Artesian Pelican Bay - Almost 1 Year Update

[Summer Buyer]

So its been a year since we started our hot tub search which ended in buying an Artesian Pelican Bay. Here's what we have found...

The Bad: Recently the water chemistry hasn't been easy to maintain at 'safe' levels and we've had some occurences of the hot tub spots (little red spots on the skin due to bad water chemistry) but I guess I would need to go to the water chemistry forum for that

Pump 1 which is the pump for the lounger seat has given us a little bit of trouble by occasionally not turning on when the 'all pumps' button is pushed, but quickly turning everything off and on again has always fixed this problem, don't really know whats up with this but hasn't really bothered us

Then we thought the little waterfalls (not the pillowfalls) weren't working but finally realized that they are on the same system as one of the filtering/heating systems which comes out of two 'jets' near the drains and so in the summer when these systems aren't running 24/7 the little waterfalls don't turn on - sounds confusing but I think its because we set the temp extremely low for the summer, and so this system only turns on for a portion of each hour

Finally the topside controls 'all pumps' button doesn't work. Surprisingly this is the only real problem that has troubled us yet because we still have yet to resolve it. All things considered it doesnt have much affect since on the same screen you can push the 5 buttons for each individual pump, but still troubling in that it doesn't work

Now for the good: Spa care has been pretty easy as we went through the drain and refill process a couple months ago. We add a scoop of chlorine every week and the occasional shock. Water is usually very clear until most recently where we have had chemical problems.

The Nature 2 which we were originally given as an insert into the middle filter doesn't seem to do much good (so I would not advice buying it as an extra) but I'm guessing it had some positive impact, although I'm glad we paid no extra for it

The light package is great for hottubbing at night. We did not get the additional package, and my opinion is that the basic lighting is plenty. Both pillowfalls, the two little waterfalls, two of the regular pillows, and one underwater seat have lights that can be set on 6 different colors (red, yellow, green, blue, purple, or white), cycle through all the colors, or a strobe light setting. Normally we just put it on the rainbow cycle and just leave it for the time we're out there.

The actual tub is what I find the most amazing out of the whole experience. We originally thought that we could only have 9 in the tub, since there are only 9 official seats. Boy were we wrong! When you have a big group, depending on how close you are to these people, we have had almost 20 people packed into it! Now that's for the extreme, on a day to day basis we normally have the family's 6 as a max, which leaves plenty of room, maybe a little crowded around the foot jets.

There are so many jets. This is actually why we first noticed this tub in the first place - even the cool off seat has 4 'butt jets', which are are quite strong. Every jet can be turned counter clockwise to lessen the flow of water, or even be shut off.

As for the pumps, its hard to imagine not having the freedom of pumps that we have. Given, not every single seat has its own pump:

Pump 1 = lounger Pump 2 = Two bench seats on one side, both pillowfalls, and seat directly across

Pump 3 = Corner Seat Pump 4= Other corner seat (captain's chair)

Pump 5 = Foot jets, center seat under waterfalls, and seat across next to lounger

Most of the time we turn all of the pumps on, especially when there are more than 4 people, but theres also times when turning on the pump just for your own seat creates a more calm tub

Overall I think we made a good decision in buying this tub. We do have some problems, but going into the buying process we had never heard of a tub that was completely perfect. We haven't had experience with the customer service people -yet but will update when/if that ever occurs. The only big problem we see as of now is possibly the topside control button, but like some of our other problems, it may resolve itself in time

Hope this helps someone

(Last Year's Summer Buyer)

[JAMES THE HOT TUB GUY]

So its been a year since we started our hot tub search which ended in buying an Artesian Pelican Bay. Here's what we have found...

The Bad: Recently the water chemistry hasn't been easy to maintain at 'safe' levels and we've had some occurences of the hot tub spots (little red spots on the skin due to bad water chemistry) but I guess I would need to go to the water chemistry forum for that

Pump 1 which is the pump for the lounger seat has given us a little bit of trouble by occasionally not turning on when the 'all pumps' button is pushed, but quickly turning everything off and on again has always fixed this problem, don't really know whats up with this but hasn't really bothered us

Then we thought the little waterfalls (not the pillowfalls) weren't working but finally realized that they are on the same system as one of the filtering/heating systems which comes out of two 'jets' near the drains and so in the summer when these systems aren't running 24/7 the little waterfalls don't turn on - sounds confusing but I think its because we set the temp extremely low for the summer, and so this system only turns on for a portion of each hour

Finally the topside controls 'all pumps' button doesn't work. Surprisingly this is the only real problem that has troubled us yet because we still have yet to resolve it. All things considered it doesnt have much affect since on the same screen you can push the 5 buttons for each individual pump, but still troubling in that it doesn't work

Now for the good: Spa care has been pretty easy as we went through the drain and refill process a couple months ago. We add a scoop of chlorine every week and the occasional shock. Water is usually very clear until most recently where we have had chemical problems.

The Nature 2 which we were originally given as an insert into the middle filter doesn't seem to do much good (so I would not advice buying it as an extra) but I'm guessing it had some positive impact, although I'm glad we paid no extra for it

The light package is great for hottubbing at night. We did not get the additional package, and my opinion is that the basic lighting is plenty. Both pillowfalls, the two little waterfalls, two of the regular pillows, and one underwater seat have lights that can be set on 6 different colors (red, yellow, green, blue, purple, or white), cycle through all the colors, or a strobe light setting. Normally we just put it on the rainbow cycle and just leave it for the time we're out there.

The actual tub is what I find the most amazing out of the whole experience. We originally thought that we could only have 9 in the tub, since there are only 9 official seats. Boy were we wrong! When you have a big group, depending on how close you are to these people, we have had almost 20 people packed into it! Now that's for the extreme, on a day to day basis we normally have the family's 6 as a max, which leaves plenty of room, maybe a little crowded around the foot jets.

There are so many jets. This is actually why we first noticed this tub in the first place - even the cool off seat has 4 'butt jets', which are are quite strong. Every jet can be turned counter clockwise to lessen the flow of water, or even be shut off.

As for the pumps, its hard to imagine not having the freedom of pumps that we have. Given, not every single seat has its own pump:

Pump 1 = lounger Pump 2 = Two bench seats on one side, both pillowfalls, and seat directly across

Pump 3 = Corner Seat Pump 4= Other corner seat (captain's chair)

Pump 5 = Foot jets, center seat under waterfalls, and seat across next to lounger

Most of the time we turn all of the pumps on, especially when there are more than 4 people, but theres also times when turning on the pump just for your own seat creates a more calm tub

Overall I think we made a good decision in buying this tub. We do have some problems, but going into the buying process we had never heard of a tub that was completely perfect. We haven't had experience with the customer service people -yet but will update when/if that ever occurs. The only big problem we see as of now is possibly the topside control button, but like some of our other problems, it may resolve itself in time

Hope this helps someone

(Last Year's Summer Buyer)

If your haveing problems with water chemstry all of a sudden check your ozone generator the artesian ozone is a cd se wich stands for corona discharge sub assembly after a year you have to replace the sub assembly in it.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

The other issue with water chemistry you are recently having is because when you turned you tub way down it is not filtering the same, not nearly enough. As you stated, the water fall jets don't come on except a short amount per day. This also means the ozone is not coming on. ( I would still check the chip)

Most tubs if the tempreture is 3 degrees above the set tempreture, it will shut the system down allowing the tub to cool. If you have it turned down below the air temp, it will never come on except to purge. Some tubs you can set a separate filter cycle from the circ pump. If you can do this I would before your skin gets more than a few red bumps. The Nature 2 has probabley been your saving grace from getting skin goopies.

It sounds as if something has gone bad in the topside control and I would let your dealer know. You should be able to get a replacement under warrenty. Don't wait till the thing totally dies, its always at the worst times when that happens!

Enjoy your tub....

[Roger]

The other issue with water chemistry you are recently having is because when you turned you tub way down it is not filtering the same, not nearly enough. As you stated, the water fall jets don't come on except a short amount per day. This also means the ozone is not coming on. ( I would still check the chip)

Most tubs if the tempreture is 3 degrees above the set tempreture, it will shut the system down allowing the tub to cool. If you have it turned down below the air temp, it will never come on except to purge. Some tubs you can set a separate filter cycle from the circ pump. If you can do this I would before your skin gets more than a few red bumps. The Nature 2 has probabley been your saving grace from getting skin goopies.

It sounds as if something has gone bad in the topside control and I would let your dealer know. You should be able to get a replacement under warrenty. Don't wait till the thing totally dies, its always at the worst times when that happens!

Enjoy your tub....

And I hope this isn't your first water change in a year??? That would explain alot about your water going to heck. And you should chlorinate after each use not once a week. Unless you only use it once a week? And the N2 stick is only effective for 3-4 months, that also might explain your recent problems.