Hot Tub came with our new house, had some questions

[LovelyGong]

Hey all,

I had a few questions about the hot tub that came with the purchase of my new (to me) house.

The previous owner of the house died about a year and a half ago. At some point, the hub tub was drained. Now that I've moved in and gotten settled, I figured I'd play around with the tub. I scrubbed the shell with baking soda, filled it, turned it on (with a bit of effort. Somebody pulled the fuse in the control panel, so turning the breaker on wasn't enough), and to my surprise (and delight) the tub powered on, heated, and seemed to work.

I did notice a small, slow leak on the main jet pump, but only when the jets are on. After doing research, it appears that the shaft seal or other component inside the wet end is leaking a little. My local pool supply store had the parts needed to fix it, so I plan on doing that tomorrow.

I have done some research on "The Right Way" of maintaining a hot tub and picked up a Taylor K-2006 test kit. I also got some system flush and put that in yesterday. I'm going to drain the tub tonight and super chlorinate the tub tonight, as suggested in Nitro's Decontamination thread on the pool and spa forum.

The hot tub appears to be an early 90's Dimension One "California Ultra" but searching that model leads me to almost no information what so ever. I've attached the model plate and a few other photos. The questions I have about the hot tub are:

1. How many gallons is my tub? Does anyone have an owners manual? Dimension One doesn't have it available online for this specific model.
2. What's the RAMZONE thing in photos 2-4?
3. I don't see a second circulation pump, am I missing something? Is it inside my ozone generator box in the service panel? (no pics of that, sorry)
4. I'm not entirely clear if I should go with Chlorine or Bromine as my sanitation method. I do have an Ozonator and I expect to use it twice during the week days (two people, just my wife and I, maybe 30 minutes each use) and 3-5 people on weekends (1-2 hours per person). Which is the preferred sanitation method for this usage?

 

[Isaac-1]

I can't help on any of your Dimension One specific questions, but as to the rest, you can use either chlorine or bromine in a hot tub, and you will find advocates for each. I have only owned a "new to me" Hot Spring tub for a bit over a year, but opted to go with a drop in salt water chlorine generator (Saltron Mini), along with a Del branded ozonator, and have been very happy with it overall. Remember that ozonator only have a 3-5 year service life, most older ones closer to 3, so even it your is running there is a good chance it is no longer producing any ozone, you can break a glass tube single use ozone tester for about $20 or an aftermarket replacement ozone generator for under $100 online. As to the circulation pump, some spas have a seperate circulation pump, others rely on the main pump. Sometimes the main pump is a 2 speed where then run on low for circulation (either full or limited run times), others are high speed only and come on for a minute or so every couple of hours to maintain circulation. The latter types can by particularly annoying depending on the location of your tub.