Quickbeam

Don't know anything about the Caldera or Artesian, but I've always really liked the Jacuzzi J-355. That was the tub I would have liked to have, but because our tub was going on a roof deck, we had a size and weight restriction. Couldn't get the J-355. We ended up with the Jacuzzi J-345. It is just a little bit smaller and a little lighter, but was enough of a difference to satisfy the engineer. Don't get me wrong, we like the J-345 just fine, but if I didn't have those restrictions, I think we might have ended up with the J-355, although to be fair we never did wet test the J-355. Please do let us know which tub you end up with and your impressions of the different tubs you look at. Good luck in your search!

Can't help you with the comparison, but we do have a Jacuzzi J-345 and quite like it. We've had it for almost two years now and aside from a couple of minor things, it has been pretty reliable.

Jacuzzi makes a good tub, but they may be out of your price range. Don't know anything about Nordic, but I think (???) I've read that they are a decent tub for the money. Don't take my word on the Nordic though as I am really not sure about this one. I would do a little more research on the Nordic and then go to the two dealers and see how they treat you and what your gut tells you about them. It is definitely not the best that they haven't been in business that long but maybe ask them what got them into the business, what they did before this, etc., etc. Get a feel for them. It was said in another thread on this forum that getting the right dealer is important and that is absolutely true. You need to be comfortable with who you are buying from. You also want to know they are going to take care of you if anything goes wrong. And after you've done all this, then make sure you wet test whichever spa you are interested in. It can be the best dealer in the world, but if the spa doesn't feel good once your in it, then nothing else really matters.

Sorry, but I don't know what price point those spas are at, but one thing I have found is that prices can vary a great deal depending on where you are located. You might want to give out your general location, because a price in one part of the country will very likely not have any bearing on what the price should be in another part.

I haven't been on this forum for quite some time and then a couple of days ago decided to take a look and see what was happening. Was presently surprised to see how it has been cleaned up. Last time I was on here there were all kinds of pop up ads and lots of spam. Had almost made the forum unusable. Was really nice to see the difference. Congratulations to all those who cleaned this up!

"Dan the Spa Man" gives you good advice. I'd only add one thing. He says that if you're not comfortable in the tub dry then you won't be comfortable in it wet. This is probably true, but I would take that one step further. Even if you are comfortable in the tub dry, this does not mean you will be comfortable in it wet. It is absolutely imperative that you wet test before you buy. Most people I know wouldn't buy a car without a test drive. Same thing with a tub. You just shouldn't buy without wet testing.

Most people will advise you to change your water every three to four months. As for the Clear Ray bulb, some will say you can wait eighteen months, but we are going to change ours after one year (we have the J-345).

What Lowrey gets away with is criminal. I understand that a business has to make money and I don't mind a business making a reasonable profit, but quite simply they are ripping off the public with these prices. I suppose this is what happens when you are the only ones with the distribution rights.

Not sure if this is an issue one way or the other to you, but I believe the Sundance has a circ. pump whereas the Marquis does not.

I just recently did my first water change and would like to get some advice re balancing my water. My numbers are as follows: PH - 7.6 TA - 30 CH - 130 I know that my TA is low, but it needs to be at 30 for my PH to stay stable during aeration. My TA was also at 30 during my initial fill. Given the numbers above, my Saturation Index is just under -0.5 (our hot tub is at 101 degrees), which puts my water out of balance. I could raise my PH to 7.8 which would bring me in balance but Im wondering if I really need to, as I am thinking a PH of 7.6 is a pretty good number. I remember that Chemgeek had once said that with an acrylic shell tub with no exposed plaster or grout there is no real need for having the CSI be near zero. So my real question is, should I leave my PH at 7.6, or should I add some borax and try and bring the PH up to 7.8?

Thanks Chem Geek. I'll take a look for Boric Acid. I have the Taylor test kit K-2106. Do I need to get some other kit to measure the Borates to 50 ppm? Thanks again.

I was wondering if anyone can give me some ideas on what I should do to balance my water? I started out with tap water with the following: PH - 7.4 TA - 220 CH - 210 My local spa store (not my dealer) had told me I should add 1/4 cup per week of Spa Stain Control for the calcium hardness. I added 1/4 cup of this once and then ran the jets for about 20 minutes. The next test showed the following: PH - 8 TA - 150 CH - 140 I have been chasing my tail ever since trying to get the PH down. I am using PH down (dry acid) to try and get it down but I cannot get it stable. It keeps jumping back up. As an example yesterday afternoon I had the following numbers: PH - 7.4 TA - 70 CH - 130 The above numbers were taken after adding PH down and running the jets for a good 40 minutes and letting the tub sit for a while. I know the numbers arent perfect but after my wife and I went in the tub last night I took the numbers again this morning, and once again the PH is off the chart. It is over 8. This is what is happening on a regular basis. I keep adding PH down and after I run the jets for a good 40 minutes the PH stays down. Then we go in the tub in the evening and the next morning the PH is back off the chart. I know I need to get the TA to a point where it stabilizes the PH, but I just dont know how much further down I can take the TA? I read somewhere not to go below 50. Should I just keep going until the TA gets to 50? Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Bullfrog has a salt system???

We live in North Vancouver, but have a summer cabin in the Valley, and it is the summer cabin where the hot tub is going. Crystalview will be delivering it for us. They really have been great to deal with. They brought in a tub for us to wet test, with no obligation to buy on our part. And in fact we are not buying that tub. After wet testing we decided we liked the J-345 better than the one they had brought in for us (they brought in the Jacuzzi J-335 for us to wet test). And once again Angelie, if you need any further information please don't hesitate to get in touch with me. This really can be a daunting process.

Hello Angelie 1, We also live close to Vancouver and are just in the process of purchasing our first spa. We have decided to get the Jacuzzi J-345. Like you, we were really confused on what to get, and after doing a lot of research and going on a couple of different hot tub forums, we came to realize there are a couple of things that are really important. First of all, and Im sure you have already picked this up, it is really important to wet test whatever spa you are considering. The other thing is to find a dealer you can trust. Dont know if you have considered either Sundance or Jacuzzi, but Crystalview Pool, Spa and Patio in North Vancouver has been nothing short of fantastic for us to deal with (they sell Sundance and Jacuzzi). I should also say I have no affiliation with them, and while we know the spa were buying, and have agreed to a price on the spa, we havent actually purchased it yet. We will be doing so in the next couple of days. If you would like any further information on them or the person we dealt with, send me a P.M. and Id be glad to supply you with the information. Good luck with your search!

Thanks for your response njmurvin, but the wiring has already been checked. The electrician ran #8 wire and it definitely needs to be re-wired for me to have 60 amp service. So, for anyone else out there, should I get it re-wired or just leave it and run on 50 amps? Is there anyone out there who has either a Jacuzzi or Sundance, in a colder climate, running on 50 amps? If so, what has your experience been? Thanks again for any help you might be able to provide!

We built a new cabin and had it pre-wired to put a hot tub on our roof deck. Unfortunately, our electrician only wired for 50 amp service. We are now seriously looking at getting a Jacuzzi tub - probably either the J-335 or the J-345. In any case, with both Jacuzzi and Sundance, from my understanding, if you have 50 amp service and have two pumps on at the same time, the heater kicks out. The salesman we are dealing with is a good guy who has treated us well. He tells us not to worry about the 50 amp service as the vast majority of his customers only wire for 50 amps. He says that when the heater kicks out, the heat from the pumps is enough to compensate for this. I would like to know from others out there if this is true? I really dont want to be in the middle of winter and find that I have to shut off a pump, and therefore jets, because the water is getting cold. I can have the electrician re-wire for 60 amps, although the wires would need to come through one of the walls and be run outside the house. Its not a deal breaker, but is obviously not what I had in mind when we had the place pre-wired. I also know its going to cost me more money to get the wiring done to 60 amp., but I think Ive got a pretty good argument to the electrician that he should have wired to 60 amp in the first place. I know I wont get it for free, but Im hoping that if I went ahead with it I would get a bit of a break on price. Bottom line is this - if I have two pumps engaged and the water is going to start getting cold then I think I would rather bite the bullet now and get the 60 amp service. If however, our salesman is correct and the heat from the pumps is enough to keep the water from getting cold, then Ill leave it with the 50 amp service. I would save myself some money and also not need to run wires on the outside. But I really, really dont want to have to shut down jets to keep the water warm. Also, I should let you know that I live in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The winter weather can get cold, but not like it does in the Prairies. So, what do you guys think - stay with 50 amps or go to 60? Does anyone have real world experience with 50 amps with either Jacuzzi or Sundance? Thanks so much for your help.

Not sure what you are looking for in speakers, but if you want a great stereo system, look up Sonos. I'm not in any way affiliated with them, but I have the system and it is great. The speakers are portable, the only thing is that each speaker needs to be plugged in to an electrical outlet. So if you have electrical outlets close to where you want your speakers, you might want to look at this system.

Thank you for the examples of different cover lifters. I had thought of the first example, and it would work when it is just my wife and I, but when we are entertaining that cover lifter arrangement would go right into our sitting area. Still, when we are entertaining we will have help to take the cover off and put it back on without a lifter, so it is definitely a consideration. The second one is also interesting, although I would need to make sure it did not come up so high as to cut us off from the sitting area. Once again, I really appreciate the suggestions!

I'm the original poster and sorry, but I never said I wasn't keen on Bullfrog. What I said was that I didn't know about Bullfrog and I was asking for opinions as to whether or not it was in the same league in terms of build quality and reliability as the others I mentioned. I do appreciate the fact you've provided your opinion, as well as all the others that have provided their opinions. Yesterday is the first time we have had the opportunity to go and look at Bullfrog. Didn't do a wet test, just wanted to go and talk face to face with a dealer and take a look at the tubs. I thought the tubs were good looking and well finished. I like the idea they don't have any wood in them, although I'm not sure in the end how big a deal that is. I also like that the jet packs can be moved. I don't buy that people will move them around all the time but I can see them being moved initially so you can put your favourite jet pack in the particular seat you want. I know you said you can just change seats in any other spa, but for our particular application, we will be putting our spa on a roof deck with a view, so the seat we are sitting in does make a difference. I can tell you we are having a difficult time finding a spa the size we want with the seats oriented correctly so we can take advantage of the view. The other thing that really appeals to me about Bullfrog is the reduced amount of plumbing. To me at least, the less plumbing you have the less the chances of a leak, and that part is probably the most appealing thing to me about Bullfrog. Having said all the above, I don't think Bullfrog will be for us. We are limited in the size of spa we can have and unfortunately it does not look like Bullfrog will meet what we are looking for. I can't say if we didn't have any limitations we would be buying Bullfrog, but it would at least be in consideration. Thanks so much to all who have posted and shared their opinions.

My wife and I are looking to purchase our first hot tub and I have a question about spa covers and in particular cover lifters. Everyone I talk to says I need to get a cover lifter, but given our circumstances I am looking for an alternative. We will be putting the spa in the corner of a roof deck. We have a great view of a lake that I want to take advantage of and we will have this view from three sides of the hot tub. The fourth side of the tub will open out onto a seating area and this is most likely where the stairs will be placed (for entry to the tub). The bottom line is that I don't want the spa cover to get in the way of our view or block out the seating area. So, I would like some way to get the cover off the hot tub and be able to move it away from the tub. I am wondering if I just built some kind of small trolley on wheels. Could I just fold the cover over, slide it half way off the tub, then use the tub as a fulcrum point and tip the cover off the spa and onto a small wheeled trolley and then wheel the cover out of the way? Does this sound feasible? As always any thoughts are appreciated.

Brettnolan, Sorry, I missed it in your earlier post that you were a repair technician. If you don't mind, would you be willing to answer the same question I asked of AquaParadise? That is, in terms of build quality and reliability, how would you rate Marquis, Sundance, Jacuzzi, Hot Springs, and Bullfrog? Thanks.

Thank you for your replies. In answer to Brettnolan, unfortunately we do not have enough room on our roof deck to have access all around the tub. It will be wedged into a corner and there is just no way around that. Another reason I want to make sure we get a reliable tub. And in answer to AquaParadise, thanks for your post and your recommendation of Marquis. I keep hearing they are a good tub, but this part on the warranty threw me a bit. I gather you regularly service tubs? If you don't mind me asking, in terms of build quality and reliability, how would you rate Marquis, Sundance, Jacuzzi, HotSprings and Bullfrog? Thank you.

We will be first time spa buyers, and some of the brands we are interested in are Marquis, Sundance, Jacuzzi, Hot Springs and Bull Frog. I noticed on the Marquis warranty that they specifically exclude any leaks from seals or gaskets. I checked the other brands and while they do not specifically exclude these items, I'm not sure from reading their warranties if seals and gaskets are included in the warranty. In any case, if there was a leak, wouldn't the seal or the gasket be the most likely first place to develop a leak? Has this been a problem for anyone who has owned a Marquis? We are going to be placing the tub in a corner on a roof deck, so reliability is pretty important to me. I am very interested in Marquis, but was a little put off by this clause in their warranty. Is there any reason for me to be concerned? Thanks.

Thanks Merriflower, If we were to end up with a Bullfrog, I think it would be either the model you have or the A6L. Again, this is a very big if right now, as we have not wet tested anything, but I'm pretty sure we want the lounge and am also pretty sure that the A6L and the R6L are the only ones in the Bullfrog line that would fit where we want to put it.