New to Me Hot Tub

[Beerfloater]

Just got a new to me hot tub delivered today. I got it from a buddy of mine. He drained it about a year ago, because he and his wife purchased a lake house a couple years ago. They just never had time to use it anymore, so he said if I wanted it I could have it. all I had to do was pay to have it moved. He said everything was working perfectly when he drained it. So now I have it, and I have never had a hot tub. I did read enough to know to purchase some Ahh-Some cleaner from Amazon. The Tub should be wired in the next couple of days. Should I go ahead and fill it prior to it being wired? What is the best process for cleaning a tub that has not been used in over a year? Thanks in advance for the help. You guys were a life saver after I bought this house last year with an in ground pool. Your help, and the education i got here was priceless. My pool ended up being easy to take care of after following the directions I received here. I even went from using liquid Chlorine to installing a SWG myself, but that is a whole different story. Now I need advice on how to get this thing going. Its an older Leisure Bay Spa. I have attached a few pics.

 

[ajw22]

I would not put water in the tub until it is wired and powers up successfully.

A few rounds of ahhsome treatment should clean it.

I would get a new filter.

@RDspaguy

 

[Beerfloater]

OK will do. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[cowboycasey]

you can run your hot tub exactly the same way as your pool

Grab a Saltron Mini and throw it in after adding salt.. run your TA a little lower so your PH will stay lower a little longer.. only take CYA to 30 or so, its used to protect you not from the sun...

Amazon.com: Saltron Mini Salt System Drop-In Saltwater Chlorine Generator for Hot Tubs & Swim Spas - up to 2000 Gallons : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com: Saltron Mini Salt System Drop-In Saltwater Chlorine Generator for Hot Tubs & Swim Spas - up to 2000 Gallons : Patio, Lawn & Garden

smile.amazon.com

 

[Beerfloater]

you can run your hot tub exactly the same way as your pool

Grab a Saltron Mini and throw it in after adding salt.. run your TA a little lower so your PH will stay lower a little longer.. only take CYA to 30 or so, its used to protect you not from the sun...

Amazon.com: Saltron Mini Salt System Drop-In Saltwater Chlorine Generator for Hot Tubs & Swim Spas - up to 2000 Gallons : Patio, Lawn & Garden

Amazon.com: Saltron Mini Salt System Drop-In Saltwater Chlorine Generator for Hot Tubs & Swim Spas - up to 2000 Gallons : Patio, Lawn & Garden

smile.amazon.com

Awesome!!! It is like you guys can read my mind...That was going to be my next question. I was going to ask if I could convert to a SWG somehow.

Thanks,

 

[RDspaguy]

I would not recommend turning on power unless it has water in it or you could damage your heater depending on the control system in it.

 

[Beerfloater]

I would not recommend turning on power unless it has water in it or you could damage your heater depending on the control system in it.

Ok so my electrician says he will have her wired up by the weekend. Should I go ahead, and fill it up? I have purchased some Ahh-Some and it was delivered today. Once it is wired up I plan to do a flush with the Ahh-some. Like I said before it is a used tub I got from my buddy. He said everything worked fine when he drained it, but that was over a year ago. Will I have to fill it to make sure everything is working anyways?

 

[CuckooChris]

If it's not going to freeze, go ahead and fill it. At least you may be able to see if there are any leaks that may need to be addressed. The worst thing that happens is it grows a few mosquito's, so just put a cup of bleach in and stir. Once you get the electric, heat it up, put in a little more chlorine and do the Ahh Some purge. Depending on what you get out, you may want to do more than one purge.

 

[jseyfert3]

Note on the filling process I believe most manuals specify filling through the filter cavity before adding the filter to help prevent air lock of the pump.

I have a Saltron Mini and find it's great for maintaining FC between uses, but I need to add chlorine manually after a soak. Now a lot of soaks are two-four people for 1-6 hours (at 97-100 °F depending on ambient), so our bather load is especially high. If you only do 15 minute soaks at 104 you may not need the manual additions. Just check the FC after you get out and the next morning until you learn the chlorine demand. It's a bit different from a pool in that a few people soaking for an hour or two will almost certainly send the FC almost to zero, even if starting from SLAM levels (which I always put it at before use if it's more than my wife and I).

Good luck! You're coming up on the best time to use it! We absolutely love ours in the winter time:

 

[Beerfloater]

Ok thanks guys. I have filled the tub. and no Leaks......YAY!!!!! My electrician is here wiring her up now. if all goes well should be able to do a good cleaning/purge soon. So does the water temp need to be up to 100 degrees or so to do the purge?

 

[cowboycasey]

nope, just do an ahsome cleaning right after you get water and power

 

[Beerfloater]

OK everything is hooked up and working. I am going to wait till tomorrow to do the purge, so I can do it in the daylight. I am letting the heater warm the water up just because the ahh-some directions say it works in both cold, and hot water but dissolves better in hot water. Now that I know everything works as it should I have ordered a Saltron mini. It should be here next week. I am soo happy!!! $400 to move it, $389 to wire it, $256 for the Saltron Mini, $32 for Ahh-some, $26 for new filter. Total $1,103 for a 7 person hot tub. I think that's awesome!!! we were almost ready to drop over $6500 for a new one, and that did not include wiring. Finally I got Lucky!!!!

 

[Beerfloater]

Ok guys. I have had my Saltron Mini for about a week now. Im not sure how long it needs to run for a 400 gallon tub, but I had on 8 hours a day at first, and Chlorine levels seemed low to me. I bumped it up to 10 hours a day a couple days ago. I used the tub last night for about an hour. So it has ran for ten hours today and I checked the chlorine level is 1.5. does that still seem low? what should it be? Should I do a SLAM? what setting do most of you put your saltron Mini on? Oh yea my CYA is 30 in case you were wondering. Thanks for any help.

 

[jseyfert3]

6 hours will hold my FC when the tub is not in use. After an hour long soak? Some manual chlorine addition after the soak may be needed.

If you regularly soak for an hour (like every day or every other day) it's probably possible to maintain FC by cranking the hours up a lot

I don't think you need to SLAM right now, but you do need to add chlorine ASAP. If I dip below the minimum briefly (but not to zero) I do take the FC up to SLAM level for a one time deal, then monitor FC drop a bit more closely going forward. I recommend you do a dose to take it to 12 ppm based on your 30 ppm CYA.

It will take some fiddling to get this dailed in, but it does help quite a bit once you do!