Hot Tub Maintenance
MAINTENANCE, REPAIR & MORE
Maintaining Your Spa
Maintenance is an important part of protecting your investment and getting the most use out of your hot tub.
Hot tub maintenance schedule
Weekly
- Check Chemical Balance
- Check Water Level
- Wipe Down Cover
- Rinse Filters
Monthly
- Clean Cover & Protect Neck Pillows
- Deep Clean Filters
- Replace Frog @ease Cartridge (if applicable, otherwise sanitize as preferred.).
Quarterly
- Replace Frog @ease Mineral Cartridge or sanitize as preferred.
Semi-annually
- Drain & Refill Tub
- Clean Filters
- Clean Pillows
Yearly
- Replace Filters
Weekly tub cleaning
What you will need
YOUR TUB'S MANUAL
ALKALINITY BOOSTER
WATER TESTING STRIPS
pH UP/DOWN
SANATIZER (BROMINE OR CHLORINE) GRANULES
Instructions:
1. Turn your spa off at the breaker
2. Remove your filters & Clean them with a garden hose (make sure to get in between the pleats).
3. Turn your breaker back on
4. Check water level and top off as needed
5.Test your water and adjust your chemical balance as needed
6. Add spa shock (non-chlorinated shock) weekly, this helps oxidize and clear up cloudy water.
Circulating water through the filter for at least 8 hours a day keeps your hot tub water in the best condition.
Weekly Maintenance
Monthly Maintenance
Maintenance FAQ's
- Why you need to purge your hot tub?
- Why is my water foamy?
- What if my water is cloudy?
- Why aren't my jets turning on??
- What do these error messages on my control panel mean?
- Brands We Trust.
Why you need to purge your hot tub?
While you might be doing everything to ensure your water is clean and properly balanced, there is something else you need to do to keep chemical buildup in your hot tub from clouding your experience.
How to purge a hot tub
Biofilm Buildup
When you wear lotions, cosmetics or even sunscreen contaminants can build up as you use your hot tub.
Why these are Important to Get Rid of
Some biofilms cannot be passed through the filter, and this can be detrimental to your hot tub if it is not properly maintained. Cosmetics and lotions can cause corrosion in you tub and throughout the tub’s plumbing if water is not properly filtered and cleaned.
When to Purge Your Hot Tub
Even if you are shocking your water, to avoid cloudy, foaming, and even viscous water, you should be sure that swimsuits are rinsed thoroughly, even if they have not just been washed. If you do not wear a swimsuit in the privacy of your own home oasis, then skip this step!
DOES YOUR TUB STILL LOOK DIRTY?
You might have to repeat this process multiple times if it’s really been a while since your tub’s last cleaning.
Why is my water foamy?
You might think bubbles are just a feature of hot tubs but there’s a difference between bubbles and suds or foam!
Your Lotions / Cosmetics / Hair Products
Shower before getting in your swim spa or hot tub, this will take off things from your body such as oils, lotions, hairspray, hair gel, dirt, perfumes and colognes and deodorants etc.
It’s Your Laundry Detergent
You should be sure that your swimsuits are rinsed thoroughly and not just with detergents, but with water and then dried, as detergents cause foaming. If you do not wear a swimsuit in the privacy of your own home oasis, then skip this step!
Too much Calcium
The higher the calcium the more basic your PH level is. As a result, the water will be less acidic and more prone to foaming.
What if my water is cloudy?
If you’re worried about water being too cloudy or foamy, here are some tips to help your mind rest easy.
Check out this video for more helpful tips!
Some solutions!
- Your personal products like body oils and lotions can cause the water to get hazy or cloudy and detergents from washing bathing suits can even make water foam up.
- Use Bright and Clear to get rid of suspended dust particles and oils on the surface of the water.
- Is the pH balanced? You might need to use an Alkalinity booster or pH UP/DOWN.
- Have you sanitized? Add sanitizer as needed. We recommend using the granular kind for more precise distribution or use our Frog @ease In-Line Sanitizer.
- If balancing your water takes longer than 2 days, shock the water with a chlorinating shock oxidizer.
- Clean your filter(s)! Cloudy water can be a result of filters being dirty. A rinse or deep clean with filter solution may be needed.
Why aren't my jets turning on?
COULD BE DUE TO AN AIRLOCK
Your jets aren’t working? Or they’re making that “mmmmmmmm” sound. It may be because your jets have an airlock. What that means is that air gets trapped inside of the hot tub plumbing and prevents water from flowing through the pipes. Don’t freak out. This is a simple fix.
How to release your air lock
An air lock is most likely the result of air getting trapped in hour hot tub jets when draining and refilling your tub. In simple terms your tub just needs a good burping.
STEP 1
Take off your tub’s access panel and notice two PVC pipes. That is a part of your plumbing.
STEP 2
Select the intake collar, which is the horizontal PVC pipe. You will see a coupler connecting the pipe to plumbing.
STEP 3
Loosen the coupler and you will hear air passing through. Tighten back up and repeat if you have multiple pumps.
How to Clean Your Jets
STEP 1
Spray jet inserts with a mixture of 1 part vinegar to two parts warm water and let soak for 10 – 15 minutes.
STEP 2
Periodically rotate the spinner nozzle to break up residue in the jets.
STEP 3
Rinse the jet inserts with a standard garden hose.
What do these error messages mean?
Don’t stress about those error messages. Most of them are harmless. More scared of you than you are of them, even.
Check out this video for more helpful tips!
ERROR LF
Error LF is usually referring to an issue with your filters. This is a simple fix. There is probably debris in your compartment. Give it a quick once over or spray it down.
GENERAL ERROR
If you’re getting a vague ERROR message it might have to do with your Airlock. Watch this video to learn more about how to release an airlock. The process is as easy as easy as turning a handle.
ERROR OHH
If you’re getting the message “ERROR OHH” on your control panel it’s probably because it’s not topped off completely even though it might look like it. Just add water.
Additional maintenance FAQ's
Maintenance Brands we like and why?
No matter what you need these products for, there’s a strong chance you’ll need them in the future! Cleaning should be easy! Let us make this process quick and painless for you!!
Bright & Clear
NO MORE CLOUDYNESS
Leisure Time Bright & Clear limits the amount of sanitizer you need in your hot tub by using a unique polymer to neutralize dirt, oily films, and suspended particles to achieve sparkly clean water.
FROG@ease
ONE STEP SANITIZING
The FROG@ease sanitizer combines all the steps of sanitizing into one. The efficiency and potency of a FROG@ease takes care of a whole month’s worth of sanitizing allowing you to sit back and relax more often by maintaining comfortable pH levels with the ability to use less Chlorine, keeping those nasty smells out of your tub.
Orenda
SPA PURGE SCRUB SOLUTION
SPA-500 is a powerful concentrate packed with enzymes designed for scrubbing the spa and its internal systems (pipes, jets, etc.). It helps flush non-living organics out of the tub when draining.
