djousma

Looks like you can see just the end of the bulb socket at the end of those two black wires. As mentioned, you replace from the backside. some just pull out, some are a quarter turn, some are threaded.

This is a good idea of course, but he expects me to buy a new cover from him, which I would, but I'm not impressed with the cover quality from Hot Spring and would rather buy an aftermarket cover since I have to replace it anyway. You don't have to commit either way to your dealer right now. Just tell him one thing at a time. Then decide later.

I would opt for the newer one, assuming they are similar sizes and quality. Might be more efficient and use less electricity.

Have your selling dealer write the letter for you.

Check this website They were a dealer for this original GL spa before GL sold to Emerald.

PS, I hear you, the Baquaspa is working for you. Spa guy told me the same as others on this board have mentioned, that he has heard others say it just stopped working. I was very surprised when it occurred to me, because I was very regular with chemical maintenance(more than I am now). After the mold cleanup, and a bunch of drain refills to flush the tub out, i converted to using Bromine tablets in the floater. I continually read a lot on this forum about chemical use. A lot of good info. But as with a lot of things in life, you have to figure out what works best in *your* situation. I'm from the school of "less is more". There are others on this forum that seem to subscribe to "if some is good, more is better". It is much easier to increase dosages if needed, than to reduce. I for one, don't like the thought of sitting in all those chemicals. My Spa guy suggested that since a fresh tub fill at my home is with city water, the water is pretty balanced, and slightly chlorinated already. So, in my case, all I add on a new fill is calcium, and weekly stain & scale control dose. I then test the water, and get the total Alkalinity up around 120+, and a neutral PH, and I am ready to go. I do not bother with building up a "Bromine reserve" anymore, because that works for me. My tub's ozonator runs 24x7 on the circulation pump, and I have a Bromine floater that is almost totally closed off. When I test my water with the strips, Bromine almost never even registers, and there is no chemical smell at all. My water is crystal clear, smells good, and has no suds - so, I am doing enough in my situation to maintain my tub. Normal usage for us sounds similar to you, and no additional shocking or sanitizing is needed in my case. My wife and I are in the tub almost daily, as that is our only escape from the kids :-) On the other hand if my wife has a bunch of her girlfirends over, that is another story, and I have had to do some cleaning(too much lotion from their skin). In all, I'm happy with the change over,and it is actually cheaper than the Baquaspa. Good Luck, I hope my experience helps you, dave

Normally, it's the Calcium Hardness (CH) that needs to be in the 100-150 ppm range to avoid too much foaming. This is the first I've heard of the TA having that effect. The downside to the higher TA is that the pH will tend to rise more quickly. Richard Yes, you are true on that. I do keep an eye on PH. I've always kept CH in that range, and still got the foam, prior to adjusting TA up. Seems to do the trick for me now.

Just what I want, to use rumors to guide my use of chemicals. Not trying to pick on you. Don't even know if it is true that it hurts the hot tub, which I doubt. But judging by your posts, you are at about the same time limit I was when Baquaspa stopped working(3+ years). I liked Baquaspa too because there was no skin smell, etc. I know I did more damage shocking the tub heavily to get the mold out, because it wasnt 6 months later, and all the jets started falling out due to the acidic nature of all the bleach I had used breaking the locking tabs. Just keep an eye on your tub. The white mold wasnt evident until it was more people than my wife and I in the tub raising the water level in the air vent pipes where the white mold was growing, and then shooting it out into the tub. It was so gross, it looked like long stingy cooked egg-whites you might see in your chinese soup only on a lot larger scale.

I've been into the local dealer that sells these tubs. Seem to be really nicely built, good fit and finish. The IS600, plus others were on their floor. Has Gecko spa pack, heater and control panel, a T3 ozonator, 2 jet pumps, and a separate circulation pump. Has 4 air control valves, a separate valve for neck jet, and a fountain, all stainless steel jets. Looking inside, it is not full foam. Casement is a imitation wood-style siding, which they now offer in Gray too. They had this tub listed at $6500 including lid and delivery. I know this may upset some, but we went to another dealer in the area looking at tubs, and looked at the D1 spa's, and while they were really nice, I didnt think that they were $3k - $6K nicer.

Fairly new startup company, I have looked at these spa's, and based on feature comparisons, it seems like a good value. Here is the tub I looked at. I am not an employee or in anyway a part of this company. They are built local to my area in Michigan.

I used Baquaspa for about 3-4 years when my tub was new, when I found that it stopped working all of a sudden. Got the nasty white mold growning in my water lines, that when I turned the pump on all came squirting out. really grossed out the friends we had in the tub with us. After draining/refilling/shocking the crap out of it/draining/refilling issues, I went with Bromine only because it seems to last longer in the water than chlorine, which means less chores for me. That was 7 years ago. Bromine works for me.

My SPA guy tells me to keep TA in the 120-150 range, and PH balanced, and I will have no problem with suds. You know what? For me, he was right! I used to keep TA in that 70-100 range and would get the suds so bad that I wouldnt even use the air jets. Now my spa bubbles, when the jets with air are on, but the bubbles immediately go away.

Try this website Great lakes Spa parts

Which model Gecko is it? Go to their webpage, and fish around, you can find the tech manual. Here is the link. If in.xm, the one in my tub, there are pre-programmed setups in the board. You have to load the right program for your configuration. The problem is that they do not document which program does what, so it may be hit or miss. See page 15 of the link. If you did not buy in.xm, they may publish the manuals for their other models, which I have not bothered to look for. Good Luck. Dave

You know, that is a D&*n great idea! Much better than I was thinking about, and much easier to find. Like an acrylic pencil, solid. Btw, for the other poster that asked, the Tub is a 2009 IST IS600 (Innovative Spa Technologies - http://innovativespatechnologies.com/spa_is600.html) Dave

All, I have a new tub(my second), that has an electronic ozinator. My first tub had the UV light type ozinator, and I could see the light when it was on. I have had to have the ozinator replaced because the one-way valve was defective, and it filled with water. The ozinator is behind the access panel, and cannot be viewed without removing the access panel. What I am thinking, is that I would like to install a sealed clear plastic access window in the access panel over the top of the ozinator, so that at a glance I can tell that it is operational(it has a clear housing, so you can see it is operating). It would be really easy to cut the access panel, and install one, but I am having a hard time locating something that would work, without looking nasty. I am thinking some kind of 3x5 clear panel with a black plastic frame that I can glue into a cutout in the access panel would be perfect. Any idea's where I could locate something like this? Do other hot tub manufactures do such a thing? Thanks in advance, Dave