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Removal of Bio-film (the root cause of my itchy/scratchy patches of skin!) Background Over a long period of time (years!) I have been trying to track down the cause of my hot tub water problems and itchy patches on my skin. This started pretty much soon after we we bought a brand new tub. The old tub we had from new and had used for many years never gave us any problems. I am meticulous in looking after it (OCD!) and and would have bet it was forensically clean. Please believe me when I say that in the search to overcome my hot tub issues if you name it I have read it (including turgid scientific papers), bought it, tried it and talked to many so-called hot-tub ‘professionals’ but with no success (and less money) until now! Success came when I read around the issue of bio-film and a product called Ahh-Some to successfully remove this very stubborn problem. I have to heartily thank ‘Dlleno’ whose articles put me onto the bio-film issue, its occurrence even in brand new tubs and the success of the Ahh-Some product. Top man. I have tried all sorts of ‘pipe cleaners’ and nothing but nothing worked like Ahh-some - don’t waste your time and money with anything else (I have no connection to or reason to promote this product). It is expensive but its another case of you get what you pay for (I realise that that is not always the case when it comes to all things hot tub). I have read the product reviews on Amazon (.com) and I would summarise the negative ones as issues with the ‘gunk’ it produces (see below to minimise this issue) or where they don’t seem know/understand what they are doing and complain about the continual issues of ‘gunk’ when the product is doing exactly what it should (apologies if that sounds arrogant). How to minimise the issue of the sticky gunk produced - this will save you a lot of unnecessary work! Basically a foam is produced and anywhere the foam goes, the sticky gunk deposit is left on the shell etc. So my tips are (and they worked well for me) are: Remove your filters (I have 5 in my Hotsprings hot tub) and fully submerge them. This is very important as they will be cleaned and not attract any gunk whatsoever if fully submerged. I tied mine together and weighted them down with 2 2.5Kilo weights. I even tied the pillows down as well. Next time I will use a net like the ones the scuba people have for their fins etc. as that will work and be easier. I can also put the filter tops in. Wipe the gunk away periodically as it forms on the shell - this is relatively simple to do and much better than leaving it to the end. I also skimmed brown patches of foam with a net as I stood there in admiration of the bio-film mess produced from this process! The only issue I had was the mess in the skimmer and skimmer housing where poor design to my mind makes it difficult to clean. However when I realised that it is only attached by 2 easily accessible screws and a plastic nut that needs a 90 degree twist then I took this off to clean the gunk off. Next time I will remove the skimmer and housing and put it all in the net and fully submerge and the rest will be easy! I did 2 cycles of Ahh-Some (each an hour) without changing the water but clearing the gunk off after the first cycle. The second cycle produced very little indeed so I am sure from now on I will only need one cycle. Some people apparently needed to do this a few times but that just shows they had a bigger problem with bio-film that definitely needs to be dealt with. God only knows why it took me so long to discover the root cause of my issues and this excellent product, but if you have the same issues you simply must give this a try. Like me, you may well be amazed that what you thought was a clean tub is in fact not. Have a read around bio-film as well and you will also see that chlorine and other sanitisers will not touch it! A footnote on the use of Chlorine, in my experience: After much hope and searching unfortunately I have found no successful substitute to using Chlorine (tried Bromine - no different) and non-chlorine substitutes all seem to need Chlorine at some point, or produce chlorine (salt water systems). The end. Thanks again Dlleno.

I guess the retailers selling the product are going to learn a hard lesson real fast in selling junk products to customers lol. Unless you paid cash money for your hottub, you likely used a bank card with a VISA/Mastercard/Discover logo on it. That means you're protected by those card services. Start by contacting the manufacturer - tell them your pump unit is not functioning correctly. Ask for a repair or replacement. If/when they decline to repair the unit, contact the store you bought from and explain the situation, ask for a refund/replacement on the hot tub. When the store declines your refund, contact your bank. Tell them the entire story and the fact that you were sold a lemon and you want your bank to open a dispute/"chargeback". The seller will have 14 days to provide a legitimate explanation to the bank why you do not deserve a refund/replacement on a defective lemon product you bought two months ago, otherwise you automatically win the dispute by default and get your money back (plus you get to keep the defective product). Source - I work with bank chargebacks on a monthly basis as a business owner (with crooks trying to buy something and then get their money back after the item was shipped and before it's even delivered to them). Do not bother cracking open the pump. Do not bother fixing it until you have your money back in your pocket. Do not let these scummy Chinese manufacturers steal your hard-earned money selling an inferior junk product. These businesses do not deserve your money for selling a crap product and you as the customer need to send a message that you won't tolerate being sold a defective product. That's just my take as a vindictive SOB who loathes a scummy business selling an inferior defective product. If you're a legitimate business you stand behind your product 100%, not full of half-assed excuses. I don't care how they justify it - there is no excuse for a noisy defective pump on a two month old hottub.

I don't use the stuff myself, but I am a minimalist when it comes to chemicals. @Cusser, @dlleno, do you have any insight?

Well the pack has to come out one way or another so might as well pull it and have a look at the backside. The previous directions I gave you were so that you didn't have to drain the water and leave the heater in place. This time follow the directions in the Tech Book starting on page 64 ending on page 67. Then remove the screws on the back and have a look at the backside of the board. @RDspaguy I spend 80% of my day thinking I know what's what but usually end up at the conclusion I haven't got a clue...as for the other 20% of my day...Pornhub...lol I called Gecko just to make sure I was not advising @buriboi to spend hundreds of dollars or pounds or Pesos or Yen based on me thinking I know what the hell is going on...see above...lol We have a saying here in Canada but it's pretty much universal..Bullshit baffles brains... and I'm the King of BS...You think I know what I'm doing and I think I know what I'm doing but in reality I'm just winging it most days and hoping for the best....lol Stay safe all

Ok Try restarting without the topside attached and see if it does the same thing. If it does (according to Gecko Tech Support) it is likely a processor error and you will have to replace the spa pack.

You have the wrong GFCI Sub-Panel which means the wiring going into the hot tub is not correct.

I use Nitro's Dichlor and Bleach method and it's a breeze! Just make sure you use regular plain Chlorox and not the splashless. I used that once and Foam City. I've also used AHH-SOME on and older tub and you wouldn't believe the gunk that came out. It was really super clean after.

It's a biofilm which is a cluster of bacteria that is hard to kill and lurking deep in the plumbing. Really gross and a bit unsafe as clusters of bad bacteria would be. You can use a product called AHH-SOME which will clean it ALL from the interior pipes. This does not happen if spa is maintained chemically with sanitizers. I would switch to Dichlor instead of Bromine and shock once every 2 weeks at least and change your filter every week. This has happened to many who think they are properly sanitizing but are not, so don't feel bad.