Even Further

Bromine gets my vote. In my expersience as a spa owner, Chlorine monitoring and mainaitning is too frequent. I actually changed from Chlorine to Bromine because my busy schedule did not suite Chlorine. I can leave my tub for 5+ days and come back to perfect ready to enter water. Where as Chlorine needed monitoring/adjustment every 3 days. It took a while to get use to the Bromine tab cycles, but now I use less tabs and have a general feel for tab life per tub usage.

Maybe try spa depot for the Sodium Bromide. That's where I buy mine. I use a ColorQ Pro 7 test kit. Follow the 3 step instructions closely. I use Bromine/floater and try to keep a lesser amount of tablets and open up the adjustment to allow higher flow-thru. This works better for me than using 2-3 new tablets with the adjustment set low, (to avoid too high Bromine level). Sometimes I only have 1 new tablet in the floater.

Did you do a thourough visual inspection of the tub side circuit board? Look for burned components on the board. I have an older coast 2001 w/ Gecko pack, a relay burned up, crippled the board and the spa was acting up. I replaced the entire lower tub side controls, the part cost $400 from a local spa repair/part supplier.

I would buy a top brand, good used spa in 100% working order. I spent abot 2K all together on a older top brand spa, which I had to replace the tub side controls, and a new pump/motor, and new pump seal. Its a nice 5-6 person spa with rotating hydrotherapy massage jets, heats well, insulated very well, ambient lighting, has 2 big 5HP pumps. It was 8K new. My only issue is that I need a new cover, but covers generally get replaced over time anyway, easpecially when completely outdoors.

Same as any other forum, etc. Sigh up on a photo host site. Photobucket, etc. Upload pics. Post the URL link.

No disrespect Mr. Dave... A 8 foot 1 x 2 works wonders when leverage is used wisely. Much better than a crow bar. The 8 ft. 1 x 2 length can easily work to ones advantage. I can move my tub (5-6 person Coast empty) by myself with 1 x 2's and different shape boards or bricks to pry against. And, small heavy furniture dollies. I just lift it a little at a time, inch by inch until I can slide the dolly under. I roll the dolly on 4 ft. plywood.

That tub does not look like its worth putting the time and money into moving it, and getiing it back to solid form. Looks like the shell needs all new framing, either before or after moving. I think you would be better off with a solid used tub.

Dimension 1, Sundance, Hot Spring are great brands. D1 has superb customer service. Personally I would stay away from Artic. Too many people with issues. They even pushed to cover up a situation with customer complaint on this forum. It says a lot when they try to cover up something opposed to publically resolving an issue. A whole thread was deleted because of Arctic.

I'vee been using a digital photometer, Lamotte ColorQ Pro 7 Plus for about 1 year. It works great. ColorQ's get good reviews on Amazon, but I bought elsewhere for a little less shipped. Time will tell, as far as longevity. Its proved to be accurate. I've compared about a dozen times with the local pool supply store, and its always same or very close. I use it with a Bromine sanitized spa. http://www.lamotte.com/pages/pool/colorqs.html

I started new about 9-10 months ago. 1st used the Dichlor method, but found it was too much activity for my busy work/life schedule. Bromine is much less hassle, and very easy since you can use a dispensing floater. I can leave my tub alone for up to 7 days (maybe longer if I ever try) and return with clear water and good sanitizer level with Bromine. I could leave the Dichlor for a few days (2-3) at very best. I tried 2 times to leave the tub alone for 4-5 days, but came to find cloudy water with bad sanitizer level. Shocking cleared it right up, but it just more hassle in comparison. I went with a Color Q Pro 7 water test kit. It has a digital photometer that proved a numeric value. Comparing to the pool/spa supply store many times, it has proved to be accurate. It does both Chlorine and Bromine. I buy filters on Amazon (Amazon Prime Rocks!!!) 1 for in-use, 1 for being able to take my time cleaning so I just swap back'n forth when changing. I buy Chems from Spadepot.com (smooth ordering, good pricing, and quick shipping process) I've had good results using Spa Choice brand sanitizers on SpaDepot. The product seems fresh, not some dusty stuff on the shelf. I buy main spa parts from Pool Spa Supply .com, pool-spa-supply.com (PSS).

I've got an older Coast and it has 2 big pumps. And, the lights, both pumps, heater can all run at once. The name plate is marked 50 amp, #6 wire. Good job on calling the mfg! ...Well, next year...Go Packers!

Sounds like a motor shaft bearing went out, or wet end went bad. Personally I would think draining it would be bad, cause the residual water would freeze. Maybe one of those submersible aquarium heater elements would work to keep the water from freezing? I've heard of people using small heaters in the lower tube side controls area too.

I've got an older Coast Spa model, and no problems with water at all. If I was in your shoes I would ditch the test trips, and get a good water test kit. I would chlorine bleach shock the tub, let it sit for a few hours then drain and decontaminate. Buy a new filter or two on Amazon. Switch to Bromine, and go from there. All the info is here on this site. I use a Color Q Pro 7 water test kit. For sanitizers I use; Spa Choice brand Sodium Bromide Granules for Bromine bank, Bromine tabs for floater, liquid Bleach for shocking. I buy filters on Amazon, and chems from SpaDepot.com. I rarely have to Shock my tub, about once a month. My water is always clear. Balance the fresh fill first, then add sanitizer. The pool/spa supply store in my area is really not much help. I knew nothing before finding this site, now I've found caring or my spa is easy. (Thanks to Waterbear and Chemgeek) I copy and paste all the good info I find while searching into an excel sheet, and then make a few notes to myself. There is also good basic technical section on Spadepot's site.

If your expecting to buy an used tub in full working condition with no issues, you need to be proactive and test the tub in person. The tub should be filled with water, and ran through all the functions while checking for leaks and bad parts, parts that need attention. Even filling right before inspection, you may not catch a slow leak that would take days to spot. If the tub has been sitting unused, it may work fine during initial start up for a few weeks/months, then problems might pup up. Their kind of like an used car, if they sit unused, things just deteriorate and degrade from not using. That's kind of crazy to say your going to sue over a 500 used tub you didn't inspect in person.

I have used Spa Marvel. I still have a 1/2 bottle sitting around. Their marketing makes out normal sanitizers to be undesirable, yet when you read the instruction on the bottle it states to use with a sanitizer. They clearly do not market the product accurately. Knowing all the facts, its not worth the price tag. I'm using Bromine and its not irritating, or smelly, or anything. It does make the water feel nice. But IMO the water feels/smells fine with Bromine, and Spa Scent stuff.