Hillbilly Hot Tub

Which kind of test strip are you using to test for sanitizer level, Baqa? Chlorine? It should say on the bottle. Each kind of strip tests for different sanitizers, so one will not read correctly for another. If you are getting a sanitizer reading on the test strip and have not added any, it is from what was left in the tub. When you drain the tub it can leave 20 gallons of water left in the lines (this is why when people do not drain them properly in the winter they have broken tubs in the Spring) and has mixed in with the fresh water. The problem you have is what kind of sanitizer it is since you used 2 different ones. Decide which sanitizer you are going to use and then there are several people here that will help you get your tub right. It is not that bad once you get an understanding of the sanitizing system you are going to use

To fit 5-6 people in that price range with depth enough not to spill all the water over, I would look at a basic round tub, nothing fancy. Nordic has one as with several other companies. Leisure Bay also has one that is sold in that price range(at least we sell it at that) called the Adirondack. It seats 6-8 people and is very basic. Watch foot room, 5-6 people = 10-12 feet in the footwell. Good luck

Thanks HHT. As I said, I've dealt with Honey a few times and they were great. Their facility is nice, professional, and they seem to have stability. I guess I just wonder...what's the difference, buy a $9k tub every 20 years or a $4k tub every 10 years? A lot of the tubs you get now for 4k will not last 10 years depending on the tub manufacture and how they are made. Just look into the quality of the parts they are using, their reputation for backing their warrenty, local service techs etc. This is where the box store tubs become an issue. Many chinnese parts, put together quickly with little quality control and no back up to their service. Thats why I said since this company is local to you it is a great asset, also being family owned and run, usually there is more pride put into their product. The other part of that 9k is the "bells and whistles" type things and longer warrenties in some cases. All depends on what you are looking for in a tub.

Algea does require more sunlight than most covered hot tubs get. I have yet to see a tub that is covered except when using to develop algea. The bacteria grows from stuff from your body. Sweat, dead skin, fecal matter....we are all covered with bacteria no matter how clean we are. Each person sweats about a pint in a 30 minute tub soak, that a lot of bacteria. Dead skin falls off and so on. Get out of the tub, have a low sanitizer level and it grows. This causes the cloudy water and smell. Ever smell a grey water tank and a black water tank? black water (sewer) smells much better than grey water (showers, sinks etc.) Many more "smelly" bacteria come off us than out of us!

My personal and professional thoughts are to stay away from Baqa. There are too many issues with it if you read past posts and from my customers. I would go with chlorine (with or without Nature 2) or Bromine. Bromine is the simplest system to do, although if you use the bromine tablets that are mixed with chlorine (most are) it has a bit of a different smell. I have found that a pure Bromine system (we use the brand name Brilliance, I am not sure of other brand names of this type of system) does not have the smell. Chlorine works well but is more labor intensive. Thank god you did not have a medical emergency from mixing the 2 chemicals, it could have done some major damage to your lungs/skin! The other things you should keep an eye on, although you did not have this "soup" in the tub too long, check your pump seals to make sure they are not leaking. Bad water chemistry can damage these easily. If you see and drips coming from the pump address them so it does not "fry" your pump. Clean your filter SUPER good. Good luck

Those are some very basic old school hot tubs. You can go that route if you want but you really can't compare them to some of the premium spa makers with far more features and better jetting. You only got 9 years out of your last spa (it should have only been in mid life at that point) and I'd also want to get something that lasted longer this time but that's up to you. Spa tech is right about the old school....but if you are satisfied with the jets and location of them, and with the options they offer it is worth trying them out. Having the company that makes the tub right next door is of great value if you have future issues....we have talked with them, they are pleasent and it is a family run buisness, but I would wet test the tub to see if you like them. They use the same company to supply their pumps and control systems etc as many of the other tub companies. Good luck!

It could be a bad relay, have you had the tub awhile, and is this a new problem or did you just get the tub. Reason asking is the the control system may be set up to think that it has a circ pump. (dip switches in the wrong place) What kind of system (control pack), ie Balboa, gecko, aware? Balboa and the new aware do not have pressure switches, but gecko does.

I would love to hear how it goes for you. The line of spas we carry have this option. The others dealers we have talked to said it was not worth the money and had failure issues, so I called the company that makes the genesis and the man I talked to there was not really "pushing" the system. he stated it takes a large amount of salt and you have to do water changes more frequently than what is said. That made me decide to tell our customers it was not a great choice at this point untill the manufacture is more confident in their product, I will stay away. This was a year aga, so I am wondering how things are going with people that have one. Would love to hear comments...

Why not? Just turn the thermostat down. You can turn your tub down in the summer. Bear in mind the temp will probley not drop much below the air temp otside and during the filter cycles it may heat up a little due to the pump running and producing heat of its own. You may notice a bit of difference on your water chemistry due to the cooler tempretures and may have to adjust for that.

I will have to say...the algecide in the pumps was a new and different story! The CYA is Cyanic acid. It is found in stabilized chlorine which di-chlor is. It builds up over a period of time and if the levels get to high it will reduce the effectivness of the chlorine and you will have to keep a higher free chlorine level and in some people it is thought that it may be the culprit that causes them to itch. If you are using dichlor only weekly and do water changes every 3 months, the levels should not go sky high on the CYA. The oxidizer is MPS or also known as non chlorine shock. It is a shock, not a sanitizer. It is very effective in breaking down waste that gets into the tub. Dichlor is a sanitizer. PH is very important to keep on tract. If to high you will get scale, cloudy water, foam, skin/eye irritation and the sanitizer won't be as effective. Low PH can cause damage to the pumps, jets, cause skin and eye irritation ect. The alk is alkalinity. It helps keep the PH buffered if it is in the correct range, in other words keeps the PH from bouncing around as much. The ozone in your tub is also an oxidizer, not a sanitizer. It will also help oxidize waste and makes it so you use a bit less chemicals. Hope this helps a little... I looked up Pristine blues site and green water is a sign of to much chemical. It also does not play well with several other chemicals such as clarifiers, alk. increaser, calcium ect. i would work closely with a dealer who understands this system to make sure you are doing it right.

As I am reading back I noticed you said you have not put in Baqa latley, just chlorine....are you mixing baqa and chlorine? This a no-no!! if this is the case, this is where you are getting bad gasses. You can not mix Baqa with chlorine or bromine at all. It makes a BAD chemical soup!! Maybe I read things wrong but I thought I would check. Even if you had a Baqa tub and were switching over to chlorine, the tub should have been dumped, refilled and filters super cleaned to do so. Baqa does not play well with other chemicals! I hope I misunderstood.... Also, this could be your issue with not being able to read the strips. If you have Baqa strips they will not read sanitizer level correctly if you are using chlorine and visa versa...if you have chlorine strips they will not read the right sanitizer level for Baqa.

Then they've fallen for a rather stupid salesman's line (sorry Tom) No apology needed, it's not my line and I'm not a salesman. But I do believe that Arctic sets the standard for cold-climate performance. We live in this !@#$ climate (nine months of winter and three months of street hockey) and, gee, it seems so reasonable that we'd know what works here better than someone from southern California. (Sorry, couldn't resist.) JudyLA, Coast Spas has been recognized for six consecutive years as one of Canada's 50 Best Managed Companies. While that speaks to their management, not to their product, it might be something to keep in mind. Sounds like you're already looking elsewhere. During your research, I hope you'll have time to take a peek at our Coyote Spas line - many of the benefits of the Arctic with some unique features of their own, at prices you might find attractive. Good luck with your search. Another line you can look at is Clearwater Spas. They have a great lounge for tall people in the larger series of spas. Keep researching and don't fall for pushy sales ploys. Find out if they have passed the california energy testing, this will help tell you how effcient they really are, talk to others that own spas, find a dealer you can trust, they will be the ones servicing your spa if there is a warranty issue. Happy hunting.

Although it sounds like you are getting good water flow, another free thing to check....gate valves, did one slide partially closed? Just something to check. Does sound as if you have a bad temp probe.

Chris W I think if you look back through chem geeks threads, you will see he tells most everyday spa owners to stay away from muratic acid. It is not as safe etc. Pool and spa PH down is an inexspensive chemical and safe to handle. I would stay with that. You can find this at pool stores and hardware stores.

Your hot tub pump seals may be leaking. open the control compartment and see if there is water under the pump.

Your spa pump has ice in it. When you drain your spa it will have 15-30 gallons of water left in the system. It may well have other freezing issues as well but first things first. Put a small heater (or hair dryer on low) under the cabinet and close the cabinet as tight as you can it will take a while for the ice to melt. Your sales company should have been able to tell you how to winterize your spa properly however many of them do not know how to do it right and just say drain it and put the cover on and refill when you want to use it. Then you end up where you are. Laurel

I am not sure on the pricing for HS, there are many people in this forum that can help you there, but you are right...get a new tub. The 10 year old Hawk Eye is not worth refurb. By the time you added all in you are better off with a tub with a warranty. Good luck

I think the tub you are describing is the Adirondack. If so, this is a polysteel tub. They are the entry level of Leisure Bay. It is a good price if this is the tub, MSRP is $6299.00, warehouse price is $5499.00. It will need insulation added if you are in the North. The entry level tubs are not well insulated. The only warranty issue we have had with these tubs is the small ozone style jets. The use them as ozone, wrist and foot jets. They had a spell where they were over tightening them and it cracked the jet causing the jet to leak. I would go through and take them out, check them and out them back in using silicone to be safe. They are inexspensive. They have since fixed the issue. They use the Balboa system which is great and they have been a great company to work with. No other issues that we have had. You will not get the warranty because you are the second owner. I do not think you will find a better tub for that money, specially if this was never used.

Sorry I said relay first, thought you had checked the fuses first, now you have a spare relay!

Dichlor is now required for weekly or as needed shocking and MPS is not even an option for this now. In the past it was possible to use tne N2 without any dichlor except on initial startup, and that was only to about 2 ppm. The level of dichlor suggested weekly or as needed will bring the FC up to about 6 ppm, pretty much standard levels for a chlorine spa. The use of dichlor is optional before and after each use and MPS can be used here. It is interesting that in the old recipe if dichlor was used it was only enough to raise the FC by .5 ppm while in the new recipe it raises the FC about 2 ppm. That is quite a big difference in FC levels, no? Water bear, I have the book in front of me from Nature 2 I just received, not old ones, no where does it say that shocking with di-chlor weekly is mandatory. I just can not find it. It is under as needed..not weekly. The only mandatory di-chlor is at start up. Can you please tell me where to find that weekly doses of di-chlor are mandatory? As needed is stated to be to remedy problems, not weekly. I understand what you are saying, if you substitute di-chlor for MPs and shock with di-chlor weekly, it would kind of be a waste to have N2, but if you follow their recipe (which they state you must strictly follow) then N2 can be a benifit for people who want little to no chlorine. I also agree that N2 dose not work well with heavy bather loads as I stated before unless you use the dichlor, if this is the case with people, I would suggest something different. I have found that 2 people using the tub, no swimsuits, 4 hour filter with ozone do quite well with the N2 recipe with very little dichlor.

And towards the bottom; Note: As an alternative to MPS2, an EPA registered source of dichlor1 may be substituted: 1 tablespoon dichlor1 = approximately 3 tablespoons MPS2. 1 tsp of chlorine per 250 gallons is pretty much "normal" chlorine use. But they say as an alternative, it does not say you have to? Guess I am confused. I am under the impression that you do not have to use di-chlor...it is an alternative. So if you use the regular recipe it would have very little chlorine. Are they not EPA approved without using di-chlor as the alternative.

What about the 2006 info since that seems to be the new one? 1999 was a long time ago. Also, where are you getting that the new recipe is basically normal chlorination levels. I have the book in front of me. here is what it says...After the intial start, where you do "jump start it with chlorine you....before each use, test the water if MPS is low add 1 tbls MPS per 250 gallons of water keep doing so untill test strip indicates a sufficient level of MPS...after each use add 1 tbls of MPS per 250 gallons.....once per week PH etc 4 months replace N2/water. As needed shock with di-chlor to remedy problems which may occur when bathing loads are high or successive tests indicate high demand for MPS, dull hazy water, odors, foam etc. NOTE: as an ALTERNATIVE to MPS Dichlor may be substituted. How is this new recipe keeping normal chlorine levels?

Based on what I have learned here, and being a new owner in the past month, I would suggest that you would TEST your water and be sure that the sanitizer level is adequet for a minimum of 24 hours. From what I have been reading, Clear Water is not indicative of healthy water. Shock the Spa, or super chlorinate, and by the time the levels come back to "normal" it should be about 24 hours, or possibly longer, and you should be "safe" and the water will probably be in the clear. Let someone like waterbear confirm this, but my educated guess would lead me to believe that this is the case. Run1stRide2nd. Run 1st is correct

Based on what I have learned here, and being a new owner in the past month, I would suggest that you would TEST your water and be sure that the sanitizer level is adequet for a minimum of 24 hours. From what I have been reading, Clear Water is not indicative of healthy water. Shock the Spa, or super chlorinate, and by the time the levels come back to "normal" it should be about 24 hours, or possibly longer, and you should be "safe" and the water will probably be in the clear. Let someone like waterbear confirm this, but my educated guess would lead me to believe that this is the case. Run1stRide2nd. Run 1st is correct

Old Cal Spas used the Brett Aqualine I beleive. You may be able to get these, but why would you? The metal plate comes with the VS501 kits. Spare acrylic we have got from the spa manufactures.