Just got my first Hot Tub....Need some help from the pros! :)

[hottub63]

Hey guys,

I'm excited to be the proud of owner of a 2007 Hot Springs Envoy Hot Tub! This is our very first hot tub and the electrician just left after getting everything hooked up. I can't WAIT to get in! I haven't got in yet as I was just making sure all the jets were working and was going to run the "clean start" chemical through it to make sure it's all clean.

I was wondering if you guys could help me with a few questions:

1. From what I understand there is a circ pump that is supposed to be running 24 x 7 and I would see small bubbles coming out of the bottom of the hot tub. I don't see small bubbles coming to the top of the tub when the jets are turned off. So I'm not sure what to check. When I got the hot tub there was a small plastic tube lying on the bottom of the equipment area. Upon inspection I noticed that the small blue check valve in there had broke so I replaced that today (making sure the flow was pointing away from the top of the hot top ... the arrow on the check valvue was pointing down.) Any thoughts on what to do / check? I'm also assuming I can't run the clean start until I'm sure that circ pump is working right? Will just running it through the jets be enough if there is a problem with that circ pump?

2. It looks like the moto message jet is only staying in the 2nd position from the bottom. Any thoughts on that? It fills like it's blowing out through it pretty hard, it's just not going up and down.

3. Ozone. The guy at my local shop said these only last 5 years and it's time to replace it...and said it's 300 bucks to buy a new one. Thoughts on this? How do I know if the one I have works? Also I thought they lasted longer than 5 years on a Hot Spring hot tub. Is this not the case?

3. Filters. I thought I read somewhere that these tri-x filters last 10 years or so if they are well taken care of. The guy at the local shop said that they really only last about 5 years. Is that the case? (If so that means you would have to spend almost 1000 dollars every 5 years between the filters and the ozone...wow!) In any case, I rinsed off his filters really well and I will probably put them in the dish washer on hot with no soap and air dry. But some of them are sort of "chipping" a little bit at the tops..ESPECIALLY the filter that was on the gray tube. Am I going to have to replace all of these filters? If so, that's going to be a big price to pay all at once...can I replace them one at a time?

4. What is this? (click the link to see the picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricklovestivo/8565862469/in/photostream ) On one side of the hot tub there is this strange dial. I'm sort of thinking this is where the one of the air pressure dials used to be and came off. Are these easy to replace if that's the case?

5. There was a gray stick in the gray filter area that says "nature2" on it... I have no idea how long this one has been here. Do I need to replace this? From what I've read online they need to be replaced every 4 months. Do they actually do anything or are they a gimmick?

Ok. Thanks so much for all of your help. Sorry for all the questions, but this community seems like a good one. Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.

By the way, I tried to also sign up at PoolSpaFourm.com but there seems to be something wrong with their new account sign up...my sign up email never came and I tried to get the email a few different times. Do any of you guys use that forum also? If so do you know if there is any way to reach a mod who can look into why my new account isn't being set up? (Also how is that site compared to this one...which one would you say is more active? Thanks!

 

[Spoiledrotten]

4. What is this? (click the link to see the picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricklovestivo/8565862469/in/photostream ) On one side of the hot tub there is this strange dial. I'm sort of thinking this is where the one of the air pressure dials used to be and came off. Are these easy to replace if that's the case?

I don't know much about the HS Envoy but I can answer this question since we were at a dealership today, looking at the Envoy, fixing to purchase one. That is, in fact, an air control where the handle/knob is missing. I know because when I walked over to the first one on the showroom floor, I pulled up on that "handle" thinking it was a mineral well. The knob came off and left a place looking exactly like what's in your pic.

 

[Chas]

Hey guys,

I'm excited to be the proud of owner of a 2007 Hot Springs Envoy Hot Tub! This is our very first hot tub and the electrician just left after getting everything hooked up. I can't WAIT to get in! Congratulations! Welcome to Spatopia!!
I was wondering if you guys could help me with a few questions:

1. From what I understand there is a circ pump that is supposed to be running 24 x 7 and I would see small bubbles coming out of the bottom of the hot tub. I don't see small bubbles coming to the top of the tub when the jets are turned off. So I'm not sure what to check. When I got the hot tub there was a small plastic tube lying on the bottom of the equipment area. Upon inspection I noticed that the small blue check valve in there had broke so I replaced that today (making sure the flow was pointing away from the top of the hot top ... the arrow on the check valvue was pointing down.) Any thoughts on what to do / check? I'm also assuming I can't run the clean start until I'm sure that circ pump is working right? Will just running it through the jets be enough if there is a problem with that circ pump? You need to find the ozone injector. If it's a stock Watkins part, it will be black, and have two 3/4" ID vinyl tubes coming from it, one on each end. Near the center is a fitting with a smaller - 1/4" ID tube which goes to that check valve you replaced. With the circ pump running, unscrew that fitting and take a toothpick or wooden skewer and clear it of the white junk which most likely has it blocked. Water should NOT come out, rather, air should be sucked IN as you get it cleared up. Then, within a minute or two, air bubbles should start to flow from the floor fitting. Bad news: if the air flow was blocked for long - a week or two will do it - the ozone generator is most likely toast.

2. It looks like the moto message jet is only staying in the 2nd position from the bottom. Any thoughts on that? It fills like it's blowing out through it pretty hard, it's just not going up and down. If there is only water, and no air coming from the Moto, you may have lucked out and you only need to replace the air tube. If there is a mixture of air and water coming out, but it still doesn't move, you will need to replace the entire unit. $100 for a single, and - not surprisingly, $200 for the DX In my opinion, this is the best Jet under heaven and earth - and easily worth the coin. They usually last about 5 or 6 years, longer if you don't overdo the chlorine.

3. Ozone. The guy at my local shop said these only last 5 years and it's time to replace it...and said it's 300 bucks to buy a new one. Thoughts on this? How do I know if the one I have works? Also I thought they lasted longer than 5 years on a Hot Spring hot tub. Is this not the case? They WILL last longer, much longer in some cases - BUT: if your airflow - as mentioned above - was cut off for any length of time, it will be toast. I can send you one for about half that if you are interested.

3. Filters. I thought I read somewhere that these tri-x filters last 10 years or so if they are well taken care of. The guy at the local shop said that they really only last about 5 years. Is that the case? (If so that means you would have to spend almost 1000 dollars every 5 years between the filters and the ozone...wow!) In any case, I rinsed off his filters really well and I will probably put them in the dish washer on hot with no soap and air dry. But some of them are sort of "chipping" a little bit at the tops..ESPECIALLY the filter that was on the gray tube. Am I going to have to replace all of these filters? If so, that's going to be a big price to pay all at once...can I replace them one at a time?I tell people who buy used tubs to install new filters. Ewww gross .... why not? The Tri-X filters will last more than five years, if you take care of them. Yes, you can put them in the dishwasher. But, like your Grandmother's fine china, I wouldn't. Hand wash, air dry. And in reality, you only need four Tri-X and one regular filter. The regular filter goes on the Circ pump (hollow filter core).

4. What is this? (click the link to see the picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ricklovestivo/8565862469/in/photostream ) On one side of the hot tub there is this strange dial. I'm sort of thinking this is where the one of the air pressure dials used to be and came off. Are these easy to replace if that's the case?

5. There was a gray stick in the gray filter area that says "nature2" on it...  That is a mineral purifier, and if you have one in a tub with a working ozonator, you can soak chlorine free. You will still do a chlorine shock once a month, and if you have a crowd in the tub (or my brother-in-law) you will want to add a bit of chlorine.

 

[HT2020]

Chas pretty much told you everything that you need to hear.  I would possibly differ slightly in one regard (even though he has far more experience then I do): the fact that you have a Nature2 mineral stick is not enough for you to go chlorine free at this point.  If you had a functioning ozonator AND a Nature2 mineral stick which is current (ie: less than 6 months old) you could possibly go chlorine free.  However, there are many dissenting opinions on this.  Personally, I have an ozonator and a Nature2 mineral stick and I still use dichlor every day.  However, I do not use as much dichlor as I would if I didn't have these things (ie: I try to keep the free chlorine level around 1-3ppm).  Alternatively, you could use MPS and dichlor in fairly small quantities as has been suggested by various people.  However, ozone is not a sanitizer (it's an oxidizer) and therefore if you don't use chlorine and/or MPS you are trusting your mineral stick to be your only sanitizer.  I wind up using about 0.4 oz of dichlor after every soak and shock weekly with MPS.

 

[Chas]

HT is right - you need a working ozone system AND a good N2 stick to soak chlorine free. To be safe, add a bit of shock after every soak, and do a chlorine shock once per month, or whenever you have a crowd.

8)