Eddie Haskell

mid priced is somewhere around $6,000. My wife is the big spa person, she likes to have the temp at 104 and that's way too hot for me, she doesn't want to compromise on temp which means we're not going to spend 10-12 K . I've heard of a few of the brands recommended but several I hadn't. We were thinking 6-8 person but may go with a 4 person to cut costs, it does have to have a lounge chair. Can anybody suggest a tub in my price range? Maybe I should phrase it differently, you have made suggestions, which tub would you buy based on my search criteria.

I have a couple more questions; is the standard insulating method still foam sprayed over the entire shell including the plumbing and is there a substantial difference (in cost) heating an 8 person vs a 6 person tub?

Looking for a new Hot Tub, the Arctic's are nice but the prices are crazy in my opinion, looking for a mid-priced (6-person) tub that has some good insulating qualities and has a decent reputation. Not sure what brands other than Arctic are considered "cold weather" spas, any help on other brands to look at would be great! TIA

And what would you recommend as a "good" test kit?

I am new to this spa stuff and the wife has been doing all the testing and adding of chemicals, the strips say all is well but I don't like the way the water smells on my body once I get out. I guess to best describe it would be a sour chlorine smell. I was thinking the Wal-Mart chems were causing this but I guess I can't blame them. Maybe I should just ask; What brand of chemicals and what sanitation system is the most skin friendly? We do not have an ozone injector and would like to stay with chlorine but like I said I can't stand the smell,. Thanks

What are your opinions on Wal-mart chemicals, I believe they are spa time?

Thanks for the replies, looks like we will leave it hot for the convenience factor. Anybody have a guesstamite on what this thing is going to cost me per month?

My wife and I are at odds, I say keep the tub at a lower temperature and turn it up when we plan to use it she says just keep it at 104 and be done with it. We just got the tub (1999 Coleman Horizon 448) so we have no idea how this is going to affect our electric bill. I'm a bit of a tightwad and want to save the expense of heating it when nobody is using it but her theory is nobody's getting in it when you have to wait for the water to heat. She makes a point that it probably costs more to warm it up than it does to maintain, what is your experiences with this? I live in WI so the cost of heating this thing could become a real issue soon, please help.

looking at the schematic and at the tub, both the pumps and the blower are grounded to a buss bar on the side of the spa control box. I followed the green/ground wire from the main connection on the spa and it is grounded to the box as well. I think it's hooked up properly, I just want somebody to say "yes, that is how a three wire connetion is made", for obvious reasons I want to be sure it's correct! The way I have it now I have the ground wire in the panel run to the external box on the side of the home so that box is grounded, from there I only have the red,black and white wires run to the spa, that is the only way it will work without tripping the breaker. Just for reference sake, the box on the side of the home is a positive disconnect type that I can completely disconnect the spa's HOT wires by removing a stint, that leaves the common and the ground wire going to the spa and even in that scenario it trips the GFI immediately. Looking closer at the last post, the way I tried to wire it to begin with creates a neutral/ground connection at the tub as well

I looked at that wiring scheme before I started doing any of the wiring and If you look at the actual schematic in the instructions there is a "ground" wire which makes it appear that there would be no common wire? I have the red and black (hot) wires hooked to the load side of my GFI breaker and the white (common) wire hooked to the "Load Neutral" on the breaker and the pig tail attatched to the buss bar but I'm thinking because I ran a ground wire as well as the common, there is a ground loop. Look at the schematic and where the AC comes into the tub notice there is NO common only a ground and you will understand why I'm confused...I hope! I guess the simple explanation is that my tub is a 3 wire system with the ground and common being shared?

I have her all hooked up but if I have my ground hooked all the way through, from buss bar to tub, I trip the breaker immediately, ground un-hooked everything seems to work just fine. My box on the spa only has a place to tie down three wires, red, black and ground, does the second ground I ran create a ground loop that the breaker is interrupting as a ground fault? Thanks

1999 Coleman Horizon 400, I picked it up used (obviously) and all the wiring from the tub is still in place so I was looking for a detailed schematic so I can do the GFCI breaker hook-up. I plan on doing a GFCI breaker to an outdoor on/off switch (10' away from tub, mounted to house) and then to the tub, all enclosed in watertight flex conduit all with 6 gauge wire.

I've been looking for a detailed schematic for wiring my tub, anybody know of a good link? I know the theroy but I'm pretty much a visual type of person