Jacuzzi jetted tub in bathroom - impeller?

[Donald]

So we have a Jacuzzi (or similar) jetted tub in bathroom. Wife uses it mainly for plain baths. But recently tried the jets and all we hear is a hum.

Reading up on it it sounds like the impeller is stuck.

They say to remove the access panels and there is a space to stick a flat blade screwdriver in end of the pump and turn the shaft.

I have no access panels. Went into the crawl space and someone did cut a 5"x5" hole around the drain. But the drain is in the middle of a long side. The pump I think is at one of the two ends.

So can I use water or water and a chemical in the water to free up the impeller? Suggestions for a chemical?

Hot water?

 

[MRC01]

My luck in these situations has not been good. It's typically obstructed and tangled with hair and other debris that got past the filter and no amount of chemicals will dissolve, requiring physical intervention to clean out.
I hope your luck is better than mine...

 

[nomas]

We removed our jet tub when we remodeled .

 

[JohnnyG]

It could also be a bad bearing in the motor. Unfortunately, the remedy is about the same. You need to physically turn the motor shaft a bit to see just how stuck it is. This is actually an easy repair if you can get access to it.
Ideally, you'll want to pull the pump and repair it.

 

[Donald]

We removed our jet tub when we remodeled .

Well it's a nice tub. My wife likes it for plain baths. But it would be nice if the pump & jets worked.

It's not a huge "love tub".

 

[Donald]

Someone suggested CLR.

 

[nomas]

If you don't use it often , algae will grow in the jet plumbing .

 

[repairman54]

It could be the pump seal is ''stuck''. That happened a lot in older dishwashers, most common was the old GE machines, that sat unused for months. As said turning the motor shaft may free it and hopefully the ceramic/carbon face seal pop's loose without leaking. Most big water pumps don't use a lip style seal.

 

[Donald]

Wife takes Epsom salt baths. That may be part of the problem.

 

[Donald]

At this point with no access to the pump I am hoping to pour a liquid down the suction line to free up the pump.

Just have not figured out what liquid, strength.

 

[Donald]

The previous owners of my house said they used a gallon of CLR and filled the tub enough to cover the intake.

 

[Nukeman7]

If you want to try cleaning it with a chemical, use WHIRLOUT jetted tub cleaner which is available at Home Depot. It is semi-caustic and designed to dissolve body oils and mold that grows in hot tub/jacuzzi plumbing. I use it annually to deep clean my front load washer.

 

[Donald]

I am still trying to determine who the manufacturer is. I have emailed several asking if mine is one of their jetted bathtubs. No success yet.

It would also help if I knew when I drain the jetted bathtub does all the water drain out including the pump and piping from intake and to jets. Or does some stay in the pump and piping.

What I am currently trying is I have shoved a hose in the intake and have poured a few cups of 30% vinegar down the hose. Let it soak and keep trying the pump. Then connect the vacuum on BLOW to this hose and try and push the heated vinegar through the impeller pump. I do see some water or vinegar dribbling from one of the jets so I guess the vacuum on BLOW is having some effect.

I need to get the 30% vinegar to the impeller to free it up. If there is still plain water around the impeller then I have not accomplished anything (yet).

Of course if the problem is more than goo or gunk causing the impeller to stick then I need to get to the pump.

 

[Donald]

Well I poured several cups of hot vinegar down a hose directly into intake fitting and then blew into the hose with a vacuum's hose connected to the BLOW fitting of the vacuum. It seemed to blow more than initially out of the jets.

Still the impeller seems stuck