Johnny D

checked out their website. i wish i'd heard of them before i ordered my new cover which was delivered today. even if is more than my foam cover($235 compared to $395 - $100 discount mentioned on their website.) if it lasts at least twice as long and insulates that much better(they claim ten times better R-Factor Testing Results), it would be well worth it. i wonder if raccoons chew them? bill keiser As far as racoons, the material is Sunbrella which is widely used on patio furniture cushions if that helps. I just didn't have an option unless I was willing to obstruct my view which is a major atraction to putting the spa there.

I had the same dilemna and opted for the Spacap. Find it at spacap.com. I basically resembles a big comforter except you fill it with air and it acts as a thermal barrier. I've had it for a couple of weeks. What I like about it is it can flop off to the side. One person can maneuver it back on. Not heavy, about 25lbs total but is a bit bulky. jd

Absolutely correct, 580 to be precise. Thanks. jd

TA has been about 100-120 that I recall. Thanks for the feedback.

Had my Sundance Maxxus, 480 gallons, for 1 month now. Love to get your feedback. I keep the temp at about 102. (Wife likes it hotter, I like it cooler, this is our compromise.) Both of us use the spa about 4-5 times a week, mostly just us. Keep it covered with a Spacap since I had no room on any of the sides for a hard cover. So far this is working out OK. It resembles a big comforter in that it is bulky. The air bladder seems to keep the heat in. Although in SoCal, weather is never really an issue. All of my knowledge was gathered by reading from the experts on this board. Thank you!!! I check the chemicals daily with a test strip, quick and easy. First week I added the Leisure Time cholrine which contains CYA. After the first week and ever since, I switched to chlorox, regular strength. My daily check reveals that the chorine is almost zero. I add about 3 oz per day, usually when exiting the spa. It seems to last for about 24hours. My spa has ozone which runs continuously. I get NO chorine smell whatsoever. I check with the Taylor kit once a week. Not the hard once I got the hang of it. Almost everything is in range and my CYA is close to 30. Combined chorine has never been close to .5 so I have not shocked it ever. I am guessing the ozone eats up the spent chorine. The PH has been on the high end of the scale, (purple on the Taylor) kit so I have been adding 1 1/2 to 2 tsp (diluted in water before adding)Spa Down by Leisure Time once a week. The next day the PH is in the middle of the range again. Cool Beans. Foaming has not beenan issue neither has cloudiness. It remains crystal clear. The only product I use is 1 1/4 capfuls of Spa Perfect once per week. Supposedly has enzymes that helps keep everything in check and the water feels silky, never drying or harsh. Once in a while I add Spazazz. Seems to have no effect on the chemicals that I can tell. Once a week I remove the filter and clean it by rinsing with a hose thoroughly. Trick I learned that I will pass on. I take a 3' section of 1/2" PVC, hold the palm of my hand over the end, airtight. Lower the other end into the spa where I see debris on the bottom, schmutz, release the palm of my hand and it get sucked up. Replae my palm over the end, remove the tube and dump that water including the debris out the side. VOILA, homemade vacuum.

I checked with the manufacturer. They confirmed that they had problems so after about 9/20/07 they had the ipod with NO charging. They are looking at coming out with a retrofit kit in the near future that will have the charging feature. Another thought: How about running a 1/8 stero cable from your computer to the aux jack and you will have all of your music. Of course you can't control it except for the volume. If you like this idea but you don;t want to run a long cable, if you have wireless network in your home, get the Apple Express, put it into a/c then a short run of 1/8 cable to your aux.

Just took delivery of the Maxxus. Going in for the first time tonight. I got the stereo/ipos option with the full remote. I was playing around to get the ipod to work and when I mounted it on the base I expected it to charge. The ipod after sitting in the base overnight gave me the message that it needed to be recharged then went off. Anyone have an ansewer to whether this is supposed to be a charging base? Seems silly for it not to be. Thanks, jd

We just bought an Optima last night...we had a special deal thru a local Home and Garden show (9100.00 included 3 months supplies, lifter, steps ..all the normal inclusions but no stereo option). Anyway I asked about the Sundance special...thinking I might do better with that. The sign said "No Interest until 2009". It didn't indicate any slashed prices. The dealer was talking about a "Tent Sale" but I am thinking he was selling showroom spas 2007 models) that he'd be offering in the next few weeks. Which after attending the Home and Garden show...getting there on the 1st day....many floor models were sold some were marking their spas down by 2000.00 (manufacture deal) and then another 500 off on the show model. We went the last day of the 3 day event. If you can wait...check w/Sundance to see if they will be at a Home Show in a major city near you. Good Luck. Thanks, the county fair starts this Friday so I'll check it out. Always plenty of spas for sale. We'lls ee if Sundance is there. Thanskf ro teh tip and good luck with your Optima. Post some pictures!

What you needed to do was to get a quote before September and then go back later and see if there was a change in price. Dealers have to make a certain margin to stay afloat and so does the manufacturer. We've all seen cases where they raise the price and then give money back in the form of a rebate/sale but in the end it's about the same bottom line so they just wrapped it in a different bow. I'm not sure what the case is here but you have to do your homework. Great point. In fact I did do my homework. Two months ago, my son bought the Maxxus with steps, ozone tax and delivery + set up chems. I compared that price, from the same dealer, that he paid with what I was quoted, $10,000, and he used the same number. I added the stereo & spa remote (+900) and deleted the cover (-250) and lifter (-70) so the price was different because of those adjustments. So as far as I can see, no difference this month.

There has been some buzz the Sundance will be having a sale in Sept. I would have thought if this was true then this past weekend would have been the perfect time for it. In talking to one Sundance dealer he stated that Sundance doesn't set the retail price and the ony thing was a financing offer of something like 2% to 2009 but it cost the dealer 4%. Anyone have any more solid info as I am getting ready to pull the trigger but don;t want to miss out. Thanks,

Thanks for taking the time on your well thought out response. Not sure what to do since a regular cover does not seem to work due to space limitations. I did not realize that your last comment, "The cap with 3 bladders is a pain get on and off." was true. The videos I saw made it look easy including this one where the guy has a broken arm.

I am looking at getting a Spacap (air bladder filled flexible cover) due to the reasons a rigid foam cover is too heavy for a one person operation, limited to space, <17" on the left, none on the right and don't want to block the view out the back. This is the only solution I have come up with for my planned purchase of the Maxxus. OK, I am requesting feedback from people who actually have experience with these, not necessarily your guesses. I read the posts about those who test the effectivness of the insulating effeciency and here is the response from the company that makes them. I am in SoCal so we don't have temperature extremes anyway but this subject may come up. Heat gun July 13th, 2007 I have seen a posting on a competitors website regarding a comparison of outside temperature of a rigid foam spa cover verses the outside surface temperature of a SpaCap. The information given there is an opinion of how well the cover works based on pointing a heat sensing gun at both covers while in use. Although the person doing the test may have performed the test accurately and may have used a very sophisticated testing device, they did not actually address the function of a spa cover, keeping the water in the spa warm while using the least amount of energy doing so. Let me start with a brief description of the difference between the two methods of covering the hot tub. First the traditional foam spa cover. A rigid foam cover lays across the surface of the spa on top of the Acrylic, like a bridge over the spa water. In most cases this rigid piece of foam is several inches off the water it is supposed to be keeping warm. Ten to twelve inches of gap between the hot tub water surface and the bottom of the spa cover is not unusual. The SpaCap hot tub cover by comparison lays right on the waters surface and uses closed air chambers to insulate the spa water, similar to how the layers of glass on your storm windows insulate your house. The big difference to note in these two styles is the gap between the spa water and the cover being used to insulate it. The dirty little secret behind rigid foam spa covers is they can Never effectively insulate the spa water. Instead it just covers the spa, reducing, but not eliminating the steam that would otherwise rise off the water’s surface into the atmosphere. A rigid foam cover twelve inches thick would still allow the warm spa water to evaporate into steam, rise up, cool, and condense on the bottom of the cover (if you own one you have seen the droplets on the bottom). The condensation then falls back into the spa cooling the water causing the spa to work harder to keep the water warm. Another thing that happens in rigid foam covers is saturation. You may notice this, as it takes more muscle to lift your cover off your hot tub. Because of the spa environment the steam from the spa water eventually seeps into the foam and condenses in the little air spaces inside. This begins to happen almost as soon as you put it in service. Since those little air spaces in the foam represent insulation, the little value it might have is gone rapidly long before you notice the cover gaining weight. Once the ambient air temperature gets down to freezing the moisture trapped in the foam freezes so in fact you are now trying to insulate your spa with a block of ice. If you were to point a heat sensing device at that frozen block of ice would read the same temperature as the ambient air. Does that mean it is perfect insulation? Unfortunately, no. Herein lies the problem in the heat gun test. Since no rigid foam cover is actually in contact with the water it is supposedly keeping warm and it is in fact in contact with the ambient air above the spa, it is only natural that it would be more relative to the outside temperature. By comparison the SpaCap laying right on the water surface insulates the water in two ways. First, it severely reduces the open water surface by coming in direct contact with it. The spa water consequently cannot evaporate as it does under the foam cover. A side benefit of the reduced evaporation is that the spa chemicals will also stay more consistent and you will be able to use less to get the same results which aside from saving frustration also saves you money. The second way the SpaCap insulates is by using closed air chambers stacked one on top of the other to create barriers of air between the outside ambient air and the water in the hot tub. Think of it like layering your clothes. If you have one layer of clothing on you stay slightly warmer than you would walking around naked. Two layers of clothing on you trap another layer of air around your body and stay warmer. More layers of air equal more insulation so you put on a coat over your shirt, over your underwear. The same is true in the animal kingdom. An animal that has to keep warm traps air around its body with feathers or fur. As long as that system is in good condition the animal stays warm. If the feathers or fur looses their ability to trap air, say it gets covered in oil, then the animal quickly looses heat and dies. Why? Because saturated fur, feathers or foam does not insulate. Trapped air insulates consistently. A twelve year old SpaCap still insulates as well as the first day it was put in service as long as it is still holding air. If you were to point a heat sensing device at the outside of a SpaCap while it is in use it would read some measure of heat, higher than the ambient air. Does that mean it is not insulating? No, it simply means that it is not perfect insulation. A better test would be to place the heat sensor in the water since after all, this is the focus of the insulation. Reading the temperature of the water and how fast it lost heat under a rigid foam cover verses how fast it lost heat while covered with a SpaCap would be a more useful test. This test we have done a number of times over the years. The SpaCap beats every foam cover ever made in this test. There is no other rigid foam filled cover that even comes close enough to call it competition. In fact a saturated foam filled cover tests the same as a piece of wet plywood. The SpaCap is several times better at keeping spa water warm than its nearest competitor. If energy efficiency is what you want get yours with all the insulation options and your SpaCap will pay for itself with the energy you save. Your comments appreciated!

Looking for a price to be prepared when I go to a local dealer, Pasadena area, and making the purchase. Maxxus Stereo with remote that includes pumps 250mg Ozone delivery & taxes Don't need a cover or lifter since I am planning on getting a spacap direct from that company.

Simple question. Having an electrician come our to extend wiring from a box in the wall about 10 ft along the tub in conduit to the tub location. It is 220 50 amp 8 gauge I believe. I think he's planning on putting it in the main panel because there is room in there. Is there any advantages or disadvantages to having the GFI in the panel rather than at the tub other than the inconvenience of walking to the panel to reset? I wouldn't anticipate it to be tripping often. I am planning to have a disconnect near the tub in addition in any case. Thanks in advance.

If you mean September, on the first? I can wait. Anything more specific or clues you'd like to give? jd

In the next month or two I'm looking to get a Maxxus by Sundance. When can I expect to get details on what the new models will have over the 2007 models when when do they typically announce? Any big innovations? Thanks, jd

Thanks for the info. Can you keep us posted on your install and how it works out? Pictures would be great.

Thanks you. I may be in touch with you. jd

Local deal said he could have a cover made for the Sundance Maxxus that would open to the side rather than front to back. I think the difficulty is tha the Maxxus is 9' 2" so three pieces are necessary. Another dealer disputes that and says I can only open front to back due to size. As I am planning installation, I would like to get an unrelated opinion on this. Anyone have ainformation on this?

Sure, I went through a very similiar process and ended up liking the Maxxus by Sundance. It had the strongest foot jets I could find. The depth was 41 1/2 inches where most of the thers were 36-38" It is about 8' wide and 9' 2" long. 3 spearate jet pumps. Here are the specs. Sundance Maxxus Specs What put me over the top was the wet test. Let us know what you decide.

Designing my backyard for spa installation. Is it covenient for getting in and out if I have the deck even with the top of the spa or would lowering it be more convenient? I'm thinking about 2 feet from front to back along one side of the spa. In essence the spa is sitting on the side of a hill if this makes sense. I would be stepping down to the deck then into the spa. Thanks, jd

Thanks for the tips on getting insurance license and workmans comp cert. I now understand that the liability and responsibility lie with me the homeowner and that the crane company can put a lien on my house for different reasonas including not getting paid. That video did scare the crap out of me! Thank you everyone for posting. How much would a helicopter cost? jd

One more thing. Is it true that on the Maxxus the cover cannot be lifted with a lifter to the side; only front or back? One dealer said"no problem" the other said that becasue of the span, it would sag and I would not be happy with it. I may have enough room to the side if this is doable which woudl totally preserve the view. Thanks,

This sounds exactly like what I woudl need. No space needed behind the tub on the ground. Will have to check this out. Found this link. Cover Shelf Thanks so much for the response. jd

I am planning an install in a narrow area and plan on getting the Sundance Maxxus. Here's my questions; How high up will the top of the cover sit over the top of the tub? I would like to get one that rests down and mostly out of sight. The height of the spa is 41 1/2 " Looking towards the backside afffords a nice veiw but it will have to be looking over the cover while sitting in the tub. Is it doable or practical to raise and lower the top from the front of the spa since access to the left and right sides is impractical. There will be a wall on either side, (6-12" from sides of spa) I was told that because of the size of the Maxxus, 7' 6" X 9'2" they use three pieces of foam and it cannot fold to either side, just front or back.