TubOguts

Murv. What happened? Did you conquer the crud?

Greetings West592: I've got a Solana SX. The circular plastic piece is the floating collar that spins and bobs in the filter compartment when the jets are running on the tub. This collar provides an even flow of water into the filter. It does not lock into place but floats in the compartment. It should not pop out and float around in the tub. If it is popping out and floating into the tub, it's broken. I guess the sponge you mentioned is a sponge you got from the store or dug out from under the kitchen sink and used to hold the collar in place. Either way, the sponge didn't come with the tub when it was new. So, if the collar comes out of the filter compartment, the collar is too small or the size of the overall filter compartment is too big. The previous reply from Mr. Swine is correct and it looks like you got your filter in properly. The key here, I'm thinking, is that you think the circular plastic piece is supposed to lock down somewhere. It doesn't. It floats in the filter compartment. But, if it floats out of the filter compartment into the tub then you are right. It's not working right and needs to be kept in the fliter compartment, spinning and floating, while the jets are running. Don't jam the sponge between the filter and the collar. Let the collar float. When the pump is on the swirling suction should keep the collar in the compartment. Hope this helps and post any questions you have. TubOGuts

It's official. I have drunk the Pool Spa Forum Kool-Aid. My Taylor 2006 test kit arrived by UPS this afternoon from Amato industries. Hefty in the hand, the sturdy, bright blue box rattles with colorful little bottles. I feel like I'm holding a better future for my Solana SX. Like giant Provastin pills, right now there are two Aquafinesse spa pucks sloshing through the clogged arteries of my tub. The pucks have really cleared the pipes up a lot. Thanks Spa God. I'm gonna drain it out, blast it again with Nitro's bleach decon and refill it once more. Then, the testing will begin! Once I've got some numbers I'll post them here for "group therapy". TubOguts, signing off.

Greetings njmurv and others: Njmurv: I see you're still struggling with your "mold", as am I. The white chips you describe seem just like mine. Spa Flushing (twice) made them go away for about a day, then they came right back. There is also a thin film on top of the water that looks like pollen or powder floating on the surface. It gets most visible when I crank the jets up. I did Nitro's decon and refilled the tub. Chips and film returned. So, I kept the dichlor at about 30 PPM for the past several days and the chips went away and the surface film is reduced. The inside tubes are clearing a little bit and the filters are not getting as plaquish yellow as quickly. The “calcium mold” might be on the run! I think venerable chemgeek is on to something about calcium scale. In the Great Shock and Awe of the last few days, the tub stopped using up the dichlor. The level stayed at about 15 for three days, with little change. Murv, I'm starting to think that the mold we have lives in, or thrives on, calcium build up. So, I’m attacking the hardened arteries: Right now my tub is down there with two aquafinesse pucks slurping in the gizzards at 108 degrees, as per SpaGod's previous instructions. I’ll let you know what happens. I’ve launched the buoy and lit the outer marker. This is TubOguts last stand.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Completed the first parts of Nitro's decon process today: The Chemical Warfare is on! After Spa Purging with the enzyme for two days, draining, refilling, bleaching with jets on and draining again, the side panel was removed for a peak at the gizzards. What I originally thought were opaque, white colored tubes turned out, in fact, to be tubes so caked with white goop that they only appeared white, instead of clear. I know this now because there are some small spots in some of the tubes that have actually cleared up. It was like looking at Paula Deen's arteries. Or Jimmy Dean's colon. The brand new filter installed before bleaching turned a dingy, plaque yellow after being in there for only an hour. Then, when I checked the mail box, there was hate mail from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The tub is empty now and the shell is as clean as it was when new. The last step is to fill, superchlorinate and monitor for chlorine changes. I don't want to fill it again. The goop is in the tubes, waiting to leech back into the once pristine tub. I might just sit in the dry shell and enjoy the cleanliness. Notes: -The bleach process did not fade the plastic parts in the tub, or make them look worn. -After using 32 oz. of bleach in 300 gals. of water, 32 ozs. of hydrogen peroxide really did knock the chlorine back down to zero. -Inkberry hedge bushes are one tough shrub. -So far: 2 filters = $60. 2 bottles of Spa Purge = $35. Messed up N/2 stick = $40. Look on my nasty, nosey negihbor's face when she found my hose draining in her roses: Priceless! My question for the forum is this: should I try something stronger to get the goop out? Maybe Spa God's Aquafinnese pucks? White vinegar? Thanks all.

Thanks all for responses to previous post. Found a big 'ol honkin' jug-o-clorox in the garage and got a quart of peroxide for 89 cents at the store. Then, bit the bullet and bought another bottle of Spa Purge and yet another new filter. Tomorrow: shock and awe for the tub. Does anybody know how to paste pictures to these posts?

No offense Spa God but Nitro's decontamination looks good. It requires that I only run the jets for a couple of hours instead of as much as several days. Also, I can get bleach and peroxide at the store. I don't mind putting in the time and the work but I don't want to keep spending more money to decon the tub. The current filter is not even a week old ($30) so that will be bleached instead of replaced. The bottle of Spa Purge was $17. Since I just purged the spa and there are no chunks or chips, so far, I might just skip the purge and go right to the topping off and bleaching, followed by Nitro's scrub down and the final diclor shock in step 11. Any comments from the resident forum experts about this plan are certainly encouraged. Good luck with your tub Mr. njmurvin. Thanks a lot Mr. Nitro.

Greetings njmurvin: Thank you for your interest in my previous post. I thought I lucked out and got rid of the problem. The thick water and smell are back. No chips or ring, yet. I'm gonna look over the different ideas for sterilizing tubs that are on this site. Mr. Nitro has a good one in here somewhere. My tub is going on dialysis and chemo-therapy! Looking back over the forum I can see mold/biofilm has been bugging you for a while. For those who are intetrested, once I choose a cleaning method, I'll post updates.

Greetings and thank you for your friendly and useful replies. Spa God, you got it right on the money. The chips only popped up after running the jets. Not long after typing my original post, I went back down and sniffed and looked. Oddly, the smell was normal, the water peppy and bubbling and the chips no where to be found. Not a single one. No ring either. Got right in! I knew the water was back to normal when the fresh, tiny bubbles gathered on my skin. Like sitting in a giant, heated mineral water. With the jets really going I can smell traces of the Spa Purge. Like laundry detergent. In fact, my tub suit came out very clean! The filter will be pulled, double soaked and scrubbed today. I'm gonna get the Aquafinesse tablets. I'll turn the water over again soon to get the Purge out and when I do that I'll run the pills to make sure all is cool. Thanks for good help from a very helpful site, which by the way, looks great and works very well. I was really astonished and pleased by the truly eye-popping changes and managable searches and links.

Greetings Spa People: My 2010 Hot Springs Solana SX worked great for more than a year. Not so much as a ring would form around the edges and the water was always fresh, hot and bubbly. There is a corona dis. ozonator. The N/2 stick was replaced in early December of 2011 when the water was replaced. I regularly use the MPS shock and the chlorine from the dealership and the chemical levels when tested at home and at the dealer were always right on the money. In early Feb. the water got slightly cloudy and thicker and got a strong, sort of cat pee smell to it. I attacked with chemicals and the water cleared up but the smell never went away and the water stayed thicker. Less "lively", for lack of a better description. The water was replaced again in early Feb. and while it stayed quite clear, it got thick and smelled bad again and made a pale yellow ring in about a day. Then, I noticed tiny, paint-chip-like pieces floating in the fliter compartment along with a thin, swirling film on the surface. This same film would coat the surface of any large bubbles in the tub. When I rubbed the paint chips between my fingers they would dissolve and leave no trace. All the while, the chem levels tested where they are supposed to be, like always. I also ran a pint of white vinegar through the ozonator, which sucked up the vinegar w/out any trouble. The dealer came out, confirmed my chem tests, saw the white chips and gave me a bottle of "Spa Purge". The ozonator was also tested and showed to be working. I ran that purge stuff through there for about 20 hours, drained and refilled with a new filter and the same N/2 stick. So, the chips and are back but only sometimes, the water is clear but sluggish and the bad smell seems to rise and retreat. I shortened the filter cycles to reduce the amount of time the ozonator runs and interestingly, the smell is not as bad, for now. I have the strange notion that the ozonator is polluting my tub. Is that possible? Also, adding chlorine seems to aggravate the smell. Any ideas? Thanks so much as I am losing my faith in my once wonderful, reliable, easy to care for tub.

Greetings Ghostlight: The tub I have is called a Solana. Made by Watkins. The tub does everything it is supposed to and does it well. Smooth, sturdy, quiet and strong, It really is just plain rock solid. Were a good friend to ask me what to buy, I would steer them in the direction of Hot Springs. Some money was knocked off the price as I let the dealer keep the stairs and purchased a $300 store credit (kind of a gift certificate for myself) that was taken off the final price of the tub. Good luck and let this forum help you as it has helped me and many others.

I have the exact same problem. The white scales look like tiny paint chips. They are "soft" in the sense that even though they look solid, when I pinch them between my fingers, they simply dissolve. The Hot Springs dealer came out and looked and gave me a bottle of Spa Purge. I ran that stuff through the gizzards of the 300 gallon Solana SX for about 18 hours, drained, rinsed, wiped down everything with Magic Eraser and white vinegar, used new filter and filled 'er up. Took all afternoon. Tub is down there churning now on the F-1 cycle, at 100 degrees. It still doesn't smell quite right. The ozonator doesn't seem to be as strong as it once was.

I've never joined or even followed an internet forum before. I might never have bought my new Solana SX tub without the great help I found here. Chocked full of information, personalities and drama, this forum has replaced watching nightime reruns of House. Some of the debates are great and I float high with the newbies who have their first tubs and sink with those suffering problems they can't solve. The knowledge and opinions of people like Spatech, Spa Guru, Dr. Spa, Spawn and Spa Guy (is that red thing holding a syringe?) are my most eagerly awaited posts. The chemistry guy scares me a little. Some of my favorite personalities are Razorhog, Spa Lady and Tubber McGee. I do feel bad for poor Jim Jim, so tattered in this normally civil arena. Costco tub Matt took a beating too. Thank you all so much for this place. So, after researching here, hounding the dealer and pestering Watkins on the phone, I got my SX. $3800. I got an ozonator and will wire it 220 so the heater works at 4000 watts instead of 1000. With it's chlorine water system, the tub will live in the garage, where the door opens by the driveway. This is an island in the Chesapeake Bay. When the wind blows I can shut the garage door. On calmer days and nights I can open up and take in the sun and stars. I don't know if I should put some kind of matt under the tub or not. A Taylor test kit is definitely on my Christmas list. Again, thank you all. I'm sure I'll have more questions to post, following the Watkins "Indoctrination". TubOguts