I just found out that the Caldera Geneva spa I've ordered is coming with their new Salt System instead of the spa FROG system. Caldera says you don't have to change the water in one of these new spas as often. I can find very little information about it, but I'm pretty excited if it means I won't have to add chlorine as much/can leave town without much worry. (My pool will also have a SWCG.) Does anyone have any insight/review of the system aside from what's on Caldera's website? Info on how much the cartridges cost? They get replaced every four months or so. Thoughts on the silver system they're promoting?
New Caldera Spa -- FreshWater Salt System?
- Thread starter lazygirl1978
- Start date
Well, we hate Frog systems as a rule. Metals don't get any praise from us. In pools and plaster surfaces metals can stain the walls. Chlorine kills virii, fungus and bacteria quickly....why would we want anything else? I have a small SWG for my hot tub and love the ease of its use. Just the addition of the salt makes the water feel silkier.
I Googled the cost of the replacement mineral cartridges and they run $35-$55.
The claim that you don't have to change the water as often *feels* a bit bogus to me. I change my hot tub water every 3-4 months just thinking of all the skin cells and stuff in there with me.
Maddie
I Googled the cost of the replacement mineral cartridges and they run $35-$55.
The claim that you don't have to change the water as often *feels* a bit bogus to me. I change my hot tub water every 3-4 months just thinking of all the skin cells and stuff in there with me.
Maddie
Thanks, Maddie. I'm a totaly spa newbie here (I at least grew up with a pool), so forgive me --- does the spa filter not take care of the skin cells and such? (Or it does but still feels kind of gross b/c of the relatively small volume of water?)
I see that the FROG mineral cartridges run about that. You were able to find replacement cartridges for the Salt system? My google skills failed me! I also can't figure out if I can run their salt system without running the silver system. I'm assuming all of this will be clear when I get my spa in about a month (waiting for concrete to go in, then we've gotta wait for it to cure). I'll report back when I learn more...
Update! My spa was installed on Friday, May 24. The dealer said that they couldn't start up the saltwater system then because they had to wait a few days after filling the tub. I don't know where they got that information because the manual doesn't seem to mention it. In the meantime, I started up a new "pool" on Pool Math and took care of the chemistry manually, using liquid chlorine and then dichlor that the dealer gave me. (She was at first horrified that I'd been using liquid chlorine because she thought that made the fiberglass bubble; then I showed her where, in the manual, it said liquid chlorine is fine and that trichlor is a no-no....).
They came and started up the salt system yesterday (Tuesday). My calcium levels were low enough at first, but once the system got started, it went up quite a bit, so we're using the "Vanishing Act" caclium remover that the spa people include with the Freshwater system. Then tomorrow I'll be able to use the spa again. Salt level is lower than my pool, and max chlorine output is low too (just .08 lb/day), but it seems to be getting the job done! I'll keep updating.
They came and started up the salt system yesterday (Tuesday). My calcium levels were low enough at first, but once the system got started, it went up quite a bit, so we're using the "Vanishing Act" caclium remover that the spa people include with the Freshwater system. Then tomorrow I'll be able to use the spa again. Salt level is lower than my pool, and max chlorine output is low too (just .08 lb/day), but it seems to be getting the job done! I'll keep updating.
Thanks for the update.
What is this "Vanishing Act" calcium remover you speak of!? Nothing removes calcium except fresh water exchange. Perhaps it binds it up, but its still *there*, y'know?
What is this "Vanishing Act" calcium remover you speak of!? Nothing removes calcium except fresh water exchange. Perhaps it binds it up, but its still *there*, y'know?
It's a kind of heavy object covered in white felt-like material -- the size of a small pillow -- that you stick in a certain spot near the spa suction. You're supposed to run a special cycle on the spa and then remove the object. I'll try to take a picture of it. My dealer's service guy stuck it in the wrong spot, twice, and didn't know to run the special cycle on the spa (this is a new spa model) --- to his credit, the directions on the Vanishing Act's box were different from the directions in the spa's instructions manual. And the Saltwater System instructions said to use the Vanishing Act instructions on the box. So I understand the confusion... This morning I moved it to the right spot and ran the cycle.
I need to do a drop test and see how the calcium hardness changed this afternoon. I'll report back.
I always wondered if the Vanishing Act “pillow” is nothing more magic than a bag of water softener ion-exchange resin. Curious to know!
When I was shopping spas recently, I seriously considered going with another Hot Springs, which offered the new Saltwater Fresh system (instead of the previous ACE system). It looks like they turned the SWCG generator cell into a cartridge that is replaced yearly?
My new Bullfrog tub will be coming with the Frog @ease SmartChlor system. I’ll give it a fair try, but anticipate that I’ll probably end up converting the tub to an inline SWCG as I did with my previous tub.
When I was shopping spas recently, I seriously considered going with another Hot Springs, which offered the new Saltwater Fresh system (instead of the previous ACE system). It looks like they turned the SWCG generator cell into a cartridge that is replaced yearly?
My new Bullfrog tub will be coming with the Frog @ease SmartChlor system. I’ll give it a fair try, but anticipate that I’ll probably end up converting the tub to an inline SWCG as I did with my previous tub.