Hot tub anyone?

[GreyGhost]

It's probably 3-4x the water volume than ours however, so more thermal mass.

And I think I ******* jinxed things talking so fondly about the tub. Decided after coming back from a ride this afternoon and having a little chill on that we'd go hop in the hot tub.

Found it with about 12" of water on the bottom. Pump still running dutifully keeping that 12" of water nice and hot, however.

Faaack.

This ones is 2000L. Lots of thermal mass but also lots of surface area exposed when the lid is open.

Mine has had two issues with water disappearing. An lighted logo cracked and of course they put it in a 4" hole with the top of it 6" below the water line. As an added bonus, that dumped the water onto of the control board and pumps. Great design. Second was a slow leak right after refilling. Fitting to hose was leaking right at the heater so all the water had to come out again to repair.

 

[PrivatePilot]

I suspect I know what's happening with mine....there's 2 air lines that are designed to feed the air jets. They come out in the equipment panel and are open to air. Under some strange sequence of events that I've never been able to figure out they start to siphon water out instead of letting air in. I'm guessing there's some old 1-way valve that's crusty and stuck, or just failed.

I just need to block these off completely (we never use the bubbles anyways) and that should fix the issue. Downside is it takes 36 hours for it to reheat a full load of cold water again. :/

 

[Zoodles95]

Since the softub has the "hydromate" that sort of acts like a liquid cooled pump to heat it... There is also a thermal blanket that is wrapped around that tubing. Water is constantly being pumped through the tubing whenever the pump is on (whether for filtration of therapy pump use) and the heat from the pump heats the water this way.




Would these options help to maintain temperature should I eventually get the thing going?

Softub sells this exterior Hydromate cover. Perhaps help reduce heat loss so more heat gets transferred to the water?


A solar blanket obviously did a great job holding in the heat in the pool; especially when the nights got cooler. Softub and The Cover Guy sell solar blanets that go under the folding cover. Would this help at all?

 

[GreyGhost]

Since the softub has the "hydromate" that sort of acts like a liquid cooled pump to heat it... There is also a thermal blanket that is wrapped around that tubing. Water is constantly being pumped through the tubing whenever the pump is on (whether for filtration of therapy pump use) and the heat from the pump heats the water this way.




Would these options help to maintain temperature should I eventually get the thing going?

Softub sells this exterior Hydromate cover. Perhaps help reduce heat loss so more heat gets transferred to the water?


A solar blanket obviously did a great job holding in the heat in the pool; especially when the nights got cooler. Softub and The Cover Guy sell solar blanets that go under the folding cover. Would this help at all?

So a quick search says hydromate is 1.5 hp. That means roughly 1kW of heat being put into the water (assuming that coil extracts much of the heat of the motor and it is single speed).

Some insulation is a good thing. Counter-intutively, you can actually lose heat faster if you put on too much insulation (surface area increases much faster than R value as insulation gets thicker). I would hope that softub have some brains and the insulation cover works well. That being said, I dont know why they wouldnt include it by default unless they are either trying to juice the bill or giving in to requests from people that thought it was a good idea.

I kept some of the off cuts from the pool solar blanket to cover the hot tub if I know it wonts be used for a while. They may help a bit by keeping vapour from circulating and leaking out of gaps in the real cover. When the pump comes on for a filter cycle, the solar blanket sometimes gets messed up (the edge dips, a jet hits the top and the cover gets bunched up on the far side of the tub). I cant see a downside but I wouldnt pay for a hot tub solar cover.

I bought what is basically a huge shower cap for the tub this summer. I plan on putting it on if we are expecting a ton of snow/freezing rain, if the tub wont be used for a while or if it will be very cold and windy. That should minimize the air making it past the cover and save some heat but will be a pain to install/remove so it definitely wont be on all the time.

 

[Zoodles95]

I guess this is Softub's version of a shower cap...


The Hydromate that came with the tub has a good rip in it. Not sure if leaving it like this will hurt the unit at all.


A Replacement cover is about $50. The exterior cover is just over $100. Hmmm...

 

[Zoodles95]

Well... It was a bit of doing. I have no idea how many kilos of dirt and screening I moved.
Just have the screening a bit tamped down. I have an 8ft length of 2"x 4" which I will use to help get this all level. Next weekend I will get 16 2'x2' pavers to top this off and then it should make a nice landing spot for the softub.

 

[GreyGhost]

I suspect I know what's happening with mine....there's 2 air lines that are designed to feed the air jets. They come out in the equipment panel and are open to air. Under some strange sequence of events that I've never been able to figure out they start to siphon water out instead of letting air in. I'm guessing there's some old 1-way valve that's crusty and stuck, or just failed.

I just need to block these off completely (we never use the bubbles anyways) and that should fix the issue. Downside is it takes 36 hours for it to reheat a full load of cold water again. :/

Did you figure out your issues? When I refill mine (assuming the hoses aren't put away for the season) I run two cold water hoses and one hose from the TPV on the hotwater tank. You don't want to dump in straight tank hotwater as it's too hot, but mixed is fine. Running to the TPV gets me a 3/4" hose so it flows better. That uses all the hot water in the tank and lights the burner so it preheats the water into the tub somewhat. At that point, you can shut off the two cold water hoses to save some money or leave them on to fill faster.

 

[Scuba Steve]

I usually fill mine from the pool as the salt is already at the correct level and it is warmer.

Sent from my moto g(8) plus using Tapatalk

 

[Zoodles95]

Some good news. Since I have been cleared by public health I went and got my pavers yesterday for the still in development hot tub pad.

Called the Softub dealer/tech. Good news is that the GFCI cord is all sorted now. Also, the hydromate works and is heating and working on his test bench. Bad news is it is super loud. Needs a new bearing etc.

I authorized the rebuild. Will still be under my assigned budget. I would rather get ut sorted now including the new cover for the hydromate and then it should be reliable for the forseeable future. If we love the tub and decide to flip it will be easier to move and get a fair price if it is sorted with paperwork to prove it.

There is a rough but working Softub on kijjiji right now for $3500 and the tub liner is really worn. The tub liner on mine is actually in really good shape. If I get this sorted for around $2000 all in I will be thrilled.

Sent from my SM-G950W using Tapatalk

 

[Zoodles95]

Okay....

Yesterday was my first day out of the house (cleared by public health). Snagged the pavers finally. Just getting them moved onto the truck, off the truck and to their staging location on a skid in my backyard did me in. I am still a work in progress.


Today I laid the first row. Levelled horizontally and vertically and to each other. Just laying the row wore me out. Tomorrow I will do another row, then one on Saturday and one on Sunday. If I keep improving perhaps I can get to a row and a half per day. Sad...


The scattered outdoor flooring is to keep our dog Libby from hopping in and out of the screening. She is a happy little dog but into everything. Great little snuggler through my recovery but she needs a playmate... 4 down and 12 more to go!


I am a touch under $200 for the pavers and screening so at this point I am $1400 into this project so far. Will see what the Hydromate rebuild comes to. Getting the vinyl cover replaced, new bearing, rebuild etc. Plus I need a new filter, filter sock, safety straps.

Will see what the final costs are.

 

[Zoodles95]

Okay... I made absolutely no progress yesterday. I had very little energy. This Covid thing is weird that way. I go back and forth with energy levels and headaches although the overall trend is going in a positive direction. I justified by "lazy" Friday by saying that if I laid 6 pavers Saturday and 6 pavers Sunday that I would still get it done this weekend.

Had minimal energy most of today and then for some reason I felt compelled to go outside and get back to work.

Long story short, for some reason I was able to finally complete the job!


It is not 100% done though. The outside row (last row) needs a bit of shoring up and I want to get some sand or polymuric sand to fill the gaps. Then I am going to do a couple of inches around the edges to make a gravel border for now and do gravel on the no man's land between the pad and the doorway to the basement. Then I will subsequently put river rock over the gravel to pretty it up a bit.


This is far from perfect but they are pretty level. The house (and entire Avenue) is built on a hill. So looking at my lot (from the front) it slopes from left to right. I leveled each paver horizontally and vertically and to one another but they are not perfect. The second row in starts even on the left side but for some reason is about 1cm or so too far to the right on the right side. Once I have the gravel in place and the outdoor floor over the pavers you would never know. I guess it is a good thing this is not my profession.



I am still not up to enjoying a gin or tequila yet so my wife and I shared a nice bottle of premium tonic.


Pad is 8ft x 8ft and the Softub is 6.5ft diameter so if I offset the tub to the left there should be room for the Hydromate on the lower right. Then I will run the cable to the outdoor GFCI on the shed. Then I will try burying the cable to make the install look as neat as possible.


Hydromate would live on the outermost paver you see here and the plug would go just beyond the chair you see by the side door of the shed.


It still needs some tweaking and prettying up but in a pinch I think the tub could go on there now if it had to. Even if I have to buy some sand I end up about $220 all in at that point for the pad. I was budgeting $1500 for the pad if I had someone do it for me. The roughly $1300 I saved by doing it myself more than pays for the repairs and upgrades I am getting done at the Softub dealer.


Hopefully about a week from now I can show some pics of the Hydromate coupling with the tub and the water going in etc. Maybe in the Softub a week or so tomorrow? Fingers crossed!

The good thing about this construction choice is that I can partially dismantle it should I choose to upgrade the shed hydro and put a 220 in for a full on hotub. I can also add to this pad should I need to. Also, when we one day move the impermanence of it should help alleviate any concerns should someone not want a hotub. At the very least my wife was very uncertain about a poured concrete pad so compromising with her by going this route makes everybody happy. I think once I do a bit of landscaping around it and the Softub is in place and operational it should make a nice little oasis.

 

[GreyGhost]

First tub of the season in a decent snowfall tonight (~1" on the ground and falling quickly). So much better than a hot tub in the summer.

 

[Zoodles95]

First tub of the season in a decent snowfall tonight (~1" on the ground and falling quickly). So much better than a hot tub in the summer.

Nice! Hopefully I can join the club later this week.

Today's labor. Went and got some gravel to go around the pad. Also, some of the pavers needed to be re-leveled so I bought a bag of screening.


As you can see the area left to the pad is pretty mucky. A bit of a wasteland. Plan is to put gravel in for now and then something else like river rock in the spring. Will see what the wife wants at that point.


Some gravel down...


5 stones re-leveled. Gravel around the base. Polymeric sand in the gaps...



I will need to add more polymeric sand tomorrow. Getting there.


Hopefully there will be a working Softub here later this week.


With the gravel and extra screening I am probably just shy of $300 all told for the pad for materials and taxes. So, I am $1500 into the project so far and of course I will happily be paying a bill later this week for the parts and labor into the Hydromate.

 

[Zoodles95]

Softub has landed!

Got the polymeric sand all sorted.



Outdoor floor down...


Tub finally where it is supposed to be. Just waiting on the rebuilt Hydromate now. Hopefully I can start the next stage on Satuday.


Hydromate should... er... rest and mate where the exposed plumbing is. Then run the cable to the outside outlet at the shed...


Journey almost over!

 

[hdsomeday]

Did your neighbors ask you to put it where they have a perfect view from that window? haha

 

[Zoodles95]

Did your neighbors ask you to put it where they have a perfect view from that window? haha

Not a problem. With my middleaged body they will look once and never again! :O

Edit: My wife chose the site. I asked about in front of the "new" shed or the area where my wife was raking in this pic. One good thing about where the Softub is located is that it is readily accessed from the basement door or the sliding door onto the deck.

 

[Zoodles95]

Today is super "Woo Hoo" day! My early 50th Birthday Present came (even though I paid for it)...

Got the voice mail from the Softub repair guy. I met my parents in Brantford for a socially distanced lunch (there is a chip wagon/food truck with a car wash) and we had fish and chips with our vehicles 10 ft apart. Sucks to not be able to hug them but better to have a compromised visit than no visit at all. My parents are in the second half of their 70s and my mother has COPD so I would rather sacrifice visits and hugs than compromise her health in any way.

At any rate the Hydromate was done so I went to Hamilton after and...

For a reminder here is how the Hydromate used to look. You can see the small tears in the marine vinyl etc...


Here is post repair with the new cover:


The old cover was more of a Sedona Red or something and the new mocha brown will match better with the tub anyways. Should I keep the tub longer term and I buy a new folding cover then I will go with this mocha brown which I think will make a cool contrast with the lighter camel brown of the tub.

Old cover and various old parts from the unit:


Time to go home my new toy!


We had just enough time to hit Dirt Depot before going home. I put out a bit of river rock the other night and my wife likes it so I got a yard of the stuff. Poor truck has been working hard the past couple of years. Towing our little Jayco to various campground, moving boxes and furniture to storage units and our new place, truck loads of gravel, dirt, screening, mulch, river rock etc.


Good thing this trim package included heavier duty rear springs and LT rated tires (instead of P). Nice to have the higher load ratings on the tires when hauling or towing:


Get 'er lined up!


Some goodies I needed to pick up. Old, nasty looking filter is garbage. Got the foam insulation for the junction between the tub and Hydromate. Unfortunately he did not have the right size in stock. Will wrap with plastic or something until the vinyl covering comes in.


I washed the inside of the tub with dish soap and water and rinsed the crap out of it. Then I used the vinyl cleaner I bought on the side and cover. I can't believe how much dirt and crap came out with the vinyl cleaner!


Almost to the moment of truth! After the cleaning and rinsing I could finally junction these together...


Then the filter, filter sock, and add water! Woo Hoo!


2 inches is enough for the wrinkles to start to work their way out. Also, this is where Softub recommended adding a tablespoon of granular chlorine.


No leaks here. Good news. Just the same the tech had the Hydromate running and it did not leak on his bench so no problems with the newly rebuilt Hydromate...


Softub cushion and pillow/head rest where they will be during use. If I really like them I may snag another set. I had to get the cushion for my wife. She has trouble sitting at 90 degrees with her M.S. This is just enough elevation for her to be comfotable.


Moment of truth!


Good flow when the pumps and air are on...


No leaks at the junction so the insulation has to go on now...



Again, I still need the vinyl wrap for this junction. In the interim I will use some plastic, a garbage bag or something in the interim until the vinyl comes in. As you can see the unit is working. Heat of the water has been rising.


Will go out in a couple of hours to check the temp and see where I am in terms of chemistry.


Even if I get to high 80s tomorrow I'm going in!

So... What did this cost?

Tub was $1200.

Repairs plus parts came to... $729.87...

That works out to $1929.87. That includes the pillow and cushion that cost a few bucks. New filter, filter sock. new GFCI and cable. Rebuilding the motor and unit and a whack or parts. Plus the cover. Since he already had the cover in stock and it was older I got it for half price. A new motor is $600 so getting it all rebuilt plus all the new parts, new cable/GFCI, and the chemicals etc for what I did was more than reasonable to me.

Add in the $300 in materials for the pad and that brings it to $2229.87

Then all of the river rocks today came to $146.90 after tax. These will be used to pretty up the Softub area but will also get used elsewhere in the yard. If I add those to my total it brings the grand total to: $2376.77

That is for a Softub, repairs, chemicals, and accessories. And the pad, landscaping and even upgrades elsewhere on the property.

Can't argue that I ended up okay. The last piece of vinyl is $16 which is sort of a rounding error at this point.

Based on used Softubs we could ask $3500 and accept anywhere between $2500 and there and be okay.

Just the same now is the time to get the temp up, get the water chemistry dialed in and ultimately enjoy it!

 

[GreyGhost]

Today is super "Woo Hoo" day! My early 50th Birthday Present came (even though I paid for it)...

Got the voice mail from the Softub repair guy. I met my parents in Brantford for a socially distanced lunch (there is a chip wagon/food truck with a car wash) and we had fish and chips with our vehicles 10 ft apart. Sucks to not be able to hug them but better to have a compromised visit than no visit at all. My parents are in the second half of their 70s and my mother has COPD so I would rather sacrifice visits and hugs than compromise her health in any way.

At any rate the Hydromate was done so I went to Hamilton after and...

For a reminder here is how the Hydromate used to look. You can see the small tears in the marine vinyl etc...


Here is post repair with the new cover:


The old cover was more of a Sedona Red or something and the new mocha brown will match better with the tub anyways. Should I keep the tub longer term and I buy a new folding cover then I will go with this mocha brown which I think will make a cool contrast with the lighter camel brown of the tub.

Old cover and various old parts from the unit:


Time to go home my new toy!


We had just enough time to hit Dirt Depot before going home. I put out a bit of river rock the other night and my wife likes it so I got a yard of the stuff. Poor truck has been working hard the past couple of years. Towing our little Jayco to various campground, moving boxes and furniture to storage units and our new place, truck loads of gravel, dirt, screening, mulch, river rock etc.


Good thing this trim package included heavier duty rear springs and LT rated tires (instead of P). Nice to have the higher load ratings on the tires when hauling or towing:


Get 'er lined up!


Some goodies I needed to pick up. Old, nasty looking filter is garbage. Got the foam insulation for the junction between the tub and Hydromate. Unfortunately he did not have the right size in stock. Will wrap with plastic or something until the vinyl covering comes in.


I washed the inside of the tub with dish soap and water and rinsed the crap out of it. Then I used the vinyl cleaner I bought on the side and cover. I can't believe how much dirt and crap came out with the vinyl cleaner!


Almost to the moment of truth! After the cleaning and rinsing I could finally junction these together...


Then the filter, filter sock, and add water! Woo Hoo!


2 inches is enough for the wrinkles to start to work their way out. Also, this is where Softub recommended adding a tablespoon of granular chlorine.


No leaks here. Good news. Just the same the tech had the Hydromate running and it did not leak on his bench so no problems with the newly rebuilt Hydromate...


Softub cushion and pillow/head rest where they will be during use. If I really like them I may snag another set. I had to get the cushion for my wife. She has trouble sitting at 90 degrees with her M.S. This is just enough elevation for her to be comfotable.


Moment of truth!


Good flow when the pumps and air are on...


No leaks at the junction so the insulation has to go on now...



Again, I still need the vinyl wrap for this junction. In the interim I will use some plastic, a garbage bag or something in the interim until the vinyl comes in. As you can see the unit is working. Heat of the water has been rising.


Will go out in a couple of hours to check the temp and see where I am in terms of chemistry.


Even if I get to high 80s tomorrow I'm going in!

So... What did this cost?

Tub was $1200.

Repairs plus parts came to... $729.87...

That works out to $1929.87. That includes the pillow and cushion that cost a few bucks. New filter, filter sock. new GFCI and cable. Rebuilding the motor and unit and a whack or parts. Plus the cover. Since he already had the cover in stock and it was older I got it for half price. A new motor is $600 so getting it all rebuilt plus all the new parts, new cable/GFCI, and the chemicals etc for what I did was more than reasonable to me.

Add in the $300 in materials for the pad and that brings it to $2229.87

Then all of the river rocks today came to $146.90 after tax. These will be used to pretty up the Softub area but will also get used elsewhere in the yard. If I add those to my total it brings the grand total to: $2376.77

That is for a Softub, repairs, chemicals, and accessories. And the pad, landscaping and even upgrades elsewhere on the property.

Can't argue that I ended up okay. The last piece of vinyl is $16 which is sort of a rounding error at this point.

Based on used Softubs we could ask $3500 and accept anywhere between $2500 and there and be okay.

Just the same now is the time to get the temp up, get the water chemistry dialed in and ultimately enjoy it!

Congrats on getting it done.

The stabilizer was getting too high in ours (downside to using the floater with pellets so I will wind it back a bunch and mainly manually chlorinate but use the pellets to lengthen time between doses). I dumped it and refilled with one hot hose and one cold hose. Obviously the hot water tank couldnt keep up and was just taking the edge off. Full tub was 70F when I turned on the power. I dont know what the gas cost was but pre-heating it saves about 32 Kwh.

 

[Zoodles95]

Congrats on getting it done.

The stabilizer was getting too high in ours (downside to using the floater with pellets so I will wind it back a bunch and mainly manually chlorinate but use the pellets to lengthen time between doses). I dumped it and refilled with one hot hose and one cold hose. Obviously the hot water tank couldnt keep up and was just taking the edge off. Full tub was 70F when I turned on the power. I dont know what the gas cost was but pre-heating it saves about 32 Kwh.

That's a cool idea. Never thought of that 2 hose solution.

Present chemistry is good. Chlorine and free chlorine band on. Going to keep an eye on the hardness, P.H. etc since vinyl is sensitive to certain things and will wrinkle etc.
Well... Chemistry is good. Chlorine, free chlorine, hardness etc all bang on. Will check again tomorrow before I go in...


Heater is working well so far. Seems to increase 3 to 4 degrees F per hour. Still polar bear swim temps at this point! I will be busy tomorrow emptying the truck bed of all that river rock. My plan is a nice soak after. Even high 80s may do the trick. If it is in the 90s or higher then I am all set!

 

[PrivatePilot]

Did you figure out your issues? When I refill mine (assuming the hoses aren't put away for the season) I run two cold water hoses and one hose from the TPV on the hotwater tank. You don't want to dump in straight tank hotwater as it's too hot, but mixed is fine. Running to the TPV gets me a 3/4" hose so it flows better. That uses all the hot water in the tank and lights the burner so it preheats the water into the tub somewhat. At that point, you can shut off the two cold water hoses to save some money or leave them on to fill faster.

Yep, figured it out...it was exactly what I thought it was - the 2 air-intake hoses that draw in air for the bubblers/aerators. They'd fallen down inside the mechanical cabinet and had started a siphon which slowly emptied the tub.

Secured them up higher (and kinked them on top of it all), refilled, and all is fine.

As for filling, unless you have a demand water heater, aside from the first x number of gallons out of your water heater being too hot, once that's gone, it quickly goes cold. The first batch of really hot water won't damage anything, at least on my fibreglass tub. I just dump it in fast and furious until it starts to cool down and then slow down the flow to a point where I'm getting about 20-30 degree (c) water out of the hose - that seems to be a happy medium between time to fill and temperature. Still takes quite a while as the flow on a traditional water heater to maintain that temp is pretty slow. But it gets the job done, then I let the hot tub take over the rest of the heating duties.