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arches2

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Everything posted by arches2

  1. i believe the jumper settings are in the manual that you can download off their site. I have mine set to 60 amp and it was definitely in the manual but i have an 880 version (2009 altmar).
  2. Don'tBother. The Convenience Of The Hot Tub Will Win Over A Bath Tub That Takes 20 Minutes To Fill, Isn't Deep Enough, AndYou Don't Have Enough Hot Water To Fill. Just Put An Oversize Steam Shower Instead. return On Investment Will Be Higher Than A Tub Too.
  3. here's my thoughts. I am a user, not a dealer or tech. The costco tubs are fine if you are capable of doing your own maintenance and repairs. Curbside means curbside and you'll have a hard time getting repairs if you cna't take care of it yourself. I'm unfamiliar with the south seas so i can't tell about energy efficiency and insulation. That is one of the downsides to a lot of the lower end tubs. they aren't well insulated and cost a lot to run in the cold. I have a sundance (same as jacuzzi) and it's a great tub. I do all my own maintenance and bought it used for cheap. Don't forget the cost of doing the electrical and pad/site prep in your estimates. electrical can run 500-1000 (DIY on my tub was $400, hiring someone double or triple) and i already had a place to put it. Best advise is to WET test it. Get in and take a soak. it makes a difference. Then buy what you like as long as you trust the dealer and will get good service.
  4. I wouldn't worry too much about cleaning the tub. It's really not that difficult. In the water chemistry forum of this board there's a sticky thread about decontamination. If you scrub it down well with soft scrub (non-abrasive bleach cleaner) then follow the decontamination thread you'll be fine. The green mildew/mold you see is pretty normal, especially on the north side of the tub. Mine has that too (especially since my cover lifer is on the north side). I would want to see the tub filled and running for $1800 though. If he can't do that either get a discount or an agreement if it leaks. I personally would take the bullfrog everytime in this deal. i bought mine used in the same age (mine was also three years old) and it's been great, especially the $8000 savings. Finally, The hot springs requires a different wiring setup than most tubs. Unless you had a HS before the wiring will have to be redone. Another reason to go bullfrog.
  5. If the water coming from the circulation piping is hotter than the ambient water then the heater is on. if it is not hotter (i'm sure you can feel when the heater is on yes?) then it could very well be from waste heat. The way master insulates there isn't much between the pumps and the water. First verify if the heater is on just using a feel test. Where are you and what is the outdoor air temp?
  6. it's possible that the pumps aren't fully primed which would make it imposible to get enough flow causing your error. sounds like you have the manual so there is a section on priming the pumps. You should be able to get the jets to come on by pressing the jets button twice. If not then you have flow issues. This model looks to have two pumps. Each pump will control certain jets so not all jets will work unless both pumps are going (three button presses). also try running it with the filter removed and see if you get good flow. the filters can get clogged and cause this. if this is a new to you spa i'd recommend getting new filters anyway.
  7. i'd suspect your heater and the bubbling may have been the water in the heater boiling. Double check your flow switch wiring. Unplug items one at a time until you can not blow the fuse. Then plug them back in one at a time until it pops. then you at least know what's causing it.
  8. There are some 1" white flexible pvc tube that are routed up to the top of the frame and through the 2x4. there's one near each of the air valves. You can tell the are for the jet air mixing because the tubes just end. Put you finger over the end with the air going and the bubble will stop (and you'll hear it). Then you know you've found it. they then go into a manifold with a bunch of small clear lines running to each jet. I have no idea how you'd clean the lines as the manifolds are usually in the foam. perhaps you could pour bleach in there and let it sit for a while then blow it our with compressed air. I've occasionally noticed a smell too. However i think it's associated with the heat and use of the motors inside the cabinent. Since the intakes are inside the cabinet it pulls that warm air into the tub.
  9. The other thing you could do when adding the borax is disolve it in a 5 gallon bucket and put the calculated amount of acid in with it. I've found that this gets me real close on pH quickly and i don't have to spend (hardly) any time chasing the pH after adding the borax.
  10. way to wreck a newbs thread guys. he has a bunch of questions that are difficult to find ansers to and you turn it into another re-mix of the hot spring / master bashing. It's old. I considered master when shopping as they are sold by the largest pool / spa dealer in the area and we see almost none of them on CL or for sale. I wouldn't be afraid to own one but i don't. that said, galosher, you are going to have a hard time owning a spa at you place. No because of the location or climate but because of your schedule. Spa's really require consistent maintenance of the chemicals and water. There are some methods that make life easier and could probably keep your spa going but leaving it unattended for a month is going to really hurt the life of your spa. Things you can do to mitigate: Salt water chlorine is as close to automated disinfection as you can get but it still will get out of whack unattended for 3-4 weeks. pH can get low easily in some systems like bromine with a floater if left unmonitored for long periods of time which will eat the heater and pumps. I'm sure you can work out a solution but this is going to be your biggest hurdle. Most of the major brands have a dicount line that i believe you can add in a BT stereo upgrade. These lines have more basic jets and have the bling stripped off. I'd start with sundance, hot spot (hot springs), etc but like was said above, unless you are an extreme DIY like me the dealer quality is a big deciding point.
  11. see my first inclination after not seeing a drop of water (i saw that you did that) would have been to refill it and confirm a leak. if you had done this you would have saved everyone a lot of time and money. What you did was equivalent of running your car out of gas and calling the dealer for warrantee work.
  12. The thing i got out of this whole thread is if an homeowner isn't willing to do a minimal amount of diagnostics prior to calling in the warrantee they should understand that they might get charged. I would have at a minimum looked in the cabinet for an obvious leak, and refilled the tub to see if it leaked again. In this case it wouldn't have so there would have been no reason to waste anyones time. I think arf should definately be paying and i'm just a homeowner with no skin in the game..
  13. It could also be that your decontamination was only partly successful and you've freed up some extra sanitizer demand that needs to be killed off. Not saying it's likely but just wanted to throw that out there.
  14. Just remember it's going to cost at least another $500 to have it moved (unless you have 4 really good friends and the equipment to move it). I think $4500 is a lot to pay for any used tub. I got my 2009 Sundance Altmar a year ago for $3000 and that was about the max i'd have paid. In the end it's up to you on what you are willing to pay. The limelight is a nice tub but only a 50% discount on a 3-4 year old tub is not enough IMO.
  15. Code only requries a 10 gauge green ground. Running a 6 awg green is a waste of money but if you already have it.... sounds like your plan is fine however i'd start the conduit run inside from the splice before the concrete. Don't know if that is code compliant to bring romex through the concrete wall.
  16. you can also use 20 mule team borax found in the laundry isle as well. search this forum for borax and you'll find a lot of great tips. Your observations was very good on the PH stabilizing though. Borates work wonders for pH stability and make maintenance so much easier.
  17. typically to get a spa to run correctly you have to fill it most of the way up to get water into the filter compartment. If you aren't getting water in there it will run dry. I believe you want it at temperature as the enzyme works better hot but read the label.
  18. Bromine tabs are a combination of dichlor and bromine, hence your confusion. Just brom tabs are all you need. You sound like you were doing all the right things on the N2 system but not knowing the sanitizer levels you were not able to main it properly. remember also that you will need to add sanitzer on a regular basis (daily). The 3 step bromine does this automatically for you and as long as you are able to maintain a bromine level you don't have to add bleach. My usage is low (1 person, 30 minutes, 3-4 times a week) and I rarely have to add bleach unless i want to shock. If my usage was higher i'd have to add a little bleach every time. You are going to want to do a chlorine demand (can be done on bromine too) test after you decontaminate to make sure you got it all but as long as you can maintain that sanitizer level you will keep clear water.
  19. to save 3k it's not a good idea. First IMO and most here clear ray is not worth the money. Searching the spa chemicals forum will find many discussions, that's up to you. An 11 year old spa has a lot of life sucked out of it. The plastics will have degraded, cracks and leaks are that much closer, the pumps are worn, the spa pack is old. There are a lot of pitfalls on any 11 year old tub, expecially with unknown maintenance history. If you were goingto buy it for $1500 and not drop a bunch of money into it and just use it, it's a good deal. When you start looking at what you are it looses most of the value. The altmar is a nice tub, i have an 09 that I bought used and well maintained. I have still had to put a bunch of money into it for a cover and repairing a motor. The cost to move the tub will be close to $500 which is usually not added to the new tub cost. You can do what ever you want to upgrade but it's not plug and play. You will be using the shell and cabinet and repluming it your self.
  20. First and foremost you need to get a proper test kit to understand what is truely going on with your water. Once you do that, it's not hard to maintain a hot tub, especially with bromine. You have a lot of nasties growing in your tub right now. Step 1 will be to read the Decontamination sticky thread in this forum, understand it, reread, then execute it with a water change. Buy a new filter. Step 2 will be to refill, balance the water using the water maintenance sticky thread. step 3 is to pick a sanitizer (i recommend bromine since it's the easiest in terms of forgiveness due to the floater) and read and reread until you thoroughly understand the bromine for beginners sticky thread. In fact, read all the sticky threads and understand them before starting any of this. then you can make the proper informed decisions of how to proceed. Come back here with any questions. We'll get it fixed for you.
  21. one of my air injectors was doing the same thing. Played with the valve and couldn't find anything wrong with it. I started digging foam and found that the mainifold after the valve that directs air to the different jets had cracked. I managed to cob it up enough to prvent 90% of the air from getting in. A lot of work to get in there and replace it as it's all glued.
  22. and it's winter. Mine was $10-15 this past summer. this winter it's close to $80. Using about 10kwh a day.
  23. 1 speed. i switched the wires from pump 1 and 2 and pump 2 ran fine on pump 1's circuit so i know it's in the motor itself. When i say the cap is on the inside i mean on the side of the motor to the inside of the tub where i can't reach it becuase there's stuff in the way. i'm doing fine with just one pump right now (the working one is for the captians chair/foot well which is pretty much the only one i use) so i'll just wait until it warms up in april and drain the tub. I'm seriously overdue for a water change anyway. (August).
  24. Bumping just to see if i'm on the right track. Unfortunately the capacitor is on the inside of the pump where i can't get at it without pulling it completely out and it's too cold to do that right now.
  25. the 5/8 hose is your air intakes for the jets (air insertion). They should go to the air injection valves on the topside then to a manifold that goes to your jet bodies. I think the blower just attached to the 1 1/2 pip and then plugs in 110 to control panel. that's how mine is but it's an 880 version (2009).
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