Draining Procedures

[trucker11]

Besides shutting off the circuit breaker to the tub, are there any general/special precautions I should take when draining a 410 gallon hottub. I am especially interested in two questions--making sure I don't do anything while draining that would cause airlock when I refill, and two, getting ALL the water out in order to get a clean fresh start with the refill.

[dave nh]

Besides shutting off the circuit breaker to the tub, are there any general/special precautions I should take when draining a 410 gallon hottub. I am especially interested in two questions--making sure I don't do anything while draining that would cause airlock when I refill, and two, getting ALL the water out in order to get a clean fresh start with the refill.

I doubt you will be able to get ALL the water out, you might need to siphon or pump out the the foot wells to, even then there will be some water left in the lines which should not be a problem. Also, refill through the skimmer. If you have concerns about the water existing in the tub you go do a double drain and refill while shockin on the first fill.

[powernoodle]

Make sure no toys or dirty ducks in tub. Also use a shop vac over the jets to get excess water out of lines.

[TinyBubbles]

If you have a shop vac, reverse it and use it to blow the water out of the pipes. Like dave said, make sure you remove all your filters and fill through a filter opening. If you get an airlock, don't panic. You can fix that easily. You could chlorinate the heck out of the spa before you drain it. Some people use liquid bleach and only leave it in about 30 min before draining. You might want to ask chemgeek about it, I don't know if he watches this forum or only the one for water chemistry. I'd soak your filters in a bleach solution and wipe over your head rests with superchlorinated water or the diluted bleach. I know from your other post you are concerned that your tub might have bacteria in it. Wouldn't hurt to go over the inside of your cover with it too.

[RickJ]

Use a spa flush or some other type of product to clean any gunk out of your plumbing. Then drain. If you'r siphoning with a hose, turn on your jets, and stick the hose over one of the jets to get the water to flow. Then, when the water is flowing through the hose, turn off the tub and let it drain. It's a lot easier than trying to suck water through the hose to start a siphon.

I bought an electric pump to drain mine. That helps to reduce the amount of time it takes to drain.

[Roger]

Use a spa flush or some other type of product to clean any gunk out of your plumbing. Then drain. If you'r siphoning with a hose, turn on your jets, and stick the hose over one of the jets to get the water to flow. Then, when the water is flowing through the hose, turn off the tub and let it drain. It's a lot easier than trying to suck water through the hose to start a siphon.

I bought an electric pump to drain mine. That helps to reduce the amount of time it takes to drain.

Or stick the hose in the tub one coil at a time and allow it to fill with water, then chuck one end out, lower than the tub and.....viola'.....suction.

[Whoneedsavacation]

Prepare to be patient. We just went through this and it took several hours for the tub to drain. We have a long run of hose to the street and while it is mostly downhill, it definitely seemed to slow things down. It's supposed to drain 5 gallons per minute, and should have taken only about an hour and 15 minutes to drain, but it took MUCH longer.

We used a couple of towels to bail out the last bits of visible water and didn't worry about the remainder in the lines.

Make sure you know what you need to do with the chemistry at refill time.

Don't laugh, but read the instructions. Our tub has a fairly nifty drain valve, but it wasn't completely obvious that the right procedure was to pull the valve out, twist it, pull it out some more and then attach the hose and push it back in halfway.

[tony]

Don't obsess. You don't have to get every drop of water out of the bottom or the pipes. I will even suggest you will have more issues if you suck all the water out of the lines with a shop vac. The few gallons of water left are insignificant when you add 300-500 gallons of new water. Why make it more of a project than it has to be? Get yourself a good submersible pump for about sixty dollars and put it in the bottom of your spa and pump as much as it will take out. You can wipe down the sides if you like but you really shouldn't have to. The only time I wipe down is if I am putting spa gloss on and I only do that once a year when the weather is nice. My spa shell NEVER has dirt or residue on it. Then fill through the filter well.

[Brulan1]

Don't obsess. You don't have to get every drop of water out of the bottom or the pipes. I will even suggest you will have more issues if you suck all the water out of the lines with a shop vac. The few gallons of water left are insignificant when you add 300-500 gallons of new water. Why make it more of a project than it has to be? Get yourself a good submersible pump for about sixty dollars and put it in the bottom of your spa and pump as much as it will take out. You can wipe down the sides if you like but you really shouldn't have to. The only time I wipe down is if I am putting spa gloss on and I only do that once a year when the weather is nice. My spa shell NEVER has dirt or residue on it. Then fill through the filter well.

I don't recommend this but you can just pop the breaker on while the tub is empty and the pumps will shoot most of the water out of the line. Just make sure to turn it off after 10 seconds to ensure the pumps don't run dry for too long. But I don't reccomend it LOL