Hot Tub Pump Problems

Symptoms - Occasional Running, Excessive Noise or Loss a Speed

As your pump gets older it could start to suffer with overheating issues. This is when the thermal cut-out on the pump prevents it from running until the motor cools back down. Other issues you could experience is the pump losing one of its speeds, if it's a 2-speed pump, or excessive noise coming from the pump.

Simple actions to try before a hot tub service call out...

Overheating - Should the pump start to action infrequently, then the only solution is to replace it. You will know this if the pump motor becomes extremely warm/hot when touching it. This can work in conjunction with the tub not heating correctly and/or flow issues.

Missing Low/High Speed - If your two speed pump starts to miss a speed, for example if you press it once from off, and the slow speed doesn't start or just buzzes, press it again and it powers in to second speed, then it's probably a capacitor which needs replacing which is fairly low cost. A capacitor gives the pump a start up voltage to get the motor going, like a battery. You will have two capacitors if you have a two speed pump. Although a cheaper fix to replace the capacitor on your pump, there is usually a reason for this to go, so it could be a sign that the pump will need replacing in the not too distant future.

Excessive Noise - If your pump is becoming noisy, from growly to high pitch squealing, then this is a sign it needs replacing most of the time, unless a foreign object has managed to make its way down the pipework and lodged itself in the wet end of the pump. Though you may learn to live with it, chances are shortly after it will stop working all together. If this is coming from pump 2 or 3 for example, you can disconnect the pump from the PCB for the interim, avoiding turning the hot tub off all together, allow the heating and filtering to continue until you can address the noisy pump.

Buzzing Noise - If you can hear a buzzing noise when the pump should start up, but this soon stops and the pump doesn't start up, then chances are the pump is seized, or it could be a capacitor. We are more than likely to find this when a hot tub has been out of action for an extended period, resulting in the pump seizing. Sometimes we can get it going again, but it's more than likely to fail again soon after. In other cases, it could just be replacing the capacitors on top of the pump again, and you are good to go! If you depend on your hot tub as an income, whether you run a holiday let or Air BnB, we recommend not to ignore any noise. 95% of the time, this is a warning that something is failing, and typically it will fail completely at the worse time, which could result in additional cost to you.