CAL Hot Tub

[spaman--]

Every brand uses something to tout superiority, I don't use horse power at all in my presentation I use 2 working models to demonstrate the water movement. Thats is what they are ultimately looking for is water volume though the jets, if it feels good buy it!I am switching to G.E light bulbs in my house to help out your mom.LOL

[Steve]

I look forward to the day when companies realize they are loosing credibility by touting BHP. As for now, they still don't get it but it certainly helps the rest of us out in closing sales by being honest!

Kudos to those of you that don't intensionally mislead the buying public. Sorry, to those of you that purchased your spa because of those twin 7HP pumps. :-/

Steve

[spaman--]

A smart salesman would not let a consumer out the door without explaining the difference between BHP and actual HP,as you know your competition is going to tear you apart if you don't.

[newtubber1]

I don't get the problem with a manufacture listing BHP.  

Every car ever made is advertised using BHP or Max horse power.   Most people understad that a Chevy Corvette does not produce 400hp at 3000rpm's going 55mph down the road.  

[SDguy]

First do a little more research to see what is out there.

Once you've been at the dealerships, take the warranty cards, and compare them side by side. You'll understand.

If a delaer is going to try to sell you on BHP, tell them you're not going to play that game, and walk out. Misleading a consumer is the worst thing a dealer can do as a sales professional.

Steve, just like you, I appreciate a good salesman not for their salesmanship but the information provided to make well-informed decision in regards to a purchase.

[Michelle]

My Husband went into the local Cal dealer.  The spa was up on a dolly and the pump compartment cover was off.  He said that the insullation was the worst he saw of any of them at less than two inches thick and the plastic skirt was very tinny sounding.  Stay away from this brand, it looks like a nice tub but beauty is only skin deep.
Good luck

[Steve]

I don't get the problem with a manufacture listing BHP.  

Every car ever made is advertised using BHP or Max horse power.   Most people understad that a Chevy Corvette does not produce 400hp at 3000rpm's going 55mph down the road.  

Extremely poor analogy. A spa running on high speed produces the continuas HP and not the BHP. A Vette full out (on high speed if you will) is producing maximum HP and torque when floored.

Steve

[mxw128]

I just got through the research process when I was shopping for a tub.  Try calling some local independant spa repair shops and see what they have to say.  Most of the time they are happy to share experience with you when servicing different brands of tubs.  You can get an idea of how tubs fare down the road and possible how often they see failures.  The info I got was that Cal Spas was often slow to respond with parts etc for warranty claims.  Anyway, just a piece of info... for what it's worth....  

[Brewman]

As I see it, the only useful information bhp provides is some snap in a sales brochure.  
The implication is high hp = good.  I still don't know what the hp ratings on my Optima are, nor do I really care.  Whatever the power, I can get one helluva massage in the sucker.
Brewman

[dino]

See the reviews - all of them not just the ones most recently entered (click product to groupl them alphabetically.

I have spent 30% of my purchase price on repairs in two years.  They are disreputable (no I refer to the company and not the dealer - the dealer in my case was criminally disreputable as his 5 year jail sentence proves).

Nevertheless this is not the spa to buy.

[Yorag]

Like Dino, I have had a myriad of problems with my Cal Spa. It's also difficult to find static dealers as they seem to come and go with the wind.
Take a look at the site Ripoffreport.com and do a search by Cal Spas.
I have owned mine for nearly 8 years and in that time I have replaced 2 PC boards, 2 heater elements, 1 ozone generator, 1 ozone bulb, repaired 13 blisters in the shell and repaired 2 leaks buried in the full foam. Each time I needed parts from the Cal Spas factory, it was a nightmare. Not to mention the fact that my warranty was blatantly misrepresented to me at the time of purchase.
There are indeed much better investments to be made in spas out there, and my advice would be to look elsewhere.

[East_TX_Spa]

 Try calling some local independant spa repair shops and see what they have to say.  Most of the time they are happy to share experience with you when servicing different brands of tubs.  You can get an idea of how tubs fare down the road and possible how often they see failures.

Good idea, but also realize this:

These repair guys make their living by servicing the local dealers.  Who do you think they're going to refer you to?  In a small market like ours, there are only about 3 guys doing spa repairs and the other dealers use them.  We have in-house service techs.

If somebody calls Mister X's Spa Repair for this type of information, he lets them know that Seven Seas spas are so much better than those junky HotSpring Spas, you'd be a fool not to buy one.  Of course, he never sees a dime from a HS service call, but Seven Seas keeps food on his table.

I'm sure most service techs will shoot straight with you.  Most of the guys on this board seem like genuinely good folks and I really enjoy and appreciate their input.

Terminator

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Extremely poor analogy. A spa running on high speed produces the continuas HP and not the BHP. A Vette full out (on high speed if you will) is producing maximum HP and torque when floored.

Steve

I AMAZED STEVE!!!!!!!!!!!Of all the people, with your truck and all, You I would expect to know.

Maximum HP in a gas engine is achieved only at a very specific RPM. If you look at the hp curve from running on a dynamo you'll see this.

[Chas]

And what's more, most cars/trucks could only sustain their max HP for a matter of minutes, seconds in some cases.

Talk to racers about that: they pay big money to build an engine which can stay alive putting out full power for just the length of a straightaway or two.

Now Aircraft engines can put out up to 75% of max power for extended period of time - hours if need be. But most pilots pull back to 65% for better fuel efficiency and longer engine life.

Bottom line: numbers on a brochure are for marketing. HotSpring puts both the 'real' number and the 'Breakdown Torque' numbers. But what you want to do is wet test, try the jets in all the possible combinations and move all the various adjustments around. That's what matters: what's this spa going to feel like?

And it takes better engineering to offer good jet action with smaller motors than it does to simply slap on big motors.