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Author Topic: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner  (Read 5254 times)

wopguy

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Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« on: January 09, 2013, 05:07:57 pm »
Hello and THANK YOU for the outstanding forum!  After a couple months of experimentation and getting some pretty half-assed advice from my dealer, this new spa owner was really happy to find an active community with experienced folks to give me the straight scoop.  Thanks to you all I have finally figured out how to properly administer chemicals, avoid foam etc., and also that at 75+ days in, I am way past due for an initial water change.  And as luck would have it, the weather-guessers are forecasting a couple days above freezing this week, a rarity here in the great white north. 

So we are expecting a couple windows of at least 6-8 hours in the mid to high 30's the next couple afternoons, and I am planning to use a wide-guage pool hose to fast track the draining process.  Which leads me to my question: where should I dump the water?  There is a steep downhill drop behind my retaining wall near the tub, which seems like the obvious choice, but there is only about an 8 - 10 ft buffer until my neighbor's yard.  My wife is worried we will prematurely melt all the snow in his backyard for him  :o, and/or create a big ice sheet when the temp dips back down, as I assume the frozen ground will not absorb water..   It is a long way to the street (150 ft. or so) and would only be practical to get there with a garden hose, and even then I am not sure it is down-hill enough to work.  All the drains in the house would be an uphill climb.  Has anyone else drained into snow / frozen ground?  What should I expect? 

Thanks all!!  There's nothing like soaking under the stars in cold weather!  ;D
   

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Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« on: January 09, 2013, 05:07:57 pm »

sorebikr

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2013, 06:32:42 pm »
How much snow do you have?

If you had 6" on the ground, I would expect a very small melted patch at the opening of the hose, then the rest of the water will run under the snow and be invisible.  And due to the warmth of the water, the majority of it will be absorbed into the grass/dirt. 

My gut says you don't need to worry about it.

(Just my gut though)

Tman122

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2013, 07:40:09 am »
How much snow do you have?

If you had 6" on the ground, I would expect a very small melted patch at the opening of the hose, then the rest of the water will run under the snow and be invisible.  And due to the warmth of the water, the majority of it will be absorbed into the grass/dirt. 

My gut says you don't need to worry about it.

(Just my gut though)

I've drained in the snow before. No problem it will all find a place to run off and you won't even know. There may be melted snow but there won't be no big ice sheet.
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wopguy

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2013, 01:50:07 pm »
Thanks guys!  Forecast is for above freezing the next 36 hours, so full speed ahead- looking forward to some new H20!

wmccall

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2013, 07:09:31 am »
Welcome to the forum.  Where do you call home? I'm guessing its not that far from me as I'm contemplating the same thing. I last changed my water in November and I don't need to now, but I'm thinking of taking advantage of the weather in case we get a really cold Feb and March. I agree with most, dump early in the day and the water should run off.
Member since 2003.  Owner Dynasty Excalibur 2003-2012.   Sundance Majesta from 2012-current

TdiDave

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2013, 12:38:42 pm »
Just did a drain an refill yesterday for the first time. Ground was still slightly froze under the snow. The water did run pretty far before it all soaked in, not that I have any neighbor issues but it did make some mud.

Could not believe the muck that came out after using the spa system flush on a 5 week old tub.

wopguy

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2013, 09:35:07 pm »
First water swap went flawlessly..  Burnsville, MN.  80 degrees already..  c'mon baby!! :-*

<iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=3060D24A4700FA89&resid=3060D24A4700FA89%21860&authkey=AJ9nJ_dwQDMSGEs" width="319" height="239" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

ATC Buckeye

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2013, 09:45:49 am »
Because of the winter weather here in Cleveland, I bought a $45 submersible pump from Amazon that hooks up to a garden hose.  I ran the hose into my kitchen sink drain and it was done in about 30 mins with no mud or ice outside.  Just another possibility.

TwinCitiesHotSpring

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2013, 03:27:17 pm »
First water swap went flawlessly..  Burnsville, MN.  80 degrees already..  c'mon baby!! :-*

<iframe src="https://skydrive.live.com/embed?cid=3060D24A4700FA89&resid=3060D24A4700FA89%21860&authkey=AJ9nJ_dwQDMSGEs" width="319" height="239" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

welcome to forum WOPGUY, if you need any chemical advice moving forward I'll be happy to lend a hand as I am in the Twin Cities area as well

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Re: Winter drain and fill advice for a rookie owner
« Reply #8 on: January 13, 2013, 03:27:17 pm »

 

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