Hillbilly Hot Tub

So you are not part of Infinity, which now owns Keys too....

You are having the problems that I had asked about when I first read the bleach recipe a couple of weeks ago. I am glad to know that my "simplistic" water chemistry knowledge seems to be correct. I would not try to change your mind, the scale that can form at high ph levels just attacts your heater element in spas and jams the heck out of jets. Good luck in your decision

If water changes are done every 3 months (or more depending on spa use) as suggested by manufacture and chemical companies, the CYA would not get so high.

Bear in mind, as part of the price the dealer is also backing the warrenty, coming out to your tub unlike a car dealer where you bring it to them to fix. This cost also comes out of his profit margin (unless they charge a trip fee) since some manufacturers do not pay well on warrenty calls. It is also true that a more exspensive tub has more wiggle room and though not an item that is nessary such as fuel etc. the cost of making the tub has been going up due to the cost of their supplies going up. The economy has effected everything. It does not sound unreasonable for the price he is offering. Specially with the stereo upgrade. Good luck

It is the Quartet I was talking about. I know there is a dealer in New Jersey, not sure who it is, but they pull tubs from the same warehouse in CT that we do. They should email you back or you can try calling them after (they are there after noon) and they can help you also. They have been a great tub line for us.

Ozone does produce a yellow, kind of sticky substance, you can see it in the line coming off the ozone generator. I think Tiny Bubbles is right, clean the spa when you drain it and apply spa gloss. We spa gloss all of our customers tubs for them before they go out the door and we have not seen this issue. We have seen it on a couple of tubs in the field, only on the white and sea spray green for some reason.

We have also seen cases in the field that when people spill a beer in the tub it turns a bright green color. Not sure why but it is sure strange!

Believe it or not, with some enzyme systems your water will last up to a year. TDS is much less of an issue with enzymes. Though some users get by without adding chlorine or bromine, a low residual is required in the same way Nature2 or the Frog is used. I have been tempted to try Eco One or The Natural, the two most popular enzyme systems. I don't like the fact that you must rinse your filters weekly and that the pH likes to stay up around 8.2. They also don't come cheap. We tried ECO 1 in our personal tub(Itry all before we sell it to customers)and did not have good luck. The tub was cloudy and smelled bad although I followed directions to a T. Tried calling and writing the company to see what I did wrong and never heard back.

I have to agree with poolyeti, Baqua works for a bit then issues. It also tends to cause repair issues after a few years if not maintained PERFECTLY. Dont want to go on vacation and miss a step! I would stop payment on your charge card also.

We are also new to the forum, didnt realize about the signature ID so we changed it. We love all the info we get and being able to help others

Thanks for the coupon info. I've printed it out. Any other recommendations from anyone on purchasing a small corner spa? How about the Sundance Tacoma? Have you checked out the 4 person (actually 3 comfortably) corner spa. Don't think price wise will be much different but it is a real nice tub. Quality built and great insulation for the northeast. www.clearwaterspas.com I would stay away from the box store 3 person tub. For what you save in $$ now it wil cost you to heat and repair in the future.

Do they tell you to still do water changes or do you keep the water in for a year? Without water changes I would think your TDS would go sky high. As Chem Geek says, I wouldnt trust it to kills the germs quickly enough to prevent someone from getting sick. Sounds skecthy to me, to each their own.

You said you only use the tub 5-6 times per week so I would shock with MPS on the day before you know you are not going to use the tub. This will help to oxidize and reestablish bromine and give some time before you enter the water again. I would use the smallest does of MPS possible. We have a 500 gallon tub and use 1 ounce 1 time per week to shock, it works great for us.

Sea Klear is the brand that we have found that works great from spas, thats where the info on the differences is clarifiers came from. My customers love it, it is all natural (made from crab shells) It seems to be the wonder clarifier. They also make the best MPS at 45% active ingreident. Use less for the same money. Leisure time is only 31 or 32%. They also make other great products, I really love their stuff. Top quality on my opinion

Bet your spa supplier is not as quick to help you if your tub has any sort of issues since you are not purchasing product from him. Customer service is worth its weight in gold, good customers get great service (for most places) I still don't beleive in the bleach therory. The tub manufactures will void the warrenty, and its not because they make the money off chemical sales, they don't make the chemicals, just the tub. the tubs I see that use bleach are faded and the plastic becomes brittle and I have never had my CYA level go sky high using di-chlor if you do the water changes when needed and di-chlor is very close to ph netrual so it is less abusive when adding to a tub. Being we service alot of tubs, not just do chemistry, we see the other end of what happens to the spas with different chemiclas. Don't even ask about biguininades. Dichlor for $50?? we have 2 lbs for $17 and that lasts people quite a long time, smaller tubs untill the next water change. Canada pricing sounds bad. Hillbilly Hot Tub - Do tub manufacturers really void a warranty if you use a different form of the same sanitizer? e.g., use bleach instead of Dichlor. If so, this is a very unsettling to me because we have a new tub with a long warranty and don't want to jeopardize it. Yes they will. I know of several manufacturers that will void the warrenty if they find out you are using household bleach, including the lines we carry. They tell our service techs to check water chemistry and what chemicals are used when they go for a service call, just like you have to show your mainteance record for a car warrenty. Some will also void if biguinades are used, which is a system that was made for hot tubs, it just causes issues/damages if the person misses or miss calculates amounts in a step so they just say don't use it. I read in here once that they have no way of telling which kind of chlorine is used. I was told by the industry they can by testing for the inert ingredients which would tell them what kind of chlorine was used. Each chlorine has a very distint chemical compound that tells them down to the brand. The chance that they would take the time to do this may be slim, but I would not push it on such an investment. They void the warrenty because if you do not use the cya with the bleach and keep up with the ph, houshold bleach will destry the tub. Thats why they say dichlor only. If the tub is used under normal circumstances, the cya does not get high. If it is high if you use the formula they have to figure out when to do water changes you will find you are at the time to change the water. I value my tub warrenty to much to take the chance to try to save a little money with household bleach, but that is my opinion.

You did not say on this post if your spa is new or not. If it is older then the pump seals may have gone bad and water got into the motor an ruined it if it is a newer spa then my guess would be the start capacitor. This is located on the back of the motor under the plastic cover. Laurel Spa tech for Hillbilly Hot Tubs

Have you checked to see if the pump is air bound? Just lossen the pump union to let the air out and tighten back up. If not air bound, if the pump has a start capasitor I would check this.

You may have a continued problem with the little red beads you found. They could block impeller, wedge in the heater etc. so I would keep an eye on those also. Good luck!

Anyone? I think my dealer suggested 6 months. I know people that have the same filter for 2 years. I'm planning on watching mine. I'm assuming I'll be able to tell when the've degraded enough to be replaced. I've heard that if they sink even after cleaning, they should be replaced. Leaving the air off reduces the heating costs and decreases contaminates being brought into the tub. The air that is being sucked in can have dust, pollen mold ect. Filters usually last abot six months before the fibers start breaking down and allowing larger small particles through. The polymer clarifiers work well helping coleect this small particles as Chem Geek said. Clarifiers such as flocculants and coagulants are a type of polymer with a positive ionic charge. A polymer is a long molecule chain with many positively charged hooks throughout. The particulate material in pools is mostly negatively charged ions. Oppisites attract and the small negatively charges particles are caught in the positive hooks and are held. This process is known as coagulation. While coagulation causes the formation of larger more filterable particles, the process is still not complete. Flocculation, the formation of larger, more easily filtered particles is accomplished by bridging. Bridging is the effectual gathering of coagulated masses into even larger bundled particles. Many clarifiers coagulate, but not all completly flocculate. For example, synthetic polymers are petroleum based and therefore cannont remove floc oils. When selecting a clarifier go for one that is proven to reomove oils and organics through a complete coagulation and flocculation process. This will get rid of the water having that "dull" appearance. These kinds of clarifiers also make filter cleanening easier because they do not cause that awful goo, they also reduce the goo that may be left at the waterline in the tub.

we are a dealer for Clearwater spas and we really love them. My husband used to work for a spa manufacturing plant so when we looked for a line to carry he knew what he was looking for in a spa. We have been a dealer for them for about 2 years, have had very few warrenty issues, and when we had an issue it was taken care of in a very timely mannor. They are insulated very well and have passed the california energy tests. They are a very solid built spa. If you go to our web site, you can link to theirs which has all the models and a video on how they are built. www.hillbillyhottubs.net They are a very high end tub and ours costs about 30-35 dollars a month to run here in the cold weather in the northeast. I dont have much info on the 4 winds except as you have also heard, they are exspensive to run.

Bet your spa supplier is not as quick to help you if your tub has any sort of issues since you are not purchasing product from him. Customer service is worth its weight in gold, good customers get great service (for most places) I still don't beleive in the bleach therory. The tub manufactures will void the warrenty, and its not because they make the money off chemical sales, they don't make the chemicals, just the tub. the tubs I see that use bleach are faded and the plastic becomes brittle and I have never had my CYA level go sky high using di-chlor if you do the water changes when needed and di-chlor is very close to ph netrual so it is less abusive when adding to a tub. Being we service alot of tubs, not just do chemistry, we see the other end of what happens to the spas with different chemiclas. Don't even ask about biguininades. Dichlor for $50?? we have 2 lbs for $17 and that lasts people quite a long time, smaller tubs untill the next water change. Canada pricing sounds bad.

What have your PH levels been like? if PH and alklinity levels start getting off, it will cause itching etc. I dont think it is a reaction to MPS since you didnt shock with that untill using bromine. Did you clean the filters out real well when you drained and cleaned the tub? Scrub all the pillows?

Hi Richard We have a new 450 gal tub with a circulation pump and ozonator running 24/7. It was first filled about 5 weeks ago. Two people use the tub, usually twice a day. As recommended by the manufacturer, we have been using Dichlor and no shocking since the ozonator is supposed to do that. As of Jan 19, we have added 69 tsp of Dichlor so our CYA probably is close to 100 ppm. We are trying your suggestion of 9 ounces of 6% bleach added in the evening (response to "Another Newbie needing help...). We seem to have a "smell" that isn't chlorine that started about a week ago. That smell seems to be increasing. Our itching also seems to be increasing. The only reason we bought the tub was to relieve asthritis pain and stiffness and so are reluctant to quit using it altogether. We are wondering if the ozonator isn't working and have a service call scheduled for this week. What I'm trying to do is find out why the tub that was wonderful, relaxing and non-itching 5 weeks ago has now become a problem. What has changed since the beginning? Hence, my question about combined chlorine. I know we have high CYA levels but my understanding is that high CYA does not cause itching. You did not mention if you have been adjusting your PH if not test and adjust as needed

Bad news Rose hydro-spa went bankrupt your warranty is shot. Please be sure to put a heater in the cabinet to keep the lines from freezing, there is about 20 gals. of water left in the system after draining. The blower was on because the spa-pack sensed a freezing condition, most likely the heater was not working. It may be as simple as a bad pressure switch to other more costly things. Laurel spa tech Hillbilly Hot Tubs

To test the fuses the right way you will need to remove them from the board and test continuity, is the power going through it. Leaving it on the board could give you a false reading as the power maybe going through the circiut. Unplug all components : pumps, blower, ozone. Does it still blow fuse? If so you may have a bad topside.