Eric W.

FWIW, search online for the N2 cartridges from Sundance. I found a source this past spring that had them for around $22 with reasonable shipping. I don't remember the source and I no longer use N2, but Google is your friend here

Same here. I keep it between 96-99 in the summer. There's nothing better than a nice soak after doing a bunch of yard work. If it's real hot, I jump in the pool to cool down, then move to the hot tub.

I didn't compare to the models you mention, but I have had a 2009 Optima for almost a year now. We love it. We had a couple problems with the lights but the dealer repaired them promptly under warranty. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

From what I've read on this forum and elsewhere, the electrical hookup alone can cost at least $650-$750 US alone by a licensed electrician. For the materials alone I spent around $250 just for the GFCI and everything needed for the electrical hookup. My friend is an electrician so it cost me a pot of coffee, a couple of beers and a steak dinner.

Easiest thing is to open the App Store on your Iphone, click on the magnifying glass, and enter Pool Calculator. Came right up for me.

FWIW, I have the Pool Calculator on my iPhone, and it's a great tool. I take my readings and know exactly how much of what to add to get the right levels, right there at the spa/pool.

I have a bottle of liquid shock that I bought in October. It's been outside in below freezing temps, but I took it inside when the temps got down to 10 or below. I noticed the other day that it doesn't really smell like bleach anymore. Should I discard it and buy a bottle of Clorox?

I was using the Sundance nature 2 cartridge and MPS/Chlorine since my tub was new in June, and I found if I went more than 2 days after adding chlorine I was greeted by a cloudy tub. The last straw was over the holidays when it was 10 degrees and snowy, so I didn't think about going out there to add chlorine, and I came out to a cloudy tub. I don't know what the Nature 2 cartridge was doing for me, but it seems after 2 months I get no benefit from it, and must add chlorine daily to keep it it clear. The Monday following Christmas, I made the switch to Bromine. My tub has a bromine dispenser in the weir gate, so I followed instructions found elsewhere here and I'm happier. I checked the levels daily for over a week and I'm now confident to add bromine tabs to the dispenser and shock it once a week.

Could you follow up please..Thanks I got called away for my own customer, so I never got to speak to the service tech about the wrist jets. Next time I'm at the showroom, I'm going to check their floor model and see if it differs from mine.

My wife got me a very nice terry cloth robe from JC Penney for Christmas. I don't know the price, but it's very heavy and warm. For shoes we use those adidas sandals. They're great as long as the snow is shoveled to the tub.

My CD is very high, I think due to my ozonator, so I use test strips to check for the presence of chlorine. Otherwise they're useless for any kind of accurate measurement. I have the K2006 and it's everything you'll need to maintain your spa. You'll need the bromine version. Search the forums and you can find places with good prices on the Taylor kits, and the refills when you need them.

When we bought our hot tub it wasn't this stressful. The one store where we started looking had prices on all of the tubs, but the sales staff was more interested in talking to each other and helping people buy pool toys. They couldn't provide me with a brochure on any of their hot tubs, referring me to their website with basic information. The next store also had all of their hot tubs clearly marked with price, as there was some kind of sale. I started looking at the cal-spa they had on display, and in a few minutes the store manager took over for the salesman that started with me. I asked about Sundance and he showed me the Optima. He was very knowledgeable about the product and the price was within a budget I had in mind. I didn't pay the lowest price, but not the highest either. To their credit, when I needed service on the lights the service tech was great. FWIW, the price on the Cameo seems to be good.

Amen on the snow plow and friends. I had more people that didn't want to pay me $5 for a driveway clearing, but they're all in a panic on the phone when we get deeper snow and I only had time for paying customers and family. I think I was happier when I got rid of the plow. I bought a new Honda snowblower last year that worked very well. Started and ran very reliably. The only thing that ticked me off was the steel handle to adjust the chute; when you turned it to the side the handle sticks out well beyond the side of the snowblower. Unfortunately, I opened my garage in early spring and found my new honda snowblower was gone. It was ~$600 plus tax, and my homeowners deductible is $500. If I took the $100 it counts as a claim against my homeowners, and another claim in a certain amount of time would increase my rate for a few years, costing me waaaaaaaaay more than $100.

I'm using Chicago water, there's little or no iron in it.

Dead Bacteria? Really? When we were shopping for our spa, one dealer had a nice spa on the floor with all kinds of yellow stuff around the outlet. It was pretty disgusting, especially for a display model. I've noticed now that my outlet is starting to show some yellow around the ozone outlet. I'll try attacking it with a brush, as it's inside the grill.

That's a nice shelter, Mike. I built a simple shed roof off my house for now, but when the pool is down in a couple of years, I plan to build a similar gazebo and enclosure either in the area where the pool now sits or attached to the 2-1/2 car garage I'd also like.

Care to share where you got those plans? That's a nice looking roof. Post more pics!

Stupid question - are you sure all of the air valves are on? Not the diverter, but the air valves? That would make a huge difference in how the jets feel.

I tossed this idea around this fall myself. I'm in the home improvement industry, and I can get a good deal for an aluminum car port/patio cover for my own personal use. Unfortunately, my cost was still over $1k for the material alone, so I ended up building a wood shed roof instead. My total cost in materials was $500 and alot of sweat and sore joints. I could have saved about $100 if I used a cheaper roll roofing, but a friend recommended this self stick roofing that save me a lot of time. Bear in mind I live near Chicago, so I have to use a heavy gauge metal and a beam, which drives up the price. I never saw a retractable metal patio roof before. While I'm glad to be out of the rain and snow, I really miss turning off all the lights and looking at the few stars I can see.

Thanks everyone. The service tech is coming out tomorrow to replace a light, and I'll ask him to check it out.

My wife noticed the "wrist jets" on our 2009 Optima don't seem to do much more than a trickle. Is this the way it was designed?

I just got some Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and they worked well on my water line.

I want to know where you get the cute redhead cover lifter. My dealer only offered the covermate I.

I just finished building a roof over my spa. It's on the patio adjacent to the house, so I built a 12 x 12 roof attached to the house. My total cost was around $500 for material and a lot of sore muscles. I really miss the stars, but I really dislike sitting out in the rain even more. We put a cheap tent canopy over it when it rained, and I even bought sides for it, but the canopy will not hold up to the snows here in Chicago. If it gets too cold, I will stretch a tarp as a wind break this winter, and decide what to do next year. I don't like the idea of enclosing the walls completely as it would feel confining and be a foggy mess.

You got a good price considering the faux stone and the stereo. We use our stereo almost every time someone's in the tub. The sound is great, but we're very disappointed with the iPod dock. The operation is very archaic, unless you want to play your song list alphabetically. There's options to play playlists, but it's fairly complicated and we've taken to burning our song lists to MP3 CDs, which sound great and you have the option to play your music randomly.