2010 Hotspring Grandee Service Call

[dark rider]

Well, I'm finally getting around to having my local dealer replace the LED behind one of my MotoMassage units, but that wasn't the primary reason for the service call. The cell in my ACE Salt Water Generator appears to be going south after less than a year. Hopefully, it's just a fluke, but it does leave me cautious about long term reliability. My water was balanced religiously throughout (Taylor K2006), and the cell is still outputting usable chlorine (albeit reduced), but the sensor appears to be nonfunctional. It started giving me low salt warnings about a week ago, so I added salt, and rechecked over the course of several days. No response. I tried cleaning the cell, even though I knew it wasn't a problem, since my calcium is low, but it had no effect. I'll keep you posted after the service to let you know the outcomes. The good news is that it's still under warranty!

[passos]

How long is the warranty good for? Is it the Ace warranty or the tub itself? I've struggled in getting the Ace system to work in my 2010 Grandee - have had it for 6 months now. I only purchased the Taylor kit a few weeks ago.

Do you end up adding chlorine manually or rely on the Ace system alone? Although my water always seems crystal clear I've never been able to register any Chlorine on test strips. I end up adding Chlorine manually about 1 a month to get it to 5ppm. I did not expect to have to do that with the Ace system. I wonder if I have a bad Ace cell as well, although I've never had a problem with the sensor indicating issues as you have.

[dark rider]

I've been pretty much able to run on ACE alone with very little manual adding of either dichlor or bleach. The only times I've added dichlor were at initial fill up and to maintain some CYA reserve. I've used bleach to offset during parties when I didn't want to have to rely on the boost function. Otherwise, it's been all ACE. No shocking necessary. When I measure FC, I was getting 3.0 pretty consistently prior to the cell acting flaky. Now, it's down to about 2.0, but still is keeping the water nice and clear. Use level is set at 4, and I use the tub pretty much nightly for just under an hour. Sometimes my wife and/or kids join me, but usually it's just me, because they think it's too hot for summer use.

[Kreg]

Those chlorine generators need to be replaced and they are not cheap. How long did your dealer tell you it would last?

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

Those chlorine generators need to be replaced and they are not cheap. How long did your dealer tell you it would last?

I don't think there is any data out there to be able to give approximations to customers how long they may last as they are relatively new to the market. I've sold about 10 and have had zero problems and none of the customers asked how long they would last. If they did I would honestly not be able to give them an experienced answer. I believe that like most things, water chemistry will be a big factor on how long they last. Maybe passos did ask and can give you an answer.

I did have 2 phone calls today asking questions that were easy to answer and pretty straight forward. Will you guy's be at the big "Spa Expo" going on in Hartford this weekend because we are hoping to get a sweet deal on a HotSpring/ Caldera up there? No. They were confused as to why we wern't going as "all the major brands" were going to be there. Surprising that a convention center would not want to make money and contact us to rent out floor space to try and sell our product as one of the major brands. Usually conventions/homeshows are pretty aggressive at getting as many dealers as possible dealers to attend these types of shows. I wonder why we were not asked.

As far as the Ace cell problem with registering chlorine....check to see what your calcium level is. Also, if the water is clear and you have only added chlorine manually once per month, then the cell is definitely doing something.

[dark rider]

ACE warranty is 1 year, so it's definitely still covered. Calcium is 20ppm, pH has stayed at 7.3 since it was delivered. Cell is definitely still working, just not registering salt, and production of FC is definitely reduced. I'm guessing the dealer will replace it.

[dark rider]

Service call was scheduled today, and as expected, the dealer replaced the salt cell. As soon as the tech swapped out the old cell with a new one, we ran a new salt test, and immediately it was registering in the mid to high green area rather than the bottom of yellow on the salt indicator. He said it's the first one they've seen go bad, so hopefully it was just a fluke. The led replacement will be more problematic. He thought it might be the main hub, which he checked, but unfortunately he thinks it's either the separate relay at the light or the led itself. He said it will likely take about 4 hours of work to do it, since it requires removing the cover lifter, getting the panel off, digging some foam out, refoaming and replacing the corner panel. I'm still debating whether I want them to do it now or wait until closer to warranty expiration... decisions, decisions?

[PreservedSwine]

Removing the panel and cover lifter is about 5 to 10 minutes. Digging the foam might could be a while- an hour maybe... Re-foaming just a few minutes.

Don't worry about how long it takes to fix it, that's not your concern. It should be repaired.

[spawn]

Service call was scheduled today, and as expected, the dealer replaced the salt cell. As soon as the tech swapped out the old cell with a new one, we ran a new salt test, and immediately it was registering in the mid to high green area rather than the bottom of yellow on the salt indicator. He said it's the first one they've seen go bad, so hopefully it was just a fluke. The led replacement will be more problematic. He thought it might be the main hub, which he checked, but unfortunately he thinks it's either the separate relay at the light or the led itself. He said it will likely take about 4 hours of work to do it, since it requires removing the cover lifter, getting the panel off, digging some foam out, refoaming and replacing the corner panel. I'm still debating whether I want them to do it now or wait until closer to warranty expiration... decisions, decisions?

It is nice that the cell swap fixed the problem - maybe you just got a bad one somehow and the replacement will be fine. As for the LED, if you want to have it repaired might as well do it now instead of noticing the burned out LED for the next x months. Of course, this is coming from soemone who rarely turns on his lights so...

[dark rider]

Agreed, it's probably better just to get the led repaired now and be done with it! I use the lights pretty regularly, so I would notice it. I guess I just had mixed emotions about having to crack open the shell and cut into the foam for something as small as an led, since everything else is functional. The dealer has been great to work with though, and their tech seems pretty knowledgable, and didn't bat an eyelash about committing to do the work.

I drained off some of the water and added fresh water to get the salt level in the middle of the green last night. It gave me an excuse to soak while doing it After letting the new cell do it's thing over night, I tested the water this morning, and FC is back to 3ppm without manual dosing. I gotta admit that, if nothing else, the salt water chlorine generator has spoiled me! It's not that manual water chemistry is that hard, but constantly doing water tests and having to add chemicals regularly is a PITA! Before the cell went south, I got to the point where I only needed to check the water once every other week, and even then it was usually perfect. It's wonderful not having to shock, or worry about leaving town as well. Has anyone actually checked the pricing of the cell itself? I didn't get a receipt, since it was warranty work, but am wondering what the cost will be to replace, when it's on my dime? The good news is that it was a very simple swap out.