Welcome to our forum.
oh and to answer your question re: sanitation, the clear ray on the jacuzzi is new but to me sounds like a built in UV ozonator, which typically you use in conjunction with a replaceable silver ion cartridge and mps/shock to now become an EPA approved sanitation method while using lower amounts of chlorine. Bullfrog also has an ozonator option but it appears as though its a corona discharge style vs. UV bulb. I honestly have no idea what "clear blue" is but just remember the only approved sanitation methods by the EPA are: chlorine, bromine, baqua spa, and silver ion/shock...anything else is "sales pitched" is merely marketing imho...good luck
Quote from: TwinCitiesHotSpring on February 22, 2012, 12:35:36 pmoh and to answer your question re: sanitation, the clear ray on the jacuzzi is new but to me sounds like a built in UV ozonator, which typically you use in conjunction with a replaceable silver ion cartridge and mps/shock to now become an EPA approved sanitation method while using lower amounts of chlorine. Bullfrog also has an ozonator option but it appears as though its a corona discharge style vs. UV bulb. I honestly have no idea what "clear blue" is but just remember the only approved sanitation methods by the EPA are: chlorine, bromine, baqua spa, and silver ion/shock...anything else is "sales pitched" is merely marketing imho...good luckJust to get the word out there, I want to clarify that Clear Ray found on Sundance's and Jacuzzi's is not Ozone. It's not even a new technology, it's an old one that has been used in the treatment of drinking water. Instead of having air pass a chamber to create Ozone, you actually have a chamber in which water passes a UV-C light. What that does is disrupt the DNA of organisms so that they cannot reproduce.Because UV-C does not kill bacteria, but merely ruins their DNA, it DOES STILL require a sanitizer. Also, the bulb will become tinted after a year rendering the UV useless, so you must change it every year.Does it do the same thing as Ozone? No. Is it better? No. Is it different? Yes.The idea behind both Ozone, and Clear Ray is to use less of a sanitizer. The big difference is that Ozone is an Oxidizer and a gas. The gas also eliminates smells and will attack bacteria living in the cover. Since we are both a Hot Spring and Jacuzzi dealer, we offer to add the two together or you can pick and choose what you would like. You can add an Ozone in addition to the Clear Ray if you'd like.
Quote from: d00nut on February 22, 2012, 01:59:14 pmQuote from: TwinCitiesHotSpring on February 22, 2012, 12:35:36 pmoh and to answer your question re: sanitation, the clear ray on the jacuzzi is new but to me sounds like a built in UV ozonator, which typically you use in conjunction with a replaceable silver ion cartridge and mps/shock to now become an EPA approved sanitation method while using lower amounts of chlorine. Bullfrog also has an ozonator option but it appears as though its a corona discharge style vs. UV bulb. I honestly have no idea what "clear blue" is but just remember the only approved sanitation methods by the EPA are: chlorine, bromine, baqua spa, and silver ion/shock...anything else is "sales pitched" is merely marketing imho...good luckJust to get the word out there, I want to clarify that Clear Ray found on Sundance's and Jacuzzi's is not Ozone. It's not even a new technology, it's an old one that has been used in the treatment of drinking water. Instead of having air pass a chamber to create Ozone, you actually have a chamber in which water passes a UV-C light. What that does is disrupt the DNA of organisms so that they cannot reproduce.Because UV-C does not kill bacteria, but merely ruins their DNA, it DOES STILL require a sanitizer. Also, the bulb will become tinted after a year rendering the UV useless, so you must change it every year.Does it do the same thing as Ozone? No. Is it better? No. Is it different? Yes.The idea behind both Ozone, and Clear Ray is to use less of a sanitizer. The big difference is that Ozone is an Oxidizer and a gas. The gas also eliminates smells and will attack bacteria living in the cover. Since we are both a Hot Spring and Jacuzzi dealer, we offer to add the two together or you can pick and choose what you would like. You can add an Ozone in addition to the Clear Ray if you'd like.Interesting...so cost wise vs say a CD ozonator assuming it comes standard on the tub in question how does it stack up $ wise over lets say a 10 year span? I suppose it will depend on the cost of bulb replacement..$40-$75?? per year
Interesting...so cost wise vs say a CD ozonator assuming it comes standard on the tub in question how does it stack up $ wise over lets say a 10 year span? I suppose it will depend on the cost of bulb replacement..$40-$75?? per year
Quote from: TwinCitiesHotSpring on February 22, 2012, 02:35:05 pmInteresting...so cost wise vs say a CD ozonator assuming it comes standard on the tub in question how does it stack up $ wise over lets say a 10 year span? I suppose it will depend on the cost of bulb replacement..$40-$75?? per yearThe bulb replacement cost will probably be around $70-$90 annually. I say annually because that is what Jacuzzi recommends changing it. Even on their spas, it is programed in to have a 365 day count down. Again, with UV, the bulb actually would still work after the 365 days, but the bulb becomes tinted, rendering it ineffective in doing the job it's suppose to do.Versus a CD Ozonator, it's hard to say, as you know their a good ozones and crappy ozones. By far, a crappy ozone would be more cost effective than Clear Ray. I would think versus a good Ozone, it would be fairly comparable, maybe Clear Ray costs a little more than a good ozone. The big deal is, that Clear Ray is found on their entire line-up, standard. Whether you buy and entry level model, or a 400 series, you will find this system. Same thing with Sundance, obviously.
Thanks for all the tips. Price wise, the Bullfrog451 vs Jacuzzi J-335 were about the same locally.The Jacuzzi J-335 they had in stock was still last years model, so I would still be able to get it with an ozone system vs Clear Ray. I believe he mentioned that all new models have the Clear Ray and that if I bought the 2011 model I can always retrofit the tub to Clear Ray if I wanted to. I'll be calling up my local dealer to schedule a wet test next week. Thanks again
UV ozone standard on all their models? I'm surprised this is becoming a standard add on for a premium brand vs a CD ozonator. In the past with UV ozone I always went by the thinking that the bulb needed to be changed every 18 months and knowing how people procrastinate I always advised 12 months?
Scheduled my wet test for Monday.I also found out the price for the J-335 is a bit higher than I thought they told me. It's coming in about $7900 plus taxes where I thought it was around $7200 plus taxes. How much leeway is there in negotiating prices and/or options?
This may be a rumor, but isn't BullFrog spas made with Prisoner labor? That's what I've always heard. Take it for what it is I guess.
Author
Topic: Another Newbie Help me choose thread (Read 9380 times)
