NateW

I use bleach to add chlorine to my hot tub. I've always used Regular Chlorox. This weekend I bought what I thought was Regular Chlorox at Walmart. I am very careful and check the label each time. Obviously not careful enough. Today, when measuring the bleach I noticed it was viscous, like a light oil. Looked at the label. It says "Regular Chlorox", so I thought it was my imagination, or that something was wrong with the bleach. Looked at the label again. I then noticed "Splashless". Looks like this is a new type of Chlorox. I never knew a "splashless" type was made. This is very misleading because "Regular Chlorox" appears on the label. I don't know if "Splashless Regular" is replacing "Regular" Chlorox, I hope not. Anyone know? Can "splashless" be used? Also, there is no listing on the label of the ingredients, nor the strength. Perhaps it is more dilute, thus a cheap way to downsize the product. --Nate

I throw an old thin (bed) comforter on my tub's cover and the comforter has survived for 5-years, going strong. I do remove it when rain is predicted, though. Shade will prolong the cover's topside life, as well. My cover failure was because of water absorbtion, though. --Nate

I just purchased a new cover from the SpaDepot and followed their on-line measuring instructions and it fits great. Appears to be very well made. I ordered all of the upgrades (double wrapped, thicker, mid section (seam) insulator, etc.) and it was close to $550 US dollars, but it was a big step up from my OEM cover, which had soaked up about 10 gallons of water, weighing in at 110 pounds (it was 5 years old). The cover came from Largo, Florida, which is a pretty far distance from Canada. BTW the cover was claimed to have an R value of 29 or something like that. --Nate

That's the exact same tub I have, down to the year of manufacturer. There are two pumps. The big(er) 1.5 KW jet pump and a 75 watt "silent flow" continuous operation circulation pump (it may not run when the jet pump runs). If you remove the front compartment cover, you can see the silent flow pump, its about the size of a soda can IIRC. It should be running all the time that power is to the spa, if its not set for "summer" mode (16 hours on and 8 off to minimize water temperature increas above the set point). Its possible for the pump to be bad, but I read that they are good for about 10 years, or more. You can feel it vibrating some if you put your hand on it if its running. Do your standard troubleshooting and see if it has power at the pump plug or if the pump will run if power is applied to it. I am not sure of the exact circuitry for it, since I never had to troubleshoot it. You want to make darn sure you don't short out the main circuit board messing with it, though. Replacements are expensive. One thing you may not know is that when this tub is set for 120 volt operation (its convertable to 240 volt opeartion) is that the heating element and the jet pump can not run concurrently due to more than 20 amp power draw (the tub is supposed to be on a dedicated 20-amp 120 volt GFIC breaker circuit). If the heating element is on and the jet pump is started, the heating element turns off. This has never been a problem for us, temeraturewise, though. I also have found that the tub will heat at about 1.5 degrees F. per hour, or take about 36 hours to come up to temperature in the winter after a water change. Its a nice tub, though. --Nate

I add the chlorine before soaking. I use 1/3 cup Chlorox (its a 330 gallon hot tub) for my wife and I. Tonight I'm ordering a floating spa blanket. I had one once, but had difficulty cutting it to fit (the inside of my tub is not straight on the sides, its curvey, so I never used it. I use the dichlor for about a week before I begin bleach use (from reading a post here a few years ago). I change the water every two months and we soak about every other day for 15 minutes or so. Any opinion about my repair of the new cover's puncture damage? I overlapped the clear plastic packaging tape, using the aluminum duct tape, by about four inches, so the reapir is about a foot square. I just hope chlorine does not react with aluminum and corrode it. The new cover uses 2.0 pound density core with a 5 to 3 inch slope (claimed to be R 29.5), has the insulating piece for the fold, and uses 6 mil wrap, but wrapped twice. The wrap seams are heat sealed, according to the manufacturer. I got the best one that was offered. It was about $550 delivered. --Nate

Dr. Spa wrote: "The most obvious cause of water absorption would be a small hole punctured through the cover. Even the smallest hole will allow a large amount of water to enter the foam over time." Ut oh. My new cover had a pencil-sized puncture through the inner cover surface through the double wrap and into the insulating material. Damage received during transit. I did not think it was a big deal, but I did my best to seal it. I removed the wrapped insulating board from its vinyl cover. I placed a small dab of RTV silicone over it, let dry some, and then taped over it with four layers of packaging tape, about six inches out on all sides and then covered that with two layers of aluminum duct tape meant for high heat applications. The real duct tape, not that cloth tape. Hopefully this will seal the puncture for years. --Nate

Yesterday I confirmed they do. I have a 5-year old Tiger River Bengal spa and the original cover (about 7X8 feet) seemed to get heavier over the years, to the point where I had difficulty opening it. Recently I ordered a replacement cover from the Spa Depot (nice cover, by the way) and Friday it arrived. I did an autopsy on the old cover. First I weighed the old cover. It weighed 110 pounds! Next I removed the insulating boards from the vinyl cover and cut the (very brittle) thin single layer plastic wrap off. About a third of one board (cover half) was wterlogged and about half of the second board was completely waterlogged. I cut small chunks of the foam out and water could be squeezed out like a sponge (this crushed the board material, though). The unwaterlogged sections were extremely light, like styrofoam (although the material is harder than styrofoam). I concluded the cover, when new, must have weighed about 30 pounds (my new, 40% thicker, cover weighs about 40 pounds). So the old cover had about 80 pounds of water weight, which equates to 10 gallons of water! I am suprised the cover lifter did not break from the weight. I am also very disappointed in the quality of the OEM cover. Mt replacement is double wrapped because of my experience with the waterlogged cover. My question now is how can this be prevented and how long are covers supposed to last? I suspect the OEM cover began absorbing water within the first year. I'd like to add I use a Taylor test kit and usually keep sanitizer in the recommended range, so I do not think the issue is excess chlorine. I appreciate Dr. Spa's detailed post. After reading it I think I may read up on prper water care. I have not been shocking the tub (I use sanitizer granuals for amout a week and then bleach for the remainder of the use before changing the water. I add a little MPS powder (about a tablespoon) every couple of days and the only time the cover is open is when we are using it. --Nate

I have a 2007 Watkins Tiger River Bengal, 330 gallon, 115 V hot tub. Recently I have noticed that the water temperature is about three degrees cooler than the setting indicated on the control panel. Where should I start looking to fix this problem? I was hoping a simple adjustment on the control board or the replacement of a temperature sensor is all that is needed, but I know very little about how the water temperature is maintained. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks. --Nate

How much life should one expect from a spa cover? I bought a (Watkins) Tiger River Bengal hot tub three years ago and about a year ago I noticed the cover getting really heavy when opening the tub. I suspect it has gotten waterlogged. Any way to verify this has happened? Is this normal? I tried to find warranty information on the Tiger River Spa web site, but the warranty info is about the tub only. The cover is not mentioned. Also, if I have to replace the cover, any suggestions on where to look and what bran(s) are good? Can covers be mail ordered? Thanks. --Nate