Marquis e545, itchy skin, and more

[lovejoyland]

Hi Everyone,

I wet tested the Marquis e545 because the dealer didn't have an e750 on the floor. My family liked it, and I did too, but I felt a little itchy in it and afterwards. Can anyone tell me why I might have experienced this? It made me think about how the Jacuzzi dealer we spoke to previously said Jacuzzi jets don't make you itchy like some other jets do, but I'm not sure if that's true because we didn't wet test any. What do you think?

Besides the itchy sensation, I liked the tub, but we were leaning towards something less pricey. We are considering the Vegas because it has the same space as an e750, and the varied seating options Marquis tubs offer is really important to us. The dealer told me about the insulation, or lack thereof, and suggested insulating it myself. Is this hard to do? Also, do I really need to? I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it rarely goes below 40 degrees. If I remember correctly, the dealer said he would include steps, cover lifter, spa frog, ozone, and chemicals for 6K. Maybe delivery too--I can't remember. Does this seem like a good deal? Also, is it necessary to wet test something from the Celebrity line? The dealers said it should feel the same as something from the e series. Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!
Vanessa

[MarKee]

I doubt it was the jets, it's more than likely the water chemistry. If the dealer didn't have the pH in range, that could cause irritation. Also, if the hot tub was just shocked and you used it shortly after, that could cause it. Also, if the level of bromine or chlorine was too high in the water, that could cause it. A good spa with good filtration like a Marquis can run safely at a 1PPM chemical level, which is near the level of city drinking water.

The Celebrity models are good tubs. We sell a lot of them in California, and I have personally sold 100s in California without a single call from a customer about the power bill.  One thing to note is that California energy cost is the highest in the nation (besides Hawaii), so you will be paying about double the national average.  The Vegas national average is $21-22 on power, California will probably be $40, but there are a lot of different factors. It depends on your local power rate and what tier you're on.

Good luck in your search, Marquis are great spas.

[MarKee]

Also, price sounds really good. Keep in mind a Vegas will have a SpaFrog floater (not built in to the side of the tub). Pump system in the Celebrity is within 30 gallons per minute of E-Series (290 vs 320 GPM), so the jets will feel very similar.

[bud16415]

First the itchy problem. We all have different skin sensitives and if you are not used to jets they will in some people cause you to feel itchy after. I have found the more I use the tub the less the problem is. Some people like myself love the strong force the jets produce but have to back off on the pressure because it can be too much. A great example of itchy is our reclining seat has 3 powerful jets for each of the bottoms of your feet. People that haven’t hot tubed much get in ours and the first thing they say is OMG the feet thing feels wonderful. After a few minutes they say OMG my feet are itchy. I have been using it for 2 years now and it feels wonderful to let it blast my toes but they still get itchy afterwards.

As to insulation, I wouldn’t buy any tub the dealer suggested it needed more insulation. It doesn’t matter if the ambient air temp is 40 or -40 the water in the tub will be 101-104. There is going to be heat loss from warm to cold and the better insulated the tub is the less heat that will be needed to replace that loss. Less water heating equals more dollars in your pocket at the end of the month. I live on the great lakes and we get very cold winters and a poorly insulated tub might cost me $40 a month more and you San Francisco it might cost you only $10 more but money is still money and wasting energy is never good. 

[lovejoyland]

RE: the insulation, the dealer didn't suggest it needed more, he just pointed out the difference between the celebrity line's insulation and the e series and signature lines'. He said I could insulate it more myself if I was really worried about it, but the monthly cost difference would probably only be about $6 a more more by his estimates.

Best,
Vanessa

[BullFrogSpasMN]

Re: itchiness...tiny chance it could have been mis-managed water, but highly unlikely if you soaked at a reputable dealers store.  Did the model you test have a bunch of tiny little "bullet jets" as I call them? those are notorious for causing itchy skin especially if you run them on max pressure...they are so small/targeted and when turned up on high cause the blood to flow "away" from the skin which in turn causes the itchy sensation. Just another reason why most of us here believe jet count means absolutely nothing, I'll take 4 broader/deeper movable style jets in a single spa seat vs 20 of those little "bullet jets"....it's always quality > quantity when it comes to jets in my honest opinion (not that "bullet jets" are poor quality, but you understand where I'm coming from)  Next time just try turning them down a bit and see if that helps

[Hottubguy]

Re: itchiness...tiny chance it could have been mis-managed water, but highly unlikely if you soaked at a reputable dealers store.  Did the model you test have a bunch of tiny little "bullet jets" as I call them? those are notorious for causing itchy skin especially if you run them on max pressure...they are so small/targeted and when turned up on high cause the blood to flow "away" from the skin which in turn causes the itchy sensation. Just another reason why most of us here believe jet count means absolutely nothing, I'll take 4 broader/deeper movable style jets in a single spa seat vs 20 of those little "bullet jets"....it's always quality > quantity when it comes to jets in my honest opinion (not that "bullet jets" are poor quality, but you understand where I'm coming from)  Next time just try turning them down a bit and see if that helps

Most of the jets on that tub are mid sized jets. Not like the bullet jets on a hot spot or vacanza series. Agree with your point though about 4 bigger jets versus 20 bullet jets

[lovejoyland]

Out of the five of us I was the only one who experienced any itchy sensation, so it was probably just a me thing. We are going to go ahead and purchase the Vegas. Between myself, my husband, and our no longer growing kids, our heights range from 5' 6" - 4' 11" so the varied seating heights really sold me. I had no idea that would become such an important factor!

Thanks for your help!
Vanessa

[MarKee]

Congratulations, the Vegas is a nice hot tub!

[Hottubguy]

Congrats, It's a good powerful tub and for 6K with those extras you got a great price