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If you have a technical problem with your spa your best bet for a solution is to START YOUR OWN THREAD with YOUR info, not piggyback on something similar. There are 2 reasons for this. First, most of us volunteers who help people here don't have time to read through 164 replies to get the background info to answer your question. Most of us simply skip those threads and do not bother to reply. And second, it gets very confusing for everyone when 2 different conversations get going in one thread, and advice gets given to and taken by the wrong person. So, if you want help from our experts, start your own thread. Include details about your situation, and pics of equipment area, circuit board, and wiring diagram. @waterbearcan you pin this?

I see this all the time. Missing Suction/pump return covers. If you have one that is broken or missing it is important to fix/replace ASAP. These covers provide a critically important safety feature. If you ever put your hand over a missing cover with the pump running in high speed it will suck your hand in and hurt. They were mandated years ago after a young girl got her hair sucked in and kept her under water with sad result. The pic below is from a job I just worked on where the customer was just topping up his spa with a bit of water. Dropped his expandable garden hose in and turned the tap on. Within a split second it was sucked into the missing suction opening and made it's way from one side of the tub through the plumbing past a couple of 90 degrees elbows and a Tee fitting into the face of the pump. The impeller twisted it up 1,000 times. It actually sucked it in not from the fill end with the brass fitting but in the middle part of the hose. The brass fitting part stayed in the foot well. I can't hardly believe how many times I had to untwist the hose at the pump wet end, end before I could try and pull it back through and it was still twisted up inside the plumbing. Had to get at it by removing a second suction cover see on the right and pull it through that one first then cut it and pull it through where it got sucked in. It was a $250 mistake for the garden hose but the customer had young children using the spa and it could easily have cost a life over a $20 part and 2 minute fix. FYI...those expandable hoses can stretch out for a mile.. or 2... lol

Issue FINALLY RESOLVED! Replaced the heater today and that seems to have been one of my many culprits. Hot tub is now heating up. So I assume whatever zapped the battery on my board also took out the heater in the process. After installing that battery…cleaning out the ozone line clog…and replacing the heater- I finally have a functional hot tub. Thank you CanadianSpaTech and everyone else for your help !

(I finally found the post that I made back in 2010 on setting up 3 step bromine for a hot tub so I am reposting it here with a few edits to update the embedded links so they work and improve the clarity of the procedure. Enjoy!) When testing water do NOT use strips, get a good drop based test kit. Your best bet for Bromine if you are in the US or Canada is the Taylor k-2106 and for chlorine the K-2006 (NOT the K-2005). THE TEST KIT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN OWN FOR EASY SPA MAINTENANCE. GET A GOOD ONE! I cannot stress this enough!!!!! If the K-2106 is not readily available in Canada you can use the K-2006 for bromine by testing for Free Chlorine and multiplying the results by 2.25 to get Total Bromine. You do not need to test for combined bromine (combined chlorine test) nor cyanuric acid in a bromine system. On to bromine: 1. fill the spa and balance the water.Do not turn the heat up yet. If you have well water or know your water has metals then add a metal sequestrant at this point. You will need to continue with weekly maintenance doses of the metal sequestrant if your water has metals. A better solution is to fill from a water softener or purchase a "spa stick" filter that attaches to your hose to fill the spa to help remove the metals. A,adjust TA to 50-70 ppm (here is a detailed explanation and howto on lowering TA if it's too high),, raise TA with baking soda if it's too low,, it's the same chemical sold as TA increaser for much less money! B. Once TA is in range then adjust pH to between 7.4 and 7.8 Use dry acid (or muriatic acid) to lower pH if too high (8.0 and above). If the pH is too low (7.2 and below) either aerate the water to outgas CO2 and bring up the pH or use borax from the laundry aisle to raise it..Do NOT use pH up because it will make your TA go too high!!!!!!!! pH up is sodium carbonate, also known as washing soda and raises both pH AND TA! C. IF you calcium hardness is below 130 ppm raise it to 130-150. If it is above 400 then add an anti stain and scale or calcium reducer to the spa weekly. If it is between 130-400 you are fine. 2. If you are not in Canada Add 1/2 oz of sodium bromide per 100 gallons of water to create your bromide reserve in the water. This is the MOST important step with a bromine spa and the one most people ignore. If you omit this step you will not have a bromine spa for several weeks until enough tablets dissolve in the water to create the bromide bank and you will be running chlorine until the bromide bank forms! Sodium Bromide is available in packets and jars from several companies. You will need to re add it on each drain and fill. Make sure that you get sodium bromide in either powder or liquid form that is sold to start the bromide reserve or 'bromide bank' and not a one step bromine product that is a mixture of mostly dichlor and a little blt of sodium bromide. READ THE LABEL! It should only contain sodium bromide (and water if in liquid form). Sodium bromide has been outlawed in Canada except as part of 'one step' bromine sanitizer products that are a mixture of sodium bromide and dichlor. A workaround is to use such a product for the first few weeks to build your bromide bank. The ingredients should be sodium bromide and dichlor (sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione). EDIT: I HAVE LEARNED THAT PLAIN SODIUM BROMIDE IS AVAILABLE IN CANADA AGAIN BUT IT SEEMS TO BE DIFFICULT TO FIND AND IS EXPENSVE. IF YOU CAN GET IT USE IT. 3. Shock the spa to 'activate' (oxidize) the sodium bromide into hypobromous acid (this is your 'bromine' sanitizer that you test for with your strips or test kit.) You can use MPS to shock but chlorine works just as well if not better and is much less expensive. One of the best sources of chlorine you can use with a bromine spa is sodium hypochlorite and that can also be found in the laundry aisle. It is ordinary liquid chlorine bleach. You want the regular, unscented bleach, not a thickened or scented one. It will come in either 5.25% or 6%. Read the label to see which you have. Use 3 oz (6 tablespoons) of the 5.25% or 2.5 oz (5 tablespoons) of the 6% per 100 gallons of spa water to shock. Your bromine will go very high. Uncover the spa and circulate until the bromine drops below 10 ppm before you use the spa. Now heat the spa up to temperature. If you are in Canada you want to use your one step product to shock to about 15-18 ppm Total Bromine or you can shock with bleach and just let the bromide bank build up in time, 4. Put in the floater with your bromine tabs (which usually contain BOTH bromine and chlorine to activate the bromine, btw) and adjust the floater to maintain your bromine at about 4-6 ppm. this can take a bit of trial and error. Check your pH and bromine before you go in each time and if bromine is low add a few tablespoons of bleach and retest until it is above 4 but below 10 ppm. It really only takes seconds for the chlorine to oxidize your bromide reserve into bromine sanitizer. If pH is not between 7.2 and 8.0 then you should adjust it before entering the spa and wait about 30 minutes then retest it to make sure it is in the proper range. If both are off then adjust pH first then the bromine. YOU CANNOT ADJUST THE Ph WHEN THE SANITIZER LEVELS ARE HIGH BECAUSE OF AN INTERACTION BETWEEN HIGH SANITIZER LEVELS AND THE PHENOL RED INDICATOR USED TO TEST PH! It does not matter if the test is done by liquid reagents or strips. Most test kits and strips will not give accurate pH measurements if the sanitizer is above 3-5 ppm . Taylor kits are good up to 10 ppm. If it's higher than that you need to wait for sanitizer to drop before testing and adjusting pH. The only work around is a properly calibrated pH meter. If your bromine is always low open the floater a bit more. If high then close it down a bit. If it is above 10 then take out the floater and open the spa until the bromine level drops below 10 before entering the water and close the floater down a bit. Once you get the floater adjusted the bromine level will stay pretty constant and it becomes much easier! Remember to keep tablets in the floater at all times! You are done! Weekly test pH, Keep pH between 7.2 -8.0 and then when you have finished adjusting shock the spa with bleach just like when you added the sodium bromide but you do not need more sodium bromide. Add anti scale or calcium reducer if your calcium tested above 400 ppm. Every 2 to 4 weeks check and adjust TA and calcium before you adjust pH and shock. For the first few months do it every two weeks until you learn YOUR tub. If it stays fairly stable then you can drop back the testing to monthly. Every 3-4 months drain, refill, balance the water, add the sodium bromide, shock, and put the bromine tablets back in. Actually pretty easy! If you follow these steps you will not need to waste money on defoamers, clarifier, enzymes, etc.! The ONLY additive you might want to consider is a borate product. Borate has several benefits when added to a 30-50 ppm range. You can add borate with a commercial borate product such as Gentle Spa or Optimizer Plus or by using boric acid or borax. Most of the commercial borate products are a mixture of boric acid and borax to product a pH neutral product and might also contain a scent. Boric acid will slightly lower the pH but since the trend in a spa is a rising pH this should not be a major issue. If the pH is too low then add borax (at twice the dosing rate for pH up/sodium carbonate) to bring your pH into the 7.6 to 7.8 range, which is where your pH will want to 'sit' once the borate is added. Borax (both the decahydrate and pentahydate forms) will raise pH significantly and require the addition of either dry acid or muriatic acid to maintain the pH in the proper range. My recommendation is either boric acid or a commercial pH neutral product, Some commercial products are just the pentahydrate form of borax and will say in the dosing instructions that acid must also be added. . To test borate I highly recommend the LaMotte borate test strips. They are much easier to read than the strips from Taylor, Hach, and AquaCheck. The Lamotte strips have color blocks that go from rose pink to tan while the others have color blocks that are (very close) shades of tan and very difficult to discern between them. Initially adjust borate to 50 ppm and test as often as you test your TA and calcium. If and when it drops to 30 ppm bring it back up to 50 ppm. Hope this helps. Chlorine is a bit cheaper than bromine but it really does require daily attention. Bromine (and what I described above is known as 3 step bromine and is the most forgiving) is not as fussy (acceptable pH range is wider and water balance is easier than chlorine or 2 step bromine) and really only needs attention once or twice a week after you get it set up, besides checking sanitizer level and pH before you enter the spa each time. Happy bromine tubbing!

If you use the Metric system 1 tablespoon is approx. 15 ml and every 19 liters of water in your tub is approx 5 gallons. These values are close enough for practical use. For every 100 gallons (380 liters) of water adding 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of: 5.25% bleach will raise FC by about 2 ppm 6.0% bleach will raise FC by about 2.5 ppm 8.25% bleach will raise FC by about 3.3 ppm 10.0% bleach will raise FC by about 4 ppm 12.5% bleach will raise FC by about 5 ppm I have just learned that there is also 7.5% bleach being sold so I would expect the 7.5% bleach will raise FC by about 3 ppm (these numbers are not exact but are in the ballpark. They have been rounded to make measurements easier but should be close enough to get you where you want to be or very close to it) 10% and 12.5% bleach are normally sold as "liquid pool chlorine" 6% laundry bleach is usually called "ultra bleach" If you are using laundry bleach you want the plain,unscented, one with NO thickeners, detergents, or scents. The ingredients might list water, sodium hypochlorite, sodium chloride (salt), sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, and (for laundry bleach) polyacrylic acid (used to prevent soil from redepositing back on clothes and is also the main ingredient in many polymeric pool and spa clarifiers so the small amount in the bleach will NOT have any negative impact on your water). These are either added to stabilize the bleach or are the result of the manufacturing process and are a normal part of the makeup of bleach or liquid chlorine. The ONLY differences between the different strengths of sodium hypochlorite is how much is needed to reach a given FC level in a given volume of water and the shelf life of the bleach. The more concentrated strengths need less to achieve a given FC level in a given volume of water and have a shorter shelf life before they start to degrade and lose strength. There is no reason you can't use old bleach as long as you are testing the FC and adding enough to achieve the desired level.

Actually that wouldn't be correct - it wasn't planned obsolecense - I believe Hotspring's objective to retain a catalog of replacement parts for Highlife spas up to 25 years old. To keep a very long story short, your Orca board was made by a third party manufacturer for Watkins/Hotspring. About a decade ago, Watkins and customers/dealers were hit blindsided when that company went out of business, taking their proprietary information with them. This royally screwed everyone, including the manufacturer who had minimal inventory and old stock to support existing customers - they were forced to build a new replacement control board from scratch, and unfortunately the two systems cannot communicate with each other due to the proprietary software on the old system. By this point, all new-old-stock inventory has been sold out and people with your generation of Hotspring hot tubs got screwed leaving a bad impression about the brand overall (which is valid - Hotspring should have some sort of discount program for spa owners of that spa generation) So yes, it sucks - but this was out of Watkins control. This is one reason why Hotspring spas use so many proprietary parts - the more they make in-house, the less reliant they are on third parties to continue supplying parts. Well, if it's just the topside LCD you have a few different options. Very often I find people selling or giving away free Hotspring hot tubs in the local classifieds (Because they are leaking or broken due to freeze damage) - you can possibly salavage a replacement part from a tub in your local classifieds (offer the seller $50 to salvage that part), or some people salvage parts from hot tub junk yards (which are apparently a thing) - you might be able to score a replacement part that way if you call around. Alternatively, if you dig deep enough into this, I believe someone else was in your exact same shoes a few years back and published their progress (on this forum I believe). I think that person was able to determine that his LCD screen had failed and the system worked otherwise, so he dug in and extracted the LCD screen then looked up part numbers - if my memory is correct, he discovered it was a cheap LCD screen also commonly used in a few HP PDA devices from the early 2000's, he was able to replace the screen and fire up the controller without any problems. I understand that may be out of your technical realm, but if you find the part numbers - you might be able to buy a replacement LCD screen then take it to a professional electronics repair-shop which could de-solder and replace the screen for way less than the cost to replace the entire controller - naturally I'm sure they wouldn't guarantee their work on something like this - but if the topside controller is shot already - why not take a chance and try to fix it for less than $200

Walked into a backyard yesterday to find 2 beautiful bikini clad ladies sitting in the hot tub day drinking red wine and thought to myself... this is it... every service tech's dream is going to happen right now!.. but sadly I shanked it like a Buffalo Bills Kicker wide right. I'm such an idiot

Don't fill until they are there. They might need to move the spa depending on space or where the wire is entering the spa. A new spa will be fine sitting empty. Once they start the electrical install and the spa is in final position you can start filling and it will be full by the time they have completed their work. Be sure to fill through the filter hole so you don't get an air lock in the pump wet end. Enjoy

The Consumer Products Safety Commission recommends a maximum hot tub temperature of 104 degrees for private hot tubs. These strict guidelines are for your safety. Temperatures of 106 degrees or higher can lead to heat stroke. We absolutely do not support overriding spa temperatures to achieve higher temperatures. EDIT: For more information, please read our blog post on the topic.

Best Thing I could have done to this spa! The controls are SO much better with the new topside panel. I'm sure this will be safer, more efficient, more reliable alternative; and perfect solution for the problematic old equipment I used to have. So far the new Balboa kit is working great. Tricky to configure at first. After a Youtube video of someone installing and configuring one it was a poc. It did take me all day though, had to replace a blown breaker to top it off. I'm a low voltage technician... I probably shouldn't screw with some things but I do... But what can I say. Just glad I didn't screw up the equipment! Thanks for all the help and input from everyone here.

Nah, you'd have to go into the shell or before the heater, not enough heat loss between the heater and the tub in the plumbing. Even then it wouldn't noticeably overheat the spa. Early balboa systems had the temp sensor in the shell and the high limit on the heater, and you would find little difference when the pump/heater was on. Turn it off and the pipes cool faster than the tub, which is partly why they moved them both back to the heater. It helps avoid any frozen pipes/pumps from 10 hours with no filter cycle or call for heat. Actually, those few of us who answer all these questions everyday get to know each other, and we like to joke around. That was for me, not you, and I found it rather amusing.😉 The other thing you have to remember is that we aren't just talking to you, we are talking to every clown who reads this post for the rest of eternity, or until the internet breaks. And yes, we DO feel that we have to babysit most of them. DIYers are not known for doing things right, or safely. I have to tell people to be sure they turn the power off before they touch any wires in the spa. Sense is NOT common, whatever they may say. We have to keep that in mind or risk being responsible for any results. So we just assume that, someday, a total moron is going to read this. It's generally that guy we're talking to, not the person who raised the question. If we weren't industry pros we could give you any bad advice we cared to, but as we are professionals presented as experts in our field we have a greater responsibility than your average Joe. So we will continue to post things that discourage people from fiddling around with their safety devices, even though we are aware that you already got the hint. Some folks aren't so quick.

What @ratchettsaid! Hudson Bay is the low end line of Leisure Products Inc. Their current offerings are Hudson Bay, Dr. Wellness and Catalina. When I was researching, I initially thought that a Dr. Wellness was one of my top choices due to size, features and price. I quickly found out that they were a LPI product, which I had owned one about 25 years ago and had bad experiences with. I also found out that the dealer in my area wouldn't allow my to look at the equipment area which was a red flag, Why wouldn't the dealer let me look? Because I would have found a poorly insulated tub with sub standard plumbing, proprietary parts, thin shell and Proprietary parts. This dealer didn't service their tubs either, they contracted out to any Spa tech that would take the job. They are cheap for a reason. If you are on a budget and are willing to spend $3000-$5000 on a five year starter tub, then they are OK. You are much better off though, buying a top quality tub that will last 10-15 years or more, that are well insulated to mitigate heat loss, that are energy efficient with good warranty's from a reputable dealer as the dealer IS your lifeline. Good used tubs are out there, you just have to be diligent and quick to move on one. Remember. always see a used tub full and running.

TL/DR - No. HudsonBay spas is an LPI brand of spas. They are a terrible company who builds budget-grade spas using the cheapest components possible - since they are a mail-order product they are also constructed with essentially zero insulation to reduce manufacturing and shipping costs. When bought new (from sites like HomeDepot) they are extremely overpriced for what you're getting. LPI is a terrible company, they sell the same products under multiple brand names to obfuscate the customer making it harder for you to read all the negative reviews on the company. If you visit Hudsonbay's website, you'll notice they never once mention "LPI Inc" on their site. That's intentional. Head over to LPI's website and you'll see a list of their brands, and I'll be honest - they're all terrible low-grade products - https://lpiinc.com/shops/ (Note for anyone curious - Catalina spas WAS A good brand name in the 90's until LPI acquired the brand in 2016) That's because everything you're seeing has already been picked over by the pros and other desperate people shopping for a hottub. Keep in mind professionals are also buying used tubs off the classifieds to flip/resell if there's a good enough profit in the deal for them. If you want to find the best deals on used hottubs, you need to watch the listings daily and sort only by recently-added. The BEST used spa deals sell in literally less than 24-48 hours, so you'll never see those listings (sellers take down the listing because they TOO many hits). The trick is to watch for newly listed spas which you can see filled with water and working. Then look up the brand and product line to figure out what tier/class it's in (most big name brands build multiple product tiers to fit every budget - sometimes these are bells/whistle changes, other times they are improvements under the hood to increase product lifespan - when buying used I'd personally be looking mostly at the flagship top-tiers from any brand to ensure you get the longest lifespan). Also note - warranties do not transfer on used spas so don't pay 85%+ of retail pricing for a 10 month old spa! All that said - hottubs require routine maintenance for proper operation. Many people can't even maintain the filters in their vacuum cleaners, let alone water chemistry in a hottub. For some, a hottub is an impulse purchase without realizing everything involved, soon enough they get bored and sell the spa to try and recoup some of their money back. I see amazing deals pop up all the time in the classifieds (at least a few times a month, and I'm in a warm subtropical climate where there aren't too many spa owners!). I have no doubt if you keep watching the market you'll find a nice spa from a name brand in your budget ($1k to $3k will definitely find you quality working hottub). Just be ready to buy when you find what you're looking for because like I said - you're competing with professionals who do this for a living.

That would be Virginia Graeme Baker, namesake of the VGB act, later renamed the pool and spa safety act, which regulates protections from entrapment and evisceration (yes, that means sucking out your intestines when you sit on a suction at the bottom of the pool) on public pools and spas, as well as new private pool and spa construction in the US. Old private pools and spas are unregulated, and usually unsafe. https://www.emsworld.com/news/10409001/minnesota-girl-6-disemboweled-kiddie-pool-drain Thank you @CanadianSpaTech for bringing up this important topic. ⭐ Gold star for YOU my friend. Maybe some our other knowledgeable industry contributors, like @waterbear, @jimmythegreek, @Pool Clown, would like to add to this thread with their knowledge and experiences. This thread, or one like it, should be a sticky in every forum.

It's more useful to start a new thread than revive one that is 12 years old. That being said...... It sounds like you don't have a great dealer. If they do not properly understand how the salt system works, or water chemistry in general, I would seek out someone else. Do you have a local Hot Spring dealer? Same salt system so maybe they can be of more assistance. What do you mean when saying the salt system didn't work? Was it not producing chlorine? Was the cartridge failing prematurely? As for the stereo. I'm not personally a fan of music on hot tubs due to longevity issues with the speakers, but of the Hot Spring and Caldera models I have sold with music I have had zero issues with bluetooth connectivity and only a handful of bad speakers. Have you gone through the pairing process? Foam is not the hot tubs fault. Foam is a result of something being introduced to the hot tub and in many scenarios it is laundry soap residue on swim suits. Otherwise it is usually personal hygiene products coming off the body of bathers. Watkins (Caldera) customer service is really good. If you are not getting the help you need from your dealer reach out to them and let them know your issues. At the very least they can get involved and work with your dealer to resolve the situation.

As a dealer all I can say is best of luck. I’ve sold hot tubs almost 20 years now. You’re not saving $2,000 buying online. I also think your making a huge mistake thinking you need a pump that is 4HP. HP rating is in my opinion for worst way shop. My hot tub has a 1.5HP pump and it has in my opinion good power. The type I can sit in front of for as long as a I want without hurting. I’ve also sat in a Coast Spa with a legit 7HP pump and a Dynasty with a legit 5HP pump. Both were fine but it doesn’t feel good when you’re getting abused by the jets. YMMV. Of the brands you listed, Catalina is the only one I would even consider. Dr Wellness is about as low as it gets in terms of quality.

Right here in Omaha Ne! My hot tub is broke, need advice on how to repair it. Lol

Not all Loungers are built the same and you do have to sit in one with water to find out. My Artesian has a lounger. I don't use it a lot when the jets are on, I prefer to sit in one of the captain's chairs with the neck jets. My wife, however lives in the lounger but she prefers to just soak. Our first tub didn't have a lounger, we really wanted one this time but it had to be the right one. Your dealer will make or break your ownership experience. My dealer is 90 miles away. Sure there are many dealers closer but they all got eliminated for one reason or another. The Hot Springs dealer blew my appointment off, the Bullfrog/Vita dealer outright lied about the different features and was using 4 year old sales material, the PDC dealer didn't have any tubs on display, The American Whirlpool dealer was a good dealer and didn't misrepresent his tubs but the tubs didn't pass the wet test for us. The Sundance dealer was also good but Sundance didn't have a tub that fit my space requirements. The Aqua Living dealer was high pressure, pushed financing we didn't want, wouldn't show us under the hood of their tubs, no wet or dry testing and didn't have an inhouse service dept. I ended up at an Artesian/Marquis dealer who was excellent, had a lot to look at and had a tub on order that hit all my check boxes. They were happy to set up a wet test of a similar tub (during Covid where other dealers wouldn't), answered all my questions, pulled side panels so I could look at plumbing and insulation, let us talk to existing customers about their sales and service experiences and as it turned out, had a very good price. They had no issues with my distance from their showroom and that still continues to be true today. Because of all this, they sold 2 tubs that day, one to me and one to our friends who were shopping with us. So dealer IS important.

Why? Because service after the sale keeps you from having a $15K boat anchor. A dealer that has inhouse service is more likely to be attentive to their customer's needs and resolving issues. A dealer who has to outsource service is at the whim of the contracted provider. Costco will try to make you whole but they are at the mercy of that contracted vendor, who sets their own rules. If the vendor says we can't get to you now, Costco is going to say, take it up with them. Independent techs may not be able to get the parts from a manufacturer in a timely fashion where a dealer with inhouse service usually has a higher priority. This isn't any different than a home warranty company. They contract to different trades, who won't always be responsive or outright refuse to service a customer due to distance, etc. The warranty company then tries another and another and finally it's up to the homeowner to contract someone and get reimbursed. You are made whole eventually but you have paid OOP for the repair and wait for a check. Yeah, been there, done that. Still out $300.

Happy birthday America! And me! Officially over the hill now at 51 (me, not America). Chillin', grillin', and blowin' **** up! Have a good one, and be safe!

Are the jets in the lower half on a different pump than those in the upper half? If so, your likely looking at another air lock in the lower half. If the lower half are on a different pump, do you hear the pump start when you turn it on? If the pump does not hum or try to start, you have other mechanical issues that other are better suited to help you with. The only other thing that comes to mind is if you have a diverter valve and it is set incorrectly (to top only). Not familiar with your tub so I am only guessing.

It's an aftermarket gizmo that is "supposed to make your motors run more efficiently on less power". It's a snake oil device. Get it out of the system, it's not helping anything and in reality, hurting the efficiency of the pump motors.

Dude, you are a star (I hope), So first thing we did was check the pressure switch and it was working fine, followed the wires back and they were fine. Jumped them together like you suggested and nothing. Tested the live wires on the heater and no voltage so we traced everything back and there was a loose connection. Now the heater light has come on the top controls and the heater element is at 230V ! Hurrahhhh. Its pulling just over 12amps now rather than 4 before so thats a good sign. Hopefully in a few hours it will have gone up in temp. Thanks again for you assistance on this, You have been a huge help

Can you see the hot tub running?

Do you have that kind of time? That's alot to atone for... 🤔

Starting at the pump and working back you have a 45 degree pump union glued into the gate valve, The gate valve is glued into a 2" x 2" x 2" T fitting. You have soft plumbing on the far side of the T fitting and it can be cut where the soft plumbing goes into the T fitting. You will likely have to use a 2" coupler to add in a piece of 2" plumbing to reattach it back into the T fitting. Anytime you cut something you end up 1.5-2" short. Sometimes you get lucky and have enough slack in the soft plumbing to be able to reattach it but you will likely not so you have to use a coupler and a 3" bit of 2" soft hose. NOW the difficult part... where does the other "leg" of the T fitting go to... You can't cut rigid plumbing FITTINGS and reattach a new piece. You have to go to soft hose to soft hose to the pump union and replace everything that is a rigid fitting in between. On the pump side new union then new Gate valve then new T fitting straight through to Soft plumbing. You need to dig out the last side of the T Fitting and see where it goes and if you can get to a spot with soft plumbing that you can cut add a 2" coupler and a 3" piece of soft hose to rejoin the soft plumbing back into rigid pipe and rebuild it all. If that last "leg" of the T fitting goes directly into the pump return fitting in the foot well you will be replacing that as well. You have to do all this AND get it all to line up so the pump union can sit flush up against the pump face so it doesn't leak. I attach the pump union first and work from there dry fitting everything first so you know it's flush up against the pump face. Side note.. you might have a straight section of 2" rigid plumbing that goes into the T fitting instead of soft plumbing and it could be cut and a coupler used just like with soft plumbing... cut it and add a coupler to the straight rigid pipe and use soft on the other side of the coupler to go into the T fitting. It doesn't have to be rigid pipe. Dig out that foam and see where it goes. Post more pics and we can go from there. You can buy a serviceable gate valve that can be taken apart if ever needed in the future and if they had of used one you would not be in this situation. It has o-rings that can wear out but are cheap to replace ...but that would be to easy... and we all know nothing is easy...ever. Would love to take an spa engineer/designer out for a day and say here you fix it.

If not in the equipment bay or drain, it's probably the light fitting. Those D1s are notorious for it. I'll explain how to fix it tomorrow sometime. It's a process, and it's late. Maybe there's a video out there. It's not hard, frankly it will take longer to explain it typing with one thumb on my phone than it would take me to do it. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point. 😉

I put sealant under the black trim plate and used that to hold it in place. It comes with a self-adhesive backing, but it was two piece and I didn't like it so I used sealant instead.

@Cherrie, from Ireland, welcome to psf. @CanadianSpaTechgave you some good advice. I will stress the dealer choice. A bad dealer will make you regret whatever brand you buy, so choose your dealer as carefully as your spa.

An update on this and just to close this thread out. I checked locally to see if I could find a local guy to help troubleshoot. Most of the local shops have stopped servicing and just do chemicals now. Some will only work on models they sell. One local did track down something similar to the Balboa that RDspaguy recommended. But that was over 800.00 and did NOT include installation. After kicking around Parts vrs new Pack I decided on parts as I had a gut feeling it was the board. I was also concerned about how long it would take for a new pack. Anyway I replaced the board with this: Spa Builders by Allied Innovations - Circuit Board PCB: LX-15 ALPHA REV 5.31 - 3-60-0119 It is basically the same board with the same software version (5.31). Cost was 270.00 US. I also decided to go ahead and replace the Transformer with this: Spa Builders by Allied Innovations - Transformer, LX-10/15 With Plug 220V Systems Basically an upgraded transformer. Cost was 73.00 US. I installed them both and everything is working fine. I was thinking of just installing one or the other to pin point exactly which part was bad but you pretty much need to take it all apart for each piece. Simpler to install them both at the same time. Thanks for everyone who helped out with tips and pointers. The trouble shooting guide provided by CanadianSpaTech was especially helpful. The new board came with the jumpers configured for a 2nd motor (which I don't have), and the guide showed me which ones to set to off. The Boss is Happy !! Thanks Again !!

Also not a vita fan, but consider Sundance top of the line.

Sundance is my vote. Not a fan of Maax Spas (Vita)

OK! So I went and bought the J355. Not all dealers are created equal that is for sure! I found one I really liked, even had the color I wanted coming in in August, and jumped on it. Super excited! Thanks again to all who helped and happy spaing! 🙂

What I see most common mistakes when people install cover lifters that can shorten the life of the cover are... The bar going across the spa if placed in/at/on the fold and when the half cover is flipped open the bar thickness will cause the 2 halves to separate and over time will split the fold material. The cross bar should be fitted about 3/4"-1" below the center of the fold crease so when the cover is opened the fold can operate as designed and the bar is not forcing the 2 halves apart. Next is the screws holding the cross bar need to be pointed to the ground when the cover lifter is fully opened and in the upright position. If they are pointed/attached in any other location/direction they will dig into the cover or the fold. When they are pointed to the ground they won't ever touch the cover. Locking straps: The straps are designed to lock your cover so unwanted people (Kids, drunk neighbours) can't get in. Yes they will also provide a bit of protection from wind blowing the cover open but that is secondary. When installed properly there should be a little bit of slack. A common mistake here in Canada is they get installed in the summer and they are pulled tight and attached actually pulling the cover downward. Then in Winter when its cold and there is no stretch in the material they rip out. If you live in a windy area most cover MFGs sell a "Hurricane Strap" See Photo below. a 4" wide strap that goes from one side to the other and through the cover handle and attaches to the cabinet. When opening the cover you only have to detach the one side and it will stay in place when folded open. Wash the cover with mild soap and water every 3 mths max. When using a UV protectant just spray a bit on the cloth and not directly on the cover and wipe it into the cover so you can control the amount used. You don't want to use any more than what is needed or when it rains the excess protectant will end up in your water. Last is turn off you water features when you are closing the cover. Waterfalls left on when the cover is closed will push water along the underside of the cover and force water into the drain holes on the underside of the cover and also as the cover gets older and the material starts to decay from chemical burn that water running along the underside of the cover will contribute to it getting heavy/waterlogged. Don't just add chemicals and close the cover. It needs to off gas. If you do it will burn the underside of the cover. Leave cover open a minimum of 20 mins before closing. When opening the cover don't breath in and get a nose full. Allow the air that is trapped between the top of the water and the underside of the cover that can be filled with chlorine, ozone and a bunch of other nasty stuff. Give it a few seconds to off gas before sticking your nose or face in. The End.

@castletonia WOW now that's quick service. Thank You and have a great weekend... Older than it looks. Picked up the spa, 15' of tech 90 wire, The 2 breaker 20/30 Amp panel box, near new cover, Cover Lifter and cover cap plus the heaviest step ever for basically removal labour cost and a 20 min $10 leak repair. Despite it's age it is a super clean well taken care of spa that won't last the weekend once posted for sale. Some days it works out for the overworked and weary. 🙏 No base rot, Pumps and pack are in perfect working order.

My 2 cents: A few red flags for me here that might be related. You have a floater for chlorine in a spa? The only form of chlorine used in a floater is trichlor, which is very acidic and dissolves quickly at spa temperatures and can lead to high chlorine situations that can damage and oxidize plastic parts above the waterline in a covered spa. Trichlor is slow dissolving at pool temperatures making it useful in a floater but it's solubility increases with temperature making it an unsound choice for a spa. Calcium only precipitates out in alkaline conditions and only below and at the waterline, not above. It also is only on plastic parts from what I can tell in the picture. This would lead me to believe that is it not scaling but damage from low pH on the plastic. I can't see any on the acrylic shell so I don't know if it is present there also. High FC levels can also cause oxidation of plastic parts and what I see on your skimmer looks like this might be what is happening. I don't see a buildup. I see what looks like a degradation of the plastic surface. You stated that you keep your spa covered so their might be a buildup of chlorine gas or volatile oxidation byproducts under the cover causing this. Also, you did not say whether you have ozone or not. There should be NO residual ozone in the water but the way many manufactures install ozone there is and it can build up in a covered spa and cause oxidation damage above the waterline too. Vinegar is too weak to have an effect on calcium carbonate. A stronger acid is needed. Baking soda is just an abrasive if used as a moistened paste and can damage the surfaces. Baking soda will also raise TA and that could increase scaling. (High TA and high CH is a recipe for scale formation and, in case you didn't know, baking soda is sodium bicarbonate is sodium hydrogen carbonate is alkalinity increaser from your dealer. They are all one and the same!) DON'T try using a Magic Eraser or other melamine foam sponge. They are very fine abrasives (like very fine sandpaper) and WILL dull and scratch the surfaces. What is calcium stabilizer? Never heard of such a product. Please post the ingredients. IF the ingredients include any mention of the word calcium then it's a calcium hardness increaser. IF the ingredients mention phosphonic aicd, phosphonate, EDTA or Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (not a complete list but these are the most common ones) then your product is a metal sequetrant. Calcium is a metal. These will not lower the level of calcium in the water but will make it chemically inactive so it will not deposit as scale. They need to be added weekly. Over time (many months to years) they can have some effect on removing existing calcium staining and are the only way to remove calcium silicate staining on fiberglass, acrylic, vinyl and other plastic surfaces. On plaster pool and spa surfaces a pumice stone is used to remove calcium silicate and an acid wash for calcium carbonate (or a pumice stone for waterline buildup on tile surfaces. Now, under the assumption that the white stain is actually calcium (jury is still out on this, IMHO): The only chlorine that will cause scaling is cal hypo (calcium hypochlorite) which adds 7 ppm calcium for every 10 ppm of FC added. Scaling occurs under conditions of high calcium hardness and high pH (which is normally linked to high total alkalinity) IF you are using trichor in your spa stop and switch to different form of chlorine other than cal hypo or switch to bromine if you want to continue using a floater. Trichlor requires a high TA to prevent pH crashes because it is so acidic. IT can also damage plastic parts because of it's low pH. First question is how high IS your calcium hardness in the tub (strips won't tell you, they test total hardness only and magnesium does not cause hard scale. Second question how high is the calcium hardness in your fill water, Third question, Where is your pH NORMALLY and what is your TA? Smooth white to grey scaling is often calcium silicate and not calcium carbonate and it's next to impossible to remove. The way to tell the difference is to put a few drops of muriatic acid on the scale. If it bubbles it's calcium carbonate, if it doesn't it's most likely calcium silicate. As I said above, the only way to remove calcium silicate from plastic, acrylic, vinyl, and fiberglass surfaces is by weekly use of a metal sequestrant (preferably one with a high affinity for chelating calcium vs. other metals like iron or copper, often sold as calcium hardness reducer) over a long period of time and only partial removal might occur.

Hello Epic Cajun: We need to be certain as to exactly what you are describing. Foam is drastically different from bubbles and mean different things. Here are possibilities. Yes, you may have had remnants of the bio-purge break loose from the bio colony as some of the gunk was somewhat loosened during the purge but not totally eliminated. Any residual Ahh-Some in the plumbing would be so small an amount that it would not be a contributing factor. Water pressure may have pushed this out into the tub and it can cause foam. If the bubbles have a brownish/gold hue on their perimeter this is probably bio contaminants. Bear in mind that there are many hot tubs that are grossly contaminated and have been building up the film for many years. One purge may just not do the job. Did you do additional purges? You should consider this. You also mention lots of air bubbles when you turn on the jets. Sometimes, water is over saturated with oxygen and nitrogen. if the air is being injected into the water in a very turbulent way, this will create very small bubbles. If this seems to be happening I would check the jet air injector to make sure it is not partially clogged. Also, smaller bubbles take longer to clear and out gas versus larger bubbles that rise and out gas more quickly. Ideally, you purge again just to be certain that the majority of the plumbing gunk has been eliminated. What you see from the purge may tell you what the problem may be.

Unless your previous hot tub was a Hot Spring or Caldera, your existing box will not be compatible. The new GFCI box will have two breakers, a 20A and a 30A and now instead of having 4 wires going into your hot tub you will have 6. I would have the electrical done at time of delivery otherwise your electrician probably will need to make two trips, one to install and another to connect.

Couldn't say. Every spa, ozonator, and control system is different, and most people with ozone aren't trying to keep a high chlorine residual. It is hard to do (as you have seen) and defeats the purpose of having ozone to begin with.

Sounds like a bunch of b.s. I’m not a tech, but a board causing a breaker to trip seems odd. And yes, Watkins tech support would never suggest making it work by bypassing the board. A complete IQ2020 control box would cost $600-$700.

See attached. Guessing that when the hot tub was converted from 110V to 220V someone forgot to change the J3 jumper to + so the heater can run concurrently with the pump on high speed.

That's when you need it most. You would be shocked at some of the nastiness that comes out of new spas at the store or delivery. If you knew the testing procedures and storage/shipping practices you would not ask such a question. New spas are NASTY!

It is economy mode. It does not save you any significant money. A 24/7 circulation pump is desirable with ozone or uv.

That control panel is obsolete so you're only options are to find new old stock or a used one. If unsuccessful then you would have to upgrade to the current version of electronics which would probably set you back about $1,000 for the parts alone. Are you able to turn the jets on or light on using the auxiliary control panel? Did the hot tub heat up to temp?

Thank you for the callout on this particular user. In the future, please report their posts and a moderator or admin will take care of the spam posts and spam account as soon as possible.

UPDATE: A little over a year later. We purchased this spa and have been very pleased with it. It is outdoors in N. GA year round, and runs and looks great. Very happy with this spa.

If your dealer said 6-7 months then that is probably the general lead time. Almost every manufacturer is out 6 months plus right now. Main thing to understand is that when lead times are that far out they are likely to change a bit so if your 6-7 month initial estimate changes to 6 months or 8 months, don't be surprised.

Those are good prices on both Jetsetters. I have not personally sat in the Jetsetter LX but I have sat in the Jetsetter and I thought it had very good power for a 110v hot tub. Given the LX is 220v with a larger pump it should have at least as much power if not a bit more. I have very little hands on experience with Jacuzzi and none with Bullfrog. I know a few Hot Spring dealers who used to carry Jacuzzi and Bullfrog and all have told me they believe both to be quality products but as dealers both lagged significantly in terms of dealer support compared to Hot Springs. While I know how a manufacturer supports the dealer may not be important to the consumer, it is to the dealer because it affects how well they can take care of their customers. At this point, I have not heard of any pending price increases though that could change. My personal opinion is I would try to make a decision sooner than later. If your dealer ordered your hot tub today it would be unlikely for you to see if before Christmas and with sales still in high demand these long lead times are going to be with us for a long while. In my opinion, Jacuzzi parts are more expensive and as hard if not harder to get than Hot Spring. In my previous life before selling Hot Spring I had a harder time getting Jacuzzi/Sundance parts than I did Hot Spring and what I could get was really expensive. I personally never agree with any argument that says Hot Spring or Jacuzzi parts are proprietary compared to say a Bullfrog or Marquis. Just because a brand uses Balboa or Gecko controls, Waterway or CMP jets, Aquaflo or Waterway pumps, etc, doesn't mean they are non-proprietary.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Ahh-some works, we all know it, so why mess around with some unknown follower? Cheap means cheap, if you follow me.

Ummm.....??? Ozone is there to burn off chlorine, so you can shock to the high levels you need to after using it and not get into a chemical bath the next day. Bromine is more resistant to oxidation, so ozone acts as a continuous shock. I love ozone, and won't own a spa without it. You should have virtually no chlorine reading when you use it, and completely sanitized water. That is the point. It also destroys contaminants, but as you can't get 100% exposure in the water it is not approved as a sanitizer, you still need to add chems after each use. Ozone has been used to eliminate chlorine residual in municipal water sources for decades. If your cover is on, your ozone will keep your spa clean, since virtually no contaminants can enter the water. I also like a mineral purifier with it (nature2, spa frog), which interferes with the reproductive cycle of single-celled organisms and drastically slows their spread in your water. Replace with what you had, as the injection system is sized to the output of the ozonator.