A hot tub is just like any other machine… a car, a washing machine, a bicycle. Because it has moving parts things will eventually need seeing to, either because something’s broken or a part needs replacing. It’s good to know what’s what in advance so you know what to expect from these expensive pieces of kit.

Here’s a look at what can go wrong, how to fix it, and how to steer clear of complete hot tub nightmares when it’s possible to avoid them. By the end of it you’ll know which hot tub parts come a cropper the most, the areas where the most problems arise, and have a few pro tips under your belt about minimising them.

Tip one – Don’t be a hot tub numpty!

If you never maintain your hot tub, you’re one of the biggest problems it’ll face! If you treat it mean, leave it mucky, let people act like numpties when they’re in it, let it freeze, let mould grow on the surface and dirt get into the pipework, allow the dogs to play in it, leave it open to the air all winter or not replace the water when it’s due, you can’t really complain. Your hot tub won’t work well, will keep breaking down, will give up the ghost years before it needed to, and you could even end up poisoning someone with your horrid, grubby soup of warm bacteria-filled water.

Is it easy to access all the hot tub parts?

Not always. Some tubs are very thoroughly insulated using thick foam, which is brilliant until you need to get at a part stuck behind the foam. Your maintenance expert will have to cut holes in the foam to get at the various hot tub parts and the repair, while hidden from sight, will inevitably be a bit messy thanks to having to jam a load of replacement insulation in.

If that worries you, choose a hot tub insulated with special thermal fabric instead of foam. Then all your hot tub maintenance person does is lift the blanket out to get at the bits they need to replace or repair. And there’s no extra costs for replacing foam insulation.

The 9 problem areas in a hot tub

1. Your hot tub will have one or two pumps. Smaller tubs or one pump tubs have one pump to fuel the jets and the water circulation. A larger tub or two pump system  does one job each: one powers the circulation, usually a smaller pump, and the bigger second pump powers the jets, the bits that give you the bubbles. As you can imagine a two pump system is the best, lasting longer simply because each pump has less work to do. But despite that they’ll eventually start leaking once the seals fail. And that’s usually down to poor water quality, where the chemicals in the water get out of balance and begin causing damage.
2. Your heater, obviously, keeps the water warm by sending it through a heated element. When the water’s chemicals are out of balance or the water’s muck, the heater sucks in particles of gubbins which stresses the motor. Eventually it’ll fail.
3. As you’d expect your filters , which suck up particles in the water, need to be looked after and replaced when required, otherwise the mechanics of the whole tub will eventually grind to a halt, full of nasty dirt and grime. Clean or replace them when the manufacturer recommends and you’ll save yourself a world of pain.
4. The water in your hot tub has to be cleaned and pH balanced, a regular job you’ll want to get in the habit of. Put it in your phone diary or on the wall calendar, and stick to your schedule. When the water gets too acidic because the pH is too low, it will quietly eat away the hot tubs parts including some of the bits made from rubber, which perishes quickly when faced with this level of chemical onslaught. If it becomes too alkaline, when the pH is too high, the chemicals in the water crystallise out and cover everything with a chalky coat of grossness. The water can even go green and slimy, foamy like a head on a pint of real ale (grim), cloudy or smell dreadful. You won’t want to get into the tub if so, it won’t do your skin or your overall health any good.
5. The shell of the tub – the tub bit – is often made from acrylic, a kind of tough plastic. Like most plastics it can get scratched and chipped and the shine can fade to leave it looking dull. If the water gets out of balance the rough surface gathers stains and mould. Calcification and crusty deposits from other hot tub chemicals make things worse. Not a good look, and it isn’t hygienic either.
6. The hot tub frame and surround can be a problem, but again only if you neglect it or do something mad like stand the hot tub on a surface that either isn’t flat or actually has lumps. A warped surround looks nasty and will degrade faster than one that has retained its proper shape, kept its integrity.
7. Electrics in a hot tub can go wrong, like any other electrical system. If the tech fails and your keypad is showing you crazy numbers or error messages, it’ll be down to the electrics. 
8. The hoses send the water to the jets. They’re basically invisible until they go wrong, but if one leaks you’ll need to replace it. And the jets themselves can suffer, jammed up with calcium residue when your water gets out of balance.
9. If your hot tub has any plastic piping and the weather dips below freezing the pipes can burst.

The most important thing of all – the water in your hot tub

You’ve probably guessed it by now. Water is your biggest menace. On the bright side, the water element of hot tub maintenance is pretty simple compared to having to get someone out to fix things because you neglected the water.

More vital steps to top hot tub performance

Tip one – be efficient, be organised, and always do exactly what the manufacturer says you should do to keep the water clean, fresh and chemically balanced. A replacement pump, for example, can cost hundreds of pounds, so it’s worth focusing hard on your water maintenance.

Tip two – do exactly what the manufacturer says to over-winter your hot tub safely so the cold weather doesn’t damage anything. The lines, for example, can freeze if you switch off the tub in winter and the water stops circulating.

Tip three – care for your filters. Clean and change a pleated filter frequently to keep the water flowing without blockages. If you have depth filters, shaped like a paper kitchen roll, imbalanced water chemistry can simply disintegrate the filter. Bugger. That’s not good 😉

Tip four – check for leaks when you first set up your new hot tub. At this early stage if it leaks it’s either because it was damaged in transit or when being set up, or something simple in the machinery – maybe a little pipe – has worked its way loose. These problems are often pretty easy to fix once you’ve found the leak’s source. 

Tip five – You can clean stains off acrylic tubs with special products available from your hot tub supplier. Cracked acrylic can be fixed, either an expert job or one for a skilled DIYer.

Tip six – Learn all about your tub! The more you know about its guts and inner workings, what they do and why/how they fail, the better position you’ll be in to know when something isn’t right, be able to pin the cause down, and if at all possible fix it yourself.

Tip seven – You’ll want to replace your hot tub cover when it starts looking tatty, otherwise it simply won’t work to protect the tub. 

Now you know what’s what. Study the instructions, look up anything confusing online, watch some good YouTube vids and you’ll be prepared for a long and happy hot tub life with minimal issues.