sharkman009
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Posts posted by sharkman009
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They probably rotted because they were a bunch of leaker spas. If you have a well made spa you won't have all the leaks and poor heat retention you've been discussing that you've seen in your previously sold spas.
If they were leaking it was probably because there was some foam touching the plumbing. I hear that makes pvc brittle.
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well i cant seak for all cal spas ,but we love ours .we have had it for 6 months with no problems and there service is great ,if you want best jets for dollars i would highly recommend cal spa. but take all advise on this board with a grain of salt most of these guys are dealers.
Thats great that you have had good success with yor spa and it sounds like you have a good dealer but thats not always the case and theres a reason there are as many negative comments floating around out there about Cal Spas. I've been repairing them for a lot of years and Cal spas do have a higher failure rate than a lot of other spas on the market.
I would not buy a Cal spa from a dealer that does not have a track record of good customer service. My opinion.
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I use the Frog system and love it. It is very low maintenance and uses minimum chlorine, 0.5 ppm. One chlorine pack lasts me a month.
Thats great but the problem we run into is some dealers present the Mineral systems as being the cure all for maintaining a pool or spa. If they are instructed properly then they do a great job.
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I'm not sure about "aquacal" in particular. Pioneer H2o makes a great automatic salt sanitizing option called the "genesis". After my company began to carry them, I liked the system so much I put one on my pool at home.
The salt system that I am aware of for spas is an automatic "bromine" generator instead of chlorine. The one I put on my pool was a chlorine generator. Basically works the same just one uses sodium bromide as the base instead of sodium chloride. This eliminates the concern of the stability of chlorine in the water because it doesn't produce chlorine.
There is a significant $$ savings with a salt system instead of using standard chemicals. It makes it a LOT easier to take care of and has a 5-year unconditional warranty. The water doesn't smell bad, it doesn't bleach your hair or bathingsuit and makes your skin soft!
The most common question I come accross: "Is it is corrosive?". The amount of sodium in the water is nothing close to the high saline levels of the ocean. It has very low PPM (parts per million) so is not corrosive.
As with all systems, I suggest to test the water weekly just to make sure it is in balance (sanitizer level, alkalinity and PH). No concerns of corrossion if monitored properly.
Back in highschool when I was on the swim team one of the schools had a salt system in it. We loved going to that school. I always felt better after a swim there because it didn't have the "chemical feel" to it. I'm all for a salt sytem. I think even though they cost a bit more up front... it's worth every penny in the long run in my opinion. Again, this is in regards specifically to the "genesis" by pioneer h2o... not sure about aquacal.
I have tried the bromine generating systems and regardless of what the manufacturers claim the water is corrosive enough to eat heating elements in months.
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If you think that is bad just wait for another to take its place.
I think he said he had replaced it with another brand and his operating costs were less.
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And get more suggestions like "Yukon Cornelius"?
I think we'll pass... I was ROTFL while trying to make my oh-so-straight reply to spatech earlier and forgot to mention the excellent account of the Klondike at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush.
On gold and silver trim, I found this at http://www.msmindy.com/rudolph/script.shtml:
Yukon Cornelius: You're going to stay with me and we'll all be rich with the biggest silver strike this side of Hudson Bay. Silver!!
Hermey: I thought you wanted gold.
Yukon Cornelius: I changed my mind.
So, no to gold trim. YC has changed his mind The trim on Arctic Spas will stay silver.
And for a Yukon Cornelius model we can all enjoy, try http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink2566.html.
Tom
Go home and have about a half dozen of those shots and then the name that spa contest will sound a lot more appealing. Just think of how entertaining it would be.
Im going home and trying that drink that sounds pretty good.
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The names of our models reflect northern wildlife (Arctic Fox, Cub, Kodiak, the former Marmot and Husky), geophysical features (Avalanche, Frontier, Tundra, Summit), or our northern heritage (Klondiker, Yukon)
The Klondikers were the "thousands and thousands of people from around the world who left their jobs, their families, and their homes to join the great gold rushes to Alaska and the Klondike gold fields in the late nineteenth century." They followed the Chilcoot trail through Canada's Yukon Territory. See http://www.nps.gov/klgo/adhi/adhi3.htm.
A monument near the summit of the Chilcoot pass reads:
IN 1897 KLONDIKE STAMPEDERS BY
THE THOUSANDS FUNNELED OVER THIS
ANCIENT INDIAN TRAIL, ENDURING
INCREDIBLE DEPRIVATIONS AND
HARDSHIPS. THEIR TENACIOUS SPIRIT,
DOMINATING ALL OBSTACLES, CONTINUES
TO INSPIRE PIONEERS VENTURING NORTH
TO THE FUTURE.
Arctic Spas is proud to have named a spa, the Klondiker, in recognition of this spirit. Other Arctic Spa names, the Yukon and the Summit, also reflect this common Canadian and American heritage.
AFAIK we have no plans for a "Cornelius" model, but we will give serious consideration to the gold trim.
Hey Tom,
Maybe you could have a name the spa contest the next time you release a new model.
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The rust is not flaky, it's bumpy, almost like mold. Both pool contractors--the liner guy and the fiberglass paint guy want to sandblast to get rid of rust before putting in a liner or before painting with fiberglass paint. The dispute seems to be about which, in the end, will do a more lasting job.
If its bumpy then you do need to sandblast it first. As they sand blast it they are going to have to collect any pieces that come off so you dont have any pieces effecting the bottom of the new liner. After it has been sandblasted I would apply one of the rust treatments to the steel that I described before. You dont have to worry about the rust coming through the liner it wont happen. There are thousands of inground vinyl liner pools across the country and we change liners on old pools and find some of the old steel wall pools where the walls have rusted and it doesnt effect the liner.
I would put the foam in there to give you a barrier between the wall and the liner.
Another thing to take into consideration if you expose fiberglass to the chemicals that you use to maintain your pool youl will get Cobalt staining. The stains can be removed but it will be an continual thing to deal with.
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The contractor I spoke with most recently argues strongly against foam, saying that the liner will slide down (the bottom is sloped) and that it will not protect the steel from rusting. Is there a down side to fiberglass paint?
You definately dont want to fiberglass that you will end up with a mess. Are the steel walls flaking apart where they are rusting? If it isnt flaking apart there are products out that will eat the rust and turn the surface of the steel black. You can then apply an adhesive so the wall will be tacky to apply the wall foam that pool lady is talking about. Then you can drop a liner in the pool. Anything you paint on the rusty surface is not going to stick and eventually paint will come off. I have rebuilt some pretty bad pools using a liner. I believe that is your best bet.
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I am in NY. So it gets pretty cold up here. June-Aug are nice (hot) but from Sept-April its normally pretty chilly. So, do you recommend going the 220V route?
If you plan on sitting in the spa longer than a half hour I would go 220. I would never be happy with 110 on a cold winter night where I'm at but then again I sit in my spa for an hour at a time.
One thing you might want to do is try it 110 and if your not happy with it you have the advantage of being able to convert it without to much trouble other than running the 50 amp cicuit and installing the breaker.
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I've heard that their kind of service is no service.
That part of the service comes AFTER your purchase.
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You can't run the heater at the same time as the Jets, that's one thing that I did'nt like about it, But when I mentioned what I did'nt like about that spa in a previous post, someone got upset at me, so I was keeping my mouth shut this time.
I would never be happy with that in our area during the winter. But then again I would never buy a spa with that many jets.
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I AM LOOKING AT THE ORLANDO , I WET TESTED ONE THE OTHER DAY UNBELIVABLE ,ULTAMATE COTROLE OF ALL JETS IN EACH SEAT !!!
Out of curiosity what are they asking for that spa? Theres a couple of things I would check out on that spa. 2 5hp and 2 3 hp pumps? How are they running all of that on a 50 amp service. Of course you would need that many pumps to run 171 jets.
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Telling someone to check out thermospas is like saying, "How'd you like to have a really hard core salesman spoil you entire evening in your house for 4 hours before you kick him out".
Well then they can justify charging you $16,000 for a spa because "no other spa dealer out there offers this kind of service."
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You should have at least went to lucnh on them and listened to their presentation. Then when you said no the rep would excuse himself and go call his manager and come back with another deal like "We just got a truckload of spas that were canceled by a dealer in Iowa. If you take us on I can get you those spas for 20% off".
Hey thats a good idea. I probably could have gotten a free trip to the factory out of them.
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I gotta question how anyone could put Thermospas on their list of spas to check out.
Whats funny is their current program must not be working they contacted us about becoming a dealer.
When I caught my breath and got up off the floor from laughing and said not just no but HELL NO!
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Dont forget Coleman and Artic, and thermospa
I think I would leave Thermospa out of that list. My Opinion.
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Some people think that bromine is not compatible with chlorine. But if you read the label of bromine tablets, it contains 1-bromo 3-chloro. So bromine tablets actually contain chlorine. That's because pure bromine (sodium bromide) by itself is inactive. It needs an oxidizer (like to chlorine or monopersulphate) to activate it. Since bromine is more expensive and not stablized, you might as well just use chlorine.
However, if you want to get totally away from using harsh chemicals (like chlorine or bromine) you might want to consider an alternative product like Pristine Blue or a mineral system like The Frog.
Even with a mineral system like the frog you still need to use chlorine to maintain a residual of sanitizer. The mineral system by itself will not keep a pool sanitized. Bromine is more expensive and does have some advantages over chlorine in certain applications.
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Before I open my pool for the season, I was wondering if it is possible to switch from chlorine to bromine and what I will have to do if I choose to make this change. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thank you
Rob
If your pool is indoors or covered you can use Bromine but it is not recommended for outdoor pools. And you dont have to do anything to switch. You can just start adding bromine tabs to your feeder. If you switch and you want to switch back to chlorine later then you would have to drain the pool if you wanted to get rid of all the Bromine. Bromine will not leave the water like chlorine does and once it is added it is always present in the water. In certain applications it is a good alternative to chlorine.
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If you do buy outside your area ask about trip charges on warranty calls so you know up front whats coming if you do need service.
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I think you better go back reread everything. If I took something as insult that was not intended to be such I apologize. I think when I was being insulting I was very clear about it. Not that its a good thing.
. But really I have never heard someone complain about having their water too clean or is filtered just to many times. The real deal is this. I started finding this whole thing a bit comical a while back. Shark-man I am sure your a good guy who is passionate about what you represent. All the best to you.Fair enough. Apology accepted
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Jack lets see you do have a basic understanding of math right ? Jack if you are looking to have some smoke blown up your a## I am sure there are many who are willing to do so. But here is the bottom line when the Hot Springs filters using the circ pump only one filter (about 30 sq ft) is being used and again depending on the size of your spa it will filter the body of water about 18 to 28 times a day . Now the larger pump will filter the water again depending on the size about 65 to 80 times a day and giving you the benefit of the doubt you do understand that 65 to 80 is more than 18 to 28 if not please go back and see your 3rd grade teacher and they can help you. My whole point to all of this was all along to simply say that they are several good makers of spas who all do things in a different way but for some reason many people here feel Hot Springs is the only way or the best way and in the real world that is simply not true. Again I am not saying Hot Springs is not a good spa that never was my intent but please to you and Shark-man you both seem to feel the need have some sort of superiority. Again Jack there are several good makers out there you do own one of them but is not the only one. It is interesting to note that no one disputed what was shared earlier about how you can build something cheaper in different ways. And we can go back and forth forever. Unlike Dan I am not telling you one is superior to the other just that both have valid and legitimate reasons as why you may want to do things one way or another.
What cracks me up is I NEVER heard anyone say that Hotsprings way is the only way. I even made the comment that in the past I would have agreed with you. We all know from your responses what you believe and you clearly ARE saying one is superior to another. If you dont like being corrected then get your info right and nobody can correct it. You keep making the same mistake of grouping the Hotspring system with all circ systems and there is a HUGE difference. The 2 speed systems WILL keep the water filtered but most of it is overkill. Go ahead and try to tell me that most spas need to turn over 65 times in 24 hours.
Even on a commercial spa that has much heavier swimmer loads the NSPF recommended turnover is ONCE every half hour. And thats a spa that has people going in and out all day long.
I'll tell you one thing, you made a comment to me about throwing around insults, you need to go back and read your threads as anything I did say to you was in response to your smart a$$ comments. And just like this response. If you cant give a response without being insulting to people why dont you just keep your info to yourself.
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>>Most pool/spa supply stores like people like you because they make a lot of money off of them.<<
Most of the pool/spa supply stores I've been in, recently, DON'T carry the BaquaSpa product line. I finally resorted to driving to the dealer who sold me our tub because I KNEW he had it. If, as Waterbear says, spa supply stores like to sell BaquaSpa then why did all of the hot tub dealers we visited when we were shopping try to talk us out of using BaquaSpa? Even the place where we ultimately bought our tub initially discouraged us from using BaquaSpa!
I suspect that in actuality, pool/spa dealers make lots more money on chlorine and bromine sanitizers because the profit margin is better.
Until we chanced upon a BaquaSpa-sanitized outdoor hot tub at a friend's house a couple of years ago, we were convinced that a tub wouldn't work for us because we DON'T LIKE chlorine or bromine. We've been in numerous "heavily chlorinated" tubs over the years (my gym, her health club, hotel hot tubs, other friends' tubs) and regretted the chlorine/bromine experience every time. Had we not had the good fortune of having friends who had "discovered" BaquaSpa (yes...they switched from bromine to BaquaSpa!), we may never have had the pleasure of having our own outdoor tub.
IMO, $300.00 a year for products to keep my hot tub clean and healthy isn't much at all. Heck! Most of my neighbors have $68.00 per month cable television bills!
Your right for a spa that is used regularly $25 a month isnt bad. I use softsoak in my spa and regardless of the stories you hear I'll never switch back. Its nice to get in the spa and when you get out you cant even tell there is any chemical in there. In my case I would pay more if I had to just because of the feel of the water.
I've also found the chemical levels in my area easier to maintain after swithching from bromine to softsoak.
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One thing you are leaving out when you compare an aquarium to a spa is on an aquarium you are trying to maintain some types of bacteria in an aquarium and in a spa you are trying to keep the spa as free of bacteria as possible.
But again I would say that is comparing apples and oranges.
My point on the water pressure was to point out that regular soaking of a filter is recommended to keep the filter clean and chlorine is not recommended as a degreaser but your right TSP is a degreaser and does a good job.
I realize the OEM recommend TSP as a alternative degreaser but you wont find ANY that recommend TSP being mixed with Muratic acid.
In fact you never should soak a filter that has body oils on it in a muratic acid solution as the acid will set the oils into the material. You should always degrease your filter first and then if neccesary then you can soak it in a acid solution to remove any scale buildup.
What's The Best Spa Vac?
in Portable Hot Tubs & Spas
Posted
I use a Paradise spa vac. No pumping or connecting it to a garden hose. And you do not remove water from the spa when vacuming. They retail for $48.00.