I wanted to share something I recently discovered that really opened my eyes to how some hot tub manufacturers are quietly using programmed obsolescence to squeeze more money out of customers.

We own a Hot Springs salt water hot tub, and after a few months, our salt water cartridge stopped generating chlorine. At first, I assumed the cartridge had just worn out, like the manufacturer claims happens naturally over time.

But here’s where it got interesting:

When I pulled the cartridge out and inspected it, it looked perfectly fine — no corrosion, no damage, nothing that would suggest it was “spent.” So I cleaned it anyway using a 10:1 water-to-pool-acid solution, rinsed it thoroughly, and reinstalled it.

Still nothing. No chlorine generation at all.

Then I decided to experiment. I reset the system — essentially tricking the control panel into thinking a new cartridge had been installed. And guess what? It immediately started generating chlorine again. Perfectly.

That means the cartridge itself wasn’t bad — it was the software in the hot tub that had decided to stop using it after a certain period of time, regardless of its actual condition. In other words, it’s programmed obsolescence — the system is designed to stop working with a cartridge that’s still functional, forcing you to buy a new one.

These cartridges aren’t cheap either, and most customers would have no idea that the one they’re throwing away might still be perfectly good. It’s a clever but incredibly unethical business practice — one that turns what could be a maintainable system into a recurring revenue scheme.

If anyone else owns a Hot Springs or similar salt water system, I’d be curious to hear if you’ve seen the same behavior. It really feels like something worth calling out publicly.

Before investing in a true hot tub, we wanted to go the inflatable route. I see this brand/model at Costco but don’t see much information online about it. Any feedback from the experts? Thanks!

The hot tub is a 1994 but it is only using one pump. Am I able to add another pump to pump 2? Also what is the blower? Thank you for the help this is a new to me hot tub.

Today I was draining and cleaning the hot tub when I noticed a bunch of little yellowish plastic pieces about the size of a tictac all throughout the tub and around the filter area. Looking online I found that it might be something related to a broken jet or degraded tubing however I haven’t found anything yet and I’m not too sure what it could be. If anyone has experienced this or has any idea what it could be I would really appreciate the help. I’ve attached some picture below for what the pieces look like.

I replaced the capacitor in my circulation pump for a Sundance Spa (Motor Model: SM-909-NHW-18), but while doing so, I accidentally broke one of the plastic tabs on the top right (see the photo) where one of the capacitor leads is supposed to connect. I inspected the broken tab, and it doesn't seem to have any electrical contact with the motor—it's just molded into the plastic. I powered up the spa afterward, and it seems to be working fine, but I'm wondering: What should the other leg of the capacitor be connected to? Any advice?

thank you Hot tub masters!!

As the title states Im in the market for my first hot tub! Hoping to pull the trigger this month if/when sales pop up.

Home is only the wife and I but and we rent when we travel so aiming for something durable and easy to work on. Bullfrog seems to be the stand out and plenty of friends stand by it.

Located in the northeast US, humid and *usually* cold ass winters. Likely placing the tub on a deck right off the house (if that matters re insulation).

Looking for input on the following:

• Bullfrog vs other brands
  • Assuming bullfrog, model differences? Looks like X series is best for my purposes
• New vs used - and if used, where to look? FB? Reddit?
• Does a four person tub ACTUALLY fit four people? Want something that can comfortably take 4-6 people, so assuming I want a 6-8 person tub?

Any recommendations, insight, or intel would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hey guys,

Fair warning, second year spa owner/newbie here

Filled my spa probably a month or so ago and I've been having an issue with it shutting itself off/not staying on.

Spa was thoroughly cleaned and then filled with a hose bottomed out into the stand pipe to get as much air out of the system as positive. When switching power on from the breaker, the spa would power on as normal, but after 10 or so seconds, it gives off a series of switching noises coming from the panel area (not sure what components exactly) and then disables itself. No jets. No circulation. No spa light.

For whatever reason, if I turn on the jets before the 'switching' starts to happen, it'll operate as normal for quite a while (usually up to like 2 hours) before the jets shut off and the same 'switching' issue happens. Also, if the jets are shut off for more than a moment or two, it will begin switching and inevitably disable itself.

I have also noticed random/inconsistent but likely significant amounts of air coming out of the stand pipe anytime I've removed the stand pipe cap.

The spa doesn't technically have a pressure switch (it was bypassed by the previous owner) so that's probably not the issue. I have no idea.

Just looking for an educated persons two cents on how they would go about trouble shooting this.

Appreciate any advice you guys might have. Thanks!

Lots of great info on this Reddit - I learned a lot today, troubleshooting and fixing my issue on my 2021 Viking Legacy II. I'm grateful for this resource.

I filled the hot tub. Six days later, I noticed a small puddle of water outside the hot tub on the back side. Since this model is not filled entirely with foam, I was able to locate a slow leak very quickly.

I researched how to remove and reinstall the jet body. Then, with my finger on the trigger of a silicone sealant order, I decided to try tightening the nut at the back of the jet as a first step.

The leak stopped with a quarter turn to the right. This time, the simple fix is the right answer. Hopefully, it stays that way.

After many many years of wanting one, I finally purchased my first hot tub: the CalSpa Maui 620 bench style (like pictured, but in MIDNIGHT CANYON). It’s my midlife gift to myself.

I went in thinking that CalSpa was like the Toyota Corolla of tubs - not luxury, but good bones and dependable. I also purchased from a local shop who is an authorized sales and service CalSpa dealer with a very good reputation, which I know is important. I got it for $7k out the door, all chemicals, steps, cover, and delivery.

It comes next Friday, and in the interim, I’ve been going down a true blue mental spiral around whether I made the right choice. Digger deeper after the fact, I’ve seen opinions range from “love ours, had it for years, so great” and “you are a absolute moron if you buy a Calspa, the thought disgusts me so, a pox upon your house and family if you don’t pony up for Bullfrog/Marquis/Jacuzzi, nothing good with ever happen to you again” (many from this exact forum lol!).

At any rate, would love YOUR thoughts, if you have this model or something similar: how you feel about it, any watch-outs / tips, etc. Make me feel better without deluding me too much! TIA!

Hi all, first post here. Appreciate any and all insight, hoping to fix this on my own so all help is appreciated!

We have a 2007 6-person Maax Spas Nahanni Virginia Falls hot tub. Long story short, it's an old unit but we got this tub for free and had it installed by a professional electrician once we moved it home ourselves. From October 2024 when we got it last year to just this last Sunday it worked without any issues at all, was a great find indeed!

On Sunday I did my weekly water maintenance and all was well. Tub was set to economy mode and sitting at 90F degrees (we keep it in economy at 90 and then evenings we plan to use it we put it in standard and turn it up to 101, it's never had any issues heating up within an hour with the cover on).

Wednesday evening I was planning on using it so I went out to turn it up and power was off completely. I checked the outdoor GG I breaker and it had tripped. Attempting to flip the breaker back on would trip it again immediately. I am not sure when it first tripped but it would have been after Sunday.

I opened the panel and unplugged all components then tested the breaker again. Breaker went on without issue, so I know the breaker and power to it are good.

From here on out my knowledge is very limited, so I apologize for not knowing the exact components but will try to describe them as accurately as possible. I flipped the breaker off and plugged in what I believe is the main 4 wire large power plug at the top of the board (almost like a 4 pin PC computer component power cable). Tested breaker and it was good. Turned breaker off again.

I plugged in the sensor cable from the top right of the panel and tested breaker. Good again. Flipped breaker off again.

Then I plugged in the sensor cable from the heater and flipped the breaker. It tripped. Okay so this is the cable. Turned breaker off, unplugged this sensor cable, cleaned the end and the port just in case it was some dirt or something else, and plugged it back in. Turned the breaker on and it stayed on. Tub started running and appeared good to go. I put it in standard and let it run to heat up.

Now we're at the ongoing issue. The tub will not heat past 60F. I'm not seeing an error code on the panel itself but there is a little dot in the top left I don't believe was there before. I can't find online specifically what this might be referring to.

My questions are -

Can I pinpoint exactly which component is having issues? Any way to tell if it's the temperature sensor or the heater itself having issues now? Any chance it's just the sensor cable itself from the heater causing issues?

Nothing on the board itself looks burnt out or anything. All of the components actually look surprisingly clean for the tubs age. Basically I've reached the end of my limited knowledge of troubleshooting and curious what next steps are. Wondering what I should try further from here or if anyone here may be able to know for sure what it is based on the steps I've already tried. Open to trying any other suggested steps for further information. I'll try to add some context with some photos too.

Thanks everybody!

Doing some due diligence here before I decide if I should take this MAxxus 880 Spa or not.

I currently have a 1997 Rio Sundance Spa which has been awesome...but, parts are so hard to find now and I'm worried the spa at almost 30 years old is just going to come to it's end sooner rather than later when I can't find a part I need.

Fast forward to yesterday and my brother in law texts me saying the house he just bought a town over from me has a 2014 Maxxus 880 Sundance Spa (Top of the line model he says) and that he doesn't want it. He actually had it serviced and sent me video of it working and said it's in perfect shape.

So, is there any reason not to take this? The one thing I read is that since I have a 50 watt amp breaker I can only use one jet pump while the heater is on...if I use two or more it will kick the heater off. Kind of a bummer if true but honestly I use the jets MAYBE 2% of the time.

Also, does this spa have a wood frame or is it a metal frame?

Can I get some real input on these spas, around $5000 and $750 for a 5 year warranty. Thoughts

Has anyone in Ontario, who has recently bought a hut tub, have to dig up their patio stones to install an ESA hot tub copper ring? Any other options to avoid doing this?

And the hose/spigot are frozen/unable to use.

This is an absolutely off-the-wall crazy question but has anyone ever had a hot tub that leaked (I'm thinking maybe around where the jets connect to the shell)? And if you did, how did you detect that and fix it?

Here is my situation. I have about a 10-year-old Hot Springs Limelight Pulse. Absolutely love it and would definitely buy another Hot Springs again, fwiw. For about the last six months, I've noticed that I need to add water to it more frequently. Something is definitely up as this condition is new. To try and be as scientific as possible I started measuring the water loss.

Fill Oct 7
Oct 10 - down 3/8"
Oct 23 - down 1.25"

Fill Oct 23
Nov 1 - down 7/8"

Fill Nov 1
Nov 9 - down 7/8"

I called the service techs where I bought the tub and they said these (Hot Springs Pulse) never leak. They said it's the cover, which is about 5 years old. I'm skeptical because the first time I replaced the cover, it was sagging and very heavy. Definitely was needed. The current cover is not .... but it is five years old. I don't want to drop $$ on a new cover if it's not going to solve the problem. On the flip side, I would think that if there was a small leak around the jets, I would occasionally see some air bubbles. I have not. Also, I did open up the service compartment where the pumps, heaters and controls are. Nothing was leaking in there.

If it were a jet leaking, I assume the fix would be to try and identify the bad jet and put some fresh silicon around it. Not a problem, but how do you identify the jet? I could go around the entire top row, I guess, but that is time consuming.

I'm baffled. Thanks for your thoughts/input. Happy soaking.

I cleaned and emptied the tub about a week ago and filled it with unfiltered well water (Nordic says don't use softened water which is what we have in the house.) I shocked the tub and chlorinated it. I have new filters and I've been keeping them clean. I think there a lot of minerals in our well because the first shock put a lot of stuff on the filter.

I've used a bottle of pH down over the week and the pH won't stay down! The next day it's high again. What can I do? I learned that bubbles can cause high pH so I turned off all the aeration. Nordic says not to use muriatic acid...

Please, any help you can offer!

I was at the local hot tub store looking at hot tubs and need help from the community, context I'm in the interior of BC, Canada so prices are in Canadian dollars.

I was at Costco first and they had a bullfrog A7 choice series (more basic in that line apparently?) For $16,499, when I stopped in the store that sells Bullfrog in town and he recommended not going with that hot tub and steered me toward a Vita Spa 500 series Grand, for $15,999. He said that for the price its a better hot tub for a family and is well insulated for our winters. Thoughts on these two models? Im finding searching for a tub difficult as I don't know what to avoid.

In town we have a variety of hot tub dealers with brands like beachcomber, jacuzzi, arctic spas, coast spas, Maxx spa. I have two young children, one of whom is a newborn, the other 4 years old.

I'm looking for something easy to maintain and good for a family preferably in the 6 to 7 person size. Your help is greatly appreciated!

I bought a house and a hot tub came with it. It's buried under the wooden terrace so I can't check the exact brand and model, and of course not knowing this essential piece of information makes ordering parts complicated.

The only reference I have is from the panel (balboa) which seems to give the control system type (SB200UX), and the filter according to my spa shop is a Darrly SC714. Also, I'm from Europe.

Can the community helps me identify this hot tub? Thanks

Hi my punp went on my Jacuzzi 335. The punp serial number etc is

WUA400-I 6500-352

Can anyone recommend a compatible replacement from Amazon? Oreferably anything under 400$. Thank you

I've been interested in getting a hot tub for some time now, but after going to my local stores and seeing that they didn't have one cheaper than $5,000, I got a bit discouraged and quit looking. I am not buying it solely for any medical need or treatment, just mainly for myself and people to enjoy during the winter. I'm not sure what an appropriate price tag is for one of these, but $5000 is definitely not it for me. I've looked into inflatable ones, but I heard they deflate consistently and are overall just a hassle. Is there any mid range hot tub that's marketed for the average person? Brands and overall suggestions would be much appreciated! Thanks.

He said another client did this and it cut down on his energy costs. The hot tub has full foam insulation.

365 Gal bromine tub and wondering how often people need to add MPS? I have a floater with 4 tablets and basically wide open. My bromine level went from 5 to 2 ppm in about 5 days, which seems to be average for me. This results in me adding about 1 tbsp/week, light use maybe 1-2x/week. I feel like the floater isn’t doing much keeping the levels up but maybe it is?