But I checked the rest of the roof and there did not appear to be more damage, especially to the solar panels. The area benefitted from a good cleaning too.
Unfortunately I backed into my son’s brand new EV in our driveway. My rear fender was dislocated and my son’s aluminum trunk was bent.
Broken 2014 Volt
Son’s crumpled trunk
I called to get an estimate then I called to find out what a trade in would pay me. Then I looked at a new Tesla! With the February special and the self referral because I am an existing customer I asked for a trade in. That was $1000 more than other offers and sealed the deal. I really liked the Volt but it was getting old and a perfect trade in with less than 50000 miles and the Tesla came with the $7500 federal tax rebate.
2024 Tesla Model Y Long Range
Set mirrors to fold as I get to the house
There are many settings for the car. It unlocks and drives using the paired app on my iPhone. Its range is 300 miles at full charge but of course that completely depends on driving conditions. I am using the 24 amp Juice Box charger we had for the Volt.
Charge time on screen
To charge from about 60% to 80% took over three hours. But I will install a 48 amp Tesla charger. I traded a 9000 point bonus to have one shipped to us. It will charge that in about two hours. I’ve only driven the car just over 100 miles. Mostly to the dealer and back to pick up the garage door opener we left in the Volt. But it’s a fun car to learn. The accelerator controls both speeding up and slowing down. Don’t even have to use the brake unless going too fast at a stop. The car also dings when a stoplight turns green. Eventually I’ll discover more of its capability. In the meantime another use for our solar system!
I installed a pressure tank during the camping season last year. In the fall I didn’t winterize for the first cold snap but ran electric heaters and the furnace as backup. When I got around to winterizing I used the low point drains and blew out the pipes with a compressor. But when I tried to suck rv antifeeeze into the system the pump would not run. I just left it winterized like that. My son and his family asked to borrow the RV for a spring break trip. I had brought the water pump inside for the winter intending to test it with my 12 volt trolling motor battery pack. I set up a water transfer bowl and empty milk jug to run it.
Pump worked!
Since the pump worked I suspected a leak near the low point drains. I saw a bit of water near there when I drained it.
Suspected leak
I connected the pipes without the pump or pressure tank installed. Then ran water through the system with the city water connection. I could not find a leak. Next step was to reinstall the pump. The way this pump is set up the water input is on the right or outer side and the output is on the left. The pink rv antifreeze valve is on the pipe going into the pump and the tee that held the pressure tank is on the left side of the pump. I had decided to move the pressure tank from the tee through a side hose. It does not matter where the pressure tank is on the water system and I saw examples where the tank was installed off to the side. To make the new placement of the tee work I had to cut back the existing pex and install an exact amount of pipe connection to make it leak proof. I had to try several combinations but finally got a leak proof connection.
New in line tee position
Unfortunately the next day I realized the hose I used to link the pressure tank was leaking so I replaced it with a stainless hose I ran to the store for the morning that the kids were borrowing the RV. Disconnecting the tank creates a heavy spurt of water so I also bought a ball valve so the tank can be removed without spraying all over.
Pressure Tank reinstalled
The RV antifreeze valve is also reinstalled and I hope next time I need to, it will suck the antifreeze out and into the plumbing to avoid all chances of freezing.
Brass bypass valve
I was fortunate that there were no other leaks in the plumbing system!
Unfortunately we found that once the ground thawed the stakes no longer held tight in the ground and we woke up the other morning to see the pool shelter completely blown over.
Shelter upside down
Depending how you look at this accident the shelter was in surprisingly good shape. Several bent poles and one big tear in a window side but seems like it could have been worse. The steps were also knocked over but they did not break.
Steps knocked over
The weather was luckily balmy the next day so I was able to detach the roof and sides and roll them up and put them in storage. Then I disassembled the pipe frame.
Removing the shelter cover
Bent poles
Then I separated the bent poles from the undamaged poles. Seven bent poles is not too bad.
The connecting poles are the same width as 1 1/4 EMT conduit. So replacing 7 poles with 4 ten footers would cost about $120. A new shelter with no time spent in repairs would cost about $300. I’ll think about it.
Separating bent poles from straight
Now that it’s spring we don’t need the shelter to enjoy the spa.
I repaired a leak in the hot tub pipes just last month. Because I used several Fernco connectors when I initially replaced the cracked jet body last fall, a weakness in this repair keeps happening.
Fernco Connector
Fernco Repair
Since the repair we were reluctant to turn the high jets back on but today with my grandson we could not resist. Just like last time the Fernco let loose and started to leak. This time I didn’t wait to look at it and retighten it. The problem seems to be that these two pipes have separated enough the the connector no longer sits completely on the bottom pipe. I loosen both clamps and slide it down and retighten and that works but water streams out while I’m doing it. I had to add water again and run the heater. Even heating a partial refill took a lot of power.
Efergy Meter Report for Spa March 9
I downloaded the total spa use of electricity today and it’s a shocking 98.97 kWh!
We have used the spa a lot this winter. The kids love going out with me to swim and jump in. My granddaughter and I were enjoying the high jets in the spa. The jets on high create a strong current to exercise against. But all of a sudden the tub turned off. I thought the jet just needed to rest but the next day the water had obviously been leaking. I opened the equipment side and saw the culprit was a clamped Fernco connector that had loosened. It seemed as if the pipes had also separated a bit and by the time I opened the clamp and made sure it was snug on the bottom pipe and then retightened it about half the water had leaked out of the spa.
Fernco clamp retightened
I had been disappointed that the water was so cloudy and no treatment seemed to be clearing it up. So I decided since the weather would be in the 40’s the next few days to drain it all the way. I used a sump pump to drain most of the water.
Draining with the sump pump
It is connected to a garden hose and runs a steady stream of water out onto the nearby shrubs and tree.
Draining the rest of the water
After the tub was emptied it had to be scrubbed clean again.
Dirty tub had to be scrubbed
It took a full day and night to heat the water back up again. I used a lot of electricity. But the sparkling new water was worth it.
Cloudy Water
Fresh water using heated hose
We were able to get right back to enjoying the tub in winter.
Swimming on a snowy day
Posted in-Recent Posts, Spa|Comments Off on Not Again! Spa Leak!
The TV in the front of our RV was damaged when we bought the RV. It had a DC transformer that no longer worked and a streak of damaged pixels.
Old Front TV
We just didn’t use it and instead I installed a 24” 12 volt TV and DVD combination in the back bed area. That worked great until the grandkids started getting big and the older grandkids visited and the bed couldn’t hold all of us. So I decided to replace the front tv.
Back bed TV 24”
The TV is handy in bad weather or for a movie just before bedtime. But the family likes to watch together. That called for a new TV in the front. The old TV was 32” but I measured and decided a 40” TV would fit. (Actual 35.5” wide) the first TV I ordered was 22” tall though and it didn’t fit with the top mattress we use on the cab bed. I returned it and looked for a shorter version. The Impecca TV is “frameless” and only 20” tall. It has the advantage of being a low power user too. It is a “smart” TV but the settings are limited. So I installed a Fire TV stick I already had.
The tv arm mount that came in the RV is not long enough to pull the TV all the way out over the bed to display to those sitting in the lounge area. I bought a longer arm but it did not spread the weight across the wall and seemed way too heavy for the RV. Instead I reinstalled the original arm and bought a lightweight arm to bolt on and extend it. Unfortunately the arm was not quite long enough so I used a small tilt mount to extend it a few more inches. That tilt mount was pulled down by the heavy extended arm so I had to bolt it to keep it upright.
TV arms with extra length tilt mount.
Together the arms are long enough to face the dinette and couch below and the tv will tilt enough for comfortable viewing. The larger screen is nice and it fits fine against the wall although folding all the arm segments is tricky. I have to install a new DVD player and extend the hdmi cable and RCA cables to reach the extended arm. But that’s for another day. This double arm swings out over the edge of the bed and tilts to the correct angle.
Perhaps you noticed the graphs in my last post. One side effect of creating an energy saving house is being watchful regarding our use of energy and any other measure that affects the home environment. I particularly like WiFi connected devices to check in on conditions even if we are not home.
These are the WiFi meters I currently use in our house.
Airthings Air Quality Meter
Bluebot water use Meter
Efergy Electric Use monitors (2)
We-Mo outlet meters (touchy)
Acurite home weather station
Acurite room sensors
Juice Box Car Charger
X-Sense Smart Carbon Monoxide Detector
ICO Ondilo Pool Water Monitor
Acura Spa WiFi Control
RainPoint WiFi Soil Moisture Meter with water meter and hub (summer only)
BroadLink roller shade controller (summer).
Ring Video Doorbell The last few devices have already had posts explaining the functions so just refer to those.
in winter when the house is shut up the radon gets a little high but nothing like the original reading of 27. Both radon fans run 24/7 as does the Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) so a small increase is not something I can improve without opening windows in the cold. We also monitor water use. For that we use a Bluebot which is also WiFi connected and attached to the incoming well pipe.
Bluebot water meter week chart.
This device is set to send an email if we use over 200 gallons in a day. Once a toilet was running and we used 900 gallons so I set up the alert.
I just added a second Efergy electric monitor. This brand only measures five sources. I had one on the well, oven, spa, mini-split and the entire garage sub panel. When I added one to measure the new RV 30 amp outlet I had to delete the mini-split. In order to use a second set I needed a second account so I will be switching back and forth. I can measure more circuits with the new Emporia set I ordered for the garage utility box. It has 16 lugs, and I will be installing that soon. I will continue to use Efergy on the remote power circuits.
Efergy hub and clamp meter set
Efergy report
I have several We-Mo outlet control/ power meters. I gifted several to my son in law and he bought some which he left with me when they moved to Germany. That was five years ago and we have gradually unplugged these when they lost connection. I still have a few plugged in but only two are operational and one still works despite the fact that the app can’t find it. These are lights that go on at night and turn off automatically in the morning. The power consumption data does not seem accurate for the pottery lamp either and the others can’t be downloaded because the app does not detect them.
We-Mo devices
Our weather station has held up well over the years-nine so far. At one point I had to upgrade the internet hub and occasionally the spa temperature sensor goes offline. I just bring it inside next to the hub and it is rediscovered. I have had no disconnects for the main station mounted on the roof and I have only charged the batteries twice. Over the years I have added a second weather monitor as well aa an indoor monitor for the room sensors and I check the WiFi app daily. I can switch between temperature, humidity, wind, and pressure.
Acurite weather station
Weather station temperature
I installed a 40 amp Juice Box car charger about five years ago for our hybrid Chevy Volt. It works basically without thinking about it. We return from an errand and plug the car back in. We have not paid any attention to time of use because we want to keep the car fully charged so the batteries are ready for the next trip. The app used to be so much more user friendly. About a year or so ago they switched to an app designed to sell their network of power stations and subscriptions for more data. Very disappointing to lose services although the app and the use data are at no extra charge. This app swipes to display percent charged and total miles added.
Juice Box data
Charging curve for last charge
The boiler has been experiencing some issues with carbon monoxide back flow. Once we woke to the alarms ringing and had to open the French doors to air out the house. The alarms continue until the carbon monoxide level goes down. I purchased a separate WiFi alarm so I could monitor if low levels of the gas were in the utility room. At first in December, every few days there was 110 ppm reading. Then after I took off the boiler cover to monitor the fan there were no readings in over a month. I ordered a new fan because the fan is 10 years old and they supposedly last 7-10 years. Just last night there was another reading for emissions.
X-Sense CO detection notice
History of CO incidents
The newest meter we’ve had only about a month. It is a pool water quality meter for the spa.
ICO Spa Meter by Ondilo
It’s great to have the spa water quality information at my fingertips. But it may not simplify my life. I’m having an issue with the Bluetooth connectivity. It was fine to set it up so I know it worked at one point but trying to update the software it disconnected. Also the rechargeable battery needed recharging after just three weeks and the documentation led me to expect twice as much time between charges. I’ve run through the Bluetooth recommendations more than once and it still does not connect. I charged it for the recommended 10 hours. Actually for 12 and it was only 70% charged. I have it plugged in now. The meter sends recommended type and amount of sanitizer and other chemicals to keep the water at ideal conditions.
Water quality report
Graph of low sanitizer after use
The spa also has a WiFi interface to the control panel. I installed it in 2019 and it’s still operating as expected. It reads and can set the spa temperature and it can start a filtration cycle.
Our ash trees need coddling due to the Emerald Ash Borer’s attack on the species. I also planted an herb border in front of the house. In order for these to get enough water I bought a Rainpoint WiFi automatic hose control for the drip hoses and a moisture meter that monitors the soil.
Rainpoint WiFi hose control
Rainpoint App with offline devices.
The roller shades to block summer sun are RF controlled but there is also a WiFi interface that is set up using the RF signals. Each shade comes with an individual control but there is an optional one that will control up to 15 shades. The Broadlink interface is a device that supports RF controls. I had experimented with the system but soon I was out of time and summer and fall were over. I’ll reattach the shades in the summer to prepare for when the sun starts overheating the house.
BroadLink RF WiFi interface
BroadLink app setup
We have had a video doorbell for several years. The battery on our old one wore out so quickly I was changing it almost every week. The software had more information than the Ring and didn’t charge extra for it. I don’t pay for the software so I don’t get historical data. We can see the front of the house whenever we want and the device has a solar boost for the battery so we seldom have to charge it.
Ring with built in solar
Front patio
It might be nice to have a system that assembles all this data on one set of screens. But I’m enough of a data person that I enjoy looking at each app.
Our house is built and insulated for cold weather here in Colorado. That’s why these below zero temperature spells are so rewarding. I have a pair of MCCREO WiFi temperature meters on the Trombe wall. One is outside under the glass and the other inside in a convenient hole drilled into the wall. Although on our coldest day when it did not get above zero, the outside only reached 50, the inside radiated 64.
Inside Trombe Wall 1/14
Outside Trombe Wall 1/14
For more common cold weather, on a sunny day the temperature against the outside wall rises several degrees higher than the inside wall. Then the inside wall maintains a warm temperature through the night. The 14th was mostly sunny so our passive solar took over in the afternoon hours.
Solar heated play
A sunny day uses fewer hours of heat from the boiler. The family room is on the north side of the house benefits less from the passive solar. These are our Nest thermostat use displays. I have the 13th showing the total for the day and the 14th showing the time of day use.
Primary Bedroom 1/14
Living Room 1/14
Family Room 1/14
Dining Room 1/14
The rear bedrooms have an Ecobee thermostat and a zone sensor because at the time the Nest did not have extra sensors. We now have a Nest sensor in our primary bathroom connected to the primary bedroom thermostat so that zone’s temperature is determined by either. The ecobee sensor is in the second rear bedroom and either controls the thermostat. The rear bedrooms also have less solar exposure and have the old radiators instead of under floor heat. So the duration of the call for heat is longer. Even so, the by afternoon it was warm enough and didn’t resume until after sunset.
Rear bedroom radiators 1/14
The next day the high temperatures were higher and the lows lower and it snowed most of the day so no sun.
Acurite Web Chart 1/15
The effect on the room temperatures are obvious. The sun is not adding as much heat to the rooms. But the high mass of the house also loses heat slowly. The North rooms are affected the most. Notice the family room run time.
Primary Bedroom Jan 15th
Living Room Jan 15th
Family Room Jan 15th ten hours!
Dining Room Jan 15th
It was a perfect day to supplement the gas boiler with wood boiler heat. For this I turned up the heat in the dining room to distribute some heat to that floor. Most of the time the rear bedrooms were calling for heat too. Although there are some short stretches of adequate set temperatures in these bedrooms.
Rear bedroom radiators 1/15
The wood boiler puts out about 30,000 btu’s of warmed water that circulates in the radiant system. The red zone is the family room, the blue is the dining room, green is the living room, gold and purple are on the same zone, primary bedroom and bath. the rear bedrooms do not have in floor radiant.
Radiant Layout with Zones
The fire lends a lovely ambient glow to the room.
Wood boiler heat
While most homes need to run the furnace/boiler all day and night our system runs far less even on the coldest days. The cover to the boiler is off because the aging fan needs observation but the zone controller shows only green and no red dots showing call for heat.
No call for heat after noon 1/14
Acurite Display 1/14
The manual J design used 0° as a low design temperature. But the systems (solar, boiler, wood boiler) together work very well in extreme cold spells.
My son-in-law Robert Felty works for Automattic, the company that produces WordPress, the sophisticated website software I use for this blog. This was a challenging summer for Rob and his family. While on a business trip to Montenegro he fainted and his head hit the pavement. Due to the quick thinking and advocacy of his colleagues he was admitted to the hospital with two brain bleeds for which he had two craniotomies in two successive days. My daughter flew to be with him, travel arranged by Automattic, and manage his care and she was limited to two hours of visiting on only two days a week. But Rob was in bad shape. Not able to speak for more than a few words or feed himself. Took a week to get back on his feet but amazingly he made great progress and was able to return home with Clare in a couple of weeks. True to Rob’s nature he pushed himself to recover physically and made excellent progress through long walks and pushups, his favorite exercise. His injuries were sufficient for doctors to recommend inpatient rehab. He spent a little over three weeks participating in therapy with other patients, some of whom had similar issues due to long covid. He actually bonded with other patients and made friends. But his normal work pattern was hugely disrupted by this accident. Automattic was amazing with support for him and Clare. My daughter emphasizes how it could have been so much worse had Automattic not been so caring and supportive. Imagine hospitalization in a foreign country with such a serious accident. But he was also fortunate that the hospital had an experienced surgeon to stop the brain bleeding. And for his colleagues who kept the emergency room from releasing him prematurely. He has continued to work as much as he can during his recovery, also typical of Rob. But the company seems to emphasize that he is on medical leave with pay. As a follow-up to the accident he had undergone many medical tests with little result until a “tilt table” test that shocked his heart rhythm so that it stopped completely. He revived in about 20 seconds. That means his blood pressure can get so low his heart will stop. A kind of cardiac arrest. A pacemaker will be implanted to guard against a future event. It will monitor and create a regular rhythm if it slows. Needless to say it’s a shock to everyone that our most healthy and fit son-in-law is subject to a condition that could have killed him. For his birthday the Automattic CEO asked for examples of blogs linked to his birthday post. It’s heartening to know how their work has spread through the world enhancing personal and business communication. But it’s a more impressive feat to have created a unique distributed worker company that values caring as well as profit. I wish the company and its staff a wonderful new year and a rewarding birthday to their CEO Matt Mullenweg.
Our exposed skin was too cold in the water since the spa was fixed this fall. We have used it in the winter before but noticed the little ones got cold fast and could not stay in long. I was reading a Facebook group and got the idea to erect a shelter over it. I wanted a simple pop up and ordered a 10×15 but it came with a very thin canopy and walls. I didn’t think it would hold up in the wind. Then I also realized I needed more height inside to open the cover. I found a reasonably priced carport that had leg extensions to make it 11 ft. tall outside. So I returned the pop up and bought the carport. The walls are plastic tarps that are 180 gsm which translates into 8 mil. That’s a decent mid weight.
Pop up 10’x15’
Carport 10’x20’
The shelter was easy to put together. The instructions were good and after I assembled the roof, Dave helped lift it on top of the spa.
Carport roof
Carport legs over spa
The day was windless so had no trouble attaching the sides and roof with the bungee balls that come with it. The shelter was delivered about noon and by 4:30 pm I had it together with the walls attached.
Shelter with walls
Actually the rear door wall was not on but I was done for the day. Overnight it got a little windy but it was staked down good enough. I had stakes in all the leg posts and the wind was mild. The next day I worked to put in more stakes. At the poles I ran the included cording down the poles to the stakes that twisted into the ground. I put up the rear door and staked the middle of the door walls with extra polyester cord that I bought. The polyester is the highest rated for outdoor use and stability. It does not stretch like nylon.
Tie downs at window walls
Tie down at rear door
The wind had knocked the cross brace above the spa off kilter but it self corrected after I installed more stakes.
Another day of work ended
It took me another day to order more outside stakes. I bought some very heavy duty stakes that were drilled into the ground and some lighter weight stakes. The drilled stakes hold the outside corners and the polyester cord should stay tighter and be more weatherproof than the included cord. I also trimmed the side panel against the wall to fit. I had to cut one pole to sit on the wall because there was no room between the wall and the spa.
Staked outside corners
Side panel trimmed at wall
I pulled as much of the excess wall material down between the wall and the spa as I could and tried to straighten it. Yesterday and last night the wind was recorded at 19mph but it did not seem to affect the shelter. We get higher winds but that was a good one to be the initial test.
Enjoying the warm water pool
I’m not finished with buttoning down the shelter. I’m adding grommets and stakes to the walls around the perimeter.
The spa has not been working for over a year. In April of 2020 I wrote about installing a new spa pack and controller. In June of 2022 while starting up the spa we burned through the spa heater! So another whole spa pack was ordered. I didn’t want to take the chance that the control board was blown. I installed it but the spa was leaking water in two major areas. At the time I opted not to buy a new controller because it appeared the existing one was working. It was displaying the water temperature and the buttons were responding. Joe at Acura said are you sure? It’s cheaper to get the controller with the spa pack. So I said I’ll order one if it doesn’t work. In the meantime the spa had the problem with leaking. I had a difficult time fixing it and the job languished for several months. Finally as we were expecting our granddaughter’s visit I got to work and figured out a fix for the leaking spa jet. I found that the glass tubes inside the ozone generator also from Acura had shattered so I removed it completely. As soon as the leaks were fixed I fiddled with the old controller and it didn’t set everything like it was supposed to. Oh no a bad controller! I wrote Acura requesting a new controller a couple of times with no response. The order forms on the website are no longer working. I hate to think something has happened to Joe. He was such a great guy. Did Covid get him? Then I turned to Amazon to see if I could replace the controller with a Balboa. I looked on EBay and to my surprise the very controller I needed was listed! It was an auction but had no bids so I won it! Then the sender was the woman who used to do sales responses at Acura! The website is still up but most of the equipment says out of stock. It makes me so sad. This was a small business since the early 80’s. They hand built all their equipment. I guess forty some years was its limit. In the meantime I decided to warm the spa water thinking we could use it if I set up an outside filter. I bought an inexpensive immersion heater that was very low cost and put it in the tub. In a matter of days the temperature of the water went up to 100°! I unplugged it!
Immersion heater
I put off installing the new controller until I could check the power to the hot tub. I was going to check the motor for resistance etc. but the controls on the motor were too difficult to reach. So I decided to plug in the new controller. When I set the user option to pump always on I was startled to hear it start up!
Old topside controllerNew controller
That was all it needed! I had to clean up all the old silicone but I’m getting to be pretty good at that. Then wash away the isopropyl alcohol with soapy water, I use 90% solution. I still need to silicone the new controller in place. I’m also going to reinstall the WiFi controller. It was so convenient to set the water temperature a little lower then raise it when needed from inside. The water had a grainy film on top. I wondered if it was from the regular pool shock I put in to keep the water from going green while I figured out the pump issues. Normally I use bromine in the hot tub. I scooped it off the top and we got in and used the tub. So much fun with the kids! I could feel lots of the grainy stuff on the bottom so I kept scooping it up and tossing it over the side. Some of the walls also felt grainy. I tested the water an hour or so before we got in and the chlorine levels were low so I added a bit more pool shock. But the Ph level was very high! After we used the tub I put in Ph Down and stabilizer and I think the filter should have been on constantly. I read that very high alkalinity can precipitate out scale on the walls and make the water cloudy. The water was cloudy but did not irritate our skin or eyes.
Cloudy spa water
Next morning I tested again and the ph and chlorine levels are good but hardness and alkalinity still high. Stabilizer was also good. So I’m not sure about fixing alkalinity if Ph is about right. I have a few diffferent bottles of test strips so I used a different strip and the ph read high. It takes some time for the ph low chemical to work.
Cloudiness improved
After years of pool and spa ownership I’m still occasionally confused by pool chemicals.
Now I need to reinsulate and close up the side panel. I’m just hoping it keeps working for another couple of years with no further damage. If the equipment again gets broken then it might be the end for this excellent spa. 2009 to ? Right now it’s 14 years old. It should last at least 20. It’s suffered from my learning curve.
We had friends arriving in September who would “Moochdock” in our driveway. They needed 30 amp power because they had to run the air conditioner and other power at the same time. I had always wanted to install a 30 amp outlet for our RV and their visit was my opportunity.
I bought outdoor #8 power cord to install the circuit and a 30 amp GFCI. I also bought 30 amp 110 breakers to have on hand for future extension of the outdoor electrical system. Unfortunately I realized I bought the wrong kind of 30 amp GFCI but I had the other breakers. I also bought the wrong kind of wire. It is outdoor wire but is made for extension cords not permanent wiring.
I looked into my stash of wire and I already had #8 2 wire sheathed wire and extra 1/2″ conduit and connectors from the remote controlled shade project. We were able to insert the wire into the 1/2″ conduit but had to leave the ground wire out. The conduit was too small for three wires. My solution was to run the ground separately. Of course this looks amateurish but it is actually all to code. NEC permits a separate ground wire that does not have to run with the power cable and it allows up to three #8 wires in 1/2″ conduit.
30 Amp without ground
Ground wire added and box grounded
Separate ground conduit
We really enjoyed the visit from our friends. We hung out and played the Trekking the National Parks board game and had a great side trip to the Garden of the Gods and the Pikes Peak railway. It was a perfect day trip and a perfect visit.
Stop at Red Rocks Trading Post and lovely drive through the park
It sure seemed like there were several repairs that had to be made this summer. I had issues with the RV water supply, with the pool, with the spa, and also with the air conditioner. I installed the Mr. Cool one ton unit in 2019 after several failed experiments with a chiller to cool the radiant floor. I also had purchased a used mini-split that was 9000 btu, and I worked to install that one but could not get the lines to hold a vacuum. The DIY mini-split comes with pre-charged lines so the installation does not require pumping the system into a vacuum and then charging with refrigerant. It is all completely charged and the connections don’t require brazing or flare fittings.
Mr Cool DIY 12000 btu
Last summer it appeared that there were issues with the Mr. Cool. It appeared that the air was not being cooled as much as it had been. I cleaned the filters but there was not much else I could do. I hired an HVAC pro to look at it and he determined that the condensate line’s path to the washer stand pipe was backing up because some of the line dipped and didn’t flow continually downward. Part of the paint on the wall was even blistered from the water dripping out of the indoor unit. He measured the coolant and said that it appears to be fully charged. So he installed a condensate pump to pump the water out of the conditioner. He also applied a special cleaner to the filters and we didn’t have more issues for the rest of the summer.
This year we started having problems again with the water dripping from the indoor unit. It appears that the condensate pump only lasted a year. It was expensive too at about $250. So we noticed a significant drop in cooling. I again cleaned the filters washing them in Dawn dishwater and letting them dry outside. I also found condensate leaking all over the attic with the floor so wet it was turning black. That was an unpleasant surprise. I dried all of that out and checked for leaks to the pump and then made sure it was level and feeding down from the unit. All to no avail and then the unit went into an error mode.
The Mr Cool support was fantastic. They had me do an electrical test on the outside unit and the results determined that the problem was the control board inside. They sent me a replacement for the cost of the postage. There were instructions online and a video about how to open the evaporator unit and remove the cover and the old board. I had to stand up on the refrigerator which was actually better than a ladder would have been. I removed the control unit and took lots of photos of the wiring that I was removing.
Wiring for mini split
Disconnecting wiring and thermostat
Old logic board connections
Then there was the challenge of fitting it all back together. In fact it reminded me of the cartoon of the long equation on a chalkboard with “A miracle happens here” written in the middle. Because the video showed some of what had to happen and then left out details when it came to reassembly, which is NOT the same as disassembly.
Reconnecting to new logic board
Connections made
I was able to change the board and replace the system but had the same issue with water backing up so I disconnected the wiring for the pump I double checked that the inside wiring was correct.
Mr. Cool Inside Wiring
Then I let the condensate drip into a bucket in the attic, emptying it each day before I turned the air back on. The unit then started to give us nice cold air again. Lovely but it has not lasted. It could be that the filters need to be cleaned again, but I fear it is something more complex given the new control board and removing the condensate pump .
The differential between incoming and outgoing cooled air is supposed to be about 20º. I have a temperature measure that shows 82 degrees going in and about 75 coming out. When it is operating correctly its 82 going in and 64 coming out. That cools the room during the day.
So this issue probably requires that I call the company again for help troubleshooting. It will be interesting to see if this can be fixed again.
Last summer we had big problems with the spa equipment and it was replaced. We had discovered a leak at one of the jets in our exercise spa. I tried all kinds of patches for the leak, caulk, pool goop, silicone tape, but nothing worked.
Tried to stop leak
First try at fixing leak
Finally I decided I could replace the whole jet. When taking it apart, I found that the plastic screw part had been partially stripped. Maybe during my fix attempts, maybe in assembly, and I realized it was unrepairable. The project sat for about a year while other stuff happened in our lives. Then I had to clean out the spa again.
A years worth of dirt partially cleaned
Satisfyingly clean
I was able to find a replacement jet body that would fit. It was a Balboa body with a 2 1/2″ water opening, a 1 1/2″ water delivery pipe and 1″ air pipe with the jet protruding from the side. I purchased the complete set with the standard jet insert from a hot tub parts site.
Hydro Air Jet Body 10-4510WHT__73301
Hydroair Convertassage Diagram
After the old pipe was cut away, the new jet could not screw into the jet body. The threads were too short to fit through the thick fiberglass on our tub. After an unsuccessful attempt to find a longer threaded jet assembly, it occurred to me that I could make the fiberglass thinner with a router. The router bit however was not able to sit properly on the uneven surface. So I used a Dremel tool instead.
Using Dremel Tool to thin the tub wall
Thinned the tub wall
I glued together replacement pipes and pushed the new jet body into place. Dave held it while I used a pipe wrench to twist the jet into the body. Then we had to fill the tub to see if the repair worked.
Replacement Install
Refilling tub after new install
Unfortunately the attempt to glue the pipes was a failure. The pipes were leaking at multiple joints. I had glued the new jet body into pipe that did not hold water! It may have been old glue or it was just crooked joins. Also I found that the hot tub hose did not fit exactly into the PVC pipe so that caused leaks too.
Leaking Profusely
I cut out the whole repair and reordered the same jet body from Amazon for faster delivery. In fact I ordered two in case the third one failed. I glued the initial pipes in the house instead of on the tub. Instead of multiple glue joints I decided to use rubber Fernco connections. That meant that the whole repair could be removed without cutting pipes.
This time I connected all the Ferncos and then attempted to have Dave hold the jet body that was coated with silicone while I screwed in the jet. But again the jet body did not hold water. (More water was added to the tub to test it.)
Glued pipes inside
Try again
It seriously leaked at the connection to the tub. The silicone must have been outdated and did not properly cure over the 24 hours it rested. I read that old silicone can take a long time to cure but should be water tight in less time. I believe the failure was a result of having all the pipes connected so the jet body had to be pressed against the wall to connect, so it was slightly crooked and the silicone did not seal. This time when I drained water from the tub, I pumped some water into a couple of plastic barrels we have from a former project. That way I could reuse it after the next repair. I also just removed the Ferncos to take out the pipe assembly and attempt the repair again.
To fix the silicone problem I looked for the “best” marine caulk that could take constant wetness and would cure in a reasonable amount of time. I chose Star Brite and ordered it from Amazon.
Star Brite Sealant
By soaking the pipes in 99% hydrogen peroxide and scrubbing them with a 3M pad I was able to remove all the old silicone. Then I washed the pieces with dish soap and rinsed well with water.
I also took a bowl of the hydrogen peroxide out to the hot tub and cleaned all the silicone from both sides of the jet opening. I then wiped it off with a sponge and soapy water. The old silicone had to be completely removed before using the new.
Instead of completely connecting all the pipes, I decided to install the basic piece with Dave again holding the silicone coated jet body straight while I connected the jet to the body, screwing it in with a large pipe wrench. Then I let it sit for another day while it cured. By that time I could add the Ferncos to connect to the existing pipe. I had tried a pipe repair fitting in one spot but it was too long, so I replaced that with another Fernco. These clamp in two places and I made sure that the clamps were very tight.
Used removable Ferncos to attach to old pipes
This time the repair worked! I did have to reroute some of the pipes to fit the Ferncos to the tub hoses but I don’t think it will be a problem for the pump. I was able to pump at least 150 gallons of water back into the tub and then refill it the rest of the way.
I opened the connection to the spa control pack to be sure it had water in it and would not burn out. I had to retighten that connection and then I flipped the power on and the topside control showed a temperature but the equipment did not start up. Next I troubleshoot all the equipment.
Making our way back home we drove another couple of hours and stopped by the Yampa River State Park. This one is right on highway 40 and was a pleasant camping area. The first evening walked down to the river which was really low. Too low to put in our boat.
Yampa river water was low
So we drove over to the lake the next day. It was a reservoir and another state park just a few minutes away. Another lovely day but actually not hot enough to get in the lake to play and Wolfy is a little old to just play in the sand by himself especially with more Minecraft waiting for him. I wanted to try out the boat again but we were all a bit tired by that time so we went back to our river camp.
Elkhead Reservoir State Park near Craig
We rested in camp, reading and enjoying the cooler weather. Later we were able to convince Wolfy to take a walk with us at the river. He was rewarded with some great frog sightings.
Favorite camping activity–Minecraft
Brightly colored frogs
He was also able to wade almost completely across the river which was fun.
Could wade all the way across
Despite the lovely weather we decided to go home a day early. I guess two weeks was enough of an adventure. But so glad we were out and about to see these amazing views.
Dave had proposed visiting this out of the way Colorado/Utah park with the grandkids some time ago. We didn’t think we could handle all three but at seven, Wolfgang is old enough to appreciate ancient history or so we thought. He did like the lizards and the frogs but was less impressed with dinosaur bones even if the excavation site was pretty amazing to us old folks.
Indoor excavation site
We left Rifle Gap and arrived at our riverside Green River campsite. But the river was not accessible to our site. It was about a four foot drop from the shore. One area not far from our site was a tiny rocky area for river access but it was being used by a group of campers and their dogs. Yuck. That afternoon we stopped at the visitors center and watched the movie then read some signs and shopped in the gift store. The next day we took a short morning hike where Wolfy spotted four lizards and we took the shuttle to the indoor actual Dinosaur dig and read the history of discovery. Wolfy got bored and wanted to go back to the RV so we hung around with him watching Mindcraft videos and playing it non-stop.
Vistor Center stegosaurus statue
The next day we took a drive to see some roadside dinosaur sights on short hikes where Wolfy’s sharp eyes saw a few more lizards. We drove the RV down a gravel road to see an old homestead ranch. Wolfy picked up some old walnuts from the ground. On the way back we stopped at a boat put-in site and spent some time lazing by the river.
Climbing to see bones
Collecting walnuts
Watching the river flow
The next day we left camp and stopped in town to visit a small but very well done natural history museum then spent the night at an RV park with full hookups to do some laundry and take showers.
Also wooly mammoths
Cracking walnuts
We hung out there for awhile then drove to the Colorado entrance to the monument. There was major road construction going on for a long stretch where we had to wait quite awhile to be led by a vehicle through the broken road. There were two areas that were torn up. Afterwards we drove several miles through rolling hills and rocky canyons to get to some nice lookouts. We actually drove back across the Utah border. Several private ranches were along the road. Very remote living. We took about a ten mile gravel road down the mountain to get back to Highway 40 and back to our RV park site.
Our half Korean grandkids spent most of the summer visiting their aunt with their mom on Jeju Island in Korea. The children are very bilingual and knowledgeable about their mom’s culture. My son went to join them for the last couple of weeks and there are some great activities for the family including miles of beaches with tide pools to explore and anchovies to harvest. Plus warm springs pools, cultural landmarks and kids’ entertainment parks.
Beach time
Tide pool beach
Jeju warm springs
Jeju Temple
They returned a few days before our granddaughter left and our grandson started football practice. My son took over patent duties for him while we had a long RV trip planned for the younger grandkids. The first week we wanted all three kids then we hoped their parents would join us for the weekend and take the two littlest ones home while we continued our trip with the oldest. Instead a friend who was visiting with her son drove down and we spent a couple of days together. She took the little ones home herself. It was a big job. We spent one day just setting up camp then we visited Rifle falls nearby the reservoir. One day we went to the beach but it was too cold to swim so the kids played in the sand. And one day we took floating toys down to the water near our campsite but our kids got cold. They did really enjoy their scooters on the camp road which was paved and had a downhill stretch. Lots of fast rides.
Rifle Falls
Kids at the falls
Reservoir beach
By the weekend the little ones were ready to be home. After they left we continued our journey with their older brother.
Last time we set up the pool the various leaks in the aging liner were getting more and more difficult to repair. I had a choice between buying a new pool altogether or ordering a new liner from Intex. The liner was much more reasonable and the rest of the pool was in decent shape. The actual liner i ordered was for a newer pool setup but the correct size and the liners are often completely out of stock so I was glad they had one.
Because the grandkids would be here this summer I was anxious to set up the pool for them. It is kind of a big deal to re-level the sand base, put down a new tarp, haul out the frame and insert the liner then get the bottom smoothed out with the first inch or so of water.
New Liner Smooth Bottom
I was very disappointed when we noticed that the new liner was leaking. It appeared the leak was from the seam that welded the sides to the bottom.
Immediate leak
I was hoping the leak was just in one area around the drain, but unfortunately it turned out the entire weld was leaking. I bought a couple of rolls of Gorilla waterproof tape thinking we could seal the leak underwater and use the pool while at the same time submitting a replacement claim.
Gorilla waterproof tape repair
Before the pool was half full the pressure of the water overcame the tape and the pool began to leak profusely all around the perimeter. In the meantime I had started the laborious task of filing for a replacement. The requirements were to cut a huge hole in the side of the liner and a smaller one to send photos of the RMA written on the cut piece back to the company. Luckily I purchased the liner from Intex so it was in their system and I only had to send the order email to provide proof of purchase.
Required cut for replacement
Once the required paperwork was properly filled out, after a call to the company was needed to guide me through the mistakes I had made on the original application. I successfully submitted the claim. The company then sent a replacement which is still in the box.
Replacement Claim
The visit was practically over, we had already wasted gallons of our well water, and my granddaughter was spending a lot of time at the local water park on an annual pass.
It was time for her to return home at the end of July and for us to take another trip with the grandkids who had spent two months in Korea. So the pool was staked to keep it from blowing down and we left for Rifle Gap and Dinosaur National Park.
We had our 12 year old granddaughter and 15 year old grandson visit us this July. That kept us busy with fun kid stuff.
Grandkids arrive from Germany
We took them camping in the mountains to reacquaint them with their home state. We stayed at Shadow Mountain Lake but my battery system for the inflatable boat had a disconnected wire so we didn’t get to troll around. But the kids got in the water and generally we enjoyed out of doors.
Camping time
Best view from the roof
Set up camp
Rocky Mountain National Park
Alpine Visitors Center
Cloud cover at Timber Ridge
t was cloudy and rainy driving down the east side of the mountains so we didn’t stay one more night. We just drove all the way home.
Grappel falling as we leave
Campsite to campsite route
Alice spent lots of time with her friends in the US and a lifelong friend of Spencer’s came to visit. Tao and Spencer met in nursery school as babies. It was great to see him and his mom.
Tao visits with his mom Alisa
Before the end of Alice’s stay we drove down to the amazing Garden of the Gods. We all hiked a bit. Alice and Spencer went together. And we watched the rock climbers.
A day at magnificent Garden of the Gods
A little hike in the heat
Alice had me take her friends to see the Barbie movie. We enjoyed the movie and it was fun to sit with the young ladies. We were all dressed in pink of course!
We sent Alice home but the plan is for Spencer to stay the school year to get some US education and play “real” football.
