110 volt tub

[brillskill]

hi,looking to replace old 110 friction heat dream maker with another 110 volt ,ive seen 110 volt with 1kw heater and friction heat on many tubs..can anyone recommend a decent 110 volt with both friction and element from experience ?..was looking at dura sport cal spas and even dream makers new line..thanks in advance

[brillskill]

yes im talking about both,many spa companies now include both friction heat and a heater element,thanks for responding

[Chas]

I have a question - and if there is somebody who can definitively answer it we could all learn more about this topic. The question is based on working on Freeflow spas, specifically the one available directly (not through dealers) which have "friction heat."

My question: what exactly is the difference between the pumps used in these two types of spas? I know that on the heat recovery spa there is a little control box on the MOTOR, and I would guess that it contains a temp high-limit system to protect the motor itself. This makes sense because these types of systems can run the pump for a couple of days before the tub is at temp, and they close up the motor compartments pretty tightly. But I'm not talking about the motor - I am asking if there is anything different or special about the PUMP.

All of our pumps impart some heat into the water, and you can heat just about any (well insulated) spa by just running all the pumps with the lid tightly closed.

I have looked the pumps over very thoroughly, and I can't see a thing different about them - to the naked eye, they look exactly like the pumps installed in the other models which are equipped with a heating element.

What I'm getting at is this: if there is no difference in the pumps, then the answer to the OP question is this: Buy a Freeflow, because you will be getting heat from the element AND the pump. If there is a difference, I would love to know what it is - and I would also love to know why they don't put these pumps in all of the spas out there, to provide a small boost to the heating system?

 

[brillskill]

thats excactly why i asked the question...i would think it would be much more efficient to have both friction heat and a heating element especially in a 110 tub working on only 1 kw of power

[Chas]

Well, I think that is exactly what we are getting. Unless somebody comes along to tell us the differences in the wet end, I'm going to believe that the pumps are the same. I know that years ago if you left the jets running with the lid closed, you could just about melt down a HotSpring spa. The temp would go up real fast, too. Now, they put timers into the programming of the control system to shut the jets off after a set time.