draining and cleaning tips needed

[lovejoyland]

So I've decided to i want to start draining, cleaning, refilling my hot tub myself. I think I'm good on the refilling part, but I'm looking for tips re: draining and cleaning.

Can you steer me in the direction of a decent, reliable, and affordable sump pump? How about a wet/dry shop vacuum? Are there other tools I will need to make the draining job easier?

Re: cleaning, what products can I use and what should I avoid? Do I need to get products made by hot tub manufacturers or are there just as good, and probably cheaper, household cleaners I could use? What about flushing the pipes? I've always paid someone to come do it for me, but the expense prevents me from changing my water as frequently as I would like.

Thanks in advance!
Vanessa

[ratchett]

Still a newbie myself so take my advice with a grain of salt.

But I recently drained/refilled my tub for the first time.  I started by using a product called AhhSome spa cleaner to clean the plumbing - I dissolved the required amount in a cup of hot water then added to the tub, turned on jets for 30 minute to get things cleared out of the plumbing.  (there are tons of videos online if you need more info about the AhhSome product).

Then after that, I drained the tub using a home built gravity drain (cost me about $35 in spare parts, including a 100-foot drain hose line to run water out to the culvert).  Alternatively I have heard other's talk about the QuickDrain tool which is affordable and effective (also gravity powered).   I'm not in a rush so I went for cheap and effective, but there are obviously other sump pumps you can buy if you want something fancier.   I believe some people suggest adding hydrogen peroxide to the water to neutralize the chlorine before draining the tub - I guess it depends how much chlorine you have in the tub and where you are draining the water.

Once the tub was drained, I used a wet rag with some 50/50 vinegar water mix to clean up the shell of the tub.  And that's about it before preparing to refill.