Initial Startup of your Hot Tub
When setting up your new Spa, there a some steps you need to go through to ensure you can get it up and running as soon as possible. Below are the main steps you need to take into consideration.
To watch a video showing this process, please click HERE.
- Filling the tub. To fill your tub, place a garden hose with cold or lukewarm water (DO NOT USE HOT WATER) inside the filter housing of the tub*. This will reduce chances that an air lock can be created. If you are filling your tub in winter time with freezing temperatures, please refer to "Starting your Tub during the winter" before you start filling your tub.
- Chemical Start up. While your tub is being filled, you would need to start balancing your water since some products need to be applied while the tub is being filled and others once the tub has been completely filled with water. Refer to "Hot Tub Chemical Start Up" for detailed instructions.
- Once water level has reached the bottom portion of the LED lights around your tub or covered all jets if there are no LED lights in your Spa, proceed to remove the garden house from the filter housing.
- Filter (s) installation. Once the Spa is full of water, proceed to install your filter (s) inside the filter housing of the tub by screwing them at the bottom. For some Spas that use double filters, proceed to place 1 of the pre-filter screens included with your set of filters on top of your filters to catch larger debris before they enter into your filters (keep the other screen as spare). Proceed to secure the filter housing lid in place.
- Turn your Spa power ON. There is not a power button on your Spa topside. For 240V tubs, proceed to flip your GFCI ON and for 120V Plug and Play tubs, plug your power cord into a regular wall outlet (do not use an extension cord) and press the Reset button on the GFCI plug to get power to your tub. Some initial start up messages will come on including the voltage of your tub. Make sure your screen is reading 240V if you have a 240V or 120V if you have a plug and play 120V Spa. Otherwise your Spa won't function properly and you may need to get an electrician onsite to rectify this before you move further.
- Priming cycle. During the priming cycle of your tub, you will get "Run Pumps purge air" message on your display. You can bypass this by pressing the temperature up or down buttons in your topside. After pressing one of these buttons, pump 1 (Jets 1) should be coming ON on low speed and the jets indicator light in your topside should be lighting up to indicate the pump is running. Your display will show a few horizontal lines indicating the tub is trying to read the current temperature of the water.
- Setting the desired temperature. To select your desired temperature, press the temperature up/down button on your display and continue pressing until you see the desired temperature you would like to set in your Spa (104F is the maximum temperature available). The last temperature reading flashing in your display, would be your set/desired temperature. After a few minutes, the display should start showing the current temperature of the water and will gradually increase until it reaches the set temperature. At this point, the heat indicator light will come ON flashing to indicate the heater is just starting up and the light will become solid when the heater has completed turned ON indicating the heating process has started. Below the temperature reading, the current heating mode will be displayed to indicate the tub is set to Ready or Rest Mode. Ready mode comes preset from factory and should not be changed if the tub is being set during the winter time. For additional information on setting your heating modes, click on Setting Heating Modes. It may take 24-48 hours for the tub to heat up to the set temperature upon initial start up.
- Filtration cycles. After the heater has started up, the Spa will start running the Filtration cycles for 2 hours and will run a second cycle 12 hours later (preset duration). While the tub is running the Filtration cycles, the Pump will be running on low speed and cannot be turned OFF. You can go from low to high speed and return to low speed. When the tub is running the filtration cycles, it will be indicated by displaying one of the following messages: FLTR1, FLTR12, F1, F12, depending on the type of topside installed in your Spa.
- Topside buttons. Along with the jets** and temperature up/down buttons, the Invert button will flip your topside to facilitate it's reading when users are inside the Spa and the lights button will allow the user to switch between the different lighting modes. By pressing the lights button, a light mode will show up (the light indicator will light up to indicate the lights are ON) and pressing the light button again, will turn the lights OFF. Keep pressing the light button ON and OFF until you get a desired lighting mode.
- Air Control valves. The air control valves can be turned ON and OFF by rotating them to the right or to the left. When turned ON, it will significantly increase the water pressure coming out from the jets that are next to each valve when the high speed of the Pump has been activated creating a better hydro massage experience. The number of air valves varies depending on the hot tub model.
- Waterfall Control valve. The Waterfall Valve will turn the Spa Waterfall ON and OFF by rotating the valve to the right or to the left.
- Aromatherapy canister. Unscrew the aromatherapy canister and insert some aromatherapy beads for a more relaxing massage experience. For tips on how to use this feature, click "How does the aromatherapy work".
* You can mix half of cold water with half of hot water.
**For Spas with more than 1 Pump, additional Jets 2 and/or Jets 3 buttons will be included in the topside.