Starting the Tub during the Winter


If you have just received your new spa or just turned it on for the first time during the winter, make sure you follow the recommendations below.


Our spas are water tested and drained in factory for quality assurance. However, it is possible for a small amount of water to be left in the lines at delivery. Likewise, if you have had your spa sitting off for a long period of time (filled or emptied) and just turned it back on during cold weather, any amount of water left in the lines would have the chance to freeze. 


NOTE: Residual water from factory testing is not enough to crack pipes or cause damage but it will prevent the impeller from turning. The pump will either refuse to start (in order to prevent damage to the impeller if it were to start spinning with ice inside) or it will hum.


INSTRUCTIONS:


  1. DO NOT fill (or drain) the tub when temperatures are freezing (below 0 Celsius degrees) or by the end of a day when there is not good light. Check for a day with above freezing temperatures and plan ahead of time the filling process of your tub.
  2. Remove the front cabinet panels and place a space heater or at least two 100W incandescent light bulbs in any available room without directly touching any spa components. Ideally, the heater should be placed as closer to the Pump as possible. Try to put the panels back in place as much as possible to maintain the cabinet warmed and keep the heater running for at least 24 hours prior to start filling the tub. (leaning the panel against the spa to close the opening will suffice). To watch a video showing the best way to place the space heater under the Spa cabinets, click HERE. 
  4. After having the space heater running for 24 hours, proceed to start filling your tub with warm water (DO NOT ADD HOT WATER) by removing the filter housing lid and placing a garden hose directly into the filter housing of the tub and not directly into the Spa basin. This will reduce the chances of getting an airlock into the lines. 
  5. Keep the space heater running until the tub is completely filled up. Then, place your filter (s) into the filter housing, close the lid and remove the space heater. Power the tub ON and press Pump 1 (Jets 1) or wait for the tub to do it by itself during the priming process. (this may take up to 5 minutes). If the Pump starts running as normal on low and high speeds, proceed to put the cabinet panels back in place by securing them with the vertical strips and screws.

    If this did not helped you out and the Pump is not starting, the quickest solution would be to directly melt the ice in the Wet End of the pump (where the impeller is located): 


  1. Close both the intake and discharge gate valves to the pump (remove black security clip if present, push valves down and twist to lock).
  2. Undo the intake union (side) and discharge union (top).
  3. Pour warm/hot water into the discharge opening of the wet end allowing it to flow out of the intake opening.
  4. Use pliers to try moving the motor shaft and see if it has gotten free. If not, repeat Step 3 until the motor shaft is able to move freely.
  5. Once the motor shaft is able to turn freely, quickly reconnect the intake and discharge unions and open the two gate valves.
  6. Turn the power back on and activate the pump.


Intake and discharge gate valves circled in red, intake and discharge unions circled in yellow.



*Do not perform initial fill with hot or extremely cold water as this would give you further error codes. Fill with a cold/warm mix above 45F and do not exceed 100F.


If you require any further assistance, please contact Customer Service.