What the call usually is
A spa pump tells you what is wrong if you listen with it running: a hum is a seized impeller or a dead capacitor, a grind is bearings, a drip under the motor is a shaft seal. In Seattle we diagnose with the pump on and the panel off, then quote.
Two halves, two prices: the wet end that moves water and the motor that spins it. For a Seattle pump we reseal the wet end when the motor is sound, fit a complete pump when the bearings have gone, and show you both numbers before you choose.
Cabinets on shaded Seattle lots stay damp from October to April. A wet equipment bay is hard on capacitors and motor bearings, and most Seattle pumps we replace show rust on the shaft before the seal fails outright.
The tubs on our route range from thirty-year-old Hot Springs behind craftsman bungalows to last year's Bullfrog on a Bellevue deck. Pumps on those tubs are on their second or third life, and the real question for a Seattle owner is reseal versus replace — we price both so the choice is yours.
What owners describe on the phone
Hums, no water moves
Seized impeller or a failed start capacitor. The motor is usually fine; we free the shaft or fit a capacitor and it runs.
FLO, LF or a no-flow code
The pressure or flow switch is not seeing enough water. Filter first, then air lock, then impeller, then circ pump — in that order, because that is the order of cost.
Damp pad under the motor
A weeping shaft seal. Replace it before the water reaches the bearings and a seal job becomes a pump job.
Screaming on high speed
Bearings, usually after a seal leak. There are weeks of warning before the motor locks; use them.
How the visit runs
- A call half an hour before we arrive
- Diagnosis with a meter, then one written price you approve
- Water hardness and alkalinity checked and noted
- Special-order parts arrive the next business day in most cases
- If the tub is not worth fixing, we say so
Scope, plainly: the spa and what lives inside its skirt. New circuits, supply plumbing and setting new tubs go to an electrician or a dealer.