stevenz1g
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Posts posted by stevenz1g
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I've been doing a lot of shopping for a new spa and have been focusing primarily on comfort, jets etc.
As of late I've been reading about the chemistry, filtration, water quality etc.
I've heard of converting swimming pools to saltwater which cuts back on the upkeep.
First off..........is it possible in a spa? If so could you elaborate on what spa it was done on (brand and what it cost)
Thanks
They'd have to make a REAL cheap solution to maintaining your hot tub through chlorine generation because it's already that cheap to do so... A pool is thousands upon thousands of times larger, thus it will use more chemicals -- where the "benifits" of chlorine generators are outlined.
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You mean no one sees anything unusual?? Oh well, I got more.
The importance of a fire switch...
I dont have my phone with the pics on it, but I've come across several of the same occasions that you've already listed.
My favorite one was when I was replacing a 20A breaker in the breaker box, and to my surprise, when I took the cover off every square inch was covered in dirt dobber nests!
UGH.
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No, its 110v, but my spa originally had a 1 hp and this one is a 1.5 hp, would that cause an overheating problem? Did. I wire it correctly as I explained in my earlier post, it is 2 speed but I will only be using one speed.
Unless I'm mistaken, you can't have a 2 speed 110v unit. A two speed blower would have four wires coming in : Black, White, Red, and your ground
My sovereign doesn't have a blower motor so I can't determine, but on regular pumps the wiring configuration is as just listed.
How many connections are there are the blower motor? Pics?
No, it's a jet pump. Is there any terminal that says Comm or Neutral?
Ah, I read " blower pump " so naturally I guessed air blower motor
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Recently look out at my Hot Spring Sovereign, model IQ, hot tub and saw the green ready light was not on. The power light was on and no lights were blinking. The following morning I cleaned the filers and fill the tub to proper height and restart tub. After 4-6 hours I returned home and noticed the water was not warming up at all. Removed the front panel and control panel and took some voltage readings. I have 240 and 110 volts coming in to the control panel. Getting 110 volts at the circulating pump at the circuit board terminals and only 8.40 volts coming out of the heater circuit board terminals. Is this low votlage saying I have a bad heater curcuit board? Any suggestions at what else I should look for before I have to call a technician out. Thank You
Yes, you need a new board.
What the spa man sad. Most of the time there'll be a small burn or something on the ass end of the heater relay board... not all times, but 99% of the time I've changed 'em there's a burn.
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But it still will only get to 104 just a little faster
It should go to @ 107. How do you know the temp?
You may have a defective thermister.
Nope, 104 is max.
The heater itself will heat around 108ish before the hi limit trips, but the thermister will only allow to 104.
For instance, since I dont have the original thermister in my heater, it will heat the tub to around 108 or so. I cant remember how or which it is, but it's allowing it to heat that far.
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No, its 110v, but my spa originally had a 1 hp and this one is a 1.5 hp, would that cause an overheating problem? Did. I wire it correctly as I explained in my earlier post, it is 2 speed but I will only be using one speed.
Unless I'm mistaken, you can't have a 2 speed 110v unit. A two speed blower would have four wires coming in : Black, White, Red, and your ground
My sovereign doesn't have a blower motor so I can't determine, but on regular pumps the wiring configuration is as just listed.
How many connections are there are the blower motor? Pics?
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Most of the time it's the heater element tripping the breaker, but your best bet is to get ahold of a multimeter and starting recording everything you test
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ok i found out that black is indeed hot. now i have 3 terminals: line, low speed, and high speed. I am assuming that the white goes to "line" and black goes to "high speed", please correct me if i am wrong. thanks for your help as i am a single mom and have got to get this thing fixed by myself.
Are you sure this is not a convertible pump?
Next to volts on the new motor, does it say 110/220V?
That's what I'm thinking - Low speed 110v, high speed 220v
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Hi, i have a Jetsetter spa (older), just bought used. The serial number is J-201506, I am having a bit of trouble wiring a new blower pump into it as when i bought the old one had been removed. I have no idea what year this spa is if someone could help. Could someone help me as to how to find out which wire is hot and which is common on this particular spa. I have no wiring diagram or anything. I previously hooked the white as common and the pump is overheating so not sure if it is opposite. Please help? thanks so much.
1990 Jetsetter. There is no wiring diagram on the new pump ?
Is the new pump a 110v/220 volt convertible? It needs to be hooked up 110volt if so.
no, it's just a 110v pump, there is a diagram on the pump itself but on the actual wire from the spa I am not sure which color is common and which is hot.
Use a multimeter and take one probe, put it on one wire and place it on the common of another known wiring configuration ( circ pump, for instance ) If it shows up with 110, then you know you have the hot.
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Just drained and refilled our new hot tub for the first time. On start up, the pumps ran through their test and then then a very loud screeching/grinding sound started coming from what I thought at first was the heater, after taking another panel it sounds more specifically to be the 24 hour circ pump. I have an Artesian spa "Quail Ridge" and at one time when I let it go for awhile got the rhHL error message. I have tried resetting the circut breaker several times and the same thing happens after a few second. I have also tried removing filters to see if there was any flow problems with the 3 new filters installed at same time. I am in close to freezing condtions and can't get ahold of any tech help from manufacture or dealer we bought it from until Monday. Does anyone know whats happening and a possible fix? Possible water flow prob, bearings in circ pump or heater? Help. thanks Kapp
Kapp-
I know I responded in private concerning my belief that the issue is the pump bearing, considering what you described to me in your message, but I wanted to give you one other piece of advice. If you are near freezing conditions and you can't run the spa, put a worklight in the equipment area with at least a 100 watt bulb in it and close the service door. The bulb will give you 100 watts of heat and will keep the equipment from freezing. That will buy you some time until you find a motor repair company to take a look at the spa motor. Just make sure that the bulb is NOT laying up against anything (plumbing, shell, wires, etc) because it can quickly melt anything it is in contact with.
John
Normally you wouldn't be off and I would have posted the same exact response if I were in your situation. Depending on what type of circulation pump he has, I do know that Hotspring's 1/20th of a HP circ. pumps have floating impellers and they do get kinda create a little of a hayday of a fit when not primed correctly. You wouldn't also have this problem with the hotsprings circ pumps as they don't have bearings. But I dont know what artesian spa's are equipped with, so I'm ignorant on the subject.
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In addition to questions posed by Pathfinder, there are some others that need to be answered before any realistic help can be offered. First, what kind of cleaner is it (Hayward/Baracuda/Pentair???) It could be a problem with the cleaner or the hoses. Second, what kind of filter do you have, (Cartridge/DE/Sand) Could be that the filter needs cleaning or sand change. What is the pressure at the filter? ARe all return lines open? You may also have a clogged suction line instead of a line leak, depending on the type and amount of debris coming through the line. Filter pressure will give us a better idea of where the problem originates.
To: AZMermaid
Helllo AZMermaid!
Thank you for your answer, too! We have Baracuda. We already checked hoses with one pool technician, they are okey. We have Cartridge filter. It is also checked and clean. The pressure is on high, approx. 100 (90 - 100). All return lines are OPEN. Regarding clogged suction - the pool man also checked this and this okey, too.
p.s. I guess we need to find who dealt with BlueHeaven, about the warranty. If the warranty is still valid, because BlueHeaven told us the warranty is only 1 year (for underground pipes) and 7 years for shell.
You have 100PSI on your pressure gauge, or what? Please clarify
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Airlock at your pump. Either take your hose remove filter (with tub off) feed the hose in the line & turn on your water. This will push the water through & get rid of your air lock. Or open up your equipment bay panel & Start loosening the union on the far side of the heater. As you are opening you should hear air escaping between the joint.Then when the water start squirting through tighten it back up. You should always fill your tub through your filer canister to prevent airlocks.
Although I agree with your method, for some reason I have a VERY stubborn great lakes tub on my maintenance route that will not prime without some assistance every single time, regardless of where the hose is placed -- So, because I like to be "off the wall" I go and grab a plunger and plunge the sucker in the filter compartment until it starts taking off
Just clean the plunger b4 sticking it in your freshly filled tub
Dont want to have a "crappy" job, haha. -
Your error messages are there for a reason, unless you have both a bad flow sensor/pressure sensor ( depending on whatever it is ) and thermostat that is allowing the heater to heat passed specifications and is tripping the high limit.
A REALLY quick way to see if it's a dirty filter, is to find which filter is used in conjunction with the circulation pump ( if you have one equipped ) and remove it. If it resets itself and resumes normal operation, you have a dirty filter!
If everything resumes normal operation, and it still trips the high limit, it's usually a thermostat that's gone bad allowing it to heat passed the high limit's spec.
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I can't remember which magazine I read it out of at work, but purchase time on hot tubs have increased significantly within the last few years, mainly because of the ability to shop around and shop online. It doesnt help the current economical situation, neither.
As an example, our office ladies have only sold three/four hot tubs this year,(could be associated with horrible sales skills, but I'm a service tech that's barely in the office ), compared to the usual 10-15 a couple of years ago.
The consumer definitely has the upper hand here, and just like a dealership for cars, if you show the dealer that you won't be allowed to be stiffed, you'll most likely get a cheaper price.
And I agree Matt87019, having worked on numerous hot tubs models, the only difference in some of them are name and fancy additions that aren't "necessary".
And in defense of Dan.The.Spa.Man, our shop is of average size as compared to others in this area;however, because we keep high overhead in the form of a very detailed and broad inventory and well paid employees due to the high expectations, our prices ( I assume ) can't drop much because of 1 - our cost of hot tub and 2 - overhead of the shop or whatever shop you're buying from. Also, when making your decision, think of the warranty and how easily the shop will stand behind it... Shouldn't be much a case since whatever manufacturer of the tub pays for the parts.. you never know.
I, however, always love working on a Hotspring's simply because any of them in their pearl color cannot be matched
Stevenz1q, trying figure out what you are saying about a HS in Pearl, good or bad?
Randy
It's excellent. I just got a used Hotsprings sovereign in a gunite looking color with tile at the top for 900, and I'm still dreaming about the pearl shells they deliver
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You're right, Steven. In cooler water, a shock level of chlorine should last about a month or so, but not 4 months, so you'd only need once a month visits to keep the pool algae-free. Another alternative is to use a heavy dose of PolyQuat algaecide, but that also will probably not last through the entire season, especially if the pump is running. In freezing environments where the pump is turned off and the pool is covered, then PolyQuat algaecide might work since it mostly breaks down from chlorine or gets filtered out (it's a clarifier as well as an algaecide) so with the pump not running it may stick around longer. Of course, without circulation in the pool, it's possible to get local depletion and local algae growth. The better approach, if one can keep the pump running, is just maintaining the chlorine level. Sometimes people can be penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Richard
That's an excellent motto you could stamp on our customers. I went over it with our lead service technician the savings they could behold in the spring time if they'd shell out a little here and there in the winter. 99.99% of our customers believe "Hey, we're not using the pool, so why spend money on it?"
Most people, unlike the select few you see here and other places, look beyond the colorful book cover and read the text.
That's why I have a hard time ripping our customers off as we have to... I know how much it truly takes to maintain a pool and how 75% of our products are just fillers for profit's sake.
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I have worked on tubs and pools for the last year for someone else, basically replacing parts . I would like to learn more about tubs and possibly receive more training. would appreciate info on how to further my education in this field? I live in rochester NY.
Yeah, read up.
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You know, I'm completely baffled at why our customers don't want us to keep a winter maintenance program that allows for shocking every month or so.. The pools stay closed for around 4 months -- there's no way in hell the amount of shock we throw in during closings will remain until opening, and it's usually evident with the growth of algae and the rock bottom FC.
I guess I'm just the lower guy on the totem pole.
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I'd tell you to just replace the header, which is a fairly simple replacement that basically involves just loosening the unions and taking those four bolts, but lets target the other problem : If you have temperatures at 1-30 ( what it was last week for me ), and arent keeping your pool equipment/water heated, why do you still have water in the system?
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I can't remember which magazine I read it out of at work, but purchase time on hot tubs have increased significantly within the last few years, mainly because of the ability to shop around and shop online. It doesnt help the current economical situation, neither.
As an example, our office ladies have only sold three/four hot tubs this year,(could be associated with horrible sales skills, but I'm a service tech that's barely in the office ), compared to the usual 10-15 a couple of years ago.
The consumer definitely has the upper hand here, and just like a dealership for cars, if you show the dealer that you won't be allowed to be stiffed, you'll most likely get a cheaper price.
And I agree Matt87019, having worked on numerous hot tubs models, the only difference in some of them are name and fancy additions that aren't "necessary".
And in defense of Dan.The.Spa.Man, our shop is of average size as compared to others in this area;however, because we keep high overhead in the form of a very detailed and broad inventory and well paid employees due to the high expectations, our prices ( I assume ) can't drop much because of 1 - our cost of hot tub and 2 - overhead of the shop or whatever shop you're buying from. Also, when making your decision, think of the warranty and how easily the shop will stand behind it... Shouldn't be much a case since whatever manufacturer of the tub pays for the parts.. you never know.
I, however, always love working on a Hotspring's simply because any of them in their pearl color cannot be matched
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Man, I wish I'd stumble upon one of my hot tub maintenance's at the job with a couple of nice, young, naked ladies with the no swimsuit rule
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OR... Take the fixture out and put it on the deck. Cut the cord as close to the fixture as you can, strip the wire back on the cord and attach the end of the new fixture cord with the old and pull it through. The old cord acts as your fish tape or Twine. Oh yes and do the power off thingy first.
Yes, the "power off thingy" is an important step
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Diving boards are already a large item on insurance policies, so why take the chance of risking someone's safety and/or life if the diving board will be used? Most companies offer a 3-7 year warranty on a diving board, but, look for obvious stress marks or locations that are iffy. Check where the bolts mount the board to the deck, replace the bolts - extra precaution never hurts.
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I wish we had someone like you working at our shop, you sound like you know a lot. I still need to learn a lot, which is why I've gone to these forums, because in our area this is an excellent job with a lot of excellent opportunities, so I want to further myself as much as possible to give myself a boost against the competition.
Since there's usually a lot of information your posts, i'll just outline each as I go
and please, I know you already will, but correct me if I'm wrong.
Point One
"Thanks for pointing out a chlorine option I left out. Lithium Hypochlorite is very similar to Sodium Hypchlorite which is chlorinating liquid or bleach. It's just in powder form and is more concentrated (dense) with chlorine. None of these add to Cyanuric Acid (CYA) nor to Calcium Hardness (CH), but the Lithium Hypochlorite is a lot more expensive than bleach."
Our shop is an authorized Bioguard dealer, thus, a majority of our chemicals are straight from them. Am I personally stating their chemicals are superior to others? Not at all. I don't have the experience to say whether this is true or not. It's just what we use.
I've read you state using liquid bleach as a very cheap method of sanitizing a pool. If I had a personal pool, I'd quickly jump on this method;however, I don't believe I could ever talk my boss into using liquid bleach as a sanitizer.
The fact that it doesn't add to the CYA nor to the CH is the exact reason we use lithium. Because, as you stated, and I mistakenly typed dichlor rather than trichlor, the tabs are made of trichlor, is stablized, and adds enough CYA to keep my maintenance pool's keep a regular free chlorine level without the addition of any form of stabilizer. There's maybe one pool that I have trouble keeping a free chlorine level with the lithium and tab combo, but that's because of different reasons.
As I also previously stated, our CH levels are already sky high. I already have problems with items such as the check valves on our chlorinators needing replacement every year. A cheaper alternative would be to do dip them in muriatic acid, but my income is also based on commission, so I tend to do whatever brings me some extra dough.
Point Two
"I don't know why you say that Lithium Hypochlorite is one of the least effective shocks -- the effectiveness has nothing to do with the type of chlorine, but rather how much you add."
After pulling up the different types of chlorine available, here are some specs of each chlorine and how much percent each chlorine has to offer:
Gas Chlorine - 100% available (I haven't seen this in application yet, but that's through my experience)
Tri-chlor ( Tabs ) - 90% available
Cal-hypo - 47%
Lithium-hypo - 35%
These numbers may very well be off, it's just what I've pulled.
This is where I state it's the least effective per a given amount compared to a Cal-hypo based sanitizer.
As previously stated, please correct any inaccuracy in my post, and I appreciate your insight and knowledge around pool chemistry.
~steven
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Believe it or not, you just let the biguinde levels drop as much as possible, hit the pool hard and constantly with chlorine several times a day for a few weeks, and then change the filter media which gets ruined in the process. If you had been on biguinide for a few years you then might see what looks like tissue paper in the pool. This is water mold that has been growing in the pipes and is now flushing out of the system.
While he is correct about switching from Baquacil over to cl2, its not that hard. The pool might turn a bit brown if there is any Baquacil left in the water its not all that difficult. Water mold can grow in any pool, it doesn’t matter if its on CL2, Bromine, or Baquacil. Actually I had a customer switch from CL2 over to Baquacil Ultra and after he switched the water mold that had been living in his lines was killed. The point is no system is bullet proof, but there are ways to help reduce the chances of having water mold.
As for cost, it used to be about 30% more expensive then chlorine but with the price increases that been issued over the past couple of years with chlorine the price difference isn’t all that much, with Baquacil probably being a little more expensive.
The cons are as he listed, you are more likely to get a water ring, its a byproduct of Baquacil. You'll have to change the sand in the filter more often then you will on chlorine.
The pros are that you only have to check the water once a week, and you add product once a week. Its all PH neutral so once your water is balanced your not going to have to mess with that very often. It makes the water feel softer, and it is much easier on swimsuits and on liners.
My store sells Baquacil as well but I wouldn't encourage my worst enemy to use it. It is flat out horrible. Even worse when used in hot tubs. Baquacil is a ton more expensive, there is no way around that. A salt to chlorine generator is the way to go.
Couldn't of said it better myself. Our Baquacil representative is probably the funniest person you'll ever meet. You can tell, because it's EPA recognized and it's something different, he's a tool to his own company. What he doesn't know is that we only have one regular commercial pool that stick with it, and that representative has the owner's tied up in a bunch of nonsense. The stuff is expensive, the equipment is an eyesore to say the least, and, I GUARANTEE you that the service person who has to do a sand change on your Baquacil treated pool will hate you. I am one of those service people.
If you want the soft water that Baquacil has to offer, I'd highly suggest a chlorine generator through salt water, but to each is his own.
Limelight Tubs?
in Portable Hot Tubs & Spas
Posted
They are made by hotsprings, so yes, they will carry them -- our store does.