JoeM

I too own a Gulf Coast spa an am pretty happy with it. I knew going in (from reading on this and other forums) that the quality wasnt spectacular but that was a tradeoff i was willing to accept given the drastic price difference. I also am a DIY'r but I havent had a single problem with the tub in 3 years. I do agree that the insulation is cheap (VERY CHEAP (non-existant ). I was pretty scared that first month when my electric bill doubled. After that month, I added some fire-retardant insulation to the perimeter and had substantially better months. Overall, I too am pretty happy with my GCS. Im not looking forward to moving or the day it springs a leak. However, I know what i got myself into so will replace things as necessary. I've read that GCS will help diagnosis problems even if the warrenty period expries. I don't know if thats true yet and hopefully, ill never have to find out

I don’t know what part of the country you are in but here in Wisconsin, snowmobile trailers are readily available. I rented one form a guy in town (trailer sales) for $50 for the day. They are lightweight aluminum trailers with a payload of about 900 lbs. The one I got was 8' W x 10' L and fit my 92" x 92" spa perfectly. Just use some tie down ratchets and your set. I carried mine about 80 miles without any problems. Granted 750 miles is a lot more but the trailer should be able to handle it as long as you can. Just take it easy on the road and check it often.

I would imagine that maintenance free (synthetic) decking would work pretty well. I think they even make tongue and groove synthetic decking. The only downside is coming up with something for the corners.

yeah, the cost of wire went up about 300% or so almost 3 years ago and hasnt let up since. Wiring a house is really expensive now. your #2 for 2.00 a foot is a pretty decent price actually. I think I paid about 1.80 for #6

I just got my replacement 24 light in and works great. Easy to find, install the plug and now my tub looks exactly like i wanted it to. Thanks for the suggestion.

I would imagine that your concrete pad is not grounded to your tub. Because there is most likely metal rebar in your concrete, is should be grounded to your ground bar in your hot tub. Any metal within 15 feet (not sure, could be more) of your tub should be grounded to your tub to minimize that risk.

My Gulf Coast 2005 model came with the older colored light covers. I'm happy with everything about my Gulf Coast thus far except the cheap implementation of lights. I'd like to replace with a LED replacement (one of the hundreds on eBay). Does anyone have any experience replacing their lights with these 12 volt socket type replacements? I've called GC support hotline and said it shouldn't be a problem but i wasnt overly optimistic with his answer. I haven't even opened my current bulb yet so I’m not quite sure what to expect. It seems that the LEDs have a large circuit board that the LEDs are installed on. It seems as if the board would be too large in circumference to fit the light housing. Any info on past experience with this would be appreciated. This board rocks!

I have two filters and rotate monthly. Every month i take the dirty out and put dry/clean in. The dirty i rinse before I soak in a 5 gallon bucket with a mixture of TSP solution mixed to box recommendations of TSP. I let sit fully under the TSP solution overnight and then rinse thouroughly the next moring. Then let dry for a week or so before storing for the next month. If you dont know what TSP is, I think it stands for Sodium TriPhosphate or something like that. I think its the same chemical in dish washer detergent. I think I took this method from the Unicel website.

Hey Spa Geek, Welcome. Where are you opening your store? Good luck with your venture!

and my home (1400 sq ft) is doing just fine on 100 amp.

Dean, I called Roxul direct (check out the Adding Insulation post, pg 2 i think). I looked them up on the web, called the 800 number, asked for local to semi-local resellers. Called the reseller and got the product.

I was estimated ~ 650 by local electrician to hook up my 220 50amp spa. I am in Madison, WI and things here are probably cheaper than DC but not by much. Housing is through the roof lately, contractors as well. By the way, Copper went up about 150-200% in the past 18 months. I have an electrician friend who told me how i could do it on my own and I paid about $220 in materials (4x 30 feet of THHN #6 wire, 50 amp Circuit breaker, 30 feet of Liquidtight conduit and an external GFCI breaker box for outside.) When I moved in, I "upgraded" from a 66amp FUSE box to a 100amp fused box service. Since then, I have broken out many of the overloaded circuits in my home and brought everything up to code. I have 2 breaker panels free on a 32 breaker box WITH my tub. I probably am pretty close to overloading but I figure I dont use the A/C, and dryer much at the same time, nor will I have the hot tub @ 100 set temp during the summer A/C months. I think Ill be doing as RH suggests, and running mine in "cool water mode."

I purchased a 2005 model GC Rotunda (500 gal) in November 06'. Hooked it up dec 10th and heated 50 degree hose water at fill to 100 in about 6-7 hours. I am just up the road from you in Madison, WI and I experienced that my tub would kick its heater on quite often (no idea on timing though). That was during the warmer months of december. Around mid January, I decided to add insulation. Since then, it dramatically dipped in outside temps -15-0 or so. Even during the cold, I THOUGHT (maybe its just mental) it would kick on substantially less often. By the way, my set temp has always been 100 degrees. I havent received my bill for 1/15 - 2/15 yet but i suspect it will be less expensive then the 12/15-1/15 bill, even though it was warmer in Dec/January. My bill 12/15 - 1/15, I attribute about $120 of it to Hot Tub. It sounds to me like you have a bad heater element or something since it cant keep up. My heater can usually keep up, and mine is a 500 gal model.

agreed, thank Chas, very good info!

I paid around $25 for 8 pieces (1 batt bag) of 24"x48"x3" thick for Roxul AFB insulation.