Cusser

Mine has one pump; I'm still using the original water pump/electric motor on my 1988 CalSpa. I did have to take it out and replace its seal once. It also has an air pump that can be switched on, for more "action" as the salesman called it.

I was wondering if it was possible to "custom" wire 1988 CalSpa Hawaiian. This has two settings: one setting is "No Freeze" which means that when the water temperature decreases a certain amount, that the spa will come on and pump/heat until the set temperature is reached, whether 2 minutes or 2 hours the other setting is "Timer", so when a timer tab rotates into the "on" position, then the pump/heat switches on, and if the temperature setpoint is reached, then just the pump keeps going until the timer rotates into a timer tab position that is off. What I'd like is to "combine" these, because in Arizona on the No Freeze setting, the spa heats very few minutes per day to keep at 105F so my water filtration time is very limited. If I choose for example 3 half-hour segments then the water gets filtered 90 minutes each day, but if that heating segment was a few hours before, then the water temperature may have dropped in the meantime. So barring flipping to "No Freeze" an hour in advance and thus not having spontaneity, is there some way to get timer action, and in the meantime if the temperature drops for the pump/heater to kick in? The switch right now has 3 terminals, I assume the center one is shared, and one end wire (red) goes to the timer, and the other end terminal has two red wires coming from it. Would a 6-terminal switch (DPDT) with the center wire going to both center terminals, and then the timer wire and the No Freeze wire each going to terminals on the same side work? Or how about a DPST switch? Thanks, and I'm open to other ideas as well, no fancy computer boards or anything like that on this 1988 spa.

I think you have so much algae that it is overloading all the chlorine you are adding. I'd buy a pump (under $100) at Home Depot, Harbor Freight, or similar (it will come in handy) and pump out the water and start "fresh". I even cut down a 1-gallon water bottle and made a bailer. I have had an above-ground pool since 2000, and have had that happen a few times myself, typically on spring start up due to leaves/pollen falling in. The last few years I left uncovered and used net to remove leaves once a week from the pool bottom, and cleaned crap better out of the skimmer basket, and it's been fine. Ready to start the swimming season here (Arizona).

I've been using bromine tablets in a floater in my CalSpa for 28 years. I've found that Home Depot is the least expensive source for bromine tablets, same for non-chlorine persulfate shock powder. Buy bicarbonate (Arm & Hammer) at Wal-Mart.

Update: bought new filter cartridge from Ebay retailer, $21 shipped as opposed to $46 + tax if special ordered at local store, could not find it stocked locally except "maybe" downtown. With my set up, under 5 minutes to replace the filter, just flip the two valves with blue handles, and unscrew the top of that external filter. So it turns out that my original filter was quite clogged, even though it's only 6 months old. This is likely due to my use of some leak seal fluid, which I treated with filter out, but did not drain the water out before putting the original filter cartridge back in, as instructions did not say that was necessary. So with new cartridge, water flow is substantially improved, and I marked its higher pressure reading too. So I adjusted the pressure/flow setting and now all seems to work fine. So I learned (1) maybe it's best to drain the spa after the leak seal treatment (like twice a year) (2) I should buy a spare new filter cartridge to have on hand.

My CalSpa is from 1988, so 28 years old. I'm the original owner, and the only mechanic.

Old post, but I think your strategy is a good one. These are pretty simple. Look on YouTube for liner installation, but better if you've seen this done in-person at least once, and you'll need a few helpers.

I think if you fix the hole in the liner, that there's no need to worry about the small hole in the metal surface unless it's sharp.

I had a brand new Doughboy liner installed by a professional into my 15 foot above ground pool two years ago. Within a month it became obvious that my liner was leaking by one of the seams, and causing a depression underneath the liner that would eventually break through. Doughboy was not the manufacturer of the pool, but the installer said their liners were generally the best, and labor was the same (same installer I had used 14 years earlier with original install). Anyway, since Doughboy was being a shithead about honoring their warranty (which they brag about on their web site) with stuff like "cut out the bad section, and also the section with our Sharpie writing of manufacture date, and send those sections to us, and we'll evaluate within a few weeks. Basically, one could shove a 1/8 inch dowel through the seam hole, sent them photos; they would not authorize their local Doughboy rep to come over to evaluate for them. Anyway, while fighting with Doughboy, I drained the pool (under 4000 gallons), dismantled about 1/3 of the liner, cut a patch from leftover liner material from the install, and silicone glued that to the backside of the liner. A few hours later I applied Loctite flexible plastic adhesive cement to the seam surfaces themselves, and cut another patch and glued that to the inside surface also with the same Loctite stuff. Jump two years ahead, still no leaks, but the inside patch (in contact with the water) seems to have some glue release, but I'm not monkeying with that right now. Anyway, Doughboy finally agreed to send a new liner to me if I'd pay $40 shipping, so I got that, sitting in a closet. After doing that repair, and watching the pro, believe that I could install my own liner now. And I'm 63.

OK, update. I think I've got what's wrong all figured out. The heater re-set trips only in the "Timer" mode, not the "No Freeze" (thermostat) mode. The issue in the "Timer" mode seems to be a partially clogged filter cartridge, so I'm ordering a new one. Once that's in, I can adjust the switch for the pressure shut off device, right now it seems to be "always on", so it delivers electricity to the heating element even after the pump shuts off, causing the heater re-set to do its job. I'll buy a new pressure switch too if necessary. In the "No Freeze" (thermostat) mode, the pump comes on automatically whenever the thermostat shows the temperature to have dropped, so it doesn't trip the re-set.

I'm pretty poor on these computer machines. But from other boards I learned to post such photo for free on Photobucket.com, then I can go to the share link and simply copy that, and paste here in the "reply" or posting window. Like this

I don't know for sure what POCO is, but I'm in Phoenix, AZ and have Arizona Public service as my electricity provider. My rates are less on weekends and from 9pm to 9am. For the first 20 years I had this spa I was on a "demand" rate, where I had a surcharge each month based upon the one-hour of highest demand for the entire month. So when the spa was installed the 220 VAC wiring was part of the APS no-interest loan for the load controller, they had to run wires through the attic to the spa. The load controller prevented it, the dryer, AC etc. from running like one-hour straight, would break it up into separate sections so the hour demand would be under my pre-set limit. When the load controller went out after 20 years and I changed to the current price APS structure (my previous program had been grandfathered but was soon to be closed out), I was surprised that the spa actually ran so few minutes a day to heat the water (like 400 gallons). So I now don't worry too much about what time it actually kicks on, want it ready when I want to use it. So moving the filter unit outside of the partially-insulated redwood "box" didn't seem to affect things appreciably, except to make filter cartridge R&R for cleaning tons easier; plus those giant "nuts" to retain the original filter cover kept breaking and were like $22, and the O-ring there also oftentimes leaked, was not good design. However, when I drain/exchange with new water, I would generally schedule that for a weekend or wait until 9pm to switch on to heat, as then I'd be heating 400 gallons of water from like 70F to 104F. In comparison, my electric water heater (no natural gas here, home built during fear of natural gas shortages, pushed by the electric companies, surprise !!!) is 50 gallons 220 VAC and heats to maybe 130F every day.

I estimate my CalSpa from 1988 costs me $15 per month in electricity and chemicals to run. Mine is 220 VAC, but now I know that 120 VAC would work fine for me. I have it on the No Freeze/Thermostat setting so it only switches on when the temperature drops, and have been amazed for last few years how few minutes (not hours) a day it requires for heating. Yes, always keep covered when not using.

I'm in Arizona, have had my spa 28 years; my spa is on my patio so the cover does not get strong sunlight due to patio roof except in winter when sun is low. I've gone through a few covers over the years, all due to getting waterlogged. Previously, I used to take the cover off and lay on the ground when we used the spa, cover is 7 ft. long (square, folds) but is still heavy and awkward. So about a decade ago a bought a cover holder and bolted that to a side of the redwood spa, so now we just slide the cover over, less stress on it. My cover brackets look somewhat like this one http://www.leisureconcepts.com/products/cover-lifts/covershelf/ except on mine the two supports are angled up.

OK, next time this happens - think my post here scared it into behaving - I will remove the filter and try that a few days. Being a 28 year old spa, I have some phantom leak not visible through the equipment door and no leak in the equipment pack. I've even taken off the two sides not against the wall, but cannot find a leak even though I removed a lot of the expandable foam insulation, maybe on the non-accessible side. So I've used spa stop-leak maybe three times a year, that does work to stop the leak; the leak only bothers me because it will serve to rot the redwood spa, might damage my concrete slab too. So that stop leak - even though added while filter is removed, likely has clogged up my filter cartridge somewhat. Maybe I should add stop leak, then once leak has stopped, drain the water out and fill with new.... Anyway, last year - because the Cal-Spa filter was difficult to access, and I constantly had leaks around its huge O-ring, plus the knife valves no longer worked - I engineered-in a brand new filter unit and new valves, with filter element accessible from the top, figured that would eliminate my filter leakage issue and help with the stop-leak stuff too.

I also think 120 Volt AC will be fine. I'm in Phoenix, and when I set our CalSpa to "no freeze" which means keep at set temperature, even in winter I'm amazed how few minutes (not hours) a day it runs. Yeah, bought my spa in 1988, paid like $400 as part of utility no interest loan to run 220 volt lines through the attic, spa salesman said 220 VAC would help temperature recover faster as you are in it and it starts cooling. Well, we're not in for hours at a time either. In hindsite, 120 VAC would've been fine for us too. Now that does mean most likely a dedicated 20A circuit as opposed to a patio receptacle shared with bathrooms, etc. For my above-ground pool (in 2000), I ran dedicated 120 VAC line for its pump from newly-added breaker, and added GFCI.

I have a 1988 CalSpa Hawaiian model. 220 volt, I have retrofiited to include 40-amp GFCI. I'm in Phoenix, AZ so not too cold here. Lately, I've noticed that the heater re-set button needs to be pushed in almost daily to restore heating operation (the GFCI does NOT trip). I've also noticed that my water flow is pretty low (even with freshly-cleaned filter) unless the jets button is pushed in, but there is enough water pressure to activate the pressure switch even with the jets turned off. So does this sound like ...bad heater element? ...bad hi limit switch? ...or maybe just clogged filter and I should get a new cartridge? So what would be my first course of action? Thanks.