Not so new anymore owner questions and 4 month comments on our J-470

[mrpenguin]

So we've had our tub now for 4.5 months.  We go in just about every night, just the two of us.   Every so often the kids or neighbors join, but mostly just us, in that big tub.  I had a few questions, and figured I'd give some feedback/info/whatever for future visitors to the site.

Overall thoughts:

- Foot dome is just awesome.  Great for holding us in our spots, feet massage, when we slouch low on the one set to massage top of shoulders, dome massages calves nicely.  That was the selling point for us, and proved worthy!
- We sit in different positions on the chairs than normal at times and get other massages, like sideways on one to really get your leg
- really like how the lights work (when they do), they shine on ceiling and really look cool
- even though the tub is huge for just the two of us to be in, we each take a side and use full power, sorta cool in a way.

Main Questions:

- Factory setting is to have the circ. pump on for 12 hours a day.   Does it really need to run that much?  Sales guys were boasting about the size of the pump and how much water it moves.   If that's the case, why 12 hours, every day?
- I saw some posts about not using the micro-filter and swapping that side with a full size normal filter.   Is that still valid, and does anyone know the part number for the 2014 micro side?   It is a half inch shorter in diameter than the other.
- Every other week I wash the filters, they are still white and besides a bit of grass or hair, don't really see much difference after cleaning

Other comments, thoughts, minor gripes, notes for future searches, etc:

- connections for the light system to the main board are easily removed, held by tiny nub, could be changed to phone jack or screws
- drain plug changed from online docs and book I was given, used to be one port that did both quick drain or hose, now they are 2 separate spots, each on different sides of the tub
- backlight for the control panel display never turns off or can be dimmed.  Always bright and actually quite warm to the touch at times
- officially, the 50/60Amp option requires the dealer to perform, I still think I want to do this since I am wired for 60A, why not? 
- They have the 104 degree bypass in the user manual, don't think I'll be using that, but it is there
- seems like a lot of paneling/siding to be taken off when you want to service the clear-ray stuff annually, basically take off 1/4 of siding from tub.   The panels are big sections.
- accessories pack came with quick drain hose that was so short, it only went only a few feet past the edge of the tub!  We used the slower garden hose option for this reason.
- forgot how clear and sparkling the water looked on a fresh fill.  The water still seemed good, and we thought was clear, but we could tell a big difference after the first re-fill
- funny there is a filter recharge button that runs the pumps for 20 min.  But, if you hit the pump button to start the pumps, they too are limited to 20 min.  what's the point of the other button.   I did not see anything difference between the two.  If you could set it for 5 minutes for adding chemicals, that would be good.  You even have to go to different menus to get to that button.  Just confusing as to why?
- after about 2 months we get some foam starting, first time, drained and refilled, 2nd time (4 months) put maybe a quarter teaspoon of anti-foam in and it helped fix the problem.   Scooping out the heavy stuff helped a bit too.
- draining and refilling didn't take too long, and the water bill was very little difference.
- Our electric bill has definitely gone up!  We use about 200-300 KWH/month more now.  About $45/month here, estimated.


Minor/major issues, hopefully isolated to our tub -

- headrest pillows fall off easy depending on the seat
- we've already had a few jets that you can turn past full on with little or no effort and then pop out.  If you are not careful while adjusting them, you have to reattach the jet.
- Already had to swap both waterfall lights and all 4 cupholder lights.   Still waiting on parts for 3 of them to be replaced.  Does the LED system have that short of a lifespan?  At first we were thinking it was something other than the LEDs, but nope, seems to be the LEDs.   
- The original cupholders had 2 LEDs for each color light up (2 red, blue & green), the new one had 3 of each.  We looked at the old one that was removed, there actually were 3 of each LEDs on the circuit board, just never lit.  Wonder if we got a bad batch to start with.
- kink in line right at manifold needed reroute of hose - quality control should have gotten.  There was almost no water coming out.   We have another jet that seems kinked too, just not as bad.   The first was fixed, the other will be looked at when the cupholder is swapped out.

Chemicals -

I am a bunch more at ease with the chemicals, and will try the bleach method once in the near future.   The dealer gave us stuff that seems to work well.  We have the nature2 stick, then we put in a tbs of chlorine or shock alternating between the two each day (more if more bathers/usage).   I think we could probably change that up and fine tune it, I just have to play with it and not be too worried.

Overall, I am pleased with the performance, and my wife is super happy we have it.   I am still a bit disappointed in the quality based on the amount we spent, but, the dealer is taking care of them as they arise.

[mrpenguin]

Didn't want to start a new thread just for the questions.   
Anyone have anything to say about this?


- Factory setting is to have the circ. pump on for 12 hours a day.   Does it really need to run that much?  Sales guys were boasting about the size of the pump and how much water it moves.   If that's the case, why 12 hours, every day?

- I saw some posts about not using the micro-filter and swapping that side with a full size normal filter.   Is that still valid, and does anyone know the part number for the 2014 micro side?   It is a half inch shorter in diameter than the other.

- Every other week I wash the filters, they are still white and besides a bit of grass or hair, don't really see much difference after cleaning, I assume that is a good thing?

[GaryJen]

Glad that you and your wife are loving the tub!
Speaking from prior Jacuzzi ownership, with issues, document each and every issue and the number of calls, service calls out to fix, etc.. We LOVED our Jacuzzi, but had several issues and they had to replace the whole electrical board in the spa 2x. This and a few other minor problems, but I didn't want to get to a point where we were out of warranty and still having big issues and needing to pay for service.
All this said, I wish we had taken the tub with us when we moved... It was a beautiful tub & we have missed it since - 7.5 yrs with no hot tub :-( soon to purchase a new one:-)
Hope you get the answers to the other questions and they get your LED issues resolved.

[kitchener]

I enjoyed your comments.  We're just breaking in our new J-470 ourselves.  You're right about that control panel!  It's bright -- you'd think you could dim it.   From your comments I guess I'll start keeping an eye on my lights -- I did notice one cupholder flicker and then dim, and stayed dim.  Next start up and it was fine.

I, too, have wondered about that 20 minute "filter boost."  For the life of me, I can't determine if it does anything different from just firing up all the jets for 20 minutes, which is what kicks in when you turn the jets on anyway.

Question -- because of that signature high back of the Jacuzzi (for the higher waterfall), it creates a bend in the hot tub cover.  During rain, I get a puddle of water in the middle of the cover where the bend (and stitching) is, and it's letting rain water into the hot tub.  Yesterday, when it rained all day, by the end of the day, my beautifully clear, near-fresh fill had gone cloudy -- are you having this experience?

[mrpenguin]

See reply in other post, but for anyone reading this in the future, here's that post http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,18108.0.html
Mine is under a roof, so it barely gets wet, only when the rain is sideways, so once a week in South Florida!