jmgodfr

Yeah - agree, the "schill" is not helpful to people, folks don't come on here for marketing speak, but are looking for real world experiences. All the Mkting BS does is fill up the forums.

I've had an Arctic for about 10 weeks in Northern CA at about 4,000 feet, was snowing and in the 30s when delivered, have to fill it with well water about two hours for well pump and then another 6-8 hours to get up to 100 degrees, have filled it twice as I did the first fill and ran for a week then dumped.(Norwegian 8 foot) temps were "cool" for first few weeks 30s at night and 50s in the day and warm the past couple. The first "real month" of fill and running cost me about 100 bucks, tub is used everyday at least 2 times a day for about 40 minutes a crack. To me - you get into this game, you expect the costs and the 20-30 bucks a month here or there between competing tubs wasn't a big deal to me. I was mostly interested in having a quality tub, ease of maintenance, having full access to the inner workings to me just in case was far more important then saving some bucks on the energy. But I realize different priorities for different folks. To me unless someone can come up with a tub that is 50% head and shoulders above anyone else on efficiency, the monthly electrical is not important and the construction and serviceability is more more. But that was my priority, different priorities for different folks. Very pleased with initial impressions with Arctic - hopefully a few years from now I'm just as impressed.

I'd disagree with this - I have an ozonator and salt water generator - they run for 5 and 6 hours per day respectively - I followed the recommendations on this site, lowered my TA to 50, added 50ppm Borates, PH is at 7.4. It takes about 5 days to get to 7.6, then I add a little dry acid 15-20 grams and PH goes back down to 7.4 and TA stays in the 50-55 range. This is an acrylic tub so the plaster and fiberglass rules don't apply. CH is only 60, CYA-25, FC-2, CC .3-.4. Tub is used daily 2-3 times per day for 30-40 minutes at a time - even will all that aeration PH still takes 5 days to get up to 7.6.

Kind of what I figured - so many different MFG recommendations out there, I was trying to follow the MFG recommendation of TA-100, if I did that I was on the dreaded roller coaster. Since I found all the good info on this site and got my water adjusted per the recommendations and added my borates, it has held stable for 2 weeks now, stayed clear and soft. Tub is an Arctic Norwegian 600 gallons, it gets used daily by the two of us sometimes 2-3 times a day for about 30-40 minutes at a time and wife is loving the water now. I've been able to just run with the SWG for a total of 6 hours a day and Ozone for 5 (Arctic has 4 cycle times per day 00:00, 06:00, 12:00, 18:00) so those total run times get spread out. FC consistently stays 2.5-4, with CC between .3-.4, but there is no smell or irritation so not worrying about the small amount of CC at this time. So the net/net - I've kind of tossed the MFG recommendations out, except for the Salt amount, focused on the recommendations on this site and my water quality has gone up dramatically and I haven't had to add a thing to it in almost 2 weeks. I do test it everyday at the same time for PH and Chlorine and things pretty much are the same on a daily basis.. Current Numbers FC-2.8 CC-.3-.4 TA 45-50 (Arctic recommends 80-100) PH 7.4 - takes about 5 days with multiple use to reach 7.6 CH 60 - (Arctic onzen guide says 50-100 but there is an addendum on the back that says 50 with zero preferred) figure I'm close enough so I ain't gonna mess with it. CYA - 25 (Started at zero, I had used DICHLOR boost a few times) - but since I got my PH in line it has been almost 2 weeks with no need to boost) Salt 1800 Temp 100 F So again - thanks to all of you that provide your expertise and knowledge on this site - since following the advice - I've got a very enjoyable pretty much no fuss Hot Tub experience.

So arctic onzen guide recommends CH of Zero with onzen. I've been reading water balance guide and see CH recommended at 100+. I've been fighting ph issues but have finally got it pretty stable with TA of 50. Will be adding my borates next. Just wondering what you water experts think of the Arctic recommended parameters. I also have ozone in addition to the SWG. My Numbers PH. 7.5-7.6 TA 50-55 CH 60 Sodium 1800 ppm Arctic Onzen Recomended Calcium hardness maximum of 50 ppm (0 preferred) Alkalinity 80 and 120 ppm pH 7.0 and 7.6 Thanks for all the hard work and info you all put into this forum.

Trex is not 100% plastic and it is not hollow/honeycombed. It is solid boards made of a combination of scrap wood and recycled plastics, it cuts, routes, and can even be stained if you desire, it is not brittle in the freezing temps. It reaches maximum fade in about 16 weeks, I've had mine for 6 years, it faded in the first 4-6 months and hasn't faded beyond that - a good test of the maximum fade is to cut the end off a board, what you see is close to what the faded color will look like. I just added to my existing 6 year old deck and the ends of the new boards are the same color as the faded old boards, so I know eventually the top part of the addition will be close to matchine the original deck. There are other composit decks out there that are hollow and 100% recycled. Lots of horry storys about mold with Trex - but if you look at the source it is mostly from humid/coastal/moist climates, I live in dry area and have not had any issues.

Trex is fine when done correctly and no mold issues in dry climates. I'ts your joists and posts that need to be considered. I live at 4500 feet near Kirkwood - I don't get the snow like you do in Mammoth, but it will come 3 feet at a time, but I'm religious about cleaning it off - I've seen neighbors with other composite decks that have had issues with screws pulling etc from the thaw freeze cycle, but again - after the storm is over I blow it off. I installed 600 square feet of Trex back in 2006 have had no issues, we just added another 800 square feet this summer, the one thing is that the new material is about a 16th of an inch thinner then original (we are using Trex Accents which at the time was their premium version). The sub-structure is all Douglas Fir that was painted before install. My contractor had done another house back in 2006 that used Trex beams etc, there was a lot of problems with those rotting out etc, but the decking itself was fine. I've had no mold issues - but again I keep the snow off and we are in dry climate. Trex has numbers on pounds per square foot material decking is rated for based on joist span etc. If you are not a full timer at mammoth and the snow is going to sit - I'd maybe consider wood.