Artesian South Seas 965L w/iFrog - ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

[guardrail22]

12 months in to this and my take is disappointment.

Chief frustration is the iFrog system. I have to run both the silver and chlorine cartridges on 6 and the chlorine lasts maybe 10-11 days and never completely empties. Spa runs 4 out of 12 hours in standard mode in winter and econ in summer. The fact that the chlorine can go to zero so quickly means pseudomonas is being removed for fourth time this weekend.

I have spoken to both King Technology and dealer and no one wants to take on the task of truly finding out why the chlorine always shows minimum free and 2-5 total. They claim its the water going in thru a charcoal filter; my position is something is in the spa since new. But when they look at the health dept well analysis they can spot whats doing it.

Beyond that the waterfall doesn't work right and never has. the frog tub had to be replaced to enable better water flow.

Just been a very high maintenance aggravating PITA. Finally found silver cartridges for $13 each if I buy 10 at a time, but that's $1 per day just for iFrog chlorine.

[Hottubguy]

12 months in to this and my take is disappointment.

Chief frustration is the iFrog system. I have to run both the silver and chlorine cartridges on 6 and the chlorine lasts maybe 10-11 days and never completely empties. Spa runs 4 out of 12 hours in standard mode in winter and econ in summer. The fact that the chlorine can go to zero so quickly means pseudomonas is being removed for fourth time this weekend.

I have spoken to both King Technology and dealer and no one wants to take on the task of truly finding out why the chlorine always shows minimum free and 2-5 total. They claim its the water going in thru a charcoal filter; my position is something is in the spa since new. But when they look at the health dept well analysis they can spot whats doing it.

Beyond that the waterfall doesn't work right and never has. the frog tub had to be replaced to enable better water flow.

Just been a very high maintenance aggravating PITA. Finally found silver cartridges for $13 each if I buy 10 at a time, but that's $1 per day just for iFrog chlorine.

Have you ever had it tested for phosphates in the water?

[Sam]

Yeah, this is certainly an anomaly.  That system has been fantastic for the vast majority of people that I have encountered.  I assume they asked you this but is your PH in the proper range?  This can have an effect.  Also, what type of bather load is the spa seeing?  I've found that very heavy bather loads require supplemental dichlor occasionally.  Maybe 3-4 tsp once or twice a week depending upon usage. 

[BullFrogSpasMN]

I would think the waterfall would be a fairly simple fix? most of them are a single piece 'valve' that can be replaced.  As far as the FROG, just skip it, it isn't required to use in ANY hot tub, I don't even sell the things cause I constantly got the same complaints you have about them running out much quicker than advertised, expensive, cheaper online, etc. basically the juice 'wasn't worth the squeeze' to me so just look at an alternative standard bromine or chlorine system which you can keep at a very low level

[castletonia]

Thats a big tub.  At 550 gallons, its close to the limit for what the frog system can handle.  As others have said, make sure the pH is in range and that the phosphates are not crazy high.  Both can cause the chlorine cartridge to dispense quickly.  6 is the proper setting for the mineral. 

I've sold Marquis and Caldera with the frog system and in my experience, a tub of that size you are probably not going to get more than 2 weeks out of a chlorine cartridge.  I do think 10-11 days is premature, but as BullFrogSpasMN said, move on to a different water care routine.  Also, what exactly is the issue with the waterfall? 

[gmdodt]

Dang my @ease has been in over a month at 3 setting and still has a little left :x

[guardrail22]

have not tested for phosphates but well analysis does not indicate a high level and we run all water into the tub thru a charcoal filter. Will test it.

pH is kept within required ranged. Normal bather load is two people 6-7 days a week. Holidays its goes up to 4-5 depending on who's here. We shock after every use, usially the next morning. 4oz minimum. I mail order it in 5# bottles.

I can add dichlor at rate of 4-5 oz at a time, total chlorine goes up but free barely moves of minimum.

two issues with waterfall. The pillow doesn't match the slot in the wall for the waterfall. the ends of the slot cause the water to "roll over" at the ends.  Replacement parts have same issue.

I'll try to get some pictures/video and post after xmas.

[Hottubguy]

What do you have your filter setting set for?  I remember in another thread it seemed low to me. Your tub is a huge tub so the frog system might not be the best system for you

[Sam]

Your tub is a huge tub so the frog system might not be the best system for you

I agree.  Add that to the fact that you have a pretty heavy bather load.  I would consider adding a couple of tsp of dichlor immediately after each use and save the non-chlorine shock for once per month.  Since it can be a pain to measure stuff out after soaking, I recommend finding some old film canisters or something similar and pre-measuring them.  I think maybe 3 tsp to start.

Another factor to consider is that if your spa was never properly decontaminated after the initial infection, when you refill the spa it's just being recontaminated with the water that remained in the plumbing.  How did you decontaminate the spa?  There is a method that you can find somewhere on this site that will definitely kill everything.  I've seen it quite a few times where the new water is just reinfected but it can be a kind of slow process so people often don't put 2 and 2 together.

It's quite possible that you are still dealing with the affects of the initial problem.  I strongly encourage you to do a proper decontamination procedure.  The use of ahh-some in conjunction is advised. 

I will add again that this program really has been fantastic for the overwhelming majority of people who use it.  I just had a guy mention it an hour ago.  We converted him from another program and he remarked how much better the @ease system is.

[Michael Russell]

Thought I would add...

Marquis Epic tub. About the same size also with the Ease Frog System. Running Bromine cartridges (chlorine carts are not available in Canada right now).

We have average of 3 people in the tub 6 nights a week. I have been struggling to keep my bromine up as well. My local Spa dealer suggested putting in a 1/2 tsp of bromine for each bather after use. He mentioned this when  I went in with some cloudy water.

I have been doing this for a couple weeks now and the bromine level has been sitting at about 2 ever since. I still have the frog bromine cartridge in and set to 6. I have been refilling it with bromine tablets.  I need to refill it about every 3 weeks.

It would appear as mentioned that the frog system cannot keep up with the size of water and daily usage load that we both seem to having.

I like the idea of the film canisters. Although they are getting hard to find :-)

[The Wizard of Spas]

I do hear from others that you do need to run the counter a little higher than what the marketing on the package says.  Additionally- what is your usage like?  If it is getting used daily with several people, that is always going to chew up your product faster.

What you may want to consider:

pH *must* be in 7.4-7.6 to truly allow @ease to work at its peak performance.  @ease relies on pH control more than any other product I have encountered.  Furthermore, the temperature *must* be at least 90F, but I've spoken with the chemists there at King Tech and they said its really at least 94F.

You're supposed to run a 0.5 FC and a TC can be as high as 10-15ppm on @ease.  That is why their is not TC labeled on their test strips but just a color indicating if it is good or low.  So the cartridges may empty, but are you still getting the readings of very high TC?

Phosphates can be a thing.  If it is filled with water from a softener- then that too can be an impediment.  There has to be something we here on this thread are missing, as like others- I agree that @ease is a great system.

[guardrail22]

Well, we had this straightened out during the summer by refilling thru am charcoal filter and circulating 16oz of metal remover for 24 hours then broadcasting the starter kit. We were putting in 4 oz of shock after every use. $3-4 /day for chemicals.

Then a it started going cloudy after the first silver cartridge went out. Nothing would clear it up. I finally told the dealer I wanted my money back and they could come and get it. Still waiting for Artesian to chime in.

Meantime they are running the tub with two blue cartridges in the holder and alternating shock and chlorine treatments after each use. Weekly checks by the service guy.

The only theory so far is the tub cannot off gas well enough to keep the residual and free chlorine within range of each other. I’m convinced something is not right in the equipment.

[guardrail22]

Put three oz of chlorine in yesterday and it was too high last night and still pretty rich today. I’m learning to hate this thing.