tylemandan

Oh, I found the specific ppm measurments of adding a cup of salt. I listed them all in case somebody has another model of Hot Spring with Ace. Vista, Grandee , or Envoy 1 cup salt added increases salt level by approx 170 ppm. Aria 1 cup salt added increases salt level by approx 210 ppm. Vanguard 1 cup salt added increases salt level by approx 190 ppm. Sovereign 1 cup salt added increases salt level by approx 220 ppm. Prodigy 1 cup salt added increases salt level by approx 235 ppm. Jetsetter 1 cup salt added increases salt level by approx 360 ppm. That should help. If you were to add too much salt to the water all you would have to do is do a partial drain and fill up with clean water.

Tubber, The LCD indicator for the salt level in the tub corresponds to specific parts per million of salt in the water. (I just found out recently) When the black bar (which tells you where the salt level is) fall directly in the middle of the green you are at 1000 ppm of salt. If your black bar was right at the point where yellow meets green (yellow meaning low salt) you are right at 800 ppm of salt in the water or the lowest possible content for the cell to work. If your black bar was right at the point of where green meet red (the highest possible level of salt for the Ace cell to work, you are right at 1200 ppm of salt in the water. When you add, say a cup of salt to the water that will raise the ppm of salt in the water by a specific amount based on the gallons of the hot tub. So a cup of salt added to a Jetsetter (225 gallons) would raise the ppm of salt in the water by a much greater amount (more concentrated due to a smaller volume of water) than if you add a cup of salt to a Grandee (500 gallon.) I have a sheet with the specific ppm that a cup of salt adds for each tub, but I seem to have misplaced it for the moment. I will look for it and let you know what the exact figure is for a grandee. The salt level should stay pretty consistent. Really the way you lose salt is by the splash out of water and the water you carry with you when you get out of the tub. So when you top off your tub with more water, your ppm of salt would be lower. (more diluted) Otherwise the way I have had it explained to me is that the way Ace works is that salt is coverted to chlorine and then eventually get converted back to salt again. Kind of recycling. Hence you are not really using up the salt in the sense you would think. We have had good feedback from our customers so far on the Ace system. It seems to work as designed. Hope this helps.

The Spa Caddy can be mounted anywhere on the Hot Springs cabinet. (although don't mount it on the access panel as you would have to remove it every time you need to open the access panel.) The caddy swivels out of the way when you need to shut the cover.

The two extra years of warranty must be something that the dealer is doing by themselves. There is only a three year manufacturers warranty on the Limelight series. Make sure you get that in writing and what it covers.

"4)The hot springs manufactured today is only a shadow of what the reputation has been based on." Spa_Guru, What are you basing this opinion on? Just curious. Please back it up with some facts.

Keep them in the sauna next to the tub, always warm all the time But if you don't have a sauna, get a cooler, put the towels in the dryer for about 15 min or so, then put the towels in the cooler, close the lid and go for a soak. The cooler will keep the towels dry and warm.

It sounds like you have done right and have the system adjusted perfectly for your normal use level. Ace does take a while to build a residual in the water at initial fill up. (something to keep in mind when you initially get the spa, the excitment level is usually at the highest so you will be using it more than normal most likely. I had one customer who called and said the Ace system wasn't working,well come to find out, once it was filled up and ready to use, the kids were using it constantly 12 or more hours a day and the Ace system was not able to keep up with that kind of demand right off the bat. So my recommendation is to keep an eye on the FC level in the few weeks of start up, especially if you will see that high of use level and manually add some chlorine if needed to bring the FC up to a safe level. It is perfectly fine (and desired to be safe) to manually add chlorine with the Ace System in situations like that. ) The boost function makes the Ace system work continuously for a 24 hr period, then drops back to your normal setting automatically. If your FC is in the recommended range before your party, I would just boost after the party and you should be fine. You only need to test and balance the water every 30 days as per the owners manual. (no weekly shocks) I hope you enjoy your hot tub. Happy Soaking.

I think there are six colors to choose from in the Limelight series. You can't freeze a light between colors. There are three different loops to choose from (slow,medium,fast) or you can just have one color on all the time. As far as putting the speakers in the corners, you could use them as cupholders (they are waterproof) but they aren't flat (they are rounded) so I wouldn't recommend it as you would have to balance a cup on there just right or it would probably fall over. (and you would waste your beer! )

It states in the pre-delivery booklet (which you should have) for Hot Spring that a deck needs to support 110 lb per square foot for a Vanguard. If you aren't certain that your deck supports this then contact a qualified contractor or engineer or deck builder. Don't take chances. The pre-delivery guide states that the Vanguard weighs 4,951 lbs with water and people. Better safe than sorry.

Tubber, The Ace system was meant to work for soft water. It states in the owners manual that ideal hardness for Ace is between Min 25 ppm and Max 75ppm. Hot Spring does have a product called Vanishing Act which is a soft bean bag type product you place over the heater return. It removes excessive calcium from the water. Usually the Ace kits come with one Vanishing Act "brick" But it would be easier/faster to use the soft water from inside the house. Happy soaking.

I am 6'3" and the Prodigy is not my favorite Hot Spring because of the shallow depth. Although it has a plenty powerful massage. I don't know if you have looked at the Limelight Glow,(made by watkins) Very powerful tub considering it has 30jets and two jet pumps, deeper than the Prodigy, also has foot jets (none in Prodigy) Here is a link. http://www.limelighthottubs.com/glow_hot_tub.html#explore-spas?id=glow-hot-tub. Talk to you later.

Also, will the IQ 2020 board replace the IQ 2000 board in the 99 Grandee. Some websites that sell the 2020 say it will replace the 2000. Have you called you local Hot Spring dealer, maybe they can help you with your issue.

there are lots of great companies out there with spot on back up and service Truth is it is a good controller, although it has its share of issues and is no better than the balboa controls, except the remote panel which will fail within the year... it is the weak spot of most controllers and particular to Hotsprings... we change scads of them. They are well built spas and of a good quality except the skirt material witch is kind of cheesy compared to the high end foam resin infinity cabinets... floor drains are a thing of the past and a bad design feature. 1 They are the most likely place for a fault because they are stepped on. 2 They leave plumbing against the ground which is a huge heat loss area. the heat loss through the floors of spas is only recently being addressed, conduction heat loss is massive as the construction and house building industries has discovered and addressed. 3 The only advantage is the draining issue which 10 years ago was a valid argument but now adays everyone has a shop vac, (or you can buy one at Costco for $49.95... certainly not a good trade off anymore... Available on most spas at 5 k less yep good quite operation as is any circ pump system on even the cheapest spas there are many great water quality systems and they have very little to do with the spa... Wow like 8 k or so what is about what it is worth??? Worth is in the eye of the beholder. There are many good spas out there but a shorter list of great spas nowadays. I have a 1993 Classic and so I am partial to Hot Spring and would recommend one to anyone. No spa on the market is without fault, but Hot Spring has many less faults than most. In my experience, It has been the easist tub to take care of for our family. But that's just my opinion.

Those are two of the best brands IMO and would be on my short list (Caldera, D1, Hot Spring, Jacuzzi and Sundance). Visit their websites and use their dealer locators to see who might be local to your area and try to wet test to see which fits/feels best for you. Get a feel for your dealer and how much you thin they'll be there for you after the sale is complete, getting a good dealer who knows ho to provide true customer service goes a long way toward a happy spa experience. thank you so much for your time. take care... I agree with the above post. Make sure the dealer in your area will be there after the sale for as long as you own the spa. I am partial to Hot Spring because I own a 1993 classic that keeps on going. Easy watercare and nothing to program. I would recommend Hot Spring to anyone if you are looking for something easy to own.

have not yet had a chance to wet test the grandee but hope to soon also testing a sundance optima. i do like the aria, but just feel if i can get a much larger tub at no extra expense why not. I concur that the energy costs between the Aria and the Grandee will not be dramatically different. Both are nice tubs!

Many of the hot tubs on the market require the tub be fully supported underneath and you cant shim them at all. Doing so would void the warranty. Hot Springs make some models of spas that can be shimmed up to one inch to level them without voiding the warranty. They may be others out there but those are the ones I am familiar with. Even that may not work if your flagstone deck is too bumpy. If you have a long straight edge, check the area around your tub by placing the straight edge on the ground where the tub is going to be located. You will soon see how out of whack it is.