Jake the dog man

asharerin... I'm a big believer in "whatever works for you & you are happy with..." but that seems like an excessive amount of time to run the filter each day ( 4-8 hours a day?), especially for such a small tub. I'll admit to probably not running it enough, with almost daily use by myself, wife & sometimes 1 child, so we are not in the heavy use mode. Sorry if I misunderstood. I just think there may be an easier way...

Yup, like everyone else has stated, the foam isn't hurting anything, but it can be kinda yucky. I keep the defoamer in a small spray bottle to, but I rarely need it. I always let my daughter use bubble bath right before we change our water, every 2-3 months, and still don't get a foaming problem afterwards. I like to point of changing water in the first month too. I did that, but not because of foam or anything specific, but a general rule of thumb. I also change the oil in a new car after a few weeks. Just to get the crap/flash/grit/etc out. Good Luck & let us know!

I have no problems using my iPod while in the hottub. I have attached a smallshelf with 3M removable tape to the side of my house that holds the iPod up from edge. I make sure my fingers are dried using a small towel before I touch it. I have never had a problem with earphone wire getting wet, because they are plenty sealed anyway. I have also recently got a Bluetooth unit for my iPod, so I can use the Bluetooth receiving headphones that came with that, or my hands free earpiece from my cell phone. I have also tried an exterior mini speaker that plugs in to an iPod where your earphones go, but then everyone can hear too. Good Luck! Happy soaking & listening!

Considering I spent that on a brand New Sumatran 6 months ago, with lots of extras, that doesn't seem that good of a price to me. Granted, ours is slightly smaller, but that doesn't seem that good for a 2 year old damaged tub.

I'm glad it's working out Steve. I was gonna suggest going to your dealer to start, then going with what you felt was easier. Going with a product that is easily available to you & easy to use is always best. I think strips will be fine for you too. If you have problems, then refer to your dealer. I'm a big believer in keeping it simple. I got a hottub to relax, not become a professional or a chemist. The water maintenance will become 2nd nature in a month or two. Good Luck! BTW- For the record, I am a chlorine guy from way back, rarely needed anything more.

Normally don't wear suits, but I don't think I could expect guests to do the same unless they were very comfortable with it. I don't really think that some make-up & street clothes from time to time is gonna hurt your tub or water. Toss in an extra tblspoon of chlorine. Frankly, if street clothes in the tub get me to see a bunch of my wife's girlfriends naked in & out of the tub... so be it!

Depends if one has features that you want or need. Ourselves, we went with the Tiger River because we didn't (and still don't) want all the gadgets & things. Our tub normally only gets run for the cleaning cycles because we prefer to just soak in the hot water. Unless you are resolved to buy a fiberglass hottub, maybe look into the round wood hottubs, which are better suited for taller folks (or ones that don't want all the gizmos) some of them are availablein 4 5 & 6 Foot deep... Wahoo! Good Luck & let us know what you decide!

Congrats & Welcome to the Forum! Sounds like you are going about it all right & nicely. Though sometimes it seems like it, you don't need to be a chemist or millionaire to own a hottub. I find I don't run my hottub enough, I'd rather just sit in the hot water. Everyone is different. Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry. Again, Welcome!

Wow, 15 c/59 f is pretty low. Just curious, what brand/model tub do you have?

Funny you should ask that. I was just wondering that the other night too. One would think that they should be able to turn off the heater portion of the system and still use the pump & jets. I have a new Tiger River and was hoping it would do so come hotter weather. I think the lowest temp it can be set at is 86-88 degrees. I'd also think you could drain it just as you decide you don't want it to heat up much. I'll keep your frozen jugs in mind though Bubbles!

I'd have it checked out by the dealer before you spend too much. I really dont think a hottub should ever be that loud, let alone new. I have a TR that is on a one story deck w/ lattice on ends and I can bearly hear it running on high from inside my house, not to mention from out neighbors yard. You would think that would reverberate more too then on the ground pad like yours. Our houses are pretty close together too and I know you can not hear ours from our neighbors or vice versa. You are not positioned on a shared footer or something are you? What about some kind of oddly placed rebar or pipes? You mentioned a fence, what about it maybe being tied into their house that could carry vibration? Good Luck & let us know how it turns out.

Yeah, I understand that the Grit Gitter is cheap, but why spend more when I apparently dont needmore? We use our hottub only 3-4 times a week but really have only needed a vaccum thing a few times for larger bits caught in the pre-filter. I can reachmy pre-filter from outside the tub, but even if I couldn't, I still wouldn't see a problem with getting in. I just prefer the small bulb kind of thing to a big clunky stick or hoses. Let us know which one you end up with & how it works out. I may break down & order a Grit Gitter in the next few weeks, so I'll let everyone know too.

Anyone have any experience with the Grit Gitter? It always looked neat, but I haven't needed it enough to order one yet.

I don't know what you "should" be spending, but $5 per day just on power seems pretty steep. I also live in the mid-atlantic are (hour south of Philadelphia), but my Tiger River has barely caused my bill to rise. I keep my temp 102, used almost every day, sometimes twice. It stay uncovered during the 10 minute clean cycle, after each use. We have had frost this year, but no freezing yet.

I agree, it is easier to just set it & forget it. I also think it is cheaper in the long run, but obviously that's debatable! LOL! Good Luck!

So it is a slight hardware change, as opposed to an available setting in the display? How can I tell if it is configured that way? Kinda cookl, but I guess really only that useful when filling or cooling.

Naked, 90% of the time. During the day, which is rare, or when our daughter is in with us, we use suits. Someone brought up here just recently that suits make it much colder in the winter too.

We have tried a few over the years and I think the aromatherapy crystals work out better then the oils. I don't care for many of the smells, but there are a few I like. I've have always been surprised that chocolate scented baths don't seem to be available.

My criteria sounds very similar to yours. I was able to pick up a brand new Tiger River Sumatran in late August for about $4400 delivered. This came from a hot tub &pool dealer, during a sale. Costco is geared towards consumables, not durable goods. Plus, I can walk into my dealer and ask a question anytime and get an answer. It came with 6 months of chemicals, steps, top opener, etc. I prefer the lack of du-dads & gadgets and we have had 5 people in comfortably. I paid an electrician $300 to run a separate GFI circuit. I did the deck preparation myself, which took my about a month. I realize there are much larger tubs out there, but this is my 2nd Hot Springs and I plan on my 3rd being a wooden round tub. We are much more concerned with the hot water and not the jets.

We looked at the Bullfrog and I just felt that the whole jetpack system was too gadgety. The price, not to mention the sizes, just didn’t suit our needs either. I admit to not caring much for any jets because I really just prefer to soak, but I just thought their’s were too focused on something that most people don’t care about. I'd expect if the market is there, they will become become more popular. I would have never heard of them without seeking out info on the web.

I'd call your dealer first, but I think I would keep it filled with water unless they had a good reason to drain it. Hopefully everything goes well with the service. I noticed in a few of your posts about this issue, you mention the you have "... no clean cycle..."". It is my understanding that the only thing a clean cycle does is run the jets for 10 minutes. Soundslike your jets can go on & off. So, maybe you can use some of your time waiting to get your water cleaned up. That way, when it's all repaired, you can hop right in & enjoy! Good Luck & keep us posted! BTW- We have recently purchased a TR Sumatran, so please keep us posted on any TR issues.

I have recently purchased a Tiger River Sumatran. I have owned tubs in the past and I have been in many others. I can not say that I have ever seen this cloth “sock” over the secondary intake. Regardless, it just filters out junk then drops it backing the tub when you try to clean or remove it. There must be a better way. Any suggestions?

Iknow this is an old thread, but I was just wondering how everything went. In hind sight, are you glad you didn't drain it for the hot months? I am new to this site, but have been an advocate of leaving water in & lightly chemicaling a spa for the summer months and it has always worked out well. Drying of gaskets, seals, etc can be an expensive side effect to draining, not to mention the bacteria and "lurgy" growth. I'd love to hear how it worked out. Jake

Honestly, I shopped around for quite a while for our recent hottub purchase. I never even considered buying a used tub... just not gonna do it. We looked & even considered Costco (though our nearest one only carries them a few times a year on the floor). I kept using a fairly local place as my guideline or "happy place". They were always willing to answer questions that I would ask as I roamed around their showroom. We ended up going with them, pretty much for customer service. If my life situation was different, I certainly think Costco is a good way to get your 1st tub. Granted, I find myself leaning towards local customer service type places anyway, but I also compareprices & belong to BJs, so I am not against savings. In the end I was happy with our entire package price, but I'm certain a Costco type place may have charged less for the basic tub. I could go to Costco every week and never see the same person, but my local place is pretty much open/closed by the owners every day. We also get lifetime water testing! LOL! We are very happy with our Hotsprings Tiger River Sumatran. A very basic tub with not alot of bells & whistles.

Thanks. I ended up with the Lift N Glide, which appears to slightly more stable then the CoverMates I've seen. I also like that the far side can't be opened without the front part being opened 1st. Thanks for the quick answers! Jake