ehansen2580

Anania, thanks for the reply. This was posted several years ago. I've had so many problems with my Hot Spring Spa that I've drained it and shut it down. I replaced the salt system with an ozoninator after the third salt cell failed and they wouldn't replace it u der warranty even though I was still within the time period. Then water got into the control panel and it stopped working. I regret buying Hot Spring Spa. Their service is pretty bad and the unit breaks easily.

Anania, I resolved it by getting rid of the piece of junk Ace system and putting an ozone unit in. I had gone through 3 Ace cells and Hot Springs wouldn't support the warranty even though the units kept failing. I never got good support from them on solving the problem and they just wanted me to buy new cells for about $700 per. The ozone unit worked great and I never had a problem with it. I had to add very little chlorine and got basically the same results I expected with the Ace except the ozone unit was reliable. What you are doing makes sense to me. Though I did make sure my cell was in the same position as the previous cell. Just an aside, I'm never buying a Hot Springs again. They pretty much suck when it comes to customer service.

fhp6, yeah draining the spa is real pain. If you have a loca dealer just take a sample in and have them check it. They should be happy to help you. I'm really disappointed with Hot Springs as I've had nothing but problems since I got my spa. The ACE system hasn't worked well, teh cover doesn't fit well against the tub and the lights often flash random colors. I'd return it if I could but I don't see that happening.

fhp6, my first cell went bad within 6 months of having the spa. The second went bad 6 months after that. The first time my salt reading went low on the display so I added salt. I didn't see much difference in the salt reading so I took a sample to my local dealer. They tested and of couse it tested way high. After much back and forth they determined the cell was bad and was leading to false indications on the display. So now I don't rely on the display for my salt levels. I use the test strips. I'm hearing the test strips aren't that accurate either, so I tend to take a sample to my spa dealer whenever I think there is an issue and they test it for free. The second cell went bad and the same indication occured with low salt being displayed. Instead of doing anyting else I had the water tested and the salt levels were fine. They extended my warranty a few weeks and replaced the cell a second time under warranty, which was nice. But I'm thinking these cells are good for 6 months now and then need replacment. Could be wrong, next one that dies I'll probably switch to some other methods on this site for keeping the water balanced. I really like the ACE system, when it works it works really well. When it doesn't work its maddening to determine the root cause.

PreservedSwine, thanks. I figured it was accumulation of the gas released by the cell. I don't understand why if it's generating gas, and presumably chlorine, that my free chlorine is always at 0.

Looks like you have a temperature sensor failure or issue according to the users manual. You should call your dealer as it's still under warranty and they'll check it out for you.

So a bit of an update. I've checked that the ACE Cell is generating bubbles. So the cell itself seems to be working. I notice that when I open the filter hold-down a large volume of gas (big bubbles) are released. This only happens in the filter with the ACE cell. I spoke with Islanders Spa and they said the filter needs to be cleaned which seems to be their reply to just about everything. It was pretty clean, but I bought a brand new filter anyway and put it in with the ACE cell. Let it work overnight and opened the filter hold down this morning and again large bubbles were released. I would think it's my recirculation pump but I would think if the recirc pump wasn't flowing then I would see overheats and the water would cool down, which it isn't. It really seems like water isn't flowing through the ACE cell for it to circulate through the entire tub. Any suggestions?

FHP6, you need to go into your user panel and confirm the Use Level. This needs to be done every 3 months. Just go to that particular screen and hit confirm. Your light should stop blinking immediately. You may need to confirm the Spa Size as well, I don't think this is the case but don't recall off hand.

Gifti, Thanks for the thorough reply. I had similar experience with my spa until a couple months ago when I first posted. The ACE system seemed flawless and I rarely had to add additional chlorine. The only times were when my kids would have a lot of friends over and I'd add a teaspoon or two of disinfectant to the tub. Other than that it would keep the water crystal clear and the levels would remain very constant. I had a tech from Islander's Pools and Spa's come by this week. My analysis of the job he did concluded he doesn't know what he's talking about. He reported my free chlorine as good (even though there clearly isn't any free chlorine) and that he has seen worse looking spa's than mine. Need to follow-up with there service group tomorrow as this is the second visit this tech made and he obviously isn't a very good tech. Best of luck with your system.

Thanks for the feedback. If I don't get it working I'll look up those methods and I'll adopt one. Obviously I'd prefer to get the ACE system working since I bought it and it really does work well when it's working. I tried cleaning the cell today with murcuric acid and it looked like it may have cleaned the cell a bit better. I held the cell under water after cleaning it and there were bubbles being generated so it may be working now and the more thorough cleaning may have been all that was needed. We shall see.

I purchased a Hot Springs Vanguard in August 2012. I purchased it with the ACE System as I liked the idea of not having to add chemicals and everything I read made me believe the system worked pretty well. I will say that when it's working it works great. Rarely would I have to add anything to the water, really only after the kids would have friend over and it was really heavily used I would add a bit of disinfectant and that's it. The problem I have is that the cell keeps failing. I've had it replaced twice already and it looks like it's not working again. The previous two times it would show very low (no) salt and wouldn't generate any free chlorine. I would test the water and the salt levels would be fine. Call service and they would say the cell was bad and replace it under warranty. Now I'm out of warranty and the system isn't working again. It's reporting the salt level correctly but not generating any chlorine. Talking to the guy at the local spa shop he suggested the electronic control board might be shot. Any suggestions?