| So you have an old tub in the back yard and maybe you are thinking of replacing it with one of those fancier ones you saw at the state fair or the home and garden show. STOP The entire industry has made significant improvements in design ,available features cost of operation but look out .When you buy a spa manufactured in Canada or Australia you are tied to the dealership for service for the first five years, tied to their in house service staff because independent service technicians can't or won't work on the spa you bought . It is extremely vital therefore that you know going in how that spa will be supported when something breaks. Look to the track record of the Dealership how long in business more importantly how long selling this line. A couple of key questions: Where is the spa manufactured How long have you been selling this line of spa If I have jet problems down the road how long would something like that take to get repaired in warranty How skilled is their service department There are lots of exclusions to these newer spas,Length and wire diameter is one catching a lot of people. If your old spa had a 1hp motor and a 5.5 Kw heater it was probably happy with # 8 or #10 Gauge wire, these new spas with Dual 7Hp motors are not happy with that kind of restriction on the power supply. You may have to upgrade the breaker . Check power requirements with the dealer and then check with your electrician. |
| JETS |
| The biggest selling feature and by far the biggest service headache is jet performance and jet failure. Remember the more jets you have the greater the possibility of leaks ,simple logic. The Industry's single biggest contributor in the jet department is Waterway Industries the most popular jet they offer now is the storm jet or jumbo storm jet. These jets fail if the chemistry gets too far out of whack they actually devolve in hot water and start flying out of the wall fitting . The performance of these jets are unparalleled and very impressive but be prepared for a big repair bill when each jet costs around $25.00 to replace. Now to their credit Waterway has made a lot of reliable more durable jets but with the storm jet they gave up durability for performance. It's almost impossible to buy a spa today that isn't equipped with Waterway jets |
| Horsepower Vs Gallons/Minute |
| Leaks |
| Regrettably Leaks have become more common in spas that use these large and very powerful pumps. Some plumbing leaks can be repaired but some manufactors sacrifice access for additional insulation and a lower operating cost.In this regard. Hidden leaks coming out of the foam insulation are not pursued in that the leak only enlarges the more you dig thru the foam . |
| Cabinets |
| Gone are the days of hinged doors and cracked redwood panels, now composites add dampening and durability to your spa purchase. The only real problem with the new cabinets are that they are screwed on with a lot of screws and periodic checks of the control area is less likely to occur leading to what could be a simple repair becoming an expensive motor replacement . Some spas made in cooler climes suffer from over-heating due to poor ventilation. In those cases additional ventilation or running the spa very early in the morning will prevent the problem from getting serious |
| Finally |
| With the cost of spas hovering around $8,000 I find that customers start calling for an expert opinions when considering a purchase. There are a lot of qualified dealerships here in Sacramento that I know personally. Whether you want a show piece for the back yard or a simple soaker there is a spa out there for you. The advances in motor and heater controls offer the customer more power but less in operating cost compared to the spas made in the 1980's and as with most advances in design the maintenance requirement also goes up. The single biggest thing that you the customer can do to head off high maintenance cost is to do more frequent water changes. Starting with fresh water removes the build up of calcium and other minerals that are harmful to the feature jets and the pump seals. Water chemistry need not be difficult if people would only think of the spa as a house plant (too much of one thing is bad ,too little is also bad) . There is no other product that you own other than perhaps a car that has as many safeguards to protect the user.As such there are overlapping redundant systems that need to work together in order for the spa to preform well . Changing the water like changing the oil goes a long way towards trouble-free operation . |
| Purchasing a Spa |
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| Spa Salesman are quick to point out that this spa has 130 Jets and Twin Seven Horsepower Pumps. What is Horsepower? The Miriam Webster Dictionary states that horsepower is the equivalent to 746 Watts or the completion of 550 foot pounds of work each second . A more usable measure would be gallons per minute . left on High jets for 8 hours would be capable in the summer of getting the water over 118 degrees .Too large of a pump can causes a left on high or jet mode. Thankfully most modern spas "time out" the pumps after 20 to 30 minutes preventing this over heating |
| Sacramento 916-456-4009 Folsom/Orangevale 916-988-8606 Roseville Rocklin 916-786-0925 Aquastarman@SBCglobal.net |
