Costco Hot Tub Experience

[River_rider]

I see the question of Costco hot tubs is coming up here quite a bit in the last few days so thought I'd offer our experience. We bought a Tub from Costco in mid-2006 and have used it continuously since then. It came with the cover, a radio/FM/CD/MP3 player, pop-up speakers, about 80 jets, two jet pumps, and a light that changes colors. We paid less than $4,000 for the tub and then spent about $1,000 putting in a wooden deck, electrical stuff, and concerete pad. I think the brand was 'Platinum.' It has been a great tub and we really like having a hot tub. The only thing that has ever gone wrong is a slow-blow fuse in the control box blew. It was a 25-amp fuse and I went down to Home Depot but all they had was a 30-amp fuse of the same type so I had to go to a non-chain hardware to get the right fuse. I replaced the fuse and it has been fine since then . Not sure why the fuse blew but maybe the time-delay fuses just get 'tired' after a couple of years of starts and stops. I bought two fuses in case I need another one. Maintenance has been really minor. About all I do is add chlorine every couple of days and change the filters every couple of months. I bought an extra set of filters and I just swap the new for the old and then clean the old ones at my leisure and then reinstall them at the next changeout. I don't know anything about the tubs that Costco is selling now but we have always had good luck with things we purchase at Costco. The Costco hot tub is the only hot tub we have ever had so we cannot compare to other brands but ours has been pretty good so probably others are similar. We looked at hot tubs only once at a hot tub store before we bought our tub from Costco. The tubs in the store were nice but were quite a bit more money than we were willing to spend.

[soakerguy]

My Costco "platinum II" aka Hydrospa...aka. Premiun leisure prestine..... is also three years old and no issues at all. Thanks for your post and keep us posted! What was the price and features of the spas you looked at when you purchased your spa from Costco

[hydrospadan]

Hi there, Sounds like we have the same hot tub. I bought the Hydro Spa used Not sure when it sold by COSTCO but manufacture date is Mar 2006. I really like the tub and am trying to get a handle on why I think it used too much electricity. I didn't get a manual or instructions with it. I have had 2 other hot tubs with mechanical/air controls before.

I am trying to determine if control is working properly or how I should use it. I haven't been able to find that control pad on the Balboa sight or the Sterling Leisure spa sight. Or the Premium Leisure sight.

My control pad from left to right has MODE bottom left then warm/cool then display then JETS 1 with Light above then JETS 2 with blower above. I don't see any function to set a timer so I assume it just goes from when it is powered up.

Can you tell me how you use your control pad??? Do you just put it in STD mode while using tub

and do you switch mode when you get out to ECON until next time you use it. On the filter cycles

when set on continuous does that mean as long as the heater is on every 12 hrs.? And do the 2 4 6 8 mean 2min. etc. During the filter cycle and heater comes on does the heater run until the set temp. is reached again regardless of how long? To switch yours to ECON mode does the display flash between ECON and temp. number??? Do you use bromine base with the ozonator system?

Do you have the 24/7 circ. pump? About how much do you think it costs to run for a month in electric?? Where are you located for your average temperature??

[soakerguy]

The panel on the Balboa site is a 7 button oval m-7 topside control VL 700 S on the balboa website. http://service.balboa-instruments.com/appnotes/ Apparently the user reference card isnt online for the vl series 700S but, the ML 700 is online and very similar as to user settings minus the clock setting I believe that it is set up to only purge the lines twice a day for five minutes as the 24 hour circ pump stays on and allows the water to heat depending on the setting you choose ie.....normal, economy and sleep modes. In the standard mode. the heater maintains the temp always. In the economy mode the heater only works for two hours twice daily in combination of the pumps activating to purge the lines. the spa will only heat for a two hour interval regardles of the final temp but. I have yet to see it not to temp in less then two hours on economy. On the "sleep" mode the spa only activates the heater when the water temp is 20 degrees below the user selected temperature on the panel. This mode does not heat the water to your setting but within twenty degrees as when you might go on vacation ect. The spa also has a freeze protection mode that is not user adjustable. The freeze mode turns on the pumps and heater whenever the spa water temp is at 45 degrees no matter what mode you have the spa set at. The display will flash the temp and the economy mode to indicate the mode setting.

[mihail2200]

The panel on the Balboa site is a 7 button oval m-7 topside control VL 700 S on the balboa website. http://service.balboa-instruments.com/appnotes/ Apparently the user reference card isnt online for the vl series 700S but, the ML 700 is online and very similar as to user settings minus the clock setting I believe that it is set up to only purge the lines twice a day for five minutes as the 24 hour circ pump stays on and allows the water to heat depending on the setting you choose ie.....normal, economy and sleep modes. In the standard mode. the heater maintains the temp always. In the economy mode the heater only works for two hours twice daily in combination of the pumps activating to purge the lines. the spa will only heat for a two hour interval regardles of the final temp but. I have yet to see it not to temp in less then two hours on economy. On the "sleep" mode the spa only activates the heater when the water temp is 20 degrees below the user selected temperature on the panel. This mode does not heat the water to your setting but within twenty degrees as when you might go on vacation ect. The spa also has a freeze protection mode that is not user adjustable. The freeze mode turns on the pumps and heater whenever the spa water temp is at 45 degrees no matter what mode you have the spa set at. The display will flash the temp and the economy mode to indicate the mode setting.

Hi, I have the same hot tub,PlatinumII from Costco. My problem is the topside control VL

700S who is not working properly( I can't set temp, showing strange numbers:88:88 etc..)Do You guys know an web site from where I can buy at chip price?Thank You,mihail2200

[Pool Clown]

Here we go again...

[pmdepr]

I am just a prospective buyer but here is my 2 cents. I love Costco and shop there at least once a month. For standard products (food, cleaning supplies, etc) they are the best. For something like a hot tub that requires knowledge, service, support and guidance I would not even think of buying it from there. Costco is designed to sell you something that needs little or no direct assistance, it is a wholesale club. Manufacturers are great at manufacturing. They are not geared towards hands on support. That would leave me in the middle with nowhere but this site for assistance. Although I might certainly ask questions on this board so I can be a knowledgeable consumer - I think it would be too much to expect this site to replace a good local dealer for support.

[soakerguy]

The panel on the Balboa site is a 7 button oval m-7 topside control VL 700 S on the balboa website. http://service.balboa-instruments.com/appnotes/ Apparently the user reference card isnt online for the vl series 700S but, the ML 700 is online and very similar as to user settings minus the clock setting I believe that it is set up to only purge the lines twice a day for five minutes as the 24 hour circ pump stays on and allows the water to heat depending on the setting you choose ie.....normal, economy and sleep modes. In the standard mode. the heater maintains the temp always. In the economy mode the heater only works for two hours twice daily in combination of the pumps activating to purge the lines. the spa will only heat for a two hour interval regardles of the final temp but. I have yet to see it not to temp in less then two hours on economy. On the "sleep" mode the spa only activates the heater when the water temp is 20 degrees below the user selected temperature on the panel. This mode does not heat the water to your setting but within twenty degrees as when you might go on vacation ect. The spa also has a freeze protection mode that is not user adjustable. The freeze mode turns on the pumps and heater whenever the spa water temp is at 45 degrees no matter what mode you have the spa set at. The display will flash the temp and the economy mode to indicate the mode setting.

Hi, I have the same hot tub,PlatinumII from Costco. My problem is the topside control VL

700S who is not working properly( I can't set temp, showing strange numbers:88:88 etc..)Do You guys know an web site from where I can buy at chip price?Thank You,mihail2200

Try this ....http://www.premiumleisure.com/

The part is roughly two hundred dollars and is as simple as plugging your phone into a phone jack!

877-530-PARTS and they will help you.

[Roger]

Try this ....http://www.premiumleisure.com/

The part is roughly two hundred dollars and is as simple as plugging your phone into a phone jack!

877-530-PARTS and they will help you.

After removing the old topside, make sure to clean the surface very good and use high quality silicon to place the new topside.

[soakerguy]

The topside control includes a double sided adhesive on the control, just clean the area and peel and stick. Do not put silicone underneath the adhesive but rather seal the edge of the control after instalation where the topside control meets up with the shell.

[Roger]

The topside control includes a double sided adhesive on the control, just clean the area and peel and stick. Do not put silicone underneath the adhesive but rather seal the edge of the control after instalation where the topside control meets up with the shell.

I always run a tiny bead around underneath. You can't see it so as it deteriorates it isn't noticable. And it keeps any moisture out of the cabinet. But do it how ever you want. My way has worked for many years on many,many tubs. Posters choice.

[soakerguy]

The topside control includes a double sided adhesive on the control, just clean the area and peel and stick. Do not put silicone underneath the adhesive but rather seal the edge of the control after instalation where the topside control meets up with the shell.

I always run a tiny bead around underneath. You can't see it so as it deteriorates it isn't noticable. And it keeps any moisture out of the cabinet. But do it how ever you want. My way has worked for many years on many,many tubs. Posters choice.

How do you run a bead underneath without compromising the integrity of the factory provided seal? The rep specifically said to seal after instalation? not sure why as I like the idea of not having exposed silicone caulk? However, If applied correctly with minimal caulk, it is undetectable unless a gorilla applies it

[Roger]

The topside control includes a double sided adhesive on the control, just clean the area and peel and stick. Do not put silicone underneath the adhesive but rather seal the edge of the control after instalation where the topside control meets up with the shell.

I always run a tiny bead around underneath. You can't see it so as it deteriorates it isn't noticable. And it keeps any moisture out of the cabinet. But do it how ever you want. My way has worked for many years on many,many tubs. Posters choice.

How do you run a bead underneath without compromising the integrity of the factory provided seal? The rep specifically said to seal after instalation? not sure why as I like the idea of not having exposed silicone caulk? However, If applied correctly with minimal caulk, it is undetectable unless a gorilla applies it

I call it improving on the factory provided seal not comprimising. From my experience silicon seems to get ugly after a few years of chlorinated water and gunk.