Hot Tub Diverters & O Rings
Today we’re going to go over diverters. Diverters are the big bear paws in your tub that control where that water flow goes. You can move them back and forth and it will switch the direction of the water flow. Sometimes what will happen is that you’ll get a little bit of water leaking underneath, or the diverter does sometimes break and you may need to replace it. That’s what we’ll go over today.
The first thing that we want to do whenever you’re repairing anything is to shut the power off to the spa. From there, we’ll go into the instructions on how to do these diverters based on if your tub is a 2011 and newer or a 2010 and older.
Diverters are the big bear paws that are on the tub that control water flow. The bear paw could’ve been a round or a triangle type diverter over the years, but they’re basically the bigger handles that control the water flow in the tub. The first thing that we want to go over is leaking. Sometimes what happens is that the cap underneath will get a little bit loose, and water as it’s coming up will come out of the diverter and then it leaks back into the tub. It’s not leaking down in the cabinet, but actually leaking into the inside of the tub.
If your diverter valve is leaking, what you want to do is you want to pull off the handle which is the bear paw. You pull that off and set it off to the side. This cap here is what actually tightens up against the O-ring and stops it from leaking. If this is loose at all, you can take and tighten it up by turning it clockwise. This should only be hand tight, so don’t use any channel locks or anything like that.
If that doesn’t stop the leak then what you want to do is turn it counterclockwise and we’re going to thread it all the way off. Then, find the O-ring here. That O-ring should be in good condition, so no breaks in it or anything that would cause it to leak that way. Make sure that it sits down right inside the groove. Then, put this cap back on and thread it, so it’s nice and hand tight. Then, you can put the handle back on.
Sometimes you need to replace the diverter. There are basically the two parts. You have the body here, and that’s embedded into the tub. It is very, very rare that that would ever need to be replaced, but sometimes the guts of it need to be replaced.
If you need to replace your whole entire diverter, the first thing you want to do is pull off the cap. We’re going to unthread by turning it counterclockwise, this threaded cap. Pull out the internal and the O-ring. Then, what you’re going to do is you’re going to take everything and put it back in with the new stuff that you’ve purchased. There’s the O-ring. You put that back in. On the internal part there are two O-rings that go in here, so make sure that those are slid down into place. Slide that down in. Thread the threaded cap back on just turning it clockwise. Make sure that it’s nice and hand tight. Then, put the cap back on and you’re good to go.
Now we’re going to go over diverters in spas that are 2011 or newer. If your tub is a 2011 or newer, you’re going to have this diverter valve that has the clear part into it. If it’s leaking, what you want to do is remove the black plastic part of the paw. Then, take a screwdriver. There’ll be a little set screw in here that you’ll pull out, then you can remove the clear part of the handle. Now you’re left with the threaded cap. Usually, all you have to do is just thread this down and that will tighten up against that O-ring and stop the leak. You’ll turn that clockwise. Make sure that it’s hand tight. You don’t need to use any tools.
If that doesn’t work then what you want to do is pull the cap off. We’re going to unthread it by turning it counter clockwise and pulling it out. This is the main O-ring here. You want to make sure that’s in good condition and that it’s seated right down inside of that groove. Make sure that you put it back in there, then put the cap back on. Thread it into place by turning it clockwise. Put the handle back on. Put the screw back in. Then, put the black cap back on.
Sometimes the diverters need to be replaced. If it’s broken or something’s happened where it needs to be replaced, this is what you’ll need to do. The body here is what’s embedded into the tub. That very rarely ever needs to be replaced. Usually, you just have to replace the guts.
You’re going to take the diverter valve apart by pulling off the black cap. There’s the set screw that holds the clear handle in place. You’re going to undo that. Pull off the clear part of the handle. This is the threaded cap. You turn it counterclockwise to thread it all the way out. Pull out the internal piece here. Then, replace both of the O-rings. Now you’re just left with the body. You have all your new stuff here. You’ll take and put it all back together in the same way. Put the two O-rings together. These two O-rings need to be added to the internal here. Put that back down inside. Make sure that O-ring stays in place.
Then, we’re going to thread that cap back down on and turn it clockwise to thread it in place. Make sure that it’s hand tight. Then, put the handle back together with the clear part first. Put the screw in. Then, put the black cap back on and we’re good to go.
Lastly, the one thing you want to do is make sure that the diverter is in the right position. Diverters have a range of 180 degrees. It can turn all the way left or turn all the way right. Right in the center as the bear paw’s facing in should be the middle between the left and the right positions. What you want to do is when you put it back together, double check it to make sure that bear paw is pointing to the left and then we will stop, and then we will point to the right and stop, then move it right back to the center.
If that is not the case, so I’m going to push this one into the wrong position here, I can’t turn it any more to the left. The bear paw’s facing inward. I can turn it all the way around to the right, and now it’s facing outward. I know that we need to make that adjustment. We’ll turn it all the way to the left and then move the bear paw so it’s pointing to the left. That way, you know when it’s in the middle position everything is open, or turn it to the right or to the left and that bear paw’s in the right position. It’s simply moving the handle to the position that you need it to be in.