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Hillbilly Hot Tub

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  1. 1) Leave the air off when not using the hot tub. 2) Filter should be at least 3 hrs twice a day. More if this does not keep it clean. 3) Add 1 oz of clarifier each week this will help keep your spa water clean and clear. Add this as you do your weekly maintainance ie: PH adjustment and shock
  2. You could check with Sea Klear. They have a phosphate remover for spas and pools. I am not sure how they work, I have never used them myself, but their clarifier is the best.
  3. Does anyone out there know of a product that will remove iron from the water. I have a tub that I have maintained for a few years now. Iron has always been an issue, but between running the water through the house filter and a spa filling filter on the hose, metal and stain sequestering and Sea Klear clarifier, rinsing filters out every week it has always cleared uo in 2-3 weeks. This year I can not get it to clear up. I have tried other metal removers including Sea Klears metal remover and the pill to no avail. It is still light tea colored!!! Everything is testing out good, except for high amounts of iron, he had new filters when I started the tub, I have been switching them out every week, rinsing and letting them dry. Please tell me there is a mirile product out there I have not found.
  4. Do you have a Clearwater dealer in your area? The lounge in the bigger tubs have room for my 6'1" husband with room to spare. Also, have you looked at Sundance?
  5. No way!!!! Are you saing Soaker that the tubs sold at Costco may not be as good as the high end tubs that cost a few grand more? We used to deal Infinity Spas back in the beginning of 2006. We got tied up with them when Waters Edge Spas went out of buisness (had worked for them for years) and they bought Waters Edge molds. They did ok the first few months we delt with them. Tub was of good quality in the price point they were hitting, then they started to get involved in internet sales and box stores. Quality went downhill fast, we had to repair or finish building every tub that came in. They would not return phone calss about warrenty issues (although the salesman would call back if we needed to order!) Needless to say we no longer sell Infinity spas. We continue to do service for them, this keeps $$ flowing into our pockets since we go out on many repairs, so I guess that a good thing for spa techs trying to make a living plus it is very true that companies make a lower quality product for big dealers to meet their price points. Chemical companies also do it for the big box stores. We have had conversations with the manufactures and distributors about this.
  6. The circ pump should be able to push water through the heater and filter if it is not big enough then they put the wrong circ pump in to begin with. Laurel spa tech for Hillbilly Hot Tubs
  7. Ok, Ill try that! Thanks! I'm a little late to this thread. I, too, purchased an Infinity Spa from ebay. I also purchased the optional 24-hour circulation pump. Here's how mine works - hope this information is helpful. The circulation pump runs 24/7 irrespective of what the other pumps are doing and irrespective of what the heater is doing. Pump 1 has 2 speeds - low and high. It runs on low speed while filtering - which is currently set for 2 hours a day. It also runs on low speed when the heat turns on (which is when the spa is in standard mode and the temp of the water falls below the set point). Pump 2 has 1 speed - high. It only turns on manually. The circulation pump is plumbed as follows - a dedicated filter and basket are in-line into the intake of the pump. The discharge from the pump goes to a single-jet. The ozone unit is plumbed into the same pipe that goes to the single jet. The dedicated filter is right beside the filter that goes to Pump 1 (which is plumbed through the heater). I have a Balboa SUV board as pictured on page 31 here.. HTH, Ken I'm the spa tech for Hillbilly Hot Tubs, Having worked on several Infinity spas. The circ pump the put in is usually hot wired and does not go through the board (not the right way to do it!) it is then t"eed into one of the other pumps plumbing. If you put the dip switch into circ pump postion it will shut the low speed off on the #1 pump and your spa will not heat. I would leave the dip switch in the 2 speed spot and not use the circ. I would also fight to get my $300 back as they have done it wrong again. This is not a Balboa problem! It has to do with Infinity not doing things the right way and trying to push to many tubs out the door for the big box stores and the internet. As a side note Infinity just bought Keys Back Yard so look out Home Depot and Walmart the quality will go from poor to worse. Laurel
  8. what we have learned is that it does not save alot to turn the tub down much.(my dad worked foe PSNH) It takes the same amount of electricity to keep a tub maintained at 102 than at 90. the tub senses the heat has dropped 1 degree, be it to 89 or 101 and turns the heat on to bring it back up. takes the same electricity to bring it up 1 degree no matter if its to 90 or 102. When you turn it down it does not heat untill it reaches below the 90 degree mark, but it has to work to bring it back up to the 102. The other reason we have people keep the temps up is when you live in the northeast, have a storm, power is out and tub started at 90 its that much closer to the freezing point. If it is kept at 102, than it takes longer for it to get to the freezing point, just keep the cover shut. For you PH being high, I still think you have a mineral issue...scale from vermont is quite frequently lime and this would cause a higher PH. High PH causes scale.. Just a thought, but it goes along with your bromine being chewed up too. Seems to be going hand and foot to me. Hmm, it makes sense that it would take the same amount of electricity to increase the heat 1 degree- however, I would think keeping the tub at a higher setting would make the computer request heat more often than if you kept it at a lower setting. However, like you said, this savings might be lost when I go to heat it up to 102 at the end of the week... any physicists/electrical engineers out there? Tony The idea behind this is that the outside air is so much colder that it drops from 90 to 89 just as quickly as 102 to 101, the the computer is requesting at the same intervals. It is the intial heating of the water that takes the most juice. I have an economy mode on my tub. It allows me to have the tub only come on to heat dueing filter cycles. This happens 2x per day. My tub drops about 3-4 degrees between filter cycles. Having this on has made no difference in my electric bill as of yet. I have tried it several different times in the past 3 years at different outside temps. Maybe it is because my tub is so well insulated that I do not lose much heat I am not sure, but like I said before, our biggest concern in this area is the power going out in fridgid weather and having the tubs that much closer to freezing, specially where alot of these are second homes and no one is there to notice for a week. I would love to hear from someone in the electrical department too besides my dad, anyone out there??
  9. Thank you for exsplaining lime for me to chem geek. My thought was that this tub was used and had a previous scale issue as he stated it was coated all over the old filter. As the tub runs, the scale that has attached inside the lines, on the heater ect. starts to dissole and dissipate into the water causing the PH rise. Sorry I did not clarify myself, being from the area I know that the water around here that has issues with lime also has alot of metals such as iron, gold, ect. This tends to chew up bromine (deplete it) I try to write things in laymans terms, not so scientific or it becomes very confusing to the customer and sometimes myself. I will be attending a spa/pool show in Atlantic City again in a couple of weeks and have been writing down many questions I have for the chemist that are doing some of the water chemistry classes. It will be interesting to see what these people have to say since they specialize in pool and spa water chemistry, specially about using household bleach since they are the ones that help the spa manufactures come up with the reasons why they would void a warrenty.
  10. what we have learned is that it does not save alot to turn the tub down much.(my dad worked foe PSNH) It takes the same amount of electricity to keep a tub maintained at 102 than at 90. the tub senses the heat has dropped 1 degree, be it to 89 or 101 and turns the heat on to bring it back up. takes the same electricity to bring it up 1 degree no matter if its to 90 or 102. When you turn it down it does not heat untill it reaches below the 90 degree mark, but it has to work to bring it back up to the 102. The other reason we have people keep the temps up is when you live in the northeast, have a storm, power is out and tub started at 90 its that much closer to the freezing point. If it is kept at 102, than it takes longer for it to get to the freezing point, just keep the cover shut. For you PH being high, I still think you have a mineral issue...scale from vermont is quite frequently lime and this would cause a higher PH. High PH causes scale.. Just a thought, but it goes along with your bromine being chewed up too. Seems to be going hand and foot to me.
  11. Bromine tablets do disolve slowly if used properly in a floater. To get a bromine reserve, when you do a fresh fill you need to add sodium bromide and shock. This will bring the level of bromine up to where you need it. It will take awhile to get your bromine levels up just waiting on the tablets dissolving.
  12. Very helpful, thank you! I started last night with the 2 oz. shock treatment, and will do so for the next few days, and see if things look better. I don't know how many fills have gone through the pre-filter, only one since I've had it (plus a couple of "topping offs"), and since it's only a year old, I would guess 3 or 4 more when the previous owners had it? And I will certainly run a de-scaling soloution when I next fill it, seems like a reasonable thing to do... is "Swirl Away" the name of a specific chemical? Brand name or product name? I'm looking forward to that time where it becomes easy!! I'm trying to keep my frustration level low, because I do understand that, as with most things, there is a learning curve. Tony Swirl away is a brand name. They also have stuff called jet clean and I am sure many others. The pre filters I have seen last anywhere from 4 to 12 fills, depending on how many gallons go through them. Also, to help keep the costs down on MPS, look for one that has a higher percentage of the active MPS. Some only have 31% while others have 45%. Besides having more active ingredient, there are less "fillers"(other ingredients) being added to the water.
  13. Fliter Cleanse is formulated with a detergent to remove oils and acids to remove mineral deposits. Since scale is an indication of water that is too high in calcium, I would imagine that it should be pretty effective. If you're also running into scale outside the filter, then I would suggest a dilute solution of muriatic acid. Omni, which has now switched to Simplicity has a great filter cleaner also. I maintaine several tubs in Vermont homes and scale and iron are a problem. The scale and if you have iron (most vermonters do) will chew up your Bromine also. Its working to remove the metals. Water tables and amounts of minerals changed dramatically this year in certain Vermont and NH areas. not sure why. Have you ever used a metal and scale remover in your tub? Richard is right, a tub your size should be shocked with 2 ounces of MPS and daily use by 2 people is heavy use. Yes, I have used a metal remover, not sure if it was for scale, too, or just metals... it was a used hot tub, and I think the scale that formed on the filters was from the previous owners (I noticed it before I had the thing running)... haven't noticed any additional scale build up since I've owned it, about 2 months now. I just switched out the filters for brand new ones, so I guess I'll know pretty soon if any of it is coming from my water... the hot tub came with this pre-filter thing which is supposed to filter out metals, but who knows? So, are you saying I should shock with 2 oz MPS every time I use it? I do tend to use it for long periods of time (like an hour or more at a go), with two of us in it, but only a couple of days a week (usually).... seems like a lot of shock (expensive, too!) but if it will make the thing work... Also, did you read my post about shocking with 1 oz of MPS after each use and then 8 oz 6% bleach once a week? Does the 2 oz. dosage take that into consideration? Thanks! Tony I was trained to shock with 2 ounces of mps after each use( if the bromine levels are not staying up, if they are you do not need all this MPS) on a tub with over 300 gallons and then a dose of dichlor or bromine shock (a 1 step bromine dichlor mix) Everybodys body chemistry is differenrt so it affects the water differently. The pre filter the water goes through do work, although they only last for so many fills. Depends on what kind you have. How many tub fills have gone through it? I would also suggest on a used tub that when you get ready to do a water change you use a plumbing cleaner such as swirl away to get ride of the stuff that has collected in the lines, pump and heater, specially if there was that much previous scale. Scale loves to attach to heaters and pump seals. hope I helped a bit, keep trying, once you get it down pat it will come easy as you learn how you and your water afeect your water chemistry.
  14. I am new to this forum, but not to hot tubs. We specialize in service and water chemistry. I have seen a few things mentioned about a rash/ irritation from people that are using a hot tub. I wanted to try to clear up a couple of things. First, VERY few people are allergic to the chemicals such as chlorine and bromine. The itch is usually caused by the PH in the tub being off or to high amount of sanitizer UNLESS it is an ongoing itch, wont go away. If your doctor says you have spa dermatitis this is what it is....(CDC Fact Sheet) Pseudomonas Dermatitis/Folliculitis a RWI(recreational water illness) Dermititis is an infection of the skin. The skin may become itchy and progress into a bumby rash that may become tender. There may also be pussed filled blisters usually surrounding the hair follicles. It is caused by the germ Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This germ is common in the environment (water,soil) and is microscopic. It is spread by direct contact with infected water. The rash usually occurs within a few days of swimming in poorly maintained hot tubs or pools, but can also be spread by swimming in a contaminated pool or lake. Be aware that hot tubs and spas have warmer water thn pools, so chlorine and other disinfectants evaporate faster. This leaves hot tubs and spas at risk fpr the spread of RWI's. Ensure frequent testing, control of bromine/chlorie levels and PH control are likley to prevent the spread of dermatitis. You can find more info at www.healthyswimming.org
  15. Fliter Cleanse is formulated with a detergent to remove oils and acids to remove mineral deposits. Since scale is an indication of water that is too high in calcium, I would imagine that it should be pretty effective. If you're also running into scale outside the filter, then I would suggest a dilute solution of muriatic acid. Omni, which has now switched to Simplicity has a great filter cleaner also. I maintaine several tubs in Vermont homes and scale and iron are a problem. The scale and if you have iron (most vermonters do) will chew up your Bromine also. Its working to remove the metals. Water tables and amounts of minerals changed dramatically this year in certain Vermont and NH areas. not sure why. Have you ever used a metal and scale remover in your tub? Richard is right, a tub your size should be shocked with 2 ounces of MPS and daily use by 2 people is heavy use.
  16. Tony, We highly suggest the Plasma cell Ozone 3 by Balboa, It is longer than the one you currently have, but we have been able to fit it into all the tubs we have converted. I guess you would have to look at the space you have, or if it could attach somewhere else, it can be placed up higher. I will say after several years of hot tub service, these by far are the best in the industry and a lot of manufactues are going back to them because of the chips constantly dying in the others.
  17. We find that the most common cause of cloudy water is from contaminates in the water such as risdual soap from swim suits, hair & body, someone that uses body lotion using the tub without showering and heavy use. Each person using a hot tub sweats about a pint per 1/2 hour use. If you try a clarifier, it will help. It helps collect the small unfilterable particles into a larger mass so the filter can pick it up.
  18. The cause of the bromine level dropping is usually because it is working on some type of contaminate. Heavy use will cause this. Bromine is renewable, hence when you shock it will renew itself untill it is used up again. I would suggest to shock it daily for a few days, pull and clean the filters well and use a clarifier to help reomeve the contaminate, even if the water is clear. Replacing the ozone will help dramatically. I would suggest to look in the new ozone generators. they produce better ozone, last longer and are energy efficient. The chips only last 6 months to 2 years depending on spa use and the age of the generator. Being a spa service company we see alot of burned out chips and most people choose to go with the new generator from Balboa. Alos, do not ever put bromine tabs right into skimmer or filter. Bromine has a low PH (around 3.0) and this causes that low ph to go directly to spa pump/heaters which can do major damage. It has to dissipate into the water.
  19. The cause of the bromine level dropping is usually because it is working on some type of contaminate. Heavy use will cause this. Bromine is renewable, hence when you shock it will renew itself untill it is used up again. I would suggest to shock it daily for a few days, pull and clean the filters well and use a clarifier to help reomeve the contaminate, even if the water is clear. Replacing the ozone will help dramatically. I would suggest to look in the new ozone generators. they produce better ozone, last longer and are energy efficient. The chips only last 6 months to 2 years depending on spa use and the age of the generator. Being a spa service company we see alot of burned out chips and most people choose to go with the new generator from Balboa.
  20. Stay away from Costco and Vita, Caldera is very good. Being a spa service company we see how all spas are built and out of these I would say the Caldera. We have seen quite a few Calderas in the field that are 15-20+ years old still going. As far as a previous respose about the dealer being small and not allowing wet test, we are a dealer who can not do wet tests, our store floors will not support a tub, and there are insurance issues with it, so I know where this dealer is coming from. If you have tried any other tubs you should feel some confidence that you can tell by looking and sitting in a dry tub that it is what you want.
  21. We are a spa dealer and service center. We do not charge our customers a trip charge while their warranty is in effect if they purchased they tub from us although it does state in the warranty from the tub manufature that we may charge one. The manufacture usually pays very little to go do a warranty job and at the price of fuel and staff and you do not bring the tub to us such as you would your car, I somewhat understand why some dealers do it. They should make it known upfront to their customers though. If your purchase the tub elsewhere such as online or home depot etc, then the service company will nail you with the trip fee if the tub manufacture does not cover it. We don't make money from the sale so it has to be made somewhere.
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