Spa Secrets Revealed!

Transcription

1 Spa Secrets Revealed! Don t Even Think About Buying a Spa or Hot tub Until You Read This Book! The Important Things You Need to Know About Buying a Spa So You Won t Get RIPPED OFF! Copyright Custom Built Spas ISBN $19.95 US

2 Copyright Custom Built Spas Spa Secrets Revealed! All Rights Reserved ISBN Written by: Gene Trumbull Custom Built Spas Disclaimer: The comments, ideas, opinions and experiences expressed in this publication are strictly those of the author. Your own experiences may differ widely. The purpose of this publication is to promote and encourage the idea of comparisonshopping before making a large expenditure buying decision such as a spa. Spas are a great experience, but do your homework first so that the purchase you make is the best one for you! Published By Custom Built Spas 2

3 2016 Forward The main purpose of this book is to shed some light on spa buying and the spa industry for the thousands and thousands of people who buy spas every year. In an industry that enjoys little regulation compared to many other industries, the uneducated, uninformed and unwary spa buyer can easily fall prey to misinformation given out by untrained sales associates and in some cases, unscrupulous retailers. Here s an industry that can offer its customers a tremendous way to enjoy unparalleled relaxation and comfort, yet some spa retailers are often uninformed about the very products they are selling. Products that may not be up to quality standards, options that are not necessary and sales pitches used that don t live up to their promises and claims? In the following pages of this book I will address what I feel are the major areas of concern with spa buying, the important things you need to look out for, questions you need to ask and things you need to understand before making a spa purchase. Although I ve started this page on a negative note that could be interpreted that the spa industry is made up of ruthless opportunists, nothing could be further from the truth! There are a number of excellent spa units available as well as manufacturers that produce them. But with many products that enjoy high demand, a good profit margin and support residual buying, there are going to be those producers who will try to cut corners and short change the quality of their products in order to increase bottom line profits. In addition, you re going to be dealing with a sales force that s sprinkled with under trained over zealous sales associates desperately needing to make a sale to create a weekly paycheck. This perpetuates the old tell what they want to hear to make the sale syndrome. Quality spas are not cheap and for the most part can certainly be considered a big ticket buying item. The problem is that there are substantially inferior spas that command the same prices if not more than those spas of true quality. So how is a consumer going to know this? That s what I m about to reveal to you! The little secrets that separate the good guys from the bad guys! Common sense spa issues that make real sense when you stop to take the time to analyze and think about them. 3

4 Contents Page 3 Page 5 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 7 Page 8 Page 10 Page 13 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 19 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 26 Page 27 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 33 Page 34 Forward What s up with the spa industry anyhow? First the Bad News Now the good news I felt guilty Not all spa shells are created equal Full foam insulated spas Thermal pane or thermal sealed spas Frame construction Cabinet wall surround Spa jets The wet test Horse power and motors Spa pumps Those Tiny Little Circulation pumps Heaters & Blowers Filters Controllers, spa side controllers & spa covers Ozonators Ionizers Warrantees Safety tips Electrical service Spa care items Order page Spa costs An interesting Spa alternative Happy Tubbing 4

5 The Spa Industry Some of you reading this book may have already purchased and read one of my do it yourself spa manuals but decided that the project is a little more than you feel comfortable tackling. I understand this and I thank you again for your purchase and at least considering the do it yourself spa. However, I know many of you will still want to buy a spa in the very near future. My goal with this buyer s guide is to help with that purchase by passing along the benefits of my own experience and research in the spa industry. It s important for you to know the GOOD the BAD and the UGLY so you can make a purchase with your eyes wide opened. My research was initially done to provide my spa builders with the best equipment and information available on spas that I could find. The research for information included, spa manufactures, spa equipment, spa controls, spa design, spa care, spa safety and much more. First The Bad News: I feel there is a lot of misinformation being put out in the spa industry, not only by the manufactures but by uneducated spa dealers and spa sales associates as well. Sales people tell customers what the manufactures or dealers teach them to tell you. They use the latest gimmicks as sales points to entice you to buy because gimmicks are what sell and attract potential buyers. But what if in fact those gimmicks have nothing to do with the performance or real value of owning a spa, how does it make their spa better? It doesn t! Case in point, you can get spas now with built in TV s, stereos, DVD and CD players etc do they make the spa perform any better of course not! But because it s cool to have these things, people will make a purchase because of the gimmicks, not for the performance or quality of the spa. Do you really think you re going to use a TV, CD or DVD player when you re using your spa? Manufactures and retailers know that gimmicks sell and I think are often more concerned with adding more gimmicks to increase sales and bottom line profits rather than improve the quality of the spa. In some cases, serious design flaws are ignored in the spas they sell. Manufactures love it when they can cut production costs to increase bottom line profits. And even if this reduces their cost of making their product, they often still sell it at an inflated price. When problems occur, (as they always will when you sacrifice quality for price) they go back and make fixes to offset the problem and design flaws. Then to insult you further, 5

6 they tout the fixes as new features and breakthrough innovations. What kind of crap is that? There are a number of slick advertising campaigns going on in the world of spas. These ads target the emotions of the buyer because most consumers buy on emotion, not quality, reliability or performance. Unfortunately, this leads you to be prey for the savvy salesperson. If you ever feel yourself being sucked into a purchase emotionally, step away, take a break and let common sense regain control in your buying decisions. This whole scenario is nothing new. The uninformed consumer is always a target to be preyed upon. It s shame on you for not doing your homework or due diligence before you buy anything, (a point well taken). Wouldn t it make more sense just to build a quality product in the first place and let that products reputation build sales? Certainly seems like the logical approach now doesn t it? Fact, a savvy consumer will spend more money to buy real quality. It s also a fact that a consumer who just spent five or six thousand dollars or more on an inferior product will defend that purchase whole heartily to save face. When is the last time you heard a friend say, boy was I stupid to buy this, I should have done my homework first, sad isn t it! What I ve done on the following pages is sort through the information I ve gathered then edited it and condensed it into no fluff pages giving you what I consider are the important facts you need to know before you make a spa purchase. The Good News: There are a number of quality spas available to you and not necessarily at a premium price. But before you can determine that, you need to know what to look for and what questions to ask. You also need to be prepared to walk away from a salesperson that can t answer your questions honestly without tossing in a bunch of irrelevant BS that has nothing to do with anything. There are low cost spas that actually do work pretty well, not always for very long and they offer very few features compared to other spas. But, there are a few things that you can do yourself to improve these spas without big cost. The old saying, You get what you pay for, is as true in the spa world as it is in any other industry. 6

7 It s no different than what you find in the auto industry, there are salespeople who would tell you anything to get you to buy from them, consequently many people cringe when it s time to buy another car. For that reason, honest sales people and dealers suffer, it s the same in the spa industry. In the defense of many of the good spa dealers and salespeople I ve met, most really tried very hard to accommodate me in everyway. But again, salespeople only know what they re taught to tell you. If they are taught erroneous information, erroneous information gets passed on to you. Your only defense is to learn all you can learn before you buy, become the informed buyer maybe even more informed than the salesperson you re dealing with. I Felt Guilty: One of the things I did in my quest to learn all about spas is to visit a number of spa dealers posing as a legitimate buyer. I know, I know, that was a crappy thing to do to these people and I just wasted their time. But on the other hand do you know of a better way to find out the things I needed to caution you about? I will say it was an interesting experience. Like I mentioned before, some of these guys and gals really did try hard. I would introduce myself, tell them I was just starting my search for a spa and asked them what they could tell me about their spas, spa care, etc I would also tell them that I ve had a lot of mechanical experience, (which I do), and I like seeing what makes things tick, so would you mind opening the cabinets on your spas so I could see how they operate, (Only a few were hesitant to do this, like they had something to hide). Most of the sales people were happy to do this and were quite proud of the way their spas were built. They just didn t know that I already knew how their spas worked and I was testing their knowledge. Also, I wanted to see was how much care was taken in the construction of their spas and did it have certain design flaws that seem to plague a number of spas being built. Not All Spas Shells Are Created Equal: This is an important thing to know because it will be a strong indication of how well you can expect your spa to stand up to its normal use without problems or the necessity for repairs. Spa shells are made a number of ways. I personally favor the tried and true gel-coated fiberglass shell using pure vinyl ester resin, using hand lay up and hand rolled multiple layers of woven fiberglass cloth and matt. Properly constructed fiberglass is superior in durability, is more stress tolerant and is easily repaired. 7

8 The construction process is the same manufacturing process used on high quality pools and boat hulls. I m sure you know what kind of pounding a boat hull can take. This process may be more expensive but its money well spent. Next is a combination of acrylic with vinyl ester resin and fiberglass. The vinyl ester resin seals the acrylic and creates a bond four times stronger than acrylic with fiberglass used in earlier types of resin. This is a very popular and good spa shell but because acrylic is a harder more brittle compound, it tends to be more susceptible to chipping and to stress cracks if not supported properly. However, many well-made spas have successfully used this process for years without any significant problems. Then there is ABS with acrylic. If you hear the word ABS associated with a spa shell, personally I would be heading for the door, here s why. Acrylic is a hard plastic and ABS is a lot softer. When the two are bonded together you have a combination of materials that have very different expansion rates. Even with normal use of a spa, these materials constantly expand and contract. Because of this and the fact the materials are bonded so tightly together the ABS expanding tries to pull apart the acrylic surface layer, not going to be pretty down the road. The least desirable spas in my opinion are spas using ABS shells that are surrounded and filled with structural foam, (as they call it). To me this is as cheap as they come. I wouldn t walk to the door on this one, I d RUN! Full Foam Insulated Spas: Personally, I think this is a bad idea for a number of really good reasons! First, what if you had a leak? Common sense should tell you that if a leak ever developed it could be a nightmare! Think about this for a minute, what if a pipe, jet or wall fitting developed a leak? First just finding the source of a leak could take hours maybe even a few days all by itself. Just finding a leak requires digging out all the foam around an area where the leak might be. Often the spa has to be drained first, elevated then refilled with a dye tracer added to the water then you have to wait until the leak shows up again. Once the dye shows up you begin digging out the foam following the dye trail back to the source. This whole process can take your spa out of use for many days and a leak of this type in a spa could cost you up to $1000 or more to repair. 8

9 Second, the reason spas are made with full foam is because it s an inexpensive way to build them. The manufacturer relies on the foam for structural strength for the spa shell. This way they can cut the cost of producing the spa shell itself and cut more cost by not having to use a full wood frame structure to support the shell. I don t buy into the, it s more efficient and less expensive to operate BS either. There is only so much insulation that can add insulating value to a spa, after that it s just wasted. Again spas are made this way to cut cost! The irony is that some of the most popular and most expensive, (not best), spas use this as a selling feature. Full foam spa example cutaway This type of spa will also have venting in the equipment area of the spa cabinet to help keep the equipment from overheating. Spa pump motors normally will have thermal protection devices and will cut off the electrical supply if the pump motor temperature gets too hot. This cut off temperature is far hotter than a spa cabinet should ever get. A salesperson might tell you that venting is a feature used to remove the waste heat. Why would you have waste heat in a spa? Why not make full use of all the heat that s available. In a cold climate if an outdoor spa should lose electricity and shut down, how long do you think it would take for water in the pump, heater and other exposed piping to freeze up? Here s an example of wasted spa motor heat that could be captured and sent back into the spa water. Common set up in full foam spa construction. 9

10 The better built spas, not necessarily the most expensive ones, capture and recycle cabinet heat and send it back into the spa water, (typically through the air blower), increasing the spas efficiency and reducing operating costs. The trapped heat in the spa cabinet area can also increase the duration of time you have before a freeze up could occur in case of a power outage. This is critically important in colder climate areas where a power loss could occur from heavy snow and ice storms. Cabinet heat buys you valuable time to protect your spa should a freeze condition happen and here s how. Normally a spa will give up most of its heat straight up because heat rises, so to stop this you cover the spa with a well-insulated cover when not in use. The next area of heat transfer is through the spas sidewalls into the cabinet area. With a spa that has properly insulated surround walls, most all of the heat is trapped in the cabinet where all the piping and equipment is located. So now you have a 300 to 500-gallon heated water vessel slowly giving up heat to the insulated cabinet area, in essence providing a much longer duration of freeze protection in case of a power outage shut down. A freeze up is one of the worst things that can happen to a spa. It can destroy most of the spas piping systems, operating components and can damage or ruin the spa shell as well, not a pretty site. Thermal Pane Spa: Also called a thermal sealed cabinet spa is a surround system design you ll find used with many of the better built spas. A foam layer is sprayed on the outside of the shell and the cabinet surround walls have a layer(s) of ridged foam insulation board adhered to them. In some cases, the foam board will be foil faced to reflect the heat back into the cabinet. I don t find reflective foil to be a significant make or break selling point. Here you see an insulated spa shell surrounded by an insulated wall system which creates a thermal pane or thermal sealed cabinet area. This creates a cavity to trap and recover lost heat that can then be returned to the water. 10

11 The good news with this type spa is if a leak should ever occur on a supply line, wall fitting or jet housing etc the repair process is greatly simplified. Most repairs can be made in less than an hour and are significantly less expensive than what you would have with a full foam spa. There are a few fairly well made spas that I ve seen that in my mind could do a better job of insulating the cabinet surround wall system. If you find a spa you like and are sold on the rest of the spas features, more insulation is something you could add in yourself with minimal cost. I would definitely recommend doing this if you live in a cold climate area; it s not hard to do. In a thermal pane type spa the warm air inside the cabinet area can be captured and introduced back into the spa water a couple of different ways. The first would be thru the air intake system. As you open the air control valves, air is pulled in and allowed to mix with the water being pumped into the spa jets creating the bubbles. By pulling or capturing the warmer air from the cabinet area of the spa, you recycle the heat and don t cool the spa water off as much as if you were to pull the air from topside as some types of air controllers do. Capturing warm cabinet air increases efficiency of spas and reduces operating costs. Here again you have another strike against the foam filled spa. Ordinarily this type of spa will have air tubes running from the air controllers through the foam and into the open cavity containing the spa equipment. The air tube is supposed to draw air from this cavity area. But remember this cavity is very small and it s vented, so how much warm air benefit do you think you re going to get? Common sense should tell you that the volume of warm air available for use is significantly less, so even if this type of spa did capture any warm air benefit, it would likely be gone in less than a minute. I want to stop for a minute here and tell you that it would not be right for me to give you the impression that all full foam filled spas are bad news because that would just not be true. What s important here is that you fully understand what you re buying, why and what the inherent good, bad or indifferent characteristics of your spa choice are? I will go on record and say that you should not be led to believe by any salesperson that a full foam spa is better than any other spa or that having a full foam surround cavity greatly improves the quality or efficiency of the spa, because that would not be any more true than me saying that all full foam spas are bad. These spas have their place, but knowing what I know about spas that place would just not be in my backyard, they re not my choice! 11

12 Now here s an area that I think the thermal pane or thermal sealed spas fall a little short on and could improve. Because this type of spa captures the cabinet heat and introduces it back to the spa water this warm air needs a way to be replenished. You can t have a vacuum in a spa cabinet or the air controllers and blowers won t work. What you can deduce from this is that in order to work, the cabinet may not or cannot be completely thermally sealed. Ask yourself, isn t this common sense? Take a paper bag and suck the air out of it doesn t the bag collapse? Of course it does but it wouldn t if you put a hole in it would it. So I think the manufacturers should admit that here is a design that can be improved on or that the thermally sealed cabinets aren t so thermally sealed, what can you do? Actually the answers are quite simple. First if your spa is inside, where it s surrounded by warmer air, install a couple of round soffit vent caps on the cabinet surround walls. They re cheap and you can do this is a couple of minutes and the problem is solved. If your spa is located outdoors the solution is a little more involved but still not difficult or expensive to solve. The process largely revolves around whether you live in a cold climate area or plan to use your spa in the cold weather. Here is one thing you can do. On the spa cabinet surround wall, you will drill or bore two 2 or 3 holes. One hole can have piece of screen and a flap covering it. The other will have insulated pipe run from the spa to your house or house basement. Depending on what air is warmer the outside air or the house air, that s the line you want open and supplying makeup air to the spa cabinet, again problem solved and efficiency is intact. Spa surround cabinet air intake supplying ambient outside air Insulated air supply line from house. Open whichever line can supply the warmest makeup air when using spa. House wall The basic idea for makeup air supply, (not to scale) 12

13 Frame Construction: This is where you want to pay careful attention to details as far as quality is concerned. Most of your better spas will start with a base constructed of pressure treated lumber, usually 2 by 4 framing lumber. This can be sandwiched between a couple of layers of pressure treated plywood. I like to see the deck under the spa shell be at least 5/8 thick (3/4 would be even better). The important thing is that this part of the structure should be pressure treated wood. If it s not, personally you may want to think twice about buying it! On the deck base the next thing that would be nice to see is a layer of 4mil or 6mil poly vinyl plastic used as an added moisture protective barrier. Some quality spas will do this as well as coat the deck first with an exterior grade sealant or finish before applying the poly, now that s long term protection. I ve seen some spas forgo the pressure treated wood deck and just cover it with poly or an exterior grade finish, not good enough if I m spending my money. What happens if water gets under the spa base? For the assembly of the spa base I like to see the decking screwed to the framework with galvanized screws not nails. Screws hold tighter, make the framing stronger and reduce the chance of deck separation from the framework. The wall support framing should also be pressure treated lumber and you ll find this on a lot of the better quality spas. However, this is one of the areas that if everything else about the spa met with your approval, you could go back and seal and protect the framework yourself if you had to. It will cost you less than $50 bucks and only take you an hour or two. The Cabinet Surround Wall: I ll probably get a lot of flack on this one but it s OK. I m going to go on record and say that I prefer not to see real wood used on a cabinet surround on a spa. Every portable spa uses some kind of surround, whether it s real California redwood or some other kind of stained wood, many surrounds will be wood. However, there are a number of spa manufactures that offer as an option, a composite material that has the look and texture of real wood, but none of the problems of care associated with real wood. If this option is offered as an upgrade for the spa you like, my advice would be, take it. The composite material wall is actually stronger than real wood. It won t split, crack, mildew, rot or require refinishing. Not all spa manufactures offer this as an option, not even all the higher quality spas. 13

14 Again if it s something you had to forgo to get all the rest of the right stuff in your spa, don t let it be the deal killer. A real quality wood surround wall system can certainly last a long time, but it will require periodic maintenance. Lastly, the spa surround wall should be insulated, most are but there are some that aren t. I guess it wouldn t matter if you lived South America. Better quality spas will always offer insulation on the wall surround system it creates the thermal pane effect for the spa. As a note, you can always add more insulation to your spa walls if you felt like you needed to. Spa Jets: There are several styles of jets used in today s modern spas and each performs a particular kind of flow or water pattern. Below are just a few of the jet choices straight flow jets, roto jets, split roto jets, whirlys, message jets, neck jets, pulsator jets, air only jets, directional jets and hand held are the most common ones you ll find. Jets are also classified as large, medium or small bodied. Here are just a few of the many jet styles that you will see. Each has a specific design function regarding the therapeutic aspect of a modern spa. Jets can also come with a varying orifice sizes. The size of the orifice in a spa jet is what controls the volume of water that a jet can deliver with a given amount of line pressure. Some spa jet bodies have removable jet internals and can be interchanged with others in the spa. What this means is that you would have the ability switch or replace that particular jet internal if you didn t like the feel of the water pattern it produced. You may be able to change the jet orifice size if you felt the need to have that particular jet deliver more or less water volume. The next page shows a few interchangeable jet internal examples. 14

15 Some jets can be throttled to restrict the water flow they produce by rotating the outside face, a good feature but never throttle down all your jets with the pump on high, this could cause excessive back pressure which could damage your spa plumbing or cause your spa pumps to over heat. In portable spas, a combination of jet styles can be used. Starting from the neck down you ll typically find smaller jets with less harsh output for the smaller neck muscle areas. Medium output jets are common for shoulder and upper back areas. Larger jets with more output are commonly used for lower back, thighs, and leg muscle areas, your larger muscles. Some spas will have foot area jets as well as air only jets if the spa is equipped with a blower. (I ll cover blowers shortly). There is a misconception that the more jets a spa has, the better the spa. This couldn t be further from the truth. I ve seen spas with over 150 jets, how crazy is that? You can get all the therapeutic action of swirling bubbling water and air that you want with a spa having as few as jets if it s coupled with the right horsepower pump and has the right volume output. It s not how many jets a spa has that make it a good spa it s how the spas water action feels to you. Don t be mislead into believing that the more spa jets the better the spa, it s just not true with the well-designed modern spa. Here s an example of a spa that advertises over 150 jets, a little over kill, I believe for decent spa performance. The Wet Test: It s difficult to tell you what combination of jets would be best for you, mainly because it s a matter 15

16 of personal feel and comfort. As I said before, the more jets a spa has doesn t necessarily make it a spa better. It s how they re used in combination that defines individual comfort. On that note, if you truly want to know how a spa feels Wet Test it! That s right, bring your bathing suit and a towel to the store and try it out. Dealers love it when you do this. Why, because they know that even if it s not a quality spa, it s still going to feel pretty darn good to you. And, isn t the idea of a spa, to make you feel good! A dealer knows they have a much better chance of selling you a spa if you try it out, good or poor quality. While you re doing your wet test, play with all the controls as much as you want. Play with the control output if it s controllable, the jet directions, high-speed, low-speed and play with the blower if it has one. Point to remember, don t make a decision on a spa if you haven t wet tested at least one spa with a blower. Air jet therapy is a great feeling. Some of your cheaper spas won t have a blower or even offer one. A dealer may tell you a dumb story like it just makes the spa water cold, or they just don t work good, don t believe it until you try it. Don t take a salespersons word on anything until you see it for yourself. This is why I strongly suggest wet testing several different spas and at different spa stores as well. You might think you like one spa but compare it to others before you make a decision. Don t feel bad if a salesperson spends a lot of time with and you don t buy from them, this is their job. It s your money getting spent, not theirs. This is not a small investment for most people so why not make every effort to get exactly what you want and what feels best to you. Horse Power & Motors: Spa pump motors are by no means created equal. It may be a little difficult to understand all the information I m about to give you on this, so bear with me and re-read this a couple of time if you have to. It s important to get a grasp on what I m covering here. After all, the spa pump and motor are the heart of your spa system and not having the correct pump motor could result in poor performance, extra cost and maintenance. Spas can have multiple pump systems in which each pump has a specific operation to perform which we ll get to in a minute. Pump motors will generally be what they call 48 Frame or 56 Frame motors. The 56 Frame motors are the heavier duty motors so always ask what s used on the spa 16

17 you re looking at. One of the first things a salesperson is likely to throw at you when you are spa hunting is horsepower, (HP). Simply put, HP is the operating strength of the pump motor. The HP rating of a spa pump motor can be very deceiving because there are different ways horsepower is rated. It could be peak PHP, breaking horse power BHP running or true horse power HP. It used to be that a motor was rated on true running HP and larger HP motors were physically large as well. These days, motors have gotten smaller and develop more power. Where it used to be that an 8amp, 115volt motor was rated at 1-HP, that same 8amp 115volt motor can now be rated at up to 2-BHP, how can that be? It s because the HP has been determined by a different testing method, a method used to determine BHP, (breaking HP), not true HP. To get breaking HP, they take a motor running at full speed and apply a brake to it for an instant. A 1-HP motor with 8amps can generally spike a reading of just under 2-HP on the HP meter, so they call it 2-BHP. There s nothing wrong with rating a motor this way as long as it s spelled out to you. The problem is that most consumers know nothing about HP and are easily lead to believe they re getting something that they re really not. Now Peak HP: PHP is the real deception. Peak HP is measured a under a full load starting condition. The motor is not really operating normally yet. With this test the motor could pull maybe 60 amps for a split second on start up and they might call it 6HP. The PHP rating has nothing to do with running HP and is a deception pure and simple. So the bottom line is that a 1-HP motor could now be rated at 2-BHP, a 2-HP motor could be rated at 3-BHP a 2.5-HP could be rated at 4- BHP. A 5-BHP motor drawing 16.5amps on 240volts is probably about as large a motor you will find on a spa and that motor may only have a true HP rating of maybe 3-HP. You definitely want your spa to have the power to move the water vigorously but don t be deceived by false HP ratings. Spa Pumps: The spa pump is that strange looking thing attached to one end of a spa motor. It s this unit that coverts the rotation of the motor to water movement. How much water can be moved and under what output volume is determined by the pump design and the strength of the motor it s attached to. Consequently, they come as a coupled unit in a spa. Pump output ratings can range from less 17

18 than 100gpm (gallons per minute), weak for most spas to over 200gpm, (very strong in most cases). The output rating is generally figured with no head pressure or flow resistance if that makes it easier to understand. However, all spas have flow resistance or head loss because of the various fixtures and plumbing line paths the water must travel through on its way to the jets. The idea is to match the pump and motor to overcome head loss of the spa system and deliver a certain volume of water to each jet. Here is a typical spa pump and motor Example: Let s say a spa had 14 jets each requiring 8gpm at 12psi for best performance. To meet the requirements of the jets it would take 112gpm flow. But you still have system head loss to consider. A well-designed plumbing system for example may only need an additional pump output of 30gpm or a total of 142gpm to overcome all resistance and deliver the proper amount of water to each jet. A poorly designed system may require an additional 60gpm for a total of 172gpm to give the jets the proper output volume. Meaning the latter could require a 3-HP motor to do what a 2-HP motor could have done in a supply system with a better design. By using less HP to get the same performance, results in less operating cost to you. The point here is this. More HP doesn t necessarily make a spa better. It s a combination of well-matched HP, pump capacity and good system design, that not only makes the spa but makes a spa that operates more efficiently. Some manufacturers that boast big HP in their spas could be telling you that their spas are so poorly designed that they need the extra HP to make them work right. No doubt I ll get flack for that one, but its things like this that you need to know about! Remember the spa I showed you with over a hundred and fifty jets! 18

19 It could take as many as 3 different pumps and motors to make that spa work right. How much electricity do you think a spa like that might use to operate? If you want to really stump your spa salesperson, ask them what the pump output ratings of the pumps are and then ask them what the optimal flow rate requirements are for each of the different types of jets used in the spa. I ll bet you money that you won t find one salesperson that knows the answers to those questions. Not only will they not know, some may not even have a clue as to what you mean by what you re asking them. They ll try to dance around the question with a bunch of BS that isn t relative at all. This would be a good indicator as to whether or not the salesperson you re dealing with really knew their product. If they rattle off some numbers from the top of their head, ask to see technical data from the manufacturer to back it up. One spa salesperson I talked too tried to tell me their spa had 9HP. After quizzing him a little further, he arrived at that figure because the spa had two 4 PHP pump motors (Peak HP) and a 1HP blower see what I mean. Multiple Pumps: Multiple pumps are not uncommon in spas, especially larger spas. What I have a problem with is when a manufacturer uses multiple pumps to do what a single pump could do in a spa that had a well-designed supply system. How does a manufacturer justify this? Having a two pump operating system isn t a bad thing, but if the whole spa could run efficiently on say one 4-HP motor and they use two 3-PHP motors to make the spa work, where s the advantage? To add insult to a consumer on this, they sell the duel pump concept as a feature or benefit rather than a cover up for poor design that the spa it may really have. Another marketing ploy used is called zoning. One half of the spa operates separately from the other half. You have to turn a diverter or zone valve back and forth to get jet action on either side of the spa. So if you have a few people in the spa with you, you have to take turns with having the jets on you. How smart is that? With multiple pumps systems, commonly one pump will be a 2- speed pump and one will be a single speed pump. What happens here is that the 2-speed pump serves a dual purpose. At low speed, (maybe 40-60gpm), the pump circulates the spa water for heating and for the filtering cycles, the high-speed mode is for the jet action. 19

20 This is the most efficient way for a spa to be set up. You could also have a spa with two 2-speed pumps as well. I don t see where there is any big advantage of having the second pump with 2 speeds unless it s used for filtering or heating too. The second pump might be set up to operate jets on one side of the spa or a whole level of jets on its own like the lower jets or upper jets. There s nothing wrong with this type set up and it s not uncommon to find this on spas. The Little 1/15- HP Spa Circulation Pumps: For years there has been a controversial battle, that s still going on, revolving around the use of a small circulation pumps for the heating and filtering cycles of a spas water. The two camps locked in this battle are absolutely adamant in their beliefs for using or not using this type of set up. Here s the deal. A number of spa manufacturers use this small circulation pump that runs 24/7 just to circulate and heat the spa water as well as filter it. Here again is one of those things that if you really took the time to analyze this and apply common sense, you would realize that using these pumps could be considered about the silliest thing that could be done in a spa. Yes, I ll get shot for that comment by some manufacturers hit man, but I stand behind my belief and I ll explain why, then you can form your own opinion. First, with the low flow rate that some of these pumps produce, (about 7-12gpm) very little movement is created in the spa water, producing stagnant or isolated areas that get little if any filtration. If the spas water can t get to the filter, how can it be expected to get cleaned? If for no other reason this is why I m against these small circulation pumps. However, a dealer or salesperson is going to tell you that this is a break through benefit having 24/7 filtration with a pump that hardly uses any electricity. Here s an example of a small circ pump 20

21 Hold on there minute bubba lets talk about circulation for a minute and run a few numbers. This is important for you to know so follow along closely here. With a 2-speed pump set up on filtering cycles say twice a day for 6 hours each you get much more effective filtration. Follow this for the small circulation pump first 60min/hr X 24hrs= 1440min. X 8gpm = 11,520 gallons of water circulated per day. However much of the same water is filtered over and over because of poor circulation and very little agitation. Now take 60min. X 8hrs= 480min. X 50gpm = 24,000 gallons of water circulated per day with good agitation throughout the spa. That s over twice the filtering benefit of the little pump and running at third of the time, plus you get great agitation, which gives better filtering of the water. The customer saves money in the short run, less time the filter pump motor runs and in the long run because how long do you think a pump motor running 24/7 is going to last anyhow. Where s the benefit for the small pump now? Another concern with the small circ pump is, if it s also used to circulate heated water back to the spa you could have a problem. Typically, a heater pressure switch does not work well with such a low output pump pressure. With a pressure switch backed way down, if the pump should stop the heater could remain on until the high limit safety switch is tripped. You get about a dozen over heats like this and it can greatly reduce the life of the heater unit or burn out the heaters heating element. With such a low power pump motor, what if some debris got stuck in the pump impeller and stopped the water flow? It happens! The heaters automatic high limit switch will just keep resetting itself until the elements burns out. In a properly designed system with a pressure switch and flow switch the heater is not allowed to come on until there is pressure and water flowing through the heater. You never want to operate a heater unless it has water flowing though it or you will burn it out. Another problem with the small circulation pumps is that if they fail you can t put any heat into the spa because the lines are not tied into the spas jet pumps. Be prepared to hear all kinds of stories about these tiny circ pumps and how they are so beneficial for a spa. But personally I would not want a spa with one of these pumps installed in it, period. They are an un-necessary added 21

22 expense to a spa that can be completely eliminated through better design. The good news is that if you really liked the spa or got a tremendous deal it but it had this set up, the system could be converted over to eliminate this small pump. Oh and if the spa is a full foam spa with the small pump set up, do yourself a favor and pass on it! Heaters: Heaters are an integral part of your spa system and should have enough output to maintain or quickly recover spa heat. Many older spas used a 1.5KW heater that had to run about 24 hours or more to bring a newly filled covered spa up to temperature, gaining only 2 to 3 degrees per hour at best. These days spas can come equipped with 3.5KW, 5.5KW and up to 11KW heaters. Faster warm up and faster recovery from heat loss. I wouldn t suggest buying any spa with only a 1.5KW heater unit unless you lived in the tropics, you ll regret it later on. For maximum protection you want to see a heater fitted with both an over heat temperature sensor and flow sensor. A heater can burn out in a second or two with no water in it so always make sure there s water in the piping system before activating power to any of the controls. Here is one style of a common spa water heater 22

23 Blowers Don t be surprised when you ask a salesperson if the spa has a blower or blower option and they tell you that a blower is no good and they don t use them. Here again is an example of a person who tells you only what they re taught to tell you. Common style spa blower Blowers can be big benefit for a spa. First the additional air therapy is a great feeling in a spa. Second the added air flow helps to increase oxygenation of the spa water, which can aid in keeping the spa water cleaner. Third a blower that s set up correctly in the spa cabinet will draw on the cabinets warmer air and force it back into the spa water again through the jets. This increases efficiency and reduces operating costs. The full foam spas with vents for the equipment area and spas with vents and no surround wall insulation will have a problem using a blower because they draw in cooler or cold air and blow it into the spa water. That being the case a blower on a full foam spa would definitely be a real negative, especially in a cool or cold weather area. Blowers can either add additional air to the water jets; provide air to the air only jets or both. A blower can be either single speed and occasionally dual speed and be 1-HP to 2-HP. Most of the better quality spas either have or offer a blower. My choice would be to get it. It can be added on after but this requires a little work, (not that hard). A blower added on to a full foam spa is probably a bad idea unless you live in warm climate area or the spa is inside. If a spa isn t used for a few days a blower should be cycled briefly to purge the piping lines for cleaning. Some of the better spas will have spa side controller that allow you to setup or program the blower purge cycle. Filters: There is an ANSI/NSPI requirement for spa filters that says: All filter elements, media and other components which require servicing shall be accessible for inspection, removal and repair, and shall be installed in accordance with the filter manufacturer s instructions. This is all well and good but the spa also needs to be designed to filter the spa 23

24 water properly. There is no reason that a spa should need a filter larger than 50 or 60 square feet of filter fiber area for a spa that holds up to around 500-gallons of water. Filter manufactures say that the filtering pump should be able to produce 1gpm per square foot of filter fiber area on pressure side filters and.75gpm for a filter on the suction side of a pump. Typical spa filter cartridge Spas use can have either pressure or suction side filtration. If you take.75gpm X 50sq., you get a flow rate requirement of 37.5gpm.for good filtration. Your two speed jet pumps easily conform to this. However, those tiny little circ pumps I talked about earlier fall way short of meeting this requirement. In these spas you may see 2 and 3 filters in an effort to clean the spa water and boasts of 24/7 filtration, when the real problem the water can t get clean is due to poor design. (Another reason not to use the little circ pumps). A good portable spa will have an easily accessible spa filter of at least 50sq. sometimes a little bigger and sometimes you may see two 25sq filters used. A spa filter requires periodic cleaning so it would be a good idea to have a spare one allowing you to keep one in service while the other is cleaned. Normal cleaning simply requires hosing the filter off with a garden hose. Then every couple of months it should be cleaned by soaking it in a filter cleaning solution. Controllers and spa side controllers: There are quite a number of controllers and spa side controllers as they are called, available for a spa. The distinctions are the spa side controller is the remote keypad device setup in the spa lip that allows you to control the spa functions. The actual controller is located in the spa cabinet and is the unit that connects and controls all the spas equipment directly. Below are pictures of these units, the controller on the left and spa side unit on the right side. These control units can be either digital units or a combination electro-mechanical unit. 24

25 Digital control units are a little more expensive but they provide more precise controlling of the spas functions as related to multi-pump operations, temperature control, blowers, filter cycles etc The electromechanical controllers use air switches and relays to control the on and off operations of the pumps and blowers. The better quality spas generally use only digital controls and that would be my first choice as well. There are very good electro-mechanical controllers available, I ve used them and never had a problem with them, but with spas going to higher HP power motors and higher amperage draws it s said that the mechanical switch contacts on these units take a beating when motors higher than 2-HP are used. Go with the digital controller for money better spent. Spa Covers: Spa covers are pretty much a necessity for a spa. The only reason I can think of for not having one may be for a commercially used spa where someone else is paying the bill for heating or if you live in an area where the temperature rarely goes below 95 degrees and there is no dirt or dust in the air, (not likely). Spa covers not only protect your spa from heat loss when it s not in use, they help prevent a child from accidentally tumbling in when no one is looking. Many spa covers have locking devices that can be put on and secured when a spa is not in use, a very good feature. I would add some kind of locking device if your cover set up didn t come with one of its own. In some areas local codes require locks. Quality covers should fit properly and have at least 3 to 4 inches (or more), of ridged closed cell foam board covered with a good marine grade vinyl. Here s a little tip to make your spa cover last much longer than the normal 3 to 4 years. Lay a closed cell foam blanket on top of the water before closing up your spa after using it. A foam blanket will help keep more heat in the spa water and help keep the sanitizers from gassing off. The blanket will also help keep the moisture and chemical gassing off of the underside of the spa cover adding more years to its life. If you can t get a foam spa blanket the next best thing would be to get a section of 4 or 6 mil poly vinyl plastic and lay 25

26 it over the spa before closing the cover. It s very cheap and will keep the moister off the spa cover and protect it from premature degradation. Another thing that would work is to get a sheet of 1 ridged foam board, trim it to fit just inside the spa and let it sit on top of the water. These little extra things can help to significantly extend the life of a spa cover. No matter what type of cover you get or how expensive, sooner or later the moisture and chemical gassing from the spas water will take a toll on the cover. By doing the things I just described above, you could easily double the life of your spa cover. Another thing that a lot of people including spa dealers don t know or don t realize is that ozone from ozonators, (if your spa is equipped with one) will deteriorate the rubber in any rubber base product fairly rapidly. If a cheaper spa cover happens to use some type of rubber products in its construction and if your spa uses an Ozonator, this type of cover will not last long. Ozonators: Here is a spa water purification companion that can help to reduce the use of chemicals in the treatment of your spa water. Ozonators were first introduced to spas because it s a know fact that the free radical oxygen molecule in ozone can destroy contaminates in the spa water. Just picture a little Pac Men running around in your spa water and you ll get the idea how ozone works. Typical style spa ozonator I have to say that as I have learned more about the use of ozonators, I m not as sold on them as I was when I first researched ozonator use for a spa. Do ozonators work? Yes, they do work but here s where I see a few problems. The shelf life of ozone is extremely short and gasses off quickly in a spa when the cover is opened. When you first open a cover on a spa that uses an ozonator the ozone smell can be very strong, maybe even a little overwhelming. Some people have a low tolerance to ozone and may have a reaction to this. There are simple solutions to the concerns I ve stated but I m just not completely convinced that ozone is the better way to go in the effort to reduce chemical usage in a spa. 26

27 Being unstable and hard to control properly makes the use of ozone less effective as I see it, especially in a spa with poor or low flow circulation. But I will say, they do work in the effort to cleanse spa water. Ionizers: Although the technology behind copper/silver ionizers is not new, using an ionizer for spa water purification relatively recent. It s another method being used to clean spa water and reduce chemical usage. With an ionizer the water is purified naturally without the nasty side effects of heavy chemical treatment. You can smell, taste and feel the difference of ionized water in your spa and at the same time reduce chemical usage by up to 90%. A spa that is at the proper levels of minerals through ionization needs only about a quarter cup of household bleach added to the spa water after each usage to polish the water. This very light oxidation is done to eliminate oils, sweat etc The bleach dissipates fairly rapidly leaving your spa chemical free for the next usage. Here is a simple hang in spa ionizer no tools required. Initially I was finding that ionizers could be rather expensive. However, I found a manufacture that has great line of pool and spa ionizers at more than reasonable prices. No special connections are needed for one of their ionizer units designed for spa use. Just hang the unit in the spa water until the mineral levels are up to where you want them and remove the unit. You only need to do this about one every other week. The units will last several years before the sacrificial electrodes need to be replaced and they are not expensive. An ionizer unit can more than offset its cost by money saved on chemicals well within the first year of its use. My recommendation to you, get one as soon as you get your spa, you won t regret it! See the back of this book for information on how you can get an ionizer for your spa. Warranties: Caution! Read all the fine print in a spa warranty before ever buying, don t just glance it over, 27

28 READ IT! There are a lot of escape clauses hidden in warranties. You want to make darn sure you know exactly what s covered and what s not covered. The most important thing to know is that spas are not typically warranted for operations below 32 degrees F. If a spa freezes up it s considered an act of God and you pay for the repairs yourself. Most spa warranties will cover the spa shell for five years and the systems components for 2 or 3 years, provided they were all installed properly. The higher quality spas often carry longer warranties than this. You can also buy extended warranties and if you get cheap spa you might want to consider doing this. Another thing that s really important to know is that before you get your spa, read up on your homeowner s insurance policy. Many polices have disclaimers regarding spas where they don t provide coverage unless you get a special rider policy. Check your present policy to see if it covers a spa, freeze damage or covers a spa at all. Get the extended rider policy to cover your new spa if you are required to. Check the rider policy to see if it covers a percentage of repair costs or the full replacement value of any repairs. Spa Safety Tips: Your new spa will come with an owner s manual, which is required to cover the safe operation and use of your spa. Below is a short list of recommendations from the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) When the hot tub/spa is not in use, always use a locked safety cover. Keep young children away from hot tubs/spas unless there is constant adult supervision. Make sure that the hot tub/spa has a dual suction/drains and drain covers required by current safety standards. Check that the drain covers are in place and not cracked or missing. Check the drain covers periodically throughout the year. Have a professional check your hot tub/spa regularly to make sure that it is in safe working condition. Know the location of the cutoff switch for your pump so that you can turn it off quickly in an emergency. Keep the temperature of the water in the hot tub/spa no higher than 104 degrees Never consume alcohol in or around a pool, hot tub or spa. 28

29 Gimmicks: I mentioned at the beginning of this book that gimmicks are used to sell spas. Here are a few examples. Stereos spas can come with a complete stereo setup now. Pretty cool huh. So is the price! And just what is the therapeutic benefit of the built in stereo in a spa? First off you will have trouble listening to it with the bubbling noise of the water and air jets. Why not just setup a nice portable stereo near your spa and save yourself a ton of money? TV s, VCR s and now DVD s. Give me a break!!! Didn t you get a spa to relax in and get away from everything? Don t you think you can do without a TV for 20 or 30 minutes and just relax! Or do you think spending another five or six hundred dollars is important enough to be able to watch that little screen through the rising steam of your spa. Hey I don t really care, it s your money and if you have plenty of spare cash to burn, go for it. Get all those expensive bells and whistles that don t help the spas performance and comfort one little bit. Cover lift: Now here s something that s worth spending a few extra bucks on. A cover lift helps in opening and closing the cover of your spa. They do work and they make it almost effortless to open the spa cover. Just don t waste money on a cheap one, get something that s quality made. See I m not negative on all gimmicks. Spa steps: This is simple, buy them or make your own! I strongly recommend putting a non-skid finish on the treads themselves. Oh, and it wouldn t be a bad idea to have a small footbath for spa users to step in before getting into your spa, (put a little bromine in the foot bath water)! Electrical service: When you install your new portable spa it will require an electrical service supply line. First, check to see if your main circuit breaker panel box has room to accept an additional double pole circuit breaker, 50 or 60 amps. If not, then you will need to install a smaller sub panel box that accepts at least one double breaker. From either your main panel load center or a sub panel box, a line will be run to a GFCI disconnect box, (not a GFCI Breaker box), that s mounted on an outside wall of your house in an accessible area as close to the spa as you can conveniently get. Since January 1994, the National Electrical Code has required a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter on all spas. 29

30 What a GFCI does, is sense any electrical current going straight to ground, as little as 0.5 mille-amps of electricity, stopping even the slightest amount of electricity from touching your body, a very good thing. If an electrician does this work, don t be talked into just a GFCI breaker box, you need a GFCI Disconnect Box, this is important and here s why. It has been found that standard GFCI breakers the types used inside load centers don t always work that well with a spa. A condition called false tripping can occur. Because of the reactive loads present with spas and because parts of the spa controls run on 110volts, the GFCI gets tricked into thinking that a normal condition is a ground fault and trips off for no particular reason. The answer is the GFCI Disconnect, which is not exactly the same as a GFCI breaker. It does not trip because of an overcurrent. It is strictly a ground fault detector consisting of a high current GFCI that drives a three-pole contactor. If there is a ground fault, it turns off the contactor and disconnects all three lines. As a little added safety many spa equipment packs also contain their own GFCI. See the disconnect box picture below. GFCI Disconnect Box Next you need to determine the size and type of wire you run between the main breaker panel, or sub panel box, the GFCI disconnect box and your spa equipment. Typically, a spa setup will use at least a 2HP motor, (often more), running on 240volts. Your common wire choices are 8-3WG, 6-3WG, and 4-3WG for wire runs. (WG= with ground wire). This wire should also be UG rated, (UG= under ground for direct burial). The load requirements and the length of the wire runs determine the wire size. So always consult with an electrician if you have any doubts about what wire size to use. 30

31 In many cases it will be a 8-3WG that also has a UG rating. But again, check first if you re not sure. Some modern spas require a 4-3 wire and 70amp service. If you re not capable of setting up the electrical service for your spa, get an electrician and don t mess around with it. Spa Care Items: As I mentioned earlier I have an excellent source for quality ionizers. I would spend your money on an ionizer before an ozonator if you had to make a choice. These products are available through my web order form on the next page. Here are the for spa use Mineralizer products available. Copper Silver ion Generator Spa Deluxe Designed for spas and small fountains Up to 2000 gallons. Controller with Switch, LED, plug in UL rated transformer (110Volt AC), hang-in type electrode assembly with a 90% copper / 10% silver electrode, a copper color match test kit is included. Metal Foam Spa Purifier Metal Foam Spa Purifier, is a proven media for the destruction of bacteria and virus. Simply drop the "flying saucer" type disc with the Metal Foam pad into the skimmer or center hole of your spa filter and the Metal Foam Spa Purifier goes to work. Helps reduce your chlorine/bromine usage up to 90%. 31