wish2fish

I need to replace the cover on my Dream Maker X400. It's not a fancy spa but I do use it year round. The current cover is a SpaMate and looks to be uniform thickness throughout. I am currently away from the spa so I don't know the thickness. I live in the Cincinnati Ohio area and use the spa year round. Where is a place to find a reasonably priced cover that would keep the spa temperatures during the winter and prevent overheating in the summer? Thanks,

I've had precipitate in my tub 2 times now. don't remember much about the first time but I do think it was flakes. I might have been using chlorine tablets at that time. The last time I was doing a drain and refill. I refilled, adjusted the pH and Alkalinity and added a bromine boost but I added way too much as my strips where showing bright purple for high levels. Shortly after I found a pH stabilizer and added it. I immediately got a white precipitate but it was very fine. Eventually the filter got all the stuff out of my tub and the bromine level came down. I figure it was some sort of chemical reaction. What sanitizer are you using?

you can buy brom stat packets to get the levels to rebound. I've used the powder that is in the tablet container to do it also. If there isn't any, I've cut off a portion of the the tablet and smashed into powder and dumped into the spa. I just drained and refilled and without measuring dumped a lot of powder into the spa. It was way over brominated.

I would say 3 weeks was about right for me.

I will tell you also, the cartridges do not last a month.

I was investigating these systems. It appears that you have to fine tune the system once installed. If you can do that you would be fine.

would you be using the @ease ball or the smartchlor inline cartridges? I'm might still worry about heavy bathing load. During the winter it was just me 2-3 days a week.

Might want to see if you can edit the title from you name. when you say pump do you mean the pump moving water around or the air jets? there are some settings on my spa for how the pump runs to keep circulating through the filter.

I can't help as I have a 110 tub and it takes a long time to heat from ground temp water. My solutions: I have a continuous hot water heater. If drain and refill, I lower my temp to 104 at the heater and run a really long hose from basement stationary tub. water ready to go immediately. If low because of power issue or shutdown, I raise the water temp to 130 at the heater and hot water 5 gallons at a time. to increase temp

depending on your electric panel, you can convert 1 single breaker into 2 single breakers. Do that on one of the breakers next to the open spot creating 2 spots. That would allow you to put a 50amp 220v breaker into that newly opened area. still need to increase your wire size. You never said what you entire panel amperage is. Adding 50amp draw to 100amp panel will never work.

I have tried the smartchlor @ease (round ball). It worked great for me but is way more expensive that using tablets or granular. It did eliminate my skin irritation that I get during the winter.

Prior to switching to the @ease system I removed my filter and replaced with my backup filter. The filter was coated with a chalky white substance. If you put it between your fingers it has a gritty texture. Everything on the outside just washed off but still has some of this substance in the pleats. I have tried warm water, soaking in cleaning vinegar and finally tried the filter cleaning tablets. None of these have dissolved the white substance. I've had this spa for 5+ years and have never encountered anything like this. What is this stuff and does anyone have suggestions for getting it out of the pleats.

I don't have any advice. did you get it working?

Wanted to share my experience with the @ease smart chlor system. Historically I've used bromine to sanitize my spa. During the winter my skin would get really itchy and rash in several locations. It was so bad I had to limit how much I used my spa. I did try using chlorine for a few weeks and had the same problem. In the beginning of December I switched to the Frog @Ease SmartChlor Floating Chlorine and Mineral sanitizing system. Since the switch I have not had any issues with rash and dry itchy skin. I have actually been using the spa for longer periods too knowing I won't be getting the rash. Now, this system isn't cheap. A 4 month supply costs about $84 but it definitely has made a difference for me. @ease starter kit comes with a mineral unit that lasts 4 months and 1 smart chlor unit that they estimate lasts 3-4 weeks. My smart smart chlor unit is about empty so that timeline is about right. You can buy the smart chlor refill (3 more units) seperately from the starter kit. I realize some of you can manage your spa with individual chemicals but I had trouble trying to maintain bromine/chlorine, pH and alkalinity previously. With the @Ease system, I shock occasionally and test the levels weekly. I don't see the fluctuations that I saw previously.

is the motor running?

Is it a friction heated model? I have a dreammaker and it doesn't have a heating element. My manual list those same control models as your mentioned.

I have a DreamMaker X400. It is a roto molded 110 volt model. I use my spa a lot during the winter. It sits on an elevated covered porch but has exposure from 3 sides. When using I only expose half by flipping back half the cover. If it is above freezing, the spa does a decent job keeping up with the cold temperatures until you approach freezing and below. I will use the spa down to 25 degree F. In that 25 to 32 degree range the spa will go from 100 to 98 in less than 30 minutes. I do not use the air control when temps are this cold as it will lose heat even faster. I'm trying to find solutions so I can get a little more time. I like to watch basketball/football games in the spa and would like to stay in up to an hour. As stated above, I only flip back half the cover. I was thinking about getting a section of pool solar cover and cutting out a section where I sit. Also considered wrapping the spa with more insulation during the winter which would also help reduced heat loss when not using the spa. Thanks for any ideas.

I mostly agree with QGolden. I bought my X400 used at least 5 years ago. My spa will gain heat with the cover off and jets running. It has a harder time as we reach below freezing temps and will lose temp when using. If temps above 40 degrees F, the jets will shutdown after the 10 minute cycle. I will turn them on again.

not sure about your spa, but on my spa the temp sensors don't touch the water at all. They sit in pvc channel that is right in the area of the control board. If your sensors do touch the water, they should be removable. I would find them and clean them.

I have a Dreammaker x400 that I bought used over 5 years ago. It meets our needs which sound similar to yours. Usually only 2 people so size is fine. Only problem I have is during the winter (when below freezing) it is hard to keep hot after the lid is opened. It just can't keep up with the heat loss. It is a friction heater.

Interested in this topic. Where do you get concentrated hydrogen peroxide. Is the stuff at the pharmacy strong enough?

I have a continuous Bosch hot water heater. I turn the temperature down to 104 degrees and fill from the stationary tub faucet (hose ready) using a 75' hose. Out the window, around the house and up on the deck.

this looks nasty. wonder what the cause was.

Thinking about switching to salt water with a chlorine generator for my hot tub. Does anyone have one of the after market models that you just hang over the side? Thoughts, comments, suggestions appreciated. T

I have a Dreammaker and mine control is attached firmly. I assume it is it just screwed into the roto molded plastic. Its to cold outside (~20) to pull the motor cover of and give it a check for you.