Hi, and first time posting here:
I am in NY (Northern Westchester County)

I have a 1998 Watkins Grandee model "G" S/N G281357 that has just developed a slow leak.

I noticed the water level was way low and refilled. After the fill the water level slowly dips down to just above the seating area (about 2" over the seats I guess) and then stays there. It takes at least 2 days to get down to the level where it stops leaking. I'm not 100% certain, it maky even take 3 days...

The water leak is definately on the LEFT side somewhere. A steady trickle of water leaks out of the very bottom skirt area about mid-way down the left side, and the water drips out of the back rear corner.

My dealer (who we purchased the spa from) came out and for $180.00 told me "you've got a leak!". (super)

They now want me to sign a waiver and agree to basically an unlimted cost to repair. The quote from the service department was "It needs to go up on blocks, we probably need to pull out insulation, and the cost to repair could be $2000.00, but it could be $5000.00 or more depending on the problem."

I'm fairly depressed at this news.

So a couple questions please:

1) Is this a standard repair quote? As in "This could cost you many many thousands of dollars so sign here and we will bill your credit card..." I know it could be lot's of things but jeeze...

2) From my description of the leak, does anyone have any suggestions on what might be the cause and what you might do to solve?

3) Also, if there are any spa repair persons in my area I would like to speak to you regardigng your estimate / suggestions on how to proceed

Also, The spa has been operating fine all these years so I guess I'm lucky in that respect. The repairs on the spa to date include:
-Repair of the main jet selector valves (the big knobs on the top of the shell). They replaced the shafts and put new knobs on when the original knobs started to slip
-The heater failed and was replaced under warranty
-Several of the plastic parts of the jets and mechanisims have cracked / failed. They sort of disintigrate over time I guess. Some have been replaced, some not. The moto jets stopped working quite a while back.
-I replaced the ozone generator this spring with a new factory part - seemed to work fine all spring / summer

Thanks for reading and any suggestions!

Not sure this will solve your problems, but it may help ease the pain.

I am located in Lincoln, NE so not sure how comprable prices are here to there, but i was basically given the same answer. "We need to come pick it up, put it up on blocks dig out the foam etc, etc. yourprobably looking at 2,000 dollars or so, and that we arent even sure of."

Well the hot tub i have was given to me and there was no way i could spend 2000 dollars on it.

So I did what they said they were gonna do. I put it up on my blocks on my patio, figured out where the leak was coming from. Emptied it. Put it on it side and started digging, following the wet foam. I found that two check valves had frozen and cracked. Also in one seat where there are about ten mini jets, I found at least five leaks in there, where glue joints had just gone bad, and had basically been that way from the factory.

Once i thought i had found all the leaks or at least had them uncovered i set the tub back up on blocks and filled the tub back up. Saw where things were leaking from and assessed the damage and went and bought the new parts. Emptied the tub and set it back on its side to do the repairs. Got them fixed set it back up on blocks and filled the tub. Waited three days to see a drip, never did so i emptied it and set it back on the patio, and filled and enjoyed.

Now that all sounds nice and easy, but this was over the course of at least a week and a lot of sweat. Take a look at my other posts and you will find pictures of my tub and all the things i have had to do with it.

The thing I learned from calling around to the different spa places, is that no one wants to work on a full foam spa, because of the hassle it creates. If they use "their foam" to replace what they took out, that alone can cost a thousand dollars (depending on the size of the area taken out of course). I was truly frustrated at what i learned about the local spa repairmen here. If i didnt already have a great job that I love, I would have my own spa repair business right now. Not that its easy money or easy work, but to just help people like me and yourself out. This in no way represents all repair guys either. The guys that are on here do this for free, dont get any kind of compensation and I give them all the respect in the world for the job they do. I along with thousands of others really appreciate what they do.

I also found all the parts i needed except for the check valves and a few elbows at the local Home Depot. They also have the piping especially for spas.

I recommend if you have the time and patience to do it yourself. The one thing you also have to take into account is the impending cold weather. Not gonna be fun to work on that thing in the snow.

Please feel free to email me or message me, whatever. I will give you any and all knowledge that I have for free.

Where the water leaks out is not always where the leak is, especially if the pad is not 100%level. With that said if the pad is level and there is a lot of water in the back left corner, I would pull off the 2 boards directly behind that moto-massage unit. You will find an approximately 8" high by 6" wide piece of plywood embedded into the foam. Rip the piece of plywood out, and behind that (you may have to dig out a little foam, but it is not real dense in that area) you will see a 1/8" bleedline that enters through the shell and into the moto-massage compartment. Chances are that the nipple that the bleedline attaches to is your problem. Sometimes the water seeping out is hard to see and you need to keep drying it off with paper towels to notice it.

If that is indeed the problem then you can break off the bleedline (sometimes they are already completely broken off). If it doesn't break off cleanly then sand the remaining piece off flush with the shell. Then drill out the existing hole with a 19/64" drill bit. Get a bleedline replacement nipple at a local HotSpring store (or I can send you one) and glue it in with regular pvc primer/ glue. Re-attach the 1/8" bleedline and you are all set.

If it is not the bleedline then you are probably looking at a bad glue joint somewhere in the tub and that can be a nightmare to fix on site.

John and Dan:
Thanks for your replies!
I actually wrote a reply to John a couple hours ago, but I guess I did not submit it...

So I think I may just jump in and take a look at the corner as Dan has suggested. Who knows? I might get lucky!

One dumb question: How do you get the cedar shell off without damaging it? I have to take a closer look at in the morning, but I'm not sure I see how it comes apart.

I'll take photos of what I find and thanks again! I'll check in later.

You need to tap a putty knife up and down the entire crease of the two boards that you need to take out and also on the boards on the sides (that are not coming out). The boards 'shiplap' over each other. Then pull out evenly from the bottom (two staples hold it in) and work your way up. Sometimes the boards will still break, and there are replacement slats if they do.

I had a little bit of time this AM to take a closer look. I pulled off the moto covers (never even did that before - feel pretty dumb about that b/c it's SIMPLE)
I see that the LEFT unit is completely destroyed - all of the hose ribs or whatever you might call them were gone. The hose was completly disconected as well, just liek you see in the picture. I included the right side as well for comparison.

Also, note that small red post piece that is only present on the RIGHT side... Dont knwo what that is for, but it seems to be missing from the LEFT side unit. (wonder if that is a hole that is leaking water?)

So besides the obvious requirement to repair those damaged pieces and reconnecting the hose, is it possible for the leak to be caused just by this? Doubtful, but figured I'd ask!
Thanks

No, it wouldn't leak due to the moto-massage itself being broken apart, unless it froze at some point. If you look closely inside the left moto compartment, the nipple is opposite (on the back side) of the small hole that you can see in the photo above and to the right of the red hoses.

Thanks Dan for reply.

I dont mean to be too dense on this then, but why is it different on each side? I posted a new pic of them side-by-side. You can clearly see some sort of post onthe right, whereas the left side is a hole.

Ahhh, I see it now. Looks like the one on the right has already been replaced with the 1/8" bleedline nipple like I described above. The old nipple was molded as part of the tub, the new replacment glues in and sticks through like the one on the right.