Floating in the hot tubs

[sksmoker]

Hey everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster. The wife and I are in the process of wet testing tubs. So far we have wet tested a 2014 Grandee, Coast Zenith, and an Arctic Tundra.

All three of these spa's we are having a hard time sitting in the seats, unless pretty much straight up and down. I am finding that I float, which surprises me because in my friends pool, I need 4 noodles wrapped under my arms to keep my chin out of the water. My wife knows she floats, so we are known with that.

Here is the issue. In the Grandee we wet tested, we both couldn't even sit in the moto dx loungers as we couldn't stay seated. We both floated really badly in that tub. The Coast we didn't float as much and the Tundra the wife floated a bit, and I floated a lot. We have never really had this issue before as we have both used hot tubs, pools, etc and I always sink like a stone. The common between the tundra and the grandee is that they were salt tubs. Is it possible that the dealers have jacked the salt levels so much in these tubs that what didn't float before, now does? We watched the salt generator in the Arctic tub and it looked like an alka seltzer commercial. Is that correct, that it should be bubbling that much?

Needless to say, we are getting a bit frustrated at this as we aren't skinny minnies and we aren't giants either. If salt makes that much of a difference in buoyancy in the salt tub, then we will forget salt altogether. We are going to try an Arctic Summit in the next while, thinking the chairs might be a bit more snug and keep us in place. We are going to revisit Bullfrog as well.

All we want is a tub that we don't float out of the chairs to come home to and enjoy. The rest is really unimportant at this point. Are we alone in this? Any info you could shed would help a lot. This is our first experience with salt.

Thanks!

[Isaac-1]

Salt should not make that much difference, the salt level in hot tubs with SWG's is less than 1/10th of the salt level found in the ocean, and yes the SWG's should bubble that much, at least mine does, and they do in all the videos I have seen, etc.  On the floating issue, I don't really have much advice other than to keep trying tubs, since you have used hot tubs in the past and not had floating issue, there must be some "right ones" out there for you.

[sksmoker]

In regards to past tubs. I should clarify that most of our experience is related to not floating in other hot tubs. We have only used others hot tubs at places we have rented in the past and they are far, far from the quality of the "spas" we are testing out. They would be the cheapest of the bunch for sure with basic almost bench seats

[GGRANDEE]

Re: Grandee. Try adjusting the Comfort Control levers to reduce the amount of air pressure and water coming through the jets. My wife did this and it worked for her. It may make a difference for both of you.

[Quickbeam]

Hi sksmoker,

Don't know anything about salt systems, and am a new, first time tub owner. When we were wet testing we found a couple of lounges that we floated out of. Didn't have that with any seats though. Once we got our tub (Jacuzzi J-345) we found that if we have the jets on full power we will get "pushed" out of the seat. This is where the foot dome on the floor of the tub really comes in handy. If you put your feet against the foot dome you can anchor yourself to the seat and still have the full power.

[petals20]

Uh-oh...shoot this is not good. I'm 5'6 about 107 lbs so I'll prob have to borrow some ankle weights from the bf.

[wmccall]

Uh-oh...shoot this is not good. I'm 5'6 about 107 lbs so I'll prob have to borrow some ankle weights from the bf.

Actually a waist weight belt might be in order.

[sksmoker]

Hey everyone. We are going to wet test a bullfrog A8L on tuesday. It has no salt in the tub. We are also going to go back to the Arctic dealer later on to test another tundra with no salt water, just straight up chlorine. 

We were at the arctic dealer in the Summit XL that they transferred bromine-salt water from a swim spa. Completely different experience. I barely floated and my wife didn't float much at all. The summit unfortunately wasn't for us as the wife just couldn't get comfortable in the summit in any chair. I  on the other hand, was very comfy We were amazed at the difference right away when we sat in the chairs. We could actually sit in the seats and evaluate the tub!

We were then able to jump into an Arctic swim spa with a salt system in it and there I floated, just like I did before in the other tundra that we tested. Not as bad as the grandee.. something is wrong with that water for sure.

So something is definitely up for us with any added salt. We are going to confirm our results on Tuesday with a no salt water tub in the bullfrog. Stay tuned..

[petals20]

Alright jokes aside,..is this floating matter for real? Those who have wives that are on the slim side say under 130 lbs,..is floating in the lounger is a by gone conclusion with every lounger seat? or does it varies and occur on certain models? 

[Hottubguy]

Hey everyone. We are going to wet test a bullfrog A8L on tuesday. It has no salt in the tub. We are also going to go back to the Arctic dealer later on to test another tundra with no salt water, just straight up chlorine. 

We were at the arctic dealer in the Summit XL that they transferred bromine-salt water from a swim spa. Completely different experience. I barely floated and my wife didn't float much at all. The summit unfortunately wasn't for us as the wife just couldn't get comfortable in the summit in any chair. I  on the other hand, was very comfy We were amazed at the difference right away when we sat in the chairs. We could actually sit in the seats and evaluate the tub!

We were then able to jump into an Arctic swim spa with a salt system in it and there I floated, just like I did before in the other tundra that we tested. Not as bad as the grandee.. something is wrong with that water for sure.

So something is definitely up for us with any added salt. We are going to confirm our results on Tuesday with a no salt water tub in the bullfrog. Stay tuned..

Salt is not going to be the problem!

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

Test a Vanguard if possible (very similar layout as Grandee, just slightly smaller).....as weird as it sounds because there isn't a ton of volume difference but I float all over the place in a Grandee but sit like a rock in the Vanguard

[Chartreux]

Wow, sounds like this is going to be hard for you. Just keep testing them to find one that'll work good for you.
 www.scuba.com has weight belts or amazon...Maybe try testing Sundance or Marquis...

[dunecritter]

I agree with TwinCities ...I feel very light and tend to float around in my Grandee model with or without the ACE salt system...The salt made no difference that was noticeable to me. The Grandee is just a very big tub with massive seats that give you lots of room...so without having a foot planted against something you get that floating sensation...The Vanguard allows you to rest your feet against the opposite side and keep yourself in position better...Every tub will feel different...I wouldn't bank on the tub feeling any different with or without a salt system. The PPM of salt used is very small.

[Spatech_tuo]

Alright jokes aside,..is this floating matter for real? Those who have wives that are on the slim side say under 130 lbs,..is floating in the lounger is a by gone conclusion with every lounger seat? or does it varies and occur on certain models? 

Floating is a real thing but its an individual thing, certainly some float more than others but you never know until you try it out. There also is no such thing as a spa that eliminates the concern. At times I've seen people say that a certain spa is designed so the lounge doesn't flat... and certainly designers do their best to design them to be as functional for all as possible but no two people are alike. In the end its another good reason to wet test and see for yourself which spa fits you best.

[sksmoker]

Thanks everyone. I agree salt shouldn't make a difference, but something is certainly going on between a salt system and non. Just for fun I went to the public pool and sat in the hot tub. Sank like a stone. I am not out to make one vendor look better than another, that is for sure. I just wish I could evaluate the tubs for the tubs, without being shot out of the spa because I float so much

Unfortunately for my local HS dealer, they won't fill any other tub than the grandee on the floor. "Not enough electrical, I don't have water in it, etc" are the excuses that we have received when we inquired about wet testing other tubs.