Anyone know of a similar forum group related to hot tubs?
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Anyone know of a similar forum group related to hot tubs?
I know of one forum that is mostly hot tubs but I an reluctant to recommend it since most of the advice on it is not good! There are a lot of newbies and some dealers who give very bad advice! One example is from a moderator/spa dealer who, in different posts told people to use phenol blue for testing pH (there is no such thing and he argue with me about it....turned out he was talking about a copper test for an ionizer system!) and told someone not to mix muratic acid and hydrochloric acid because it will form mustard gas (totally bogus...muriatic acid is the commen name for hydrochloric acid and mustard gas is a sulfer chemical that is not related to it!). There are some members here who have some knowledge of spas (I am one of them) so if you need chemical help I would try here first!
Right now I'm looking for more general advice for first time buying? For example, what are brand names I should consider/avoid? Does ozone work or will I still need chemicals? Anything else to consider for buying a new spa?
thanks
Ozone works better with bromine than chlorine but you still need to use a residual sanitizer in the water (bromine or chlorine). Don't waste your money on ionizer units or Nature2 or SpaFrog! Also don't get sucking into using biguanide (baquaspa, revacil, softswim, etc.). unless you don't mind draining your bank account along with your spa! I am still reluctant to recommend this spa oriented forum because much of the advice comes from dealers pushing the brands they sell and I just don't think it is very objective. I would suggest seaching the net for info on the spas you are considereng and try to find a reputable dealer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Styx555
I am currently looking at a Caldera C-Series. I have found more info and a good dealer. Any ideas about this manufacturer and the model?
I would LOVE to see a Hot Tub section !
I have two hot tubs: an old Lifestyles model that I think sucks because it is not energy efficient & doesn't have many jets. & a Beachcomber (model#578) which I love . I would recommend that you check out some opinion forums... I personally thought that epinons.com was a great place to read up on Hot Tubs. ( it helped me pick the brand, anyway)
feel free to message me if you want more info on either tub that I own:)
poolandspa.com gave me alot of help on their forum site when we started up our spa 3 yrs ago. I use chlorine to sanitize and I don't waste my money on any copper type of boosters. Hope this helps- They also have a pool forum, but I wouldn't waste my time with that either. Denise :)
I'm located in Ontario, Canada and am looking at getting my first spa. Keep in mind it gets extremely cold here in the winter. I have researched the available brand names and would like input on which brands to consider and which to stay away from. Ideally I am looking to narrowing me list down and then begin visiting the various stores to consider models.
Catalina Spas
Dimension One Spas
Aber Hottubs
Hotspring
Caldera
Sundance Spas
Freeflow Spas
Arctic Spas
Hydropool Spas
Serenity Spas
one of the most important things in buying a portable spa is wet testing. Make sure that the recliners and benches fit your body and are comfortable and that the jets are located properly. If a dealer won't let you wet test then I would look for another dealer.
I've looked at both Catalina and Hydropool (isn't serenty the same company?), they're quite nice, I liked the Hydro's self cleaning feature....other manufacturers have since adopted that feature too.
Whereabouts in Ontario???
I'm in Ottawa!
In Ottawa?
Seriously consider Beachcomber brand name ( & artic spas).
I live in Nova Scotia, so I wanted a tub that could stand-up to the canadian winters...
Beachcomber ( & I believe Artic spas as well) are Canadian made!
the head office is in BC.
read my review on mine:
http://www.epinions.com/content_244051185284
- I specifically chose beachcomber after reading that it only cost $14 to heat in February in northern Quebec!
you can check epinions.com for the other brands that you're interested in as well
I LOVE my Hot Tub in a Blizzard :D
(must wear a hat though or your hair freezes..lol)
There are no Beachcomber dealers in the Ottawa area. I am going to look at the Arctic dealer this weekend.
I have thus sean the Caldera line and the Dimension One line and the price difference blows me away. For similar tubs, similar numher of jets and options, the D1 line is almost double the price.
Styx.. that's baloney-pony my friend...
Beachcomber is all over Canada
I didn't know your postal code, so I just ramdomly picked an Ottawa location & Voila !
The Fireplace Center & Patio Shop
Address:
1452 Cyrville Road
Ottawa ON K1B 3L9
Tel: 613-745-1273
We are proud to be the new exclusive Beachcomber dealer for the Ottawa area and we look forward to our family meeting yours. Since 1952, we have been providing sales, service and installations you can trust. We invite you to visit either of our two conveniently located showrooms for great ideas to enhance your backyard living experience and enjoyment !
Why not give them a call & see where their second location in Ottawa is if this one isn't close to you :)
Beachcomber has awesome customer service & the tubs are so efficient; it's totally worth while to compare them to artic spas.
GoodLuck !
I stand corrected! Thanks for the tip and I will definately check them out this weekend!
I've also checked out Beachcomber since I pass the store daily - very impressive hot tubs at a good price in comparison to other manufacturers.
Oh, BTW - I'm down around the Hamilton(ugh) Brantford Area
Can we have a section in here on Hot Tubs? I too have one(Marquis) and have had for years. I know have a small leak and trying to fix. Cant find it with all that damn foam insulation they blow in. I think if I buy a new one I will look for a different insulation system
Any thought from someone who has a hot tub?
Mike
fix-a-leak
I don't know if the stuff works but I've seen it at numerous hot tub stores....
http://www.askalanaquestion.com/the_...leak_store.htm
or
the manufactor's ( I think) site in Canada:
http://www.fixaleak.com/main.html
Hello I see your considering the purchase of a artic spa. We purchased a artic frontier[ legend series] back in feb. We love the tub. There are things that were important to us when we made our purchase.If you would like send me a pm and i'll go down the list. Bottom line as I see has been mentioned already. WET TEST, WET TEST and then some more. I'm going to start another thread on spa chemicals. Maybe it will catch on and we can get a h.t./spa section going. The info. on this site is top knotch and we who heat over sized bath tub need all we can get. good luck and have fun soaking. steve
I was just thinking about finding a hot tub forum. we just got a softtub portable tub, 6 person with an ozone generator. We are trying to figure out how to best go about sanitizing it. We bought a whole bunch of chemicals from the pool store but they seemed to have forgotten to sell us bromine. They gave us this all in one shock that has PH stuff/alk stuff/ cal stuff, he said to just use that once a week. Well I tested the water and it has almost 0 chlorine/bromine and 8.0 pH. So I went out and bought a bromine floater and tablets and let it swim in there for day. The readings are still barely .5 bromine, is there a better way to get the bromine levels up faster. I put about 6 tablets in and set the floater on max dispersion. The PH also seems to want to go high, is it becuase I put about 4 capfuls of that all in one shock in? and am I suppose to test the hot tub water at the pool store and balance it just like the pool? Ph/alk/cal etc etc etc.
Did the pool store set you up with a chlorine sanitizing system or a bromine sanitizing system. If you are going to use bromine you need to add sodium bromide with each fill to establish the bromine bank in the water, shock with either chlorine or MPS, and then put the floater with the tabs in to maintain your bromine levels.
Well, they sold me this kit that has everything from shock (that I mentioned) pH down, clarifier, vinyl cleaner, scum reducer, anti foaming agent, but no sanitizing agent which I thought odd. Well after I brought it all home, the soft tub guy came by to give us the hot tub school 101. He looked at the "shock" and said, oh, you just use this, once cupful after you use the tub or once a week if you are not using it. So we poured a couple cups in to start and then I tested the water... 0.0 bromine or chlorine, so I read the label and it says to add bromine or chlorine and then use the shock, ok, so instead of going back to the expensive pool store I went to home depot and bought bromine tablets and a floater and thats where I am now. I keep hearing bromine is better in tubs since it lasts longer in hot weather and I guess cholorine doesnt work well with ozoniators.
If you are going to use bromine tablets in a floater you need to add sodium bromide to the water on each fill to establish a bromine reserve in the water
Is Sodium Bromine the stuff that comes in 2 parts. A liquid B powder.
Well my bromine levels are coming up but my pH level keeps going up up up.
I keep adding Ph down but it doesnt seem to help that much. Can i add muriatic acid?? I'm scared its such a small body of water, I dont want to add too much. Also the water is dull, not as sparkly as the pool (they both have the same exaclt liner) is that how the hot tub will always be cause of the heat, or will it clear up once the bromine levels get up to the right level. Right now its at 1.5-2.0ppm on the bromine.
Your water is not clear because the sanitizer is too low....bromine should be about 6 ppm. If you do not add sodium bromide to the water first it will take a long time to get the bromine levels up with just tabs! Several companies make sodium bromide to be used when the spa is filled each time. sometimes it is a liquid, sometimes a power. There are also 2 part bromine systems that use sodium bromide and an ozidizer and dont use tabs. IMHO, the best oxizider to use is bleach. It works as well or better than MPS to convert the bromine ions into hypobromous acid!
I have the bromine tabs in there now, didnt I read somewhere that it is dangerous to mix chlorine and bromine together??
there is chlorine IN your bromine tabs...it is a necessary part of the bromine chemisty. you don't want to mix bromine and trichlor tabs together but bleach is probably the best oxizider to reactivate your bromine bank.
How about adding a topic for hot tubs? I see bits an pices of the topic all over?
It's becoming apparent to me that spa stores are as bad or worse than pool stores. Since my dad's wife has sensitive skin, they have ALL suggested different miracle cures like Nature2 or Aquaguarde (a new one I can find no specific info on). I keep telling him all of these silver ion or other products do is reduce the demand for chlorine and NONE of them eliminate it's need to be maintined at 3-5 ppm.
Everything I've read on this site and others suggest the following
FC 3-5 PPM
If bromine - bank to 6-9 ppm and maintain by adding chlorine when it drops
Alk 150-180
CA 100-200 mg/l
pH 7.6-7.8
Note I listed ranges so that it is not too difficult to maintain within range. My guess is he will need only bromine, chlorine, and baking soda and occasionally a pH reducer powder (rarely needed). Generally he will need to increase alkalinity becasue of aireration and pH - because of the addition of chlorine - hence the baking soda.
As far as his wife's sensitivity, told him to have her try a bromine spa at her daughters' and then not shower for an hour. If she has no reaction, then bromine should be OK. Whether bromine or chlorine, told him she should always shower afterward and moisturize with her favorite moisturizer. If she does this, I would doubt either would ever bother her.
Have seen chlorine calculators on this site. Since the spa is only 440 gallons, could you use the same calculator for bromine since both are ppm measurements?
Is there any advantage to scale inhibitors? My guess is that if maintin any one of the scaling indices - puckorius, Ryzner or Langlier in the neutral to slightly descaling range you should be OK. Do the above ranges stay in the neutral to slightly descaling mode?
Has anyone investigated Aquaguarde?