Wezard

It was your sticky I used, except that I must have gotten another post mixed up about maintenance, somebody said add a Table spoon of clorox after ea use. My brain inserted that into your directions. So, I reread it, and will follow it. Any comment on shelf life for bromide tabs? I'm assuming several years if kept in a sealed container. Thanks for all the info and advice, you share.

Used tub, only been running about 4 weeks. Started with a spa flush and drain, then super shock and drain, per Nitro's sticky. Had to guess on hardness, later testing indicates I got it pretty close. 3 oz sodium bromide, (300 gal spa), twice what I needed, weight on the little sample packs was hard to read. Since Bromide is going to build up anyway I decided to leave it be, and fix it later if need be. 1 1/2 oz by weight, baking soda, per pool calc for TA Lowered PH with sodium bisulfate Started floater mostly closed with 3 of the smallish spa sized tabs. Available Bromine 39.2%, available chlorine 44.4%, note that the tabs are prob over 2 years old, maybe over 3. Took 2 weeks to discover the adjust ring on floater was not properly seated, it was opening and closing as it saw fit. Its been all the way open for the past 10 days. Every weekend I have to raise the TA and lower PH, but its closer every time. Bather load is the two of us, 15 to 20 min in the morn, and 20 to 30 min in the evening, I add a cap full of clorox after the evening session, (not sure how much is in a cap). Water is crystal clear and I detect no odor, girlfriend says it smells slightly like a pond on occasion, fishy is the term she used. Pretty much zero sunlight, it is covered with 2 sheets of 1/2" insulating foam, (till the cover gets here) so it has lots of air exposure. The two obvious questions, (to me, I'm an electrician, not a chemist or spa expert) are 1- Is too much bromide causing a prob? 2- Could the bromine tabs be old and useless? and, given the bather load, is a cap full of clorox every day really too much to maintain 2ppm sanitizer? Thanks, and if I don't hear anything from ya'll, I'll shock it this Sun.

Got the K-2106, about a week ago, Amato is pretty quick shipping wise. You are correct, it is much easier to use. Think I will try an ozone generator next water change. I'm having to keep the floater wide open and add clorox to stay just above 2ppm on the bromine. I understand sometimes they help, sometimes they don't do much of anything and in certain conditions can actually make thing worse. Any way, I'll report my experience, when the time comes. Feedback?

Thanks Waterbear The test kit I got is a Taylor K-1004, rebranded as 'Deluxe Pool Care DPD Test Kit', apparently same as K-1005 without hardness and CYA. I'm using bromide, so, I'm assuming for my use this kit is OK. Hardness would be a good test to have, have no idea what CYA is or does, or if it even applies to bromide.

While reading the info here, I came across a few mentions of Leslie Pool Supply water test kits. With 99.5 percent of posters saying use the Taylor. They are one and the same, with the Leslie being about 1/2 the cost, and you don't have to wait for delivery. In the store, above the test kit retail display rack is a big sign saying "Leslie's proudly sells and uses only Taylor test equipment". The blue box's, regent codes, etc are identical. With the exception of the paper label on the front of the box, everything says Taylor. Am I missing something here? Or maybe Leslie's has only recently switched to Taylor, and word hasn't gotten out yet?

I find the dramatics rather funny, was hoping the actors weren't taking it too seriously. The jets work fine, it was operator error - trying to turn the jets them-selfs, when I should have been turning the big chrome rings that surround them. I did follow Nitro's step by step for 'super shock disinfecting' and then for bromine set up. I found the instructions for bromide rather complicated and scary the first, (and 2nd) time I read it. Followed through on most of the comments and questions in that thread which helped a little and confused me more at the same time. It did convince me to buy a real test kit. When the time came to actually set up the first time. I pulled up the post, went out and did step 1, came back in, read step 2, went out and did that, etc etc.. In other words, I did what I was told, when I was told, and it worked like like a champ, guess thats why it's called a step by step, it even makes sense now, sorta. The Leslie's Pool Supply test kit is a Taylor kit, at about 1/2 the price, and no waiting for delivery. Guess I should post that on the chemical forum, as no body over there seems to be aware of that, or if they are, they ain't telling. Still surprised I haven't gotten any razzing about turning on the pumps with the big jets above water, doing something stupid is a lot more fun if other people get to laugh at/with you.

Thanks Preserved Swine, thats the kind of info that should be useful to most people. As near as I can find out, Leisure Bay is still around, kinda sorta. Interesting note concerning the windows analogy, don't remember the #s, but single pane windows in good repair, with properly installed storm windows have an R rating substantially higher than the best double panes on the market, and slightly higher than top rated triple pane. Storm windows don't get much air time, cuz they ain't sexy, and the profit margin is minuscule. Picked up a couple sheets of insulating wall board, to cover the top till the cover gets here, (3 to 4 weeks). It's about 1/2" foam with radiant barrier on one side and plastic film on the other. Noticed that with 2 side panels off, the way this tub is built, this stuff will lay right into the openings in the frame work behind the panels. Not much R value, 2.5, I think, but hey, I got no other use for it. No comments on running the pumps with the jets above water? I thought it was hilarious, after I dried off, changed clothes and ascertained the my cell phone and blue tooth still worked. I've set the spa up on the carport, which we use as a patio, that little fiasco also thoroughly cleaned half of my carport ceiling, (and no, I'm not going to move the spa and clean the other half). I hope Itchy and Scratchy wasn't serious, or if he was, he at least stays active on the chemistry side of the board.

Hopefully won't need any repairs, the two jets that didn't work, did. The operator just didn't know how to turn them on, or off. A bit of advice, it may seem like a good idea to fill with water to just below the jets, so you can maybe figure out how the jets work when you turn the pumps on. Maybe not so bad an idea, if one makes sure the jets aren't pointing at a window, get out your work boots and clothes, and leave the cell phone and blue tooth in the house. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Hell, I don't know anything about the tub I own, except that, first thing I did was open it all up, nothing looked broken, so I filled it up, nothing leaked, everything worked, (except two aim-able jets with very low pressure, open to suggestions there). For $500 bucks, if it explodes in two years, I'm way ahead of the game,(a decent cover and lift cost me $450, almost as much as the tub). I also noted that it ain't rocket science, only thing on it I couldn't fix is the shell, though I'd ask for advice before tackling much plumbing. Since most of the advice re insulation was buy a good tub, I began to wonder what a good tub was. Maybe the section on water chemistry made my expectations unreasonable. Hopefully I won't need to post over there, since those guys lay it all out so well. Pretty much decided to not bother with extra insulation, if my elec bill go's haywire, I'll reconsider. And I did take the advice about a good cover, (and a real water test kit). Thanks all, and if I ruffled a few feathers - well, that can be a good thing. Remember, "you get what you pay for" is sometimes true, and sometimes it ain't. An educated consumer will get what he pays for, an uneducated consumer may very well pay for a lot of hype and marketing. And it looks like there is way more marketing and hype in the spa business than actual facts.

OK guys, I'm asking what the difference is, not saying there is no difference. I've been doing industrial electrical and electronic work for over 30 years, I can tell you that there is little difference in good quality motors, and Emerson is good quality. That is even more so now days with the EPA mandating efficiency factors. Looking at Balboa, the controls are the same, the only difference being the options that each unit will support, in other words, the only way to spend more money on a Balboa control would be to install one that supported options that were not used. You could spend $100 on a 15 gallon Procter Silex commercial coffee maker for your 4 cups of morning joe, you spent more money, but is it better? I will say the wooden framework on my cheapie looks a little cheap, I have no idea about the shell, I am assuming there can be a big difference in jets. I've already said the manuals and support suck, at best. I'd like to be educated, but if you're stuck on brand name snob appeal, tell it to the folks who buy Sub Zero refrigerators. I'm also going to assume that nobody on line this holiday weekend, has a clue about how to actually install additional insulation. Don't get me wrong, the comments were appreciated, as far as they went. Just drained the spa flush, getting ready to do the super shock and drain, (and trying to figure a real easy way to calculate how many gallons this thing holds). Then I get to start hands on with the water chemistry, wish me luck, it looks kinda daunting. plenty of really good info on the appropriate forum though. On that subject, I knew nothing last week, not sure I know much now. I will be real careful about monitoring the dihydro-monoxide.

I'm curious, the Leisure Bay uses Emerson motors and pumps, thats good quality, Balboa controls and heaters, same as many upper line tubs. Factory support is nonexistent, documentation sucks, (though I have nothing to compare that to). What exactly, makes it an inferior unit? Lack of insulation, yes. What else? I do know that an equivalent unit, same brand would cost me 6 grand now days. God knows what a "good brand" would cost.

For the sake of conversation, can we assume I have the best cover available, never open it and have added R-80 on top of that. Now what are steps to keep heat from escaping through the minimally insulated sides? Doc Spa is correct, heat is energy, energy cares not a whit about up and down, knows nothing of north and south, it simply goes where there is less of of it, taking the path of least resistance. Course I also use the term "heat rises" cuz most times we are dealing with air and water, and it's accurate enough.

Cover is understood, found a thread that recommended 3 outfits, at least one of which is owned by a moderator here. I was hoping for some advice on insulating the tub proper. Very surprised there hasn't been much discussion on the subject.

New to all of this, have been reading most of what is posted, excluding what appears to be brand specific problems. Searched but not finding much. My girlfriend, (live in) bought a 5 year old Leisure Bay, $500.00, works great. My question is, how much benefit is there in DIY insulation, and what would be the best method, using inexpensive, (yeah, I know thats relative) readily available products. I'm thinking of using foil backed foam pieces on the panels, thickest I can find that clears all the 'stuff', and spray foam on the underside of the tub. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I do live in Atlanta GA, so winters aren't brutal. BTW, since we got it used, I missed the part where the salesman convinces me that the 1/4" of factory insulation is high tech magic stuff, and thats all I need. Thanks, in advance Mike