tjbrew

No kidding on the "splashless" bleach!!! It has surfactants that make your hot tub foam like crazy! How do I know this? I just inadvertently added some the other day to my tub that my wife bought by mistake. I hope adding some regular bleach will make the foam go away quickly.

I asked my dealer why the cover only lasted 2 years, maybe what I could do to increase longevity. He warned me against adding chemicals with the cover closed ... that doing this would cause the plastic - foam seal to prematurely fail and then the foam takes up water. Well, that's probably what happened. In the beginning I dutifully left the cover off for a half hour when I added chemicals, but one time I forgot and left the cover open all night! From then on I left the cover closed. I'd rather trash a cover than a heater (and my electric bill). How much is the chemical with the cover closed a factor? And do some of the double sealed covers offer better protection against chemical breakdown?

I used to use TSP but didn't really like the results. Sometimes the filters would have an odd smell. The inner pleats were still dirty. I too have two rotating sets of filters, so I can always have a clean set on hand. I tried several different cleaners, and the one I like best is a product called "Homebrew Clean", which I had around for cleaning homebrew equipment. It did such a nice job ... my filters came out sparkling clean, white all the in to inner most part of the pleats. After a few cleanings I looked closely at what was in Homebrew Clean, and much to my surprise, it's Dichlor! At a higher concentration, dichlor is a good cleaner, and it has the added benefit of sanitizing your filters! So now I just hose my filters off in the basement sink, place them in a bucket with about 2 tbsp Dichlor and warm water, and let the filters soak overnight. Rinse, let them dry, and they are ready to go as a backup, sparkling white and fresh smelling. I think Homebrew Clean is slightly cheaper than Dichlor used for tubs. I know it's cheaper than TSP, which is quite expensive! Note that this method probably isn't a good idea if you use bromine as your sanitizer

How does one actually know when to replace a cover? Mine is just over two years old and has slowly gotten heavier ... I assume the foam inside is taking up moisture. The vinyl material on the inside is also sagging. Other than that the outside looks fine. But it is getting awfully hard to lift it back onto the tub.

I thought it was probably just regular PVC glue, just wanted to make sure. It's kind of annoying that the "T" is not barbed on the bottom of the "T". Plus the fitting is in the most inaccessible place under the tub ... behind the control panel way inside near the bottom of the tub. The clamp is the usual wire compression clamp. I was thinking of replacing it with a stainless steel screw-type clamp with a thick band. I think it will work better and will be much easier to install in the remote location. Anyone think it's a bad idea? Thanks

I have a "T" connection coming out of the drain hole in the bottom of my tub that is leaking at one of the three connections of the "T". It is a glued and clamped connection, but doesn't appear to be barbed. I can see that some of the purple "glue" let loose and that is probably why it is leaking. Is this a special glue or can I just buy something from the hardware store? The connection is a flexible plastic hose over a PVC "T". The tub is currently draining and I'm sure I'll have to let this connection completely dry out before attempting a repair, right? Also, how long should I let the glue set before refilling? Thanks, TJ

Hey all, I'm looking for someone to come out and fix a leak in the drain plumbing of my tub. The tub is under warranty. The Florida company that I bought from is having a hard time finding someone in this area who will service the tub without charging a $100 trip fee. They will pay for parts and labor, but the trip charge is not covered. Are there any independent service providers out there willing to work with me and the company to do this warranty work? Please message me privately if interested ... Cheers, TJ

I believe I was using the real thing. I have two boxes of TSP ... one is the more environmentally acceptable one (substitutes) and one is just plain TSP. I didn't think either one worked well. Now after a few weekly soakings in PBW my filters are clean and white all the way to the innermost part of the pleats. PBW is marketed to brewers as a safe, environmentally friendly alternative to the customary caustic cleaners: "PBW stands for Powdered Brewery Wash, which is a non-hazardous buffered alkaline brewery cleaner. It is the cleaner of choice for many breweries where it out performs more hazardous caustic chemicals without removing the flesh off your bones. It will not corrode soft metals. " - from morebeer.com Is PBW greener than TSP? Is either one going to prematurely break down your filters?

It looks like I'm losing about a quarter inch per day. This seems to be a lot. The tub is right next to the house on a newly built cedar deck and there is always some moisture on the deck between the house and tub. I'll have to open it up and look when the weather and time permits. Let us know what you see when you open the equipment door and inspect inside. There's a good chance you'll find the issue in there. Opended her up yesterday and found standing water in the bottom on one side. Of course it's the side against the house. It doesn't seem to be the pumps. I'm suspecting it's the feed PVC to one of the jet manifolds, but I really couldn't tell, even with the pumps running. I guess I'll find out how good the warranty is (tub is less than 6 months old).

I've had my spa for less then six months and am constantly learning ... I have two sets of filters that I rotate weekly. My owner's manual and other sources suggested that I use TSP to soak the filters. I found TSP to be a far from stellar performer. It did not do a great job cleaning the filters, leaving them looking a little dirty and sometimes not smelling so good, even after drying. TSP also ruined my Zorbo scum absorbers, which I had to throw out. (I never had a scum line while using them, so I think they work well. Now I have a line, time to get some new Zorbos). Being a homebrewer I have several cleaning and soaking methods for various vessels and equipment. I use PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash) for the toughest brew kettle and fermenter cleaning. I recently switched to PBW for soaking my spa filters and it works great! They come out looking like new and smell fresh after they're dry. I'm interested to hear what Chemgeek thinks about using sodium metasilicate (active ingredient in PBW) for cleaning spa equipment (filters). Below is a link to the MSDS: http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/msds/pbw.pdf I'm not endorsing or selling this product for profit. In fact I'd like to find a more generic source of sodium metasilicate because PBW is kind of expensive (~ $4-5/lb.)

It looks like I'm losing about a quarter inch per day. This seems to be a lot. The tub is right next to the house on a newly built cedar deck and there is always some moisture on the deck between the house and tub. I'll have to open it up and look when the weather and time permits.

Here is a link that explains it in more detail. Bottom line is, a new working ozonator will incease CD, I'm guessing by ~25%. Have you checked your CD? Yes, I did check it after my last refill and after getting through the initial dirt from my well water the CD tends to be almost 50%. Thanks for the info.

I will do that, with one exception ... I'll be gone for 9 days after tomorrow morning so I'll REALLY get to check how much it drops. I hope it's not empty when I get back (Ok, the leak isn't that bad) Thanks, TJ

All good advice, as usual. Nitro's comment about an ozonator affecting CD is news to me. Explain? (I have an ozonator)