Bestway / Lay-z-spa Split hose for jets

I turned on the jets on my hot tub last week, all seemed fine for a few minutes, but then the unit stopped and displayed an E04 error (temp to high).

That seemed kind of unlikely since the heater was off, just the jets and air switched on, so I turned off the mains, give it a min, and turned it back on, where it displayed E01 (flow sensor) issue.

I tried the suggested actions for this, sharp bang on the side of the case, disconnect and reverse flow water through the system, but that made no difference.

So, I decided to take a look inside, thinking that I’d check the flow sensor directly, to make sure that it was working OK.

What I found was that the inside of the case was soaking wet, including the electrical components!

There was no obvious sigh of where the water had come from, so I dried the unit out overnight, and reconnected the power the next day. At this point the unit started normally, so I figured that the E04 and E01 were actually caused by the connections for the temp and flow sensors getting wet, rather than those failing.

However, I still didn’t know where the water had come from, so I connected the pump back up to the tub, left the top of the case off, and checked but found no leaks. I then turned on the heater / air / jets in that order.

As soon as the jets came on a huge jet of water came out from the flexible hose between the jets pump and the actual outlet. A closer inspection after the jets were turned back off showed that there was a small split in the hose, but that it was only leaking when under the pressure generated by the pump.

The hose circled in red is the culprit.

To remove the hose I had to remove the 4 screws that hold the outlet pipe in position.

Once those screws are removed you can move the outlet far enough to pull the old pipe off.

I measured the end of the plastic that the hose fits over, and got it as about 49mm, and it has a 45 degree bend in the middle. I took a look on ebay and find this item. 48mm 1 7/8″ 45 ELBOW RED SILICONE HOSE COOLANT VENAIR (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/48mm-1-7-8-45-ELBOW-RED-SILICONE-HOSE-COOLANT-VENAIR/260458334809?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649)

This took a few days to turn up (not back considering were are still in the middle of the Covid lockdown. This is the new hose next to the old one it is going to replace.

Obviously way too long, so I trimmed it down to size with a sharp knive.

Although it looks from the photo that I have cut the new pipe a lot longer then the old one it actually turned out to be about 1mm shorter than was ideal.

After some fiddling and choice words the new hose was in position replacing the old one.

After making sure that the hose clips were seated properly, and the 4 screws holding the outlet tube were back in place, I connected the pump back up to the tub ready to test.

And, success, the new pipe doesn’t leak a drop.

I don’t know how long the new hose will last, but it’s a reasonable heavy duty feeling hose, so time will tell.

At £20 for the hose to save a £500 pump / heater unit, it’s a no brainer.

Toolkit for the above job was very simple, a couple of phillips screwdrivers, a flat head for the jubilee clips, and a knive to cut the hose to size.