Whats the secret to the fast drain?

[Brookenstein]

Leslies told me to buy a 25' back flow hose or something like that?  I did, that looks useless.  Not sure WTH I'm supposed to do with it.

Went to Home Depot pumps were like $75, no thanks.  Bought another hose thingy in the pump section for like $6.  Still not real sure what I'm suppose to do with it.  I sucked or blew or whetever it was to get water coming out of it and that sorta worked, but the hose part in the tub kept floating to the surface.  I tried putting it on the jets, but couldn't remember what the heck I was trying to accomplish with that, lol.

The tub water hasn't cleared up and my filter is nasty every morning after I clean the filter the day before.  I think I'm going to go ahead and drain and refill tomorrow, but I don't want it to be an all day job again.

[Vinny]

Buy sump pump hosing  or a pool vacuum hose and it'll go by quicker

[orlandoguy]

I bought a battery pump from Spa Depot for around 30 bucks and between that and the drain open with a separate hose, my spa drains in less than an hour.  Add in the small Shop Vac for the left over water and draining is a breeze for me.

I was surprised at how fast the pump works.  You do have to add an extension of old garden hose as the one it comes with won't reach outside the spa if the pump is in the footwell.  Poor design flaw, but easily fixed.

[Spatech_tuo]

Leslies told me to buy a 25' back flow hose or something like that?  I did, that looks useless.  Not sure WTH I'm supposed to do with it.

Don't you have an external drain or are you simply trying to get a second line draining?

If you put the hose over the jets and turn the pump on it will create a siphon but make sure you have the air off to the jets as you are trying to evacuate the air from the line to get the siphon started and any air from the jet defeats the purpose.

[Tatooed_Lady]

Brook, FWIW, what *I* get from the advice on using jets and hose is this:
put one end of the hose in the tub, one end outside....turn the jets on, put the end that's in the tub against a jet until water starts to flow out the other end...at this point, it should keep flowing, so long as the end outside the tub is lower than the hose in the tub (and the inside end is kept under water). weight the end that's in the tub with something that'll keep it down, or use this suction to help clean any loose cruddies off the seats and floor area....be sure to turn the power OFF on the tub as soon as possible after the syphon is working....
Granted, I haven't done this yet, but it's what I get from what I've read so far.....also, as the water level gets below the seats, you might want to try and schluck the water into the footwell area while suction is still good.....
If I'm wrong, OOPS.....but I THINK that's what everyone was talking about.....and for extra speed, use the normal drain with a hose on it along with the above info....
Best of luck!

[Brookenstein]

Buy sump pump hosing  or a pool vacuum hose and it'll go by quicker

That is what I thought I bought for $6 at Depot, just not sure what I do with it.

[Brookenstein]

Don't you have an external drain or are you simply trying to get a second line draining?

Yes I do, but it took 4 hours to drain the last time.  After 2 hours I added a second garden hose and it still took 4 hours.  I would like to get it drained by 8 am and filled by 9, so it will be hot by bedtime.

[Tubaholic]

I bought the cheapest sump pump I could find, added some thin rubber to the bottom so I would not scratch the tub surface then attached the pool vac hose to it and can drain the tub in less than 1/2 hour. Then I let the last inch or so drain out the main drain.

[Tatooed_Lady]

I guess if I invited some of my gun totin' weirdo friends up here to take pot shots at the tub when it needs draining, it'd probably drain pretty quick, too.....  

[comet1]

submersible pumps works for me drains tub under 1hr cost about 15 pound uk 26us dollars tub is cleand filled and heated by early ev  

[bosco0633]

hot sauce    

[Vinny]

That is what I thought I bought for $6 at Depot, just not sure what I do with it.

A sump pump hose is usually black, corregated and rigid (no comments please!)  A back wash hose is usually collapseable and won't keep it's shape unless it has pressure running through it - think of a cheap fire hose.

What I do is: turn the heater down to the lowest setting (this way NO DAMAGE (this capitalization is for me) can possibly happen), lay the tubing out, turn on a pump without air coming out of the jet, place the end of the hose over the jet and let it run for a minute, turn off the tub (remove electricity), keep the hose under water (I think bosco said he uses a vice grip ... I'm trying that next time), make sure the water is coming out the other end and if all goes well then the tub will drain in about 20 - 30 minutes. I sometimes lose my prime in the hose and I have no idea why; I then take out the pool cover pump and it takes FOREVER (about an hour). I don't want to invest in a sump pump but this may make it go really fast too.

Hope this helps!

[Brookenstein]

A sump pump hose is usually black, corregated and rigid (no comments please!)  A back wash hose is usually collapseable and won't keep it's shape unless it has pressure running through it - think of a cheap fire hose.


Hope this helps!

I now have one of each of those hoses thanks to the idiot at Leslies.  I even told him thats not what I thought I needed, and he assured me it was.

Thanks, I'll let you know if it helps tomorrow.  

[chaunceyboyblu]

i bought one at home depo for about 100 dollars and it drained the hot tub in about half an hour. it was really fast. i used a big  hose too that may make a difference. it was worth it to me to be able to drain it quickly in casr i had problems when it gets really cold.

[Gomboman]

What happened to your water Brooke? Didn't you just change it? I hope you didn't let your drunk neighbor in the tub--just kidding.  

The tub water hasn't cleared up and my filter is nasty every morning after I clean the filter the day before.  I think I'm going to go ahead and drain and refill tomorrow, but I don't want it to be an all day job again.