he call comes into your service department: The hot tub of one of your valued customers is on the fritz. The heater doesn’t work and the jets won’t bubble.
You assign the task to one of your best service technicians, who immediately springs into action. He slides into his snow suit, pulls on a wool ski cap and gloves, and then heads out to his truck, its tires already equipped with chains.
While the general public’s perception of the hot tub lifestyle likely includes palm trees and sunscreen, the truth is actually quite different. In colder regions, where extremely short swim seasons drastically reduce the value of swimming pools, the hot tub is king.
Cold-weather areas are a haven for hot tubs, say industry veterans. “There is certainly a higher percentage of hot tubs in operation in colder climates than in warm climates,” says Tim Bennett, owner of Waterworks, a hot tub retail and service company in Anchorage, Alaska. “Where else can you sit in 102-degree water and watch the northern lights when it’s 30 below?”
Bennett estimates that hot tubs are in operation nearly 135 million hours per year in Alaska. “There’s a lot of product out there and no product manufactured is foolproof,” he notes.
A sense of urgency
From time to time, hot tubs need a little TLC from a service expert, especially in harsh climates where extreme temperatures can make their components work longer and harder. Service techs from these areas say that during the winter, customer calls have an urgency not normally associated with warm-weather jobs.
That’s partly because it doesn’t take long for a small body of water to freeze in below-zero temperatures. And once that water is frozen, it becomes much more difficult to work on the hot tub. Therefore, it’s important to pinpoint problems quickly and accurately.
Below are four basic questions service techs should ask clients when they first receive a call that there is no heat in the hot tub. Once the answers have been obtained, a good tech can sometimes determine the problem before heading out to a job. He or she also will know which parts to bring and tools to have on hand.
How warm is the water in the hot tub?
This is important because cold water means the equipment is vulnerable. Water that is near the freezing point in the vessel means the water in the plumbing system, where the equipment is, is already frozen. This could be a thermostat problem, or an electrical problem.
Is the hot tub on? Is it circulating?
If the answer is “no,” it’s likely an electrical problem, or possibly a dirty filter. If the answer is “yes,” it’s a good idea to have them check the breakers.
Have you checked the breakers and reset them?
If breakers have been reset, and the hot tub starts working, ask the client to be vigilant for a couple of hours. If it happens again, there’s probably something that is causing the breakers to trip. Check with the owner to see if there has been a power outage in the area because that also can cause a breaker to trip.
When was the last time the filter was cleaned? Is it dirty?
A dirty filter can restrict water flow, making the pump work harder, which can cause it to shut down. If the filter hasn’t been cleaned, then it’s probably the culprit.
Going on the call
When working in cold weather, advance preparation is essential. You’ll want to have a variety of tools and devices with you when heading out on the job. Here’s what the experts recommend:
• Bypass system: If the water in a hot tub has frozen, it has to be thawed before any problems that may be plaguing the components can be diagnosed. Some creative ice-removal methods have developed by technicians.
“We call ours a life loop,” says Brad Smith, service manager at Mountain Hot Tubs in Bozeman, Mont. “It’s a portable unit with a heater and pump, and 3/4-inch tubing.”
Each end of the tube is placed in the hot tub. The water is drawn out, passed through the heater, warmed and then returned to the tub. The process continues until the tub is completely thawed.
Other service technicians do something similar, but use the tub’s existing equipment. Gary Burklund of Montana Hot Springs Spas in Billings, Mont., uses vinyl tubing to create a line into the hot tub. “I then lead it into the equipment compartment and bypass the filter to create my own inlet and outlet so it goes directly to the heater,” he says.
If the water is frozen solid and you can’t get a tube into it, there’s a simple solution says Tim Bennett, owner of Waterworks in Anchorage, Alaska. He’ll lay the hoses on top of the ice and add water. Then he thaws the whole thing by using an old equipment pack — circulation pump and heater, 110 volts — and circulate the water through that.
The big thaw also can be accomplished in another easy way. “I built a special tool that we carry in our vans,” says Colin Cote, service manager at Rocky Mountain Spas in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. “I use rigid 1/4-inch nylon tubing that can be adapted to a garden hose and hooked up to a domestic hot water tank. We put it on low pressure and feed it into the circulation line from an inlet.”
Sometimes it may take overnight for these processes to fully thaw the water in the hot tub.
• Steamers: “Steamers” are the creation of service veterans who have had long tenures maintaining hot tubs in cold-weather climates.
“We have steamers that we have built,” Smith says. “They’re hand-held and about the size of coffee cans. They’re heater tank vessels made of stainless steel.”
Smith builds a pressure gauge and heater element into the vessel, and a plug-in ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). A cavity on top of the vessel can be opened to add water. When the device is plugged in, the heater element begins to create steam.
“The steam shoots out through tubing,” he explains, “and we use that tubing to probe down through the equipment plumbing to melt through it and break it free of ice.”
• Heat guns: Heat guns often are used to help remove old paint from walls. In the hot-tub service business, they’re great for thawing pipes.
“It’s like an industrial strength hair dryer that makes vinyl tubing work a lot better,” Bennett says. “I blow it onto pipes to bring things into operation range.”
Cote is a fan of heat guns, too. “It’s a standard-issue tool. Cold plumbing does not move and you have to warm it up a bit,” he notes.
• Space heaters/ in-car warmers and solar blankets: Technicians often use small space heaters or car warmers to place inside the equipment compartment to help thaw things out.
“They don’t make [in-car warmers] much anymore because nowadays just about everyone has a garage for their cars,” Cote says. “But I always seem to find them at garage sales. I have seven service vehicles that all carry either space heaters or in-car warmers.”
The heaters and solar blankets are ideal if the spa has to be shut down for several days, says Cote. “I will go to the site, set up the heater in the equipment compartment, wrap the tub in solar blankets and it will gradually thaw. The blankets will keep it from freezing again,” he says. “Then I come back in three or four days and repair the concern.”
Solar blankets also work well when using a bypass system to thaw the water in the hot tub. Techs wrap them around the unit to add extra insulation during the thawing process.
