Hex92

In the summer, when we use the spa less, I can go 4 months without changing the water. During the colder months we are in it more, 3 months is about right. I can tell it needs to be changed when it becomes harder to balance alkalinity/pH. When I start having to add somthing every time I check it I know its time for a change... And that usually works out to be around 3 months.

This is what I do for my 400 gallon tub with ozonator. My wife and I are the only ones who use it. New fill: 1.5 oz spa-prestart adjust Calcium adjust alkalinity and pH with baking soda and pH up Then: 1 oz of MPS and 1 oz of dichlor every 3-4 days depending on use. (My plan has always been alternate between the 2 every 2 days....but that rarely happens) Check tub chemistry once a week. Adjust alkalinity and pH as needed. Change water every 3 months. Been working fine for 3+ years. Before that we put all kinds of stuff in there that the dealer suggested.

Sitting in a hot tub with a bunch of people isn't near as nice as sitting in the tub with just one other person. Not to mention you are sharing the tub with multiple people who may not maintain the same hygiene levels that you would hope. We have had our tub for 4.5 years and have had someone other than my wife, son or myself in the tub maybe a dozen times. Our tub is rated for 4-5 people, but in reality there is comfortable seating for only 3 people since it has a lounger (which I love). I would like a few more jets, but other than that its perfect for 2 people. 375 gallons of enjoyment and it cost ~$5000 including deck and electrical upgrades. Are you considering those in your $10k number? I thought I would get a floating radio for out there, but after we got the tub we never wanted music. We use it for 30 minutes of relaxation or talking My suggestion is to wet test whatever tub you are considering and buy something that fits the primary users. And remember the bigger the rub the more it will cost to heat and the longer it will take to drain, clean, refill and heat.

I sometimes get a flo error on my spa after a power outage. It usually happens when the power flickers before it goes out. The programming gets messed up and it sets itself to having pumps that it doesn't have. I have a spa with 2 pumps. After the last outage it had set itself to 3 pumps + a 24 hour circulation pump. I guess the controller on my spa can be used for several different models. I have seen this before so it took <2 minutes in front of the keypad to set it to the right number of pumps.

The seam in the middle of my cover (where it folds)is starting to tear a bit. Is there anything I can put on there to make it last longer.....other than duct tape?

The wire alone will run you ~$250 assuming you use #6. The sub panel (Cutler Hammer) will be ~$85 for a 60 amp. The conduit would be ~$80 depending on what you use. The rest is all labor.

I would like the controls to be easily seen from the inside. My LCD screen (for the control pad) is angled out. So if I am in the tub and I want to see what is on the screen (temp,time,etc) I have to twist around, and get on my knees to see it. So if the angle of the screen could be changed to allow for easy viewing from outside and in it would be a nice touch. Or just have two different sets of controls.

The place I bought my spa from did for me as part of the install. So my guess is free...assuming there is enough wire to reach the panel in the tub.

Summer arrived in VA this weekend. 90+ degree heat during the day, but still getting down into the low 70s at nights. The problem is that the tub is getting hotter too. I have it set @99. And it is 103 now. It gets direct sun for maybe 2 hours a day, and I think that the pumps generate heat when they are on during filter cycles. Anyone else have this problem during the summer?

If you can't tell the difference between red, white, black, and bare copper it sounds about right to me. If you can discern the difference buy the wire (~$2.50/ft) and conduit ($1/ft) and do it yourself. The man has a business, a family, mortgage payment, truck payment, and gasoline to pay for before he buys the wire and conduit. If you don't feel comfortable doing the job you don't have a better option. It sounds like he will actually show up.

See my reply to this in my thread....

We are getting a new hot tub, and wanted to know what you did to reinforce your deck? thanks To reinforce the deck I doubled up the joists. They were 2x6s. So I popped the side off the deck so I could slide new ones in next to the old ones. I screwed them together and then also sunk screws in from the deck surface into the new boards. After that I bought 3 of these http://www.ellisok.com/ellisok/timberjackp...screwjacks.html I used a 4x4 as a beam to run perpendicular to the joists. I used closed edge cinder blocks for footers and put the screw jacks at either end and in the middle of the beam. This cut the span to only 3 feet. Use this span calculator to determine what your current deck can support I totally over engineered mine. My span was only 6 feet and I have a 375 gallon tub. So I may have been able to get away with doing nothing, but I figured more is better. Its been 3 months and everything is holding fine. They delivered a replacement tub yesterday (a story for another thread) and the deck looked great.

When we got our tub back in February the water turned green within a few days. It didn't smell bad, but it had a definite green tint. We tested our water and then had the professionals test it. The hardness was way to high. They put too much in we setting us up. But otherwise it tested fine. The company that sold it to us said there was some kind of algaecide in the pump when it came from the factory and that was what turned the water green. I don't know if they were full of $h!7 or not, but it sounded plausible to me. So 10 days after installing the tub we drained it and re-filled it - following the directions for our chemicals exactly. No more green water. Its been 2 months since we re-filled it. So maybe you should drain it and start over. It worked for us.

Get steps. Then you don't have to worry about the profile. Wet test everything you can. We wet tested the tub we bought twice. On the last day we narrowed it down to 2 tubs @ 2 different dealers. We tested the first, talked money to determine our final price and then hopped in the car and tested the 2nd. We liked it better and it was cheaper even before negotiating. So I got them to knock another few $$$ off the price and bought it. My tub was <$4800. I tested Hot Springs, Hot Spot, and Tiger River (and others) before settling on mine. I was quoted $6000 for a Jetsetter. Its a nice tub, but it was more than we wanted to pay.

I have a 375 gallon tub with an ozonator. The first couple weeks we didn't have ozone so we put 4 Oz of oxidizer in once a week. Then we got the ozone and we were told to cut it in half. So we put in 2 Oz a week. We were monitoring the oxidizer levels and they stayed in the OK zone for over two weeks without adding any. Is this normal with ozone? We even tested when the tub wasn't running in case we were just detecting the oxidizing potential of the ozone. Finally I figured we must need some so I put 1 Oz in yesterday when I added dichlor. The tub seemed slightly foamy, but not bad. Should I just add the oxidizer anyway? Like one scoop a week? So far our water is staying really nice. We add 1 Oz dichlor every 5 or 6 days and it looks like we could go weeks without adding oxidizer. The water is clear and smells good.....Maybe I shouldn't mess with success...

Double post....sorry.

I haven't owned a spa very long, but I am pretty darn sure that you MUST use stabilizer/buffer to keep your pH in check. That is why it is drifting up.

I had a 12x25 (300 ft2) slab poured a couple of years ago for a storage room addition on my garage. I got three quotes ranging from 1800 to 4000. I picked the guy who cost 1800.

From a post of mine a couple of months ago: 220V 375 gallon Vita Reflections Soria The power to the spa was turned on @ 10:30 am The initial water temp was 47. @ 9:30 pm the spa was 98. We jumped in the tub @ 10pm and it was 100 (set temp). So the heating rate was ~4.6/hour. The manual said it should heat between 3-5/hour so not bad for a day where the high was 49.

Thank you. That is exactly the information I wanted.

I wired up my own tub. I had 6-3 already pulled to a box under the house for the stove. We use gas now so I was able to run it to the tub. Made it real simple. I looked into the Amps vs wire thing. I know that 6-3 wire is rated for 55 amps, but it can be protected with a 60 amp circuit. So that is what I did. Ran 6-3 wire coming from a 60 amp breaker. The run for my tub is only maybe 30 ft total. 18ft from main panel to the sub and then 12ft more to the spa. If it makes you feel any better I ran 6-3 to my detached garage from a 60 amp circuit 2 years ago. It was a run of about 90 ft and I haven't had any problem with it. When I had electricians to the house to wire my kitchen remodel (pros are faster and I didn't want to mess with multiple 3-way switches) I asked them about it and they thought it was perfectly fine. So there you have it. Definitive information from some guy on the net.

I have a new tub and they set us up with SimpleBlue (I thought we were going to get Pristine Blue, but whatever). We got the tub two weeks ago and we already have had to drain it and start over. The water turned green after a couple of days and they gave us some story about how the pumps have an algecide in them that is green and the only way to get rid of it was to drain and refill... So we did that. So we have new water in as of Saturday night and it looks fine. What I am confused about is what I am testing for with the strips. The strips test for Oxidizer, pH, alkalinity and hardness. What is this CYA I see mentioned in the forums? Do I need to pay attention to it? We bought a separate kit to test for chlorine since SimpleBlue does use dichlor as one of its chemicals. We were told that after satarting up the tub we should only need to add Spa Manager (which has the oxidizer) and the dichlor on a regular basis. We have ozone on our tub too if that matters.

The people you bought it from won't hook up the tub? As for the pipe measure the diameter. go to Lowes, and buy what you need to mate the pipe coming out of the ground to 3/4 flexible water tight conduit. If its anything like my tub yours will have an opening in the side large enough for the conduit to fit through.

Since you admit that you "know next to nothing about electrical work" I think you have three choices. 1.) Get a permit, do the work yourself, have it checked by the inspector. They will find any mistakes you make. 2.) Hire an electrician. Don't mention anything about getting it inspected and take your chances. Typically they come down harder on the contractor if they get caught doing the work without an inspection and let the home owner slide...Of course you would have to pay to have it all inspected if you got caught. 3.) do it the correct way. I wouldn't worry about the inspector noticing previous work. If they ask just tell them "It was like that when I bought the place." Wiring a tub isn't that hard. I did mine, but then again I re-wired most of my house, and the entire garage within the last 2 years. So I know a bit more than the average home owner. As for inspections in general....I have done the work above, built an addition to my garage, and a major kitchen remodel without a single inspection. Some of the work was done by contractors, some of the work was done by me.

The power to the spa was turned on @ 10:30 am...and I have to say I was REALLY impressed with the guys who installed it. It took them 70 minutes from the time they pulled in my driveway till the time they pulled out! The initial water temp was 47. @ 9:30 pm the spa was 98. We jumped in the tub @ 10pm and it was 100 (set temp). So the heating rate was ~4.6/hour. The manual said it should heat between 3-5/hour so not bad for a day where the high was 49.