Five Filters?

[hrustar]

I was in a Hot Springs hot tub this weekend, and it had 5 filters. Is this normal?

[Nalod]

I was in a Hot Springs hot tub this weekend, and it had 5 filters. Is this normal?

The big ones do!

I had a grandee model with the 5. Lots of fun to clean and replace them. With the new ceramic filters it was not cheap!

But a great tub!

[JerimiahR]

It's actually a benefit, and very normal for Hot Spring specifically.

As a standard, each jet pump in the hot tub needs to have more than one (at least 2) places it can pull water from in order to supply pressure to it's jets. In average hot tubs, you usually have one filter. That means even with only one jet pump, you have one intake down in the foot well of the spa pulling in unfiltered water.

So in a large Hot Spring (with 2 jet pumps), you'll have 5 filters. Two filters/intakes for each jet pump, and the last filter is dedicated to the 24 hour circulation pump for the spa. That little guy silently circulates water for continuous filteration, as well as feeds the heating element.

This feature not only saves money (by not cycling the large jet pump on/off throughout the day), but also saves on a lot of wear and tear for the jet pump.

[hottublady]

I was in a Hot Springs hot tub this weekend, and it had 5 filters. Is this normal?

I have a Hot Spring Jetsetter, it has 3 filters and I upgraded them to TRI-X (like 2 filters in 1) Yes it was more money! But they last about 5 years, there easy to clean, and my water is always crystal clear. I wouldn't even get into a hot tub unless it was crystal clear

[tony]

It's actually a benefit, and very normal for Hot Spring specifically.

As a standard, each jet pump in the hot tub needs to have more than one (at least 2) places it can pull water from in order to supply pressure to it's jets. In average hot tubs, you usually have one filter. That means even with only one jet pump, you have one intake down in the foot well of the spa pulling in unfiltered water.

So in a large Hot Spring (with 2 jet pumps), you'll have 5 filters. Two filters/intakes for each jet pump, and the last filter is dedicated to the 24 hour circulation pump for the spa. That little guy silently circulates water for continuous filteration, as well as feeds the heating element.

This feature not only saves money (by not cycling the large jet pump on/off throughout the day), but also saves on a lot of wear and tear for the jet pump.

Though Hot Spring spas do a very nice job of filtering, it is misleading to state that those spas without five filters are average. There are high end spas with, arguably, more advanced filtration that use only one filter. Hot Spring spas do it one way. Another manufacturer may do it a different way. Who does it best can certainly be up for debate.

[ps558]

It's actually a benefit, and very normal for Hot Spring specifically.

As a standard, each jet pump in the hot tub needs to have more than one (at least 2) places it can pull water from in order to supply pressure to it's jets. In average hot tubs, you usually have one filter. That means even with only one jet pump, you have one intake down in the foot well of the spa pulling in unfiltered water.

So in a large Hot Spring (with 2 jet pumps), you'll have 5 filters. Two filters/intakes for each jet pump, and the last filter is dedicated to the 24 hour circulation pump for the spa. That little guy silently circulates water for continuous filteration, as well as feeds the heating element.

This feature not only saves money (by not cycling the large jet pump on/off throughout the day), but also saves on a lot of wear and tear for the jet pump.

Though Hot Spring spas do a very nice job of filtering, it is misleading to state that those spas without five filters are average. There are high end spas with, arguably, more advanced filtration that use only one filter. Hot Spring spas do it one way. Another manufacturer may do it a different way. Who does it best can certainly be up for debate.

I agree with tony this is just marketing crap from hot springs. the reason there are five filters is that the little circ pump takes for ever to do a complete turn over of the water and by making the jet pumps use the filters it only aids in the filtering while your in the spa. when other manufacture choose to use a filter cycle with a jet pump. A jet pump can turn over the spa water 4-6 times in an hour with one filter. It also can be set filter times in most spas.

It has nothing to do with cycling jet pumps. electric motors love to run, and the other downfall to hot springs system is it put a limit on what size jet pumps they can use because of filter limitations. Watkins who make hotspring spas also make Caldera spas and most of them have one filter.

Hotsprings make a decent product but so do others and hot springs sling alot of marketing to sell spas. 5 filters at 50-75 bucks a piece. only available through a dealer. Thats alot of money watkins is making.

[Peteyboy]

Sorry PS, I have to respectfully disagree.

Yes there are spas that use 1 filter and use the jet pump to filter. IMO these cost more to run. I would rather have .4 amps filtering than the jet pump amps. The circulation pump in HotSpring pushes close to 5000 gallons per day. IMO this is plenty of filtering.

I disagree that HotSpring has to use smaller pumps because of filter size. If they wanted to use bigger pumps they would. It is more efficient to use smaller pumps. IMO their jet pressure is fantastic even with their "limit" on jet pump size.

HotSpring does own Caldera - they didn't want to change Caldera into HotSpring so they left Caldera with one filter, although they have used some HotSpring parts in Caldera.

Most spas I've run into have at best a 50 sq ft filter. The Jetsetter, the smallest HotSpring has 90 sq ft.

IMO the more filter area you have the cleaner the spa. And there is also something to be said for 24 hour filtration.

It is easy to have the HotSpring filters last 5 years or more, just take good care of them. Most dealers will also show the customer how to get the maximum life out of them.

Yes, there are spas that can filter better...Jacuzzi 400 series filter 50,000 gallons a day. IMO HotSpring doesn't design the spas filtering to make money.

My 2 cents worth...maybe not worth 2 cents.

[canadianrepairman]

It just a sales gimick used by hot springs, makes you spend more on filters then you really need to, just like the rest of the parts in the tub.

[Mikey_in_NY]

All decent manufacturers use 24 hour circ pumps on their tubs nowadays.

[Stuart A]

We got our spa with a circ pump so that it would put ozone in the water 24 hours a day and for quiet operation when the heater is on. However if some manufacturers are claiming that a small circ pump will filter the water enough, why do they have filters attached to the main pumps. It is to provide the right amount of filteration which a circ pump cannot do by itself.

Different manufacturers use different methods to filter, they must all be ok otherwise they would have to change their method, if there was a danger to the user.

[Mikey_in_NY]

You're right Stuart - I doubt the circ pump would filter a well used spa enough on it's own. My point was that when I shopped reputable brands earlier this year such as Sundance, Hot Springs, Arctic, Jacuzzi, Caldera, etc, every one of them offered the 'optional' 24 hour circ pump and ozonator for free. So for all intents and purposes this is now an included item.

[Peteyboy]

When no one is using the spa circ pumps filter plenty. There is no foreign materials being introduced to the water.

When people get in you need more filtration, so the jet pumps also have filters.