Today is super "Woo Hoo" day! My early 50th Birthday Present came (even though I paid for it)...
Got the voice mail from the Softub repair guy. I met my parents in Brantford for a socially distanced lunch (there is a chip wagon/food truck with a car wash) and we had fish and chips with our vehicles 10 ft apart. Sucks to not be able to hug them but better to have a compromised visit than no visit at all. My parents are in the second half of their 70s and my mother has COPD so I would rather sacrifice visits and hugs than compromise her health in any way.
At any rate the Hydromate was done so I went to Hamilton after and...
For a reminder here is how the Hydromate used to look. You can see the small tears in the marine vinyl etc...
Here is post repair with the new cover:
The old cover was more of a Sedona Red or something and the new mocha brown will match better with the tub anyways. Should I keep the tub longer term and I buy a new folding cover then I will go with this mocha brown which I think will make a cool contrast with the lighter camel brown of the tub.
Old cover and various old parts from the unit:
Time to go home my new toy!
We had just enough time to hit Dirt Depot before going home. I put out a bit of river rock the other night and my wife likes it so I got a yard of the stuff. Poor truck has been working hard the past couple of years. Towing our little Jayco to various campground, moving boxes and furniture to storage units and our new place, truck loads of gravel, dirt, screening, mulch, river rock etc.
Good thing this trim package included heavier duty rear springs and LT rated tires (instead of P). Nice to have the higher load ratings on the tires when hauling or towing:
Get 'er lined up!
Some goodies I needed to pick up. Old, nasty looking filter is garbage. Got the foam insulation for the junction between the tub and Hydromate. Unfortunately he did not have the right size in stock. Will wrap with plastic or something until the vinyl covering comes in.
I washed the inside of the tub with dish soap and water and rinsed the crap out of it. Then I used the vinyl cleaner I bought on the side and cover. I can't believe how much dirt and crap came out with the vinyl cleaner!
Almost to the moment of truth! After the cleaning and rinsing I could finally junction these together...
Then the filter, filter sock, and add water! Woo Hoo!
2 inches is enough for the wrinkles to start to work their way out. Also, this is where Softub recommended adding a tablespoon of granular chlorine.
No leaks here. Good news. Just the same the tech had the Hydromate running and it did not leak on his bench so no problems with the newly rebuilt Hydromate...
Softub cushion and pillow/head rest where they will be during use. If I really like them I may snag another set. I had to get the cushion for my wife. She has trouble sitting at 90 degrees with her M.S. This is just enough elevation for her to be comfotable.
Moment of truth!
Good flow when the pumps and air are on...
No leaks at the junction so the insulation has to go on now...
Again, I still need the vinyl wrap for this junction. In the interim I will use some plastic, a garbage bag or something in the interim until the vinyl comes in. As you can see the unit is working. Heat of the water has been rising.
Will go out in a couple of hours to check the temp and see where I am in terms of chemistry.
Even if I get to high 80s tomorrow I'm going in!
So... What did this cost?
Tub was $1200.
Repairs plus parts came to... $729.87...
That works out to $1929.87. That includes the pillow and cushion that cost a few bucks. New filter, filter sock. new GFCI and cable. Rebuilding the motor and unit and a whack or parts. Plus the cover. Since he already had the cover in stock and it was older I got it for half price. A new motor is $600 so getting it all rebuilt plus all the new parts, new cable/GFCI, and the chemicals etc for what I did was more than reasonable to me.
Add in the $300 in materials for the pad and that brings it to $2229.87
Then all of the river rocks today came to $146.90 after tax. These will be used to pretty up the Softub area but will also get used elsewhere in the yard. If I add those to my total it brings the grand total to: $2376.77
That is for a Softub, repairs, chemicals, and accessories. And the pad, landscaping and even upgrades elsewhere on the property.
Can't argue that I ended up okay. The last piece of vinyl is $16 which is sort of a rounding error at this point.
Based on used Softubs we could ask $3500 and accept anywhere between $2500 and there and be okay.
Just the same now is the time to get the temp up, get the water chemistry dialed in and ultimately enjoy it!