My electric is out...what do I do?

Republished from last December.... Here in Ohio tens of thousands are without electricity due to ice laden trees and power lines. If you are one of those unfortunate folks, there are some things you can do to protect your hot tub from freezing. First a disclaimer. This is a generic explanation on how to winterize a basic hot tub. Plumbing varies by make and model and some have quirks that you will have to work around. Hiring a professional hot tub repairman to do this sort of job is you safest bet. Lets get on with it: First, you will have to drain all the water out of the shell area. Using a shop vac hose will be the fastest way to siphon it empty. Opening up the pump couplings is another method, but can be messy. Second, squeegee the seats out and bucket out the foot well and towel dry any reaming water. Getting the reaming water in the foot well is explained in step four. Third, if possible, open the lowest plumbing coupling to drain remaining water from the equipment. Four, remove the filter and put it away. Using a flexible neck funnel, start pouring RV antifreeze in until you see antifreeze (not just water) coming out of the suction intake(s). Stop once you see the antifreeze. Five, proceed to furthest and uppermost jet (In terms of the plumbing, not necessarily the opposite corner), and pour antifreeze into the jet nozzle until you see antifreeze. Work you way around from highest to lowest. You will notice that the closer you get to the filter, the less antifreeze you need. The reason you want to start out with as little water as possible in the foot well is simple. RV anti freeze gets its claim from being nontoxic. It is at maximum freeze protection at full strength. Automotive antifreeze needs to be mixed with water to reach max. protection. **Should your hot tub have an air blower, you will need to take extra care and towel dry everything. You may need to adapt the funnel to fit the smaller jets used in air blowers. Air blowers use a check valve to prevent water backing into the blower motor when it is off. Therefore, the manifold that is plumbed in-between that check valve and the actual jets are highly susceptible to freeze damage. To complete this project you will need: A hose (the larger the diameter, the faster the siphon) 2-4 gallons of RV antifreeze, a pail, towels and a flexible neck funnel. Print now for future use. Gary www.spafixer.com

Prologue - Full Foam Insulation vs. Other Insulation

I am going to open up this blog for discussion. I will site first hand experience, and not canned anecdotal blabbering. As both a hot tub owner, avid user and a paid professional that has worked on thousands of various hot tubs, I bring expertise; not salesmanship to this table. As is the case for all of my blogs so far, they are open for you to add your comments. I will delete comments left that are inappropriate. Having set the stage, tune in for the next installment. Gary www.spafixer.com

Noise - Full Foam Insulation vs. Other Insulation

Last night was just an absolutely awesome night for hot tubbing. No lights, no jets, no stereo. I think the temp was around 16 °F The star field was just beautiful. Noise - Full Foam Insulation vs. Other Insulation I thought I would start the debate at an area where everybody that has a hot tub will easily understand. Manufactures that insist that full foam insulation is the way to go always point out noise. Okay, so why don't they insulate the equipment bay? That is where the noise makers are - the main pumps. In the age of 5 - 7 horse power motors, you could not hear the sound of the water going through the plumbing if your life depended on it. Speaking of foam insulating the equipment bay, yesterday I worked on a hot tub that had one of the shut off valves foamed over. I won't mention the brand, but that is sloppy to put it kindly. I have also found trash incased with the foam before. Usually it is just scrap wood and the like but still... In conclusion, the noise from water flowing through the plumbing is imperceptible, and does not warrant using foam to reduce it. If these manufactures where taking measures to reduce noise, the equipment bay should be their focus - not the plumbing. Alas, they do not. So, full foaming the plumbing for noise reduction is not a valid argument. Score: Full Foam 0, Other means 1 . -Gary

Used Hot Tubs vs. Refurbished

I thought I better sit for a spell and talk about the ends and outs of used hot tubs. Used Hot Tubs 1.) Most dealerships do not have the skilled staff to refurbish used spas / trade-ins to resale condition. Most dealerships do not want to drag a rodent infested, ant/termite laden hot tub into their showroom to mess with. 2.) Unlike cars, people trade in used hot tubs for a reason. #1 Reason: Cover is so heavy that it can't even be lifted in order to get in. #2 Reason: Something electronic or mechanical fails that costs more than they want to put into an old hot tub. So... 3.) New covers cost $350.00. 4.) New motors start at $400.00 or new electronics packs start at $850.00 This makes a $100.00 used hot tub is unlikely. 5.) A used 1995 Sundance Optima is worth more than a 2005 Blue Ridge model#45. Too bad there is not a 'Blue Book' for used hot tubs. Refurbished Hot Tubs 1.) The shells on modern acrylic spas last forever. Older spas made using different materials or methods develop 'blistering' that may or may not lead to leaks. 2.) Cabinetry that has been restained periodically can still look great even when outdoors for decades. 3.) Older, and or less sophisticated systems that used 'air buttons' and analog thermostats knobs can be modernized. New digital packs typically start out in the $800.00 range, and models with many years warranty, all the options and RAM memory that saves your settings when you power down for drain and cleans or power outages can go for $1,400.00. 4.) Hot tubs that are not full foam insulated can also have the jets and plumbing gutted and complete re-done. Modern jets can easily be retrofitted and additional jets can be added. A good Service Tech can even customize jet placement for you. Additional pumps and circulation systems are another option. As you can imagine, the sky is the limit when it comes to refurbishing that old hot tub into a better-than-new, enjoyable item. -Garywww.spafixer.com

Weir Gate vs. Pressure Filter

Yesterday a hot tub manufacturer called me soliciting me to sell their brand of hot tub. I had received a call the day before by one of the owners of this company asking the same question, and did not expect to hear from them for awhile at best. Anyway, the first question I asked her to was this: Does your hot tub use a weir gate (pic coming soon) or pressure filter (pic coming soon)? After her response and quick justification, I rattled off the top 5 hot tub manufacturers and explained that non of these companies use pressure filters. Here is why: Pressure filters still require a separate skimmer to be plumbed in to deal with floating stuff like body oil, leaves etc. Even still, the small hole (1.5 diameter max) does not really do as effective job as a wide mouth weir gate or weir basket. Next, filter media size. There is a pressure canister that holds a 1oo square foot cartridge, however, while I was doing some 3rd party warranty work (whole other blog material) on a brand that used them, I found them to be VERY problematic and susceptible to cracking. The typical canister is 25/50 sq Ft and does not have those types of problems, however that is pretty small. Next, pressure canisters require an o-ringed lid and locking ring in order to pressurize. These lids are VERY susceptible to hair line cracking resulting in a depressurized system. Systems that also use a pressure switch for the heater, there will be a "flo" error and no heat. ((pressure switch vs. Flow switch is a whole other blog episode)) Also, the o-ring requires lube in order to seal properly, guess what happens to this lube when water washes it away, a very hard to remove lid!! As for skimmer filtration canisters (middle picture) they are difficult to get the filters into, and require small and or stacking filters. In conclusion, top manufacturers do not build hot tubs that used pressure filters, and I will not sell ones that do. I could not look my clients in the eyes as I remove the filter lid that they can not remove themselves. -Gary www.spafixer.com