Hot Tub Leaking!!!!

[mojomatti]

I have a hydropool model 525 hot tub that is about 8 years old and it was given to me 3 years ago. I do not use it in the summer, only fall & winter months. I filled it up on weekend, started it up no problem, but noticed it was losing water, probabley 4 inches overnight.
I checked all connections, pump hoses, everything seemed okay. All dry around heater pack etc.
How do you detect a leak elsewhere??? When i open the side panels all you can see is the yellowish foam and i can't tell where the leak is!!!
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[mrcaptainbob]

Water leak....

Does it stop at a certain level? For instance, if there are several ports at various heights, which level does it stabilize? As for finding that leak on the outside, toss in some food coloring in the tub. The leak will be mmore discernable on the outside with a color added to it...

[LazyPup]

The hydropool 525 is listed as a four person hot tub.

I don't have the actual tub dimensions but I am guessing the inside area of the tub to be approximately 4' x 4' square.

converting to inches that is 48" x 48" = 2304sq.in.

The estimated loss is 4" depth in 24 hours so the total loss is 2304sq.in x 4" = 9216 cubic inches of water.

One gallon of water occupies 231cu.in so the loss is 9216 / 231 = 39.8gal in 24 hours.

The loss is then 1.6 gal/hr

Under ordinary circumstances there are only three possibilities for where the water can go. ( of course this is ruling out the possibility that you may have pets or livestock drinking the water).

1. evaporation
2. leak on the floor under the unit
3. down the drain

I think it would be safe to say that the rate of loss is much faster than what could be attributed to evaporation even in a hot arid desert climate.

The pump/aearation system is a closed loop back to the tub so any water entering the pump section would ultimately return to the tub with no losses.

The pump, heater and associated piping has been inspected and no leaks noticed and judging by the volume of loss, Ray Charles would have seen a leak if it were present. In this same regard, judging by the volume of loss, if the tub liner were leaking the entire floor around the unit would be wet by now.

Having now considered the possibilities logically my conclusion would be that the tub stopper or drain valve is leaking the water down the drain.

[mojomatti]

re: hot tub leaking

Lazypup was accurate with his measurements, it is in fact a 48 x 48 tub.
After I discovered the initial leak with the tub running, I topped up the water
and left it off to see if it still leaks, and it does.
I've let it sit now for a few days and it has lost a good 5 inches of water.
Last year at this same time I noticed a leak and all it took was a turn of one of the interior ports and that took care of the problem...
I turned a few of the ports again and will now give it a few days to see if that does anything. Hopefully I'll get lucky again!!!!
How and where would I find the tub stopper/drain valve that Lazypup mentioned? My tub does not have anything like that on the interior floor.
If I dropped some food colour in the tub, would it be drawn to the leak area? The tub sits on concrete and it would very hard to distinguish colour on it.
Like I mentioned before, I am going to give it a few more days and see if it still leaks.
The water level is still just above the highest port at this time, so like mrcaptainbob had mentioned it may stabilize at that time and I can start an elimination process.
Thanks again

[kactuskid]

The drain port on a hot tub will be down below near the pump and moter assembly. You should either see something like a plastic boiler valve with a threaded male end sticking out from it. This is used to connect a hose to for draining. In fact you should be draining your tub and changing the water out at least 4 times a year.

Anyhow, check really close around the entire exterior, down on the concrete to see any dampness. If you don't see any then eventually you may need to cut a hole in the side of the shell across from the spa pack/pump/moter to take a look.

And just wondering, do you have an insulated cover for it?