Stop before you buy any hot tub parts

AStop before you buy anything for your hot tub! Heaters and Sensors.

Buying the wrong parts costs everyone in time and money, so make sure your going to buy the right hot tub parts before you click on the buy button. Getting the actual correct part to fix a fault isn't hard now-a-days as platforms like youtube or even a simple google search can give you an instant "how to" result and/or maybe even a video to show you how. (You may have even found this article the same way).

The following are just a couple of little pointers to help you get the right part especially if your fault relates to a heater or sensor problem then article will really help.

The following is the most common question we get on the phone and via email - Help my hot tub won't get hot! I must need a new heater?

The most common fault on a hot tub is not heating, this can be caused by so many things including simply things like: dirty filters, low water level, wrong mode and so on but for some reason the natural presumption is to point to the heater and simply say "the heater needs replacing", the next question from us is always what is the make and model of heater, and you would be surprised by how many people say 'i don't know because i haven't taken the side of' or 'where is the heater?'. We simply reply so how do you know it is the heater? In this situation we refer the customer to take the side of and do some checks.

A quick check list if your hot tub isn't heating would be as follows:

• Remove the filters (are they dirty?)
• Check the water level (is air getting in?)
• Is the pump working properly (the one that circulates the hot water)
• Is the plumbing blocked
• Is any power getting to the heater (Multimeter required)
• and if so is it drawing .amp's? (Amp meter required)

Note: it is good to note at this point that you can not see the water heating up and you can not feel it by putting your hand on the heater tube.

Thoroughly test and then resolve the problem that caused it.

After doing the above checks you would now have a better understanding of the part that has failed and then either a picture or a description will get you the correct part, however this is only getting you to the good bit, what caused the fault? Always resolve the fault before you replace the part, this is essential as it may cause the part to fail again prematurely and that will only cost more time and money. A good example of this is replacing the heating element only to have it fail again 2 weeks later, which means draining it down again and buying another new one.

Although the part looks the same its not.

One of the biggest common purchases that people get wrong are "Hot Tub Sensors", as an engineer i took the time with a box full of sensors (all similar sized) to try and fix hot tubs that no one could get the parts for, this usually ended in failure due to not being able to get the correct resistance. although they measure the same externally and have 2 cables the resistor inside them can be very different.

Sensors and thermostats have to match the originals made by the manufacturers and therefore you can not cross the branded parts over.

So in short!

Allways make sure you buy the right part!

Check out the following page of hot tub guides to help you buy the right part first time.Hot Tub Repair Videos and Guides

Hot Tub DIY

Please feel free to leave a comment below if this article helped you.