Thanks Folks, This Forum Enabled Me To Pick My Artesian Hot Tub

[FamilyinBarrie]

I have spent the lhttp://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/style_images/1/folder_editor_images/rte-link-button.png

Insert Linkast two weeks researching Arctic Spas, Beachcomber, Hydrospa, Coleman, Hydropool, Jacuzzi and Artesian Spas. This Forum provided my Wife and I the information to make a subjective decision based on factual and opinionated information.

Arctic Spas - I read in a Forum of a Repairman that sees a lot of Arctic Spas with "pipe slap", that is when the pumps turn on the force causes movement in the plumbing and leads to degradation of the seals in the plumbing. Case in point is a personal friend of ours has an Arctic Spa and experienced this first hand in the Winter. In fairness the response time for repair was exceptional per the Owner.

Beachcomber - Liked the local dealer and really liked the floor space design for kids walking through and around. The external housing for the pumps caused concern and when we heard of an owners experience that a family of mice live in the external enclosure, a lack of jets and no innovations in design we decided to pass.

Hydrospa - Nice looking spa yet poor insulation and material quality. No local repair group and reports on Forums of 10 to 30 day cycle times for repairs. I can not fathom how they have a 5 star rating from poolandspa.com

Seriously, this looks like a tub made in China.

LINK: http://www.poolandspa.com/page149.htm

Coleman - Speaking of Made in China. Neat floorspace and composition yet the insulation is like Hydrospa above, a reflective foil that looks like tin foil. Not buying that when it gets into minus 20-30 degrees in Ontario in Jan-Feb.

Hydropool- Slef cleaning unit that was way overpriced ($8k for a 5 person tub). I did not investigate this design very far, the local Sales Rep referenced an award design from a Group yet the Group's Conference did not have ONE single large Spa Company listed for their Conference let alone Hydropool. Screams of a scam.

Jacuzzi - I had a Jacuzzi pool and was very happy with it yet the local dealer ****apparently**** sold A USED TUB as NEW and when the second owner tried to register the tub they were denied a warranty what so ever. Selling old as new is fraud and this is just not something I can toss $10k towards.

What did I buy?

Artesian Spa - The owners of Artesian are apparently people that worked at Beachcomber and Jacuzzi, nice build quality, finish and options. jets are well placed, local dealer was awesome, low key, factual and knowledgeable on the product, Industry and warranty. They were straight forward, in business since I was in diapers and SERVICED WHAT THEY SELL. That is a HUGE issue folks, make sure you buy from someone that KNOWS the product as they service it. To keep in business they will switch suppliers if the product is bad to ensure they stay in business, this is a basic rule of business in this cut throat business. They provided a deep discount on the Gold floor model and we're basically spot on.

Beware of Sales Reps that slam other companies, make an intelligent and informed decision.

[Dr. Spa]

I can not fathom how they have a 5 star rating from poolandspa.com

For about $20k anyone can get a 5 star rating there.

[Mr. Bubbles]

Congrats on your tub choice! We also found this forum of great value for the informed opinions/experiences that helped us navigate through the many different choices of tubs out there!

And yes, dealers will do better to highlight what makes their particular tubs so good, rather than what makes the competition 'so much worse.' We decided on our recent D1 purchase in part because the dealer did not bash other tub makers/dealers. They explained why they sell/believe in D1 and let our wet test decide whether it was a good fit for us.

[Tom]

I read in a Forum of a Repairman that sees a lot of Arctic Spas with "pipe slap", that is when the pumps turn on the force causes movement in the plumbing and leads to degradation of the seals in the plumbing. Case in point is a personal friend of ours has an Arctic Spa and experienced this first hand in the Winter. In fairness the response time for repair was exceptional per the Owner.

Congratulations on your purchase. Enjoy, enjoy.

This is the first time I have heard the expression 'pipe slap'. During my training, a factory rep said, "People sometimes have a concern that our plumbing is unsupported and flops around when the pump comes on. You can check this out for yourself - just put your hand on a pipe near the pump and have someone turn the pump on." I tried that one day in our test bay where the tubs are all filled and powered up. The pipes do flex from the pump torque, but not much (certainly nothing that I would call a jerk or flop). The pipes are also tacked with foam at various locations so that they can't shift.

I am certainly not denying the experience of your friend, as there are many possible reasons for seal breakdown.

And thank you for your fairness in noting the prompt service your friend received.

Happy hot tubbing

Tom

[wirelessness]

In one of my other posts I gave some details regarding my recent Artesian Piper Glen wet test. In short I liked the spa

very much. I've tested pretty much every single spa in my area (SF Bay East) and this spa was my favorite. This board was

pretty helpful in weeding out spas that might be prone to problems or service issues. You just have to read between the lines

sometimes is all. In general all the major brands advocated here Sundance, D1, etc tested very well but my preference was for

the Artesian. The DirectFlow dedicated seat pump design is not hype imo it works very well. Anyone who is fed up with diverter

valves should test one of these spas out. I am going to do one more wet test with my wife to confirm before we make the purchase

though. Cheers!