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!
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!
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.
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.
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.