February 28, 2005
HOT tub
The hot tub is now finally hot and bubbly. And the GFCI hasn't been tripped for like a week and a half - so all is well in the tub.
February 14, 2005
Tub..............
So my tub hasn't been getting super hot as of late, or ever. And the GFI breaker I put on the outside of the garage has been tripping a lot. I had the repair guy come over.
And of course it's like when you take your car to the shop, it won't misbehave when the mechanic is around. I couldn't get the tub to trip while he was there. He tightened down all the wire screws and said that could be it. And then he adjusted the thermostat so it'll get hot in the tub. He warned that it might get too hot, like 110, if it's set to the max. Which is fine with me.
As the GFI is still being tripped, I'm going to disconnect the bonding ground, as that might be doing it as well. If that fails, I'm just going to get a non GFI breaker and throw that on the wall. The tub comes with a GFI so everything should be ok.
And I picked up like a million bags of packing peanuts for insulation. Turns out I really only need like 2 bags, so now I have a bunch of black garbage bags filled with crap that likes to float around and make my yard look even trashier.
February 07, 2005
Tub is done
The moving party. Dan, May, Maureen, Aimee and Ron's hand.
The 2 yards of gravel being delivered.
Aimee loading sand into the wheel barrow (BTW, this is how you can scratch up the tailgate. who knew?)
1300 pounds of flagstone for the tub area
Aimee double checking the expert wiring
Wiring almost done
We have 3 circuits baby:
- One 220 for the tub
- One for the garage lights, outlet and scary room on 12/3 wiring
- One for the TV and fridge. With tape to make sure I don't close the circuit and get crispy
Ron starting to frame the TV/fridge area
Tub view, pre fill and pre hole
Funny how easy it is to cut into your garage
Looking through the new window
TV and fridge in place
It looks kinda chintzy now, but after the siding and trim are up, it'll look a tad better.
February 03, 2005
Tub repair
The hot tub repair guy came out yesterday and hooked up the wiring on the tub. The jury rigged heater element I had put together wasn't going to work, so I had the repair guy install a new heater element with a high temp safety switch (for $350.) That kinda sucked.
We filled the tub with water and after replacing a diode and a cam for the air control buttons he turned it on. And water was whirl and pooling all over the place. Unfortunetly it was also pooling from one of the two pumps. "Oh, that's not good" he said. My response was "Aw ***k, how much is that?" Turns out they are $350 also. Someone has a good racket going on.
I had to stand there and look at my tub with it's pretty water while he told me I shouldn't use it until we get a new pump in it. Otherwise it might break the motor (with water and all), and that'd be another $300.
But, he's got the part in stock and is coming out on Saturday to hook it up. The grand total of repairs for my $400 tub will be $1100. I'll have to stop giving away my cans and bottles and get the deposit myself.
Ron and I are going to put in the french doors on the garage for the TV and fridge this Saturday. Hopefully in time for Super Bowl Sunday.
I have a pic of the tub here