How to Repair and Replace a Spa Blower

There’s nothing more disappointing than heading out to your hot tub for a nice hot soak in the warm, bubbly water only to find that your jets just aren’t working. You turn on your hot tub and nothing happens and you begin to wonder what the heck is going on. In most cases, it’s simply a problem with the spa blower.

Now while that might sound like a major repair, they are actually fairly simple devices and are connected in virtually the same way on all major hot tubs. While you can always call a plumber or hot tub repair technician to your home to do it for you, you can often perform these repairs fairly easily yourself, saving a bucket of money in the process.

What Is a Spa Blower?

Before you embark on a this hot tub repair, it’s helpful to know at least a little bit about how the blower works. It’s a pretty simple unit, consisting of a fan motor and a housing.

Rather than repair a spa air blower, it’s recommended that you actually just replace the entire assembly instead of trying to fix the motor as you won’t see a major cost savings by doing so, and the repair can often be much more complicated than simply replacing it.

A hot tub blower can be either 110V or 220V, depending on the type of hot tub you have. When purchasing a replacement part, make sure you buy the one that matches your hot tub and its electrical requirements.

Spa blowers are usually plumbed in one of two ways. In one type, the air from the blower runs to a manifold and is then distributed to smaller air lines that run to the injector jet fittings. In the other, a channel cavity is adhered to the shell of your hot tub, which has holes drilled in it to allow the air to pass to the water.

Portable Spa Blower

This blower features a rubber motor mount that suppresses noise and allows the motor to operate without interference, enhancing durability and performance.

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A Word of Warning about Spa Air Blowers

Peanut butter and chocolate. The Captain and Tennille. Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong. Lots of things go together. But two things that absolutely do not go together are water and electricity.

Hot tub air blower repair or replacement means you’ll be working with both of them. If you’re not confident you can do that safely, please call a professional technician.

If you do believe you can do it, you must take a few safety precautions first.

Make sure you cut all electricity to the hot tub before you even begin to remove the covers. Turn off the circuit breakers, unplug any plugs from their outlets, and then double check to make sure there is absolutely no power running to your hot tub before you begin.

How to Replace a Hot Tub Blower

Have your elbow grease at the ready!

Disconnect the Electricity

Yup, we already said it once, but it bears repeating. Your safety is of the utmost importance. Disconnect everything.

Locate and Disconnect the Faulty Spa Air Blower

You can do this in just a few simple steps:

1. Open the hot tub’s equipment panel.
2. Locate the blower assembly.
3. Disconnect the air duct hose from the exhaust port.
4. Unplug the blower’s electrical cables.
5. Disconnect the grounding wire if your hot tub has one.
6. Remove any mounting bolts.
7. Double check the voltage requirements by looking at the label on the old blower to make sure you have an appropriate replacement.

Install the New Spa Air Blower

The installation is basically the reverse process of removing the old blower.

1. Place the new blower in exactly the same position as the old one.
2. Reconnect the mounting bolts to hold it in place.
3. If your new blower has a grounding wire, connect it.
4. Plug the electrical cables in.
5. Connect the air duct hose.
6. Close the equipment panel.
7. Pat yourself on the back—you did it!

Turn on the Electricity and Test

Plug everything back in, and turn the power to your hot tub back on. Test your new spa blower by turning on your hot tub. Allow it to run for a few minutes in order to make sure everything is running smoothly.

You Get a Spa Blower! And You Get a Spa Blower!

You see now why simply replacing the hot tub blower is less work than trying to repair the motor, right? In just a few short minutes, you can restore your hot tub back to working order.

Just remember, while this is a relatively simple repair, if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, there’s nothing wrong with contacting a licensed technician to do it for you. Either way, you’ll be able to get back to enjoying your hot tub the way it was meant to be.

Happy Soaking!

3 More Ways We Can Help With Your Hot Tub

1. Hot Tub Cheat Sheets (Free): Easy-to-use guides to help you keep your hot tub water balanced and sanitized.
2. The Hot Tub Handbook: An illustrated guide to DIY hot tub care, including water chemistry, maintenance, troubleshooting, and more.
3. The Hot Tub Care Course. You’ll get step-by-step videos and a step-by-step downloadable guide with everything you need to know about hot tub maintenance.

Matt Giovanisci

Updated on July 24, 2020

Matt is the founder of Swim University. He's been in the pool industry since 1993. His mission is to make pool care easy for everyone. Each year, he continues to help more people with water chemistry, cleaning, and troubleshooting.