If you are a fan of hot tubs, you should always have a spare hot tub pump or at least a spa pump in store. That’s the wisest thing any owner of a hot tub can have, as Murphy’s law dictates that things break down at the worst possible moment. And what can be worse than looking forward to jumping into a hot tub after a hard day at work? You are on you country property, trees take their autumn colors, and as you inhale the smell of the grass wet from a night rain, anticipating a relaxing environment of hot water and cedar, you hear a “belch belchbelch cough pffffft” of the hot tub pump, or a spa pump, if you had one installed. That sounds pretty awful, doesn’t it? Because it is. Fortunately, if you have a spare hot tub pump or a spa pump, or at least the tools, you can replace the one that broke down after a bit of work or attempt a repair by yourself.
First, let’s explore the topic of: pump 101. All pumps, be it a hot tub pump or a spa pump, are made from the wet end which moves the water and contains an impeller, and the dry end, represented chiefly by an electric motor. And, of course, any part of the pump can and will fail with time. Even if you don’t use it, it will eventually rust away or burn down as the Sun gets hotter, so you might as well start abusing the thing now. There are several main types of malfunctions that will make your hot tub pump or spa pump cease working completely. One is very easy to fix, and it’s called “The Jammed Impeller”. It’s just what the name says. Something got into the impeller, and if you remove the jam, things will work fine again. Another problem is a defective starting capacitor. No easy way out but to take apart the pump and replace it. Third problem is a problem with the electrical motor. The motor, being a more or less complex device, can have any number of problems of its own, but the most common ones are frozen shaft or bearings.
In any case you will have to take the pump apart, well, unless you are willing to just install a spare one. And if you want to take the pump apart, you want to take it out from the hot tub. So you don’t really have a choice here.
Here’s how to take the pump out of the tub: first, disconnect the copper wire banding from the pump’s ground terminal. Second, unscrew the two unions of the pump. Residual water draining out will be your reward at this point. Finally, remove the mounting screws from the pump base bracket. After that, detach the cable by unscrewing cable clamp screws, and you’re ready to do further damage to your delicate equipment.
If your pump is refusing to work, better get a new hot tub pump http://www.cedartubsdirect.com/hot-tub-pumps-c-4.html or spa pump http://www.cedartubsdirect.com/hot-tub-pumps-c-4.html . Of course, you can attempt to do a repair by yourself, but that may result in time wasted and the pump still refusing to work.