TomC

Hi, I am assuming that this is not a rhetorical question. Actually, in the back of my mind I have to think that Arctic Spa put the pump mounts in for a reason. Plus, we have received some very shoddy work from the Arctic Spa tech's in the past and I felt that a forum such as this would yield more reliable results/opinions. Thanks

Hi, One of our pumps had to be serviced and now it is time to put it back in. When I had the pump out I spoke to an Arctic Spa technician and he said that they don't use the pump mounts - they just rely on the hose fittings to keep it in place. Since it is a hassle to use the pump mounts it is my preference avoid using them if possible. If necessary though, I will clamp the pump down with the mount. Any one have input on this? Any input on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...Tom

Hi All, We have an Arctic Spa and while cleaning it yesterday I heard water dripping into the cavity. I opened up one of the service panels and noticed that one of the top side valves was not connected to anything (no tubes, nothing), and any water that splashed over this valve (from rain or water sloshed from tub use) simply flowed directly into the cavity and pooled. Is this not weird? Firstly, we always thought that valve must do something (although we never could figure out what it was doing - which turns out to be nothing). Secondly, water dripping into the cavity and wearing down the insulation foam does not seem like a good design. I called our spa maintenance company and they said that is normal and that it is needed for air flow. I feel bad, I was sort of snippy to them in my email describing the problem and now he says it is the way the tubs are designed. It is probably time we moved away from those maintenance folks anyway but maybe I was too harsh (it just seems crazy that a "valve to nowhere" that causes water to flow into the cabinet is normal. Thanks

Hi, I am very interested in your outcome. I have been fighting the exact same thing that you describe, and I have tried everything. I have concluded that it is not bacterial (for some reason most people assume it is bacterial). My reasons for thinking it is not bacterial is because I had a very similar reaction to sea water. Assuming that my reaction is chemical related, I systematically tried reducing the chemicals we put in the tub. We have a salt system and we have tried; reducing the amount of salt used, turning down the generator to the minimum setting, minimum calcium hardness, and minimum buffer. None of these changes made a difference, still got the rash. Then I focused on ph, raised it into the upper ranges but still go the rash so we lowered the ph and still got the rash. We have tried chlorine, bromine, Spa Marvel, and Hydrogen Peroxide as sanitizers - nothing relieved the rash except limiting my exposure to the tub. So, it is all very frustrating, to say the least. Unless someone has other suggestions, I am left to conclude that it is a sensitivity to warm/hot water. If anyone has fought through this sort of thing then I would love to hear from you. Tom

Hi, Consider this a cautionary tale. We have an Arctic Spa tub with a salt generator. Upon reflection, we would never go with another salt system. Our first generator died after a couple of months (according to the sales people, those generators were just plain bad), so we got another one. The "new" one died after a year or so, and again we bought another model. Well, this one just died and the maintenance guys conceded that they have a life span of about 2 years. The new unit, installed, will be about $300. You can buy a lot of chlorine for $150/year (assuming they cost $300 and last two years). In retrospect, we bought into the whole concept of it being better, less chlorine needed, new and fancy - all that jazz. Our recommendation is to save your money and just go with the tried and true methods of sanitizing with either bromine or chlorine. The salt system is just a chlorine system anyway. Is our experience typical? Tom

Hi, Although I am no expert on hot tubs, unfortunately I have first hand expertise on rashes and itches that seem to be related to hot tubs. After about 2 years of using the tub I started to develop dry itchy patches of skin. At first I thought it was related to the pH of the tub but we corrected the pH and the itch persisted. Then I thought it was the sanitizer. We were using a salt system so we shut that down and switched to bromine - didn't help. Then we moved from bromine to hydrogen peroxide - didn't help. From there we moved to the BBB (bleach, baking soda, borax) method. This BBB didn't help the itch but it is way cheaper ;o) Long and short, I am pretty much convinced that my skin just reacts to long exposure to hot water. I did go to a dermatologist and she prescrided an over the counter cream called Glaxel Base that does seem to help, plus she put me on an antihistemine (sp) to get the flare up under control. The meds did help but not in the long term. All I can really say is that you may be reacting to your sanitizer, but then again it could simply be the hot water is drying up your skin. I shold also add that I never had foliculitus - although I thought that is what is was initially. Good Luck...Tom

Hi Everyone, Sorry for not posting our numbers - we have been away.Anyhow, we added some clarifier, changed the filter, and boom, looks like a million bucks again. We have been using the bleach method of late and it is working really well. Totally undecided if we will return to Hydrogen peroxide, time will tell. Thanks Again...Tom

Hi Everyone, Our hot tub water went a bit off last month and we managed to get it clarified with no foam but adding bleach. Recently though, the water is a bit yellowish(nothing really noticeable), no odor, and no foam. In short, the water is clear and seems fine except for the very faint yellow tinge. Anyone have any ideas on what may be causing it? We should add that we are not using any sanitizer at the moment. We were using hydrogen peroxide but while away on holidays friends used the tub and the balance went off. So, since it is summer, we have just trying to keep the water from fouling completely by adding bleach. In the fall we will get serious about it again but in the meantime, is there any explaining why bleach only makes the water a tad yellowish? Thanks...Tom

Hi All, We started with salt, then moved to chlorine, then to bromine, and now finally to Hydrogen Peroxide. This jumping about has been spurred on by an itch that I developed from our hot tub. As it turns out, I am now thinking that it may not even be tub related - but that is another story. The jury is out on Hydrogen Peroxide but we do have to admit that it is non-odour, it appears less toxic, and we were just getting overwhelemed with other santizing regimes - but again I digress. We went out of town a few weeks ago and upon our return we noticed that the water was going a bit cloudy, with some foam. We dumped in a bunch of bleach, cleaned off the filter, and bingo, the water is back crystal clear. In the past, we used to just dump the water when it got foamy and cloudy. Seeing how easily we revived this water (mind you the water was not that old anyway), we are wondering if we can extend our fill-ups every time the water looks less than pristine. Can get just dump in bleach and freshen up the filters if the water is looking dodgy, if after 3-4 months for example? Does anyone have thoughts on this? Thanks...Tom PS...sorry, we initially added this post to the "above ground pool" forum. Noticed it shouldn't be there so we added it to this forum as well. Moderators, feel free to kill the thread from that forum...thanks

Hi All, We started with salt, then moved to chlorine, then to bromine, and now finally to Hydrogen Peroxide. This jumping about has been spurred on by an itch that I developed from our hot tub. As it turns out, I am now thinking that it may not even be tub related - but that is another story. The jury is out on Hydrogen Peroxide but we do have to admit that it is non-odour, it appears less toxic, and we were just getting overwhelemed with other santizing regimes - but again I digress. We went out of town a few weeks ago and upon our return we noticed that the water was going a bit cloudy, with some foam. We dumped in a bunch of bleach, cleaned off the filter, and bingo, the water is back crystal clear. In the past, we used to just dump the water when it got foamy and cloudy. Seeing how easily we revived this water (mind you the water was not that old anyway), we are wondering if we can extend our fill-ups every time the water looks less than pristine. Can get just dump in bleach and freshen up the filters if the water is looking dodgy, if after 3-4 months for example? Does anyone have thoughts on this? Thanks...Tom

Ooops, it was Peteyboy who responded in regards to the filter cleaning, not Cramp. It seems like you both have a handle on it, any advice from either of you is appreciated ;o) Thanks...Tom

Hey Cramp, Do you happen to have a name for the solution you clean the filter with? Plus, do you just soak it in a bucket? The reason that I ask is because I have received a recommendation to soak the filters in a Hydrogen Peroxide/water bath. HP tends to be expensive though, and since it is expensive, I was thinking I might need a special vessel to house the solution (which I can buy). The HP solution so far has been great. The last step is to figure out how to clean the filters so any light you can shed on it would be greatly apprecaited. Thanks in Advance...Tom

Cramp, I gather you just leave it in the soaking soltuion until it is time to pop it back into the tub (or do you soak it for a few hours, remove it, and let it sit until you are ready to swith it)? Do you do the TPS step? If so, where can I find this TPS stuff? Oh yeah, I gather that you have to add new cleaning solution each time you clean a filter, or can you just keep using the same solution over and over? Thanks Again...Tom

Hi, In an attempt to ease my eczema we have just switched over to Hydrogen Peroxide. We have diligently been reading the posts on here about using Hydrogen Peroxide but we are a bit confused on the filter maintenance impacts. For example, we noticed something about TPS to clean the filters. What is TPS? Plus, is it written anywhere on how or how often to clean the filters. Is there anything else we should be on gaurd for when using HP? Thanks in Advance...Tom

Hey Cramp, Thanks for the reply. Changing/cleaning the filter every week may be an issue (we are not the most diligent on such things). Is the hydgrogen peroxide route expensive? In approximate terms, what would a three month supply cost? I gather start up, after a fill, is the expensive part. Do you use 29% or 35%? Is a product from one of the spa companies (such as peroxisan), or simply hydrogen peroxide? I was reading some other posts you have and you initially had "floaties", did the peroxide sort those out as well? Although I have not looked indepth yet, I am starting to think that HP may be hard to find here in Ottawa. Thanks Again...Tom

Hi, At 53 years old I seem to have developed some sort of execma that is compounded by the sanitizer in our Arctic Spa. We have a salt water system then we switched to Bromine, both irritates my skin. A friend has been chatting up Hydrogen Peroxide and I notice that Cramp11 has a few posts on that topic. Cramp, can you tell me if the switch to Hydrogen Peroxide has helped your excema. Thanks...Tom PS...did you mention that maybe hockey irritates your skin too? Perhaps likewise here as well.

Hi James et All, My rash is only getting worse, forced to watch from the sidelines now. I have eliminated MSP, dry acid, and have kept the ph around 7.5ish, all to no avail. James, did you mention something about an alternate sanitizer? Thanks...Tom PS...symptoms are; very itchy skin that turns into very very dry patches of skin (remains itchy). I have a dermatologist appointment, but it is not until March!!!!

Hi All, I don't think it is a fibreglass issue - but honestly I am not certain about anything at the moment. We have dumped the water and refilled. This time I will make sure that I don't get in the tub if the pH is above 7.8. For those of you following, I am systematically eliminating potential compounds. So far we have stopped using MSP, and now we are looking at verifying that it is not a pH issue. That being the case, we are working diligently at keeping the pH down (not an easy task we are learning). If it is not the pH then we may try bromine or switch off the salt generator and use diclor. Thanks...Have a Great Weekend...Tom

Hi Quant, We bit the bullet and emptied and refilled the tub. We really did wrestle with leaving the generator off and just working with tablets. In the end though, we figured we would give the generator one more go. This will be our first fill with the Taylor K-2006 kit and hopefully we can stay on top of the chemistry. I am really hoping that the rash was the result of pH of 8.2 (that is what it was reading when we moved away from the test strips). With the Taylor kit, we will keep it in the 7.4 - 7.6 range. The rash is raised, red, and itchy. It is on my back and both sides of my abdomen. There are some spots on my legs and arms but they are not as concentrated as my back and abdomen. Oh yeah, the itchiest areas are very dry. I have had it for weeks now. My doc is trying to get me into a dermatologist but no luck so far. The itch seems to be diminishing but slowly. I am a scrather so it is not a pretty sight. Cheerio...Tom

Hey Tom, Stabilizer is not necessary in a spa, as Cyanuric Acid is to keep sun light (UV light) from breaking down the free chlorine in the spa. As a spa is covered much of the time it is not needed. Cya creates other issues in such a small bather load as well. Feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help you work this issue out. Kind regards, James Hey James, Yeah, we need help. I'll call later today. Thanks for the Offer...Tom

Hi Guys, We are about to turn the hot tub into a planter. Can't get the water right, skin rash, unbelievable frustration. For those of you following along, I have developed a rash and I have been trying to sort of what is causing it. We have ruled out bacteria. I thought it could be an allergy to MSP so we stopped using that, no improvement. Then we noticed the pH was 8.2, brought that down, maybe slight improvement but not certain (it did have promise though). Then last night I tested for cya and noticed there was none. Long story short, I went to the poolcalculator and determined that I needed to add 1.2 oz stabilizer for a 418 gallon tub. Added the stabilizer, waited 3 hours, jumped in and basically had a wild reaction to the water. I tested the water and the pH has plummeted to 7.2 and there is no measurable chlorine FC or TC. Adding the cya was a huge mistake. One dealer had no idea what cya was and said try it, the other dealer said don't do it. We did, *sigh*. So, we are going to dump the water on the weekend and start over. The sad thing though is that we don't even know what starting over is anymore. Our dealer tells us one thing, we read another, honestly, kudos to all of you who can get it right. Oh yeah. being a salt water tub just seems to make it even harder to deal with. Are there any Arctic Spa owners out there, with a chlorine system that can shed any light on our plight? Thanks for Listening...Tom

Hi, Thanks for the advice. For the time being though, I think that I will focus on the potential things that are giving me this crazy itch. Since I have ruled out bacteria, I am now focusing on the chemicals. I have stopped using MSP and I have brought the pH down from 8.2 to 7.5. If there has been an improvement in the rash, it has been minimal - even after those adjustments. We have a salt water system and we are keeping the FC at around 2.0. Sort of scratching my head over what next to try (literally ;o) Tom

Is CYA important? Should I go about getting some into the water somehow? Thanks...Tom

Hi, To the best of my knowledge, I did the test accurately. I tried to logically think through the result and I thought that a non-cloudy mixture would mean high levels of CYA. Honestly, I have never tried the test before and had no expected results in mind. The water is about two months old, plain old city water. Where does CYA come from, should I have accumulated some, somehow? What is a normal result? Thanks...Tom

Hi All, We followed the drop test instructions (fill small bottle to 7ml and then add 7ml of R-0013 Cyanuric Acid Reagent), then transfer to small tube until you can't see the black marker in the bottom of the tube. From the instructions, it is apparent that the solution should be cloudy - thus eventually reducing the visibility of the black dot. Well, our solution remained clear. Absolutely no problem seeing the black dot even after the entire sample was transfered to the small tube. What does this mean? Thanks Again...Tom