Tub Talk With The Hot Tub Lady
Welcome to Tub Talk with The Hot Tub Lady, your ultimate relaxation destination for all things hot tub and spa-related! Dive into our weekly live podcast where host and industry expert Jacque, The Hot Tub Lady, shares her wealth of knowledge, tips, and tricks to help you create the perfect oasis in your own backyard. Tub Talk has got you covered, from maintenance advice and product reviews to interviews with leading experts and inspiring stories from hot tub enthusiasts. So grab your favorite drink, slip into your swimsuit, and let's get bubbly as we explore the soothing world of hot tubs together.
Tub Talk With The Hot Tub Lady
Mastering Hot Tub Water Care for Ultimate Relaxation
After a year filled with life-altering events and personal growth, we're back with the premiere of season five of Tub Talk with the Hot Tub Lady and Frank! This episode kicks off with heartfelt stories of triumph and loss, including the impact of health challenges and the passing of cherished figures in our lives. We pay tribute to my ex-husband, Allen Stauffer, whose legacy continues to guide my journey in the hot tub industry. Frank, fresh off a 33-year career at UPS, joins me as the customer satisfaction expert at Combined Pool and Spa in Sioux Falls. We're excited to reintroduce our Smart Start System, designed to make life easier for new hot tub owners, and share our journey to reaching 10,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Ready to unlock the secrets of hot tub success and relaxation? Discover the transformative power of hot tubs and learn about the new Freshwater IQ system exclusive to 2024 models. We break down how this cutting-edge technology simplifies water care, ensuring optimal performance and user satisfaction. Our discussion touches on the unexpected health benefits of hot tub use, from improved sleep to enhanced mental clarity, and how these experiences have turned a former motorcycle enthusiast into a passionate hot tub advocate. Plus, there's a playful twist on the evolution of nicknames, as "Magic" becomes "Frankadelic," marking a fresh chapter in Frank's life and career.
Dive into the technical side of hot tub maintenance with our comprehensive guide to balancing saltwater systems. We provide step-by-step instructions on setting up your hot tub, highlighting the importance of maintaining water hardness, alkalinity, and pH levels for a smooth experience. Frank's Fix-It Tips offer practical advice on preparing your hot tub for the Freshwater IQ system, while the Soak Spotlight shines on the Caldera Niagara hot tub, celebrated for its exceptional comfort and customizable features. Whether you're a seasoned hot tub owner or just starting out, this episode is packed with valuable insights and inspiration to elevate your hot tub experience.
Links that I mentioned in the podcast:
Freshwater IQ Start Up Sheets
Spa School Video
pH & Alkalinity Balance Cheat Sheets
Clean Your Filter Facebook Page
Looking for answers to your hot tub questions? Look no further than Hot Tub Clarity! Our easy-to-understand guide is available now on Amazon. Simply search for Hot Tub Clarity Book and get your copy today. Plus, while you're there, check out our log books to keep your hot tub maintenance on track. Trust us, you won't regret it!
Hey Hot Tubbers, welcome to the podcast Tub Talk with the Hot Tub Lady and Frank. Say hi, frank.
Speaker 2:Hello everybody.
Speaker 1:So welcome, welcome, welcome. I'm so excited to have you guys here today. We are doing our premiere episode of season five and if you guys have been following me for a while which I know you have, we have just it's been a while since I've been on and it has just been a lot of life has happened in the last year. Basically it's been about a year since I've been on here. I've shot a few videos here and there, but it's been a while since I have done a podcast. I think the last one was with Matt Giovanni from Swim University and that was clear back in March of last year. So there has just been a lot of life happened. I know you guys have all been wondering where am I at, what's going on, that type of thing and it's just been a crazy year.
Speaker 1:The year started off with I had some health issues that really slowed me down for a while. I'm all good now, everything's fine, so no worries there. So we had that going on. And then we lost some really important people to us. Frank's father, Daryl, had passed away, has to be one of the kindest, most amazing man I've ever met in my entire life and that was definitely a blow to the family and just a few short months later his oldest brother, randy, had passed away, and he was just a patriarch of the family, the oldest of nine kids, frank's the baby of nine kids. Just a lot happened in there, and that which then leads me up to. I actually lost my ex-husband Alan Stauffer, which anybody who knows him or knows me. He is the reason that I'm even in the hot tub world he is. I've got to give a shout out to him. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:Frank was lucky enough to get to work with him as well, and but he was one of the most knowledgeable people that could that was ever in the industry, and so not only was it a blow to our family that he's not here, it was a blow to the industry that he is no longer part of us. He knew a lot of stuff, so, so just a shout out to him he is the reason that I am the hot tub lady. It was actually his idea clear back in 2003. He tagged me the hot tub lady and we did some marketing stuff back then, and the knowledge that I have is from him. Big shout out to Alan. One of the things that he said the most and that always it rings true with our staff, it rings true with all of you guys. When you have a hot tub, and sometimes you get a little bit stressed out and you can't get the water balanced or the filters are cloudy or something along that lines, when that's happening you're just like, oh, is this worth it? It is worth it 100%. But one of the things that he always said and I always try to keep in mind, is that it is a box of water that squirts and we're all going to be okay. So just keep that in mind. That's all it is. It's just a hot tub that makes you, it's just a box of water that makes you feel better. So that makes a huge difference. And then, with all of that being said, so we had that going on.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, frank here retired from UPS. For 33 years at UPS he had the 25-year safe driving award, just totally did everything that he could to be a great UPS guy. But in part of that process I needed to get back down to Sioux Falls. So with him retiring, I was no longer going to drive from Sioux Falls to Watertown on a daily basis. So I needed to get moved down to Sioux Falls. And we did move back down to Sioux Falls. We're actually living in T South Dakota now and Frank has joined us and I switched locations. I'm now working for Combined Pool and Spa in Sioux Falls selling Caldera hot tubs. But part of that agreement for me to come back to work was Frank needed to come work with us as well, and Frank is now our.
Speaker 2:So here I am.
Speaker 1:Here you are doing an awesome job. Anybody's had the privilege of working with Frank. He is our customer satisfaction employee and his number one goal is to make sure he is our expert on the freshwater IQ salt systems. So he has gone out and started. I don't know how many hot tubs do you think you've started.
Speaker 2:I was trying to count them. It's overwhelming. It's definitely over 20, maybe a little bit under 50. You're way closer to 50. Yeah, way closer to 50.
Speaker 1:And what he does is he goes out and he starts them and we have a program called the Smart Start System. Anybody buys a hot tub from Combined Pool and Spa. You can actually buy that program and he'll come out and he just does an amazing job and we'll definitely get into some more tips and tricks on that. We actually have a feature now. So Frank is going to be joining me on the podcast, so we are super excited to have you guys with us.
Speaker 1:We have Kyle and Kayla doing some moderating in the chat, so if you guys have any questions there, but just a lot of really great huge life events have happened and so that is why you haven't seen me on the YouTube as often as as maybe you should have. But it's still growing and it's still doing a. Really you guys are still supporting me and I appreciate that and we're doing well with all the things on YouTube. So we're 100% here and the podcast is still growing. I'm absolutely shocked, with the sabbatical that I have taken, how much you guys are still in support and still part of the system. Thank you for that. Your support does mean a lot and, with that being said, we are now going to be with the new schedules and everything.
Speaker 1:Tuesday night is going to be our live YouTube streaming. So we'll be on here every Tuesday night at 630 to answer questions, shoot the podcast, do all the things there we have. Like I said, we have a few new features that are going to be pretty awesome, but we'll be here for that and then the new podcast will drop every Wednesday. So we have every intention of being here on a weekly basis for you guys and again, thank you so much for joining us. So our first feature that we're going to have in our podcast is going to be tub time trends. That's hard to say. That's hard Trends. That's hard to say.
Speaker 2:That's hard to say.
Speaker 1:That's hard to say.
Speaker 2:Well, first of all let me introduce myself. I'm Frank and I just really really appreciate Jackie inviting me on the show. You know, with my coming experience, like I said, she's went over retired from UPS and lost my father, brother. We've lost Alan, Jackie's ex, a very knowledgeable person in the hot tub world, and I've come into the situation, had to feel some shoes here. It's been very overwhelming for me to come to this company and then just so more. Everybody's been so good, more inviting to me to come in and I'll tell you what from you. I've learned an incredible amount of knowledge from you and I want to thank you for that and we to go to a big crowd. Congratulations on jackie, the hot tub lady. This youtube channel, I guess at 10 000 subscribers, right? Yeah, you still got that horns and balloons stuff. We're gonna get to that later, actually not to organize, but congratulations again and oh, I do have this.
Speaker 1:I could and we can do the I better not we can do the clap. No, that's the music.
Speaker 2:No no, no, no. Anyway, congratulations and I am looking forward to being part of your show. And yeah, like you said, it's been a big year for us and I'm excited to bring some of my new knowledge, which have been trained by her. A guy named Kyle, very knowledgeable man, has brought me a big, huge step in the business and a couple others, like I say, Alan was a big part of it and a couple other guys I don't know if I can mention their names or not, but I've been very overwhelmed to join Combined and what they have taught me and now what I'm bringing to customers. I don't think I've had any callbacks yet and been going out there trying to learn as I go, Like I say. Jack says I'm probably over 50 freshwater IQ starts and I love every minute of it and each one I get smarter at and each one we get better at, but it's been very fun experience.
Speaker 1:And you're doing an absolutely fantastic job.
Speaker 1:And I think the part of this, that reason that you do such a fantastic job is and we'll get into the feature here in just a second but how much of a hot tubber yourself that you've become. When we first met and first got married, I was moving up there and he was a motorcycle rider and I was a hot tubber. And I was moving up and he said we don't need the hot tub. And I'm like then we don't need the motorcycle and I'm not coming. How would you say that?
Speaker 2:Oh, I like the hot tub more on my motorcycle now and that comes with about six years of hot tub and we'll get into what this hot tub does for you and all the features and the great mindseting stuff, the better sleep and all that stuff. We can talk about that later. But yeah, I still love my motorcycle. I lied about that. But yeah, being in the hot tub world has definitely made a change in my life, made me get through my last six years of UPS. I will swear upon that and I will totally agree with how much better sleep I had, how much better brain I had going into my job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so it's. I will tell you. If he's done anything to me is he's turned me into a morning user. I used to be an evening user only, and since I've moved in with him he he was a he's a morning guy. I'm not a morning person, but he's a morning guy, and so we would get up and use the hot tub in the morning and I want to use it with him, and now I have become a morning user and I absolutely love to use my hot tub in the morning. But we do have a question here real quick. Kayla says how new is the IQ system and can I put it on my older freshwater hot tub?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. No, I'm going to let you answer that.
Speaker 1:You're going to, let me answer it. So the IQ is actually brand new. This year they just introduced that you can only get that on 24 models, and you can only get that on 24 and newer models. So that is where the freshwater IQ is. And if you guys don get that on the 24 and newer models, so that is where the Freshwater IQ is. And if you guys don't know what the Freshwater IQ is, it's actually a device that you can add to the hot tub, and what it does is it actually tests the water for you and tells you exactly what you need to be doing. So it takes all the guesswork out of monitoring your hot tub and it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 2:And to finish answering your question, kayla, no, you cannot put it on your older hot tub, see, I would have been wrong, see, that's why I wanted you to answer that, because there was a question out there and this is when I first started and there's some model that said you could put one into the 2023s. But thank you for answering that question.
Speaker 1:No, it is 2024. Only You've been on a couple of situations where I've sold 23s that I thought were 24s. We had to exchange the hot tub out because you did save me. Kyle saved me. Kyle did save you and we got. So this is Frank's nickname. So Frank's nickname has been Magic for his entire life, but now at Combined Pool and Spa, it is Frankadelic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, frank and Alec is my new nickname. Like I said, for 33 years I went by Magic, just some of the UPS things we don't want to go into that. I like my new nickname and I like my new life. Thank the good Lord for UPS, for them 33 years. But I'm done and finally moved on to something else and actually really enjoying it.
Speaker 1:Anyway, that kind of leads into our first feature. Every week we're going to talk about tub time trends. Maybe we're going to talk about that, I don't know if.
Speaker 2:I'll be able to do that.
Speaker 1:And this week we're going to talk about Freshwater IQ, because it is the hottest, coolest technology that is out there. It does test the hot tubs for you. I will tell you every single customer that comes in. I'm selling back on the sales floor and that's what I'm doing. That's what I love. That is what I need to do to survive. Life is I have to sell hot tubs because I know how good they are for people and what they're going to do for them.
Speaker 1:But this Freshwater IQ is just new technology. You're going to find it on the Caldera spas and Hot Springs also has that. But what, what it is? It works with the salt systems only. So you do have to have a salt system on your hot tub and then it will actually test the water for you. It will test your chlorine level, it'll test your ph, it'll test how much salt is in the water and it will also test how much life is left in your sensor and your salt cell.
Speaker 1:So a couple of things that you need to know about these is it does have to be with a salt system. That salt system is. The extra expense of that salt system is you do have to replace those salt cells every three to four months and the hot tub with this IQ will tell you exactly when you need to do it. And then the other thing you need to replace is the sensor and the sensor has to be replaced once a year and the two maintenance items that you're going to have on a salt cyst. On these freshwater IQs, some of the cool features, or some of the reasons why you would do this, is one the water just feels absolutely amazing. I totally enjoy my freshwater IQ. It is so easy to take care of and, I'm not going to lie, this has been the easiest hot tub I have ever owned, the one we currently have. It might be because I'm making you take care of it.
Speaker 1:It's been super simple so part of his training was that he actually had to take care of our hot tub that we have. But he's doing a great job and he did help me out with the Grandy that we had in the past and it was minimal that you helped, but this is way easier and way less work.
Speaker 2:Oh, and it's much more. Yeah, yeah, don't want to get into what's the better hot tub.
Speaker 1:No, we're not going to jump down that road. They're all good hot tubs.
Speaker 2:They're all a box of water, they're squirts or whatever. Freshwater IQ system is the cat's meow, it is the bomb. Like I say, I've been doing this since March or whatever, and I've done probably three a week since I've been going. I've learned as I've gone and it's been just. It's a really super new feature out there that it's, if you go, do the frog at ease ones and just the chlorine hot tubs, which there's nothing wrong with them. I love them all, but this Fresh iq system has just really taken over, and how easy and simple it is once you get it going. And it's very important, though.
Speaker 1:You get that real good start to it, though, and we'll explain that you don't want to get too far ahead of it, but if you guys are looking for the latest technology, that is definitely it. Now I will tell you. I am going to california here in a couple of not even about a month from now, and there is some exciting stuff. They're being very tight lipped about what's going on this year. We usually we have at least a inkling of the new stuff that's coming out this year, but they're being very tight lipped about what's going to happen. So I am excited, excited about some new stuff that I will be sharing after in January on some of the stuff that's happening there. But every week I'm going to bring something new that's in the hot tub industry that I think you guys need to be aware of and that you're absolutely going to love. Kayla had another quick question. She says can I replace the sensor myself or do I need to call my service center?
Speaker 2:Oh, that's super simple, Kayla. Once you see one video, it's very easy. You can replace it yourself.
Speaker 1:We actually have that video on the channel.
Speaker 2:Yes, we do. I will link it down. We've done three or four of them, but it's super simple.
Speaker 1:But it is super simple, but we do need to get that.
Speaker 2:But you have to do it. The right steps in the right way.
Speaker 1:So it's you do have to. We need to get more of that content out there for you guys no-transcript and that type of stuff and better sound effects for the podcast itself. But now we're going to have Frank's Fix-It Tips. What do you got for us?
Speaker 2:I don't know about Fix-It Tips but it depends on where we're starting from. But I guess I've been overwhelmed with how many hot tubs I've done in this last five month period. Month period. And let's say I'm going up to a DCR which is drain, clean and refill a hot tub. I take a lot more steps and I don't want to get into that now. But let's say you just bought a new hot tub and you're going to get the freshwater IQ system. So what you want to do is, when you get your hot tub all set, you want to start with that water. You want to fill it up to the necessary water line with water softer. I think we got videos on how to fill your water up.
Speaker 2:And the best tip I have is you want to. This is not a tip. This is guaranteed. What you must have to do is you got to make sure you're balanced. You balance your water. Your pH and alkalinity have to be balanced. Before you start this freshwater IQ system.
Speaker 1:And so what that means is your alkalinity needs to be between 80 and 120. You can go up to 150, but that's where that alkalinity has to be, and for some of you who have really hard alkalinity, that is a challenge to get into. We have places around here Minnesota, iowa that type of thing. It can take up to 16 days of two tablespoons every day of pH decreaser to get that down. Here in Sioux Falls we actually have pretty low alkalinity, so all we do there is we just add a little bit of alkalinity increaser and boom, we are exactly where we need to be on that alkalinity. And then the next thing that you need to have is your pH, and that needs to be at 7.6. You cannot balance your pH until that alkalinity is in line. So alkalinity first, ph second, and then the third thing that is super important on a salt system is your hardness. And how do we get the proper hardness?
Speaker 2:First of all, let's jump back to. You have to explain to people when they have a just get the hot tub. They've never had a hot tub before. Okay, Tell them what a test strip is and how do they know what a pH is and what is alkalinity state. This is the things that we have to let you customers know. As I walk up there and I'm going to orientate your hot tub, I prefer to fill it up and get you right on the right start, but if you're going to do it yourself, you must get that water to the necessary water line which is over the jets, and you'll know by somebody telling you when you purchase a hot tub. Hopefully your salesman goes through all this stuff with you beforehand, but the proper way is get all that filled and we go back into balancing your pH and alkalinity before you start anything. Now you can go into the hardness, Okay.
Speaker 1:So it's really important that your hardness on a salt system has to be 75 part per million or lower, and there's two ways you can get there. Typically, I know there's markets out there. I have people every once in a while say I have to raise my hardness In this market here in the Midwest. That is not the case. But you have to either use the on-the-go water softener or you're going to use the vanishing act and you're going to have to lower that down. If you are not at 75 part per million or lower, the salt system is not going to work. So that's really important that we get that in line. So once we get your alkalinity between 80 and 120, your pH at 7.6, and your hardness at 75 parts per million or lower, the next thing you have to balance is your salts.
Speaker 2:See, I'm good at doing this, but she's good at saying it All the little line numbers, whatever she's got nailed. So, thank you. Thank you for that great explanation. Okay, go on with the salt.
Speaker 1:So it helps if you've got the test strip sitting right in front of you.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, next time I'll have a test strip sitting out there. Yes, yes, we need to have the but yeah.
Speaker 1:so the next thing you got to balance is your salt. So you have to be at least 1750 parts per million on the salt. And anybody that's followed me in the past, I've always told you that you want to be 1750, no higher. Want to be 1750, no higher. I am finding that these IQs are actually wanting it somewhere between 1750 and about 2000. And they're actually working a little bit better on the higher side. But you want to test that with your saltwater test strip and that is completely different than your five way test strip. But there's a saltwater test strip and you want to wait 30 seconds and it gets lighter as it gets, lighter as it 20 seconds.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank you. It is 20 seconds.
Speaker 2:You're in the 30, you might be in danger.
Speaker 1:So the test strip starts out really dark and in a it actually gets lighter. And so you want to get in that 1750 to 2500, or, I'm sorry, 2,050 part per million, and you got to get that dialed in. And then the next thing you're going to do is you're going to turn on your salt system not the Freshwater IQ, the salt system, and we've got to get those salt systems producing chlorine on their own before you turn on that sensor on their own, before you turn on that sensor. Because if you turn that sensor on for the Freshwater IQ before it's ready even if you just want to peek and see how is this, or am I close you got to test the test strips until you get that dialed in. Once that's dialed in, then you can turn on the Freshwater IQ. If you do it beforehand, you've got to you really mess it up and you basically got to reset the whole system. So it's really important that you don't turn on those freshwater IQs until you've got everything balanced.
Speaker 2:And the easy way to get away with that is these freshwater sensors and cartridges. Saltwater cartridges come with dummies we call them dummies and the salesman when you buy a hot tub they'll explain that to you. And what Jackie was saying is how to get out of that and how to not to register is you might want to have that freshwater acute dummy in there before you put the real one in, and that's just a really easy way to. Now I've walked on some hot tubs and they've already been in place without the water even being in the tub. This is where I have to do a little more of my own tricks, but the easiest way is just to have that dummy system in there until you're balanced water and now we can continue. I'm sorry about that, but just easier way.
Speaker 1:We are learning as an industry. We're learning this Again. This was brand new stuff this year. So, like our team in general, we were actually putting those sensors in when we delivered them. We've now we're not we're now asking the customers to do it and it's really simple. It's one little screw, it's no big deal at all to do it, and when the time comes that you have to actually change that sensor, you're going to be the one that needs to do that, and it's only once a year, but it's so simple and again, I'll link a video down in the description or in the….
Speaker 2:We have videos that show that.
Speaker 1:And also in the podcast notes that it'll be there as well. But don't turn that on, and I don't know how much, how important I can stress that to not turn that on until it's dialed in, even just because everybody's, even myself, I just want to. You just want to see, is it close? I just, if I turn it on for just a second, is it going to be okay?
Speaker 2:and then you're going to get, which is not a problem. You're not in trouble. If you, if that happens, you're not in trouble. We can get you out of that.
Speaker 1:But then you get a yellow dot and then you get a red dot, and then all my customers call me like there's a red dot on my hot tub. What do I do?
Speaker 2:It's okay, I've done enough of them now. Very simple process. What you do is dummy system in, have your water belts and then, when it comes time to put your freshwater acute, then you do it. Then One screwdriver, a couple turns real simple.
Speaker 1:So and again, follow the videos, It'll help a lot. And another trick that we have for getting that salt system going is you have to help the chlorine along to get a high enough chlorine rating in there.
Speaker 2:Very important.
Speaker 1:So we actually I actually have my customers all put in three tablespoons of chlorine every day for the first three days, and I try to get that done before Frankie even shows up to their house so that once he gets there it's all dialed in and everything's perfect. So that's the plan there and it helps immensely if you are doing that. But we do need that salt system generating chlorine on its own. And some things you got to remember is when you first get a brand new hot tub, there's a lot of manufacturing residual in that hot tub, a lot of oils, a lot of glues, a lot of the things that can happen. And when that is going on, you're negative chlorine, so you're behind on chlorine and that salt system can only generate, even on 10 and even on a full boost, that salt system can only generate a teaspoon and a half of chlorine in a 24-hour period. So if you need two tablespoons of chlorine and you're only generating a teaspoon and a half and let's not forget, we all just got a brand new hot tub, so we're going to be in that, the kids are going to be that, the neighbors are going to be in that, so we have an extra heavy bathing load on top of it. So all those things happen and so we're really behind on chlorine.
Speaker 1:So again, some dealers out there will be like, oh, that's way too much chlorine to be putting in your hot tub. At the beginning I will tell you that's what I tell my customers to do, and my customers are happy. I don't. My customers are 100% happy because they're like okay, this is what I'm going to do, feeling good about it, and that makes a huge difference on doing that. And so once we get the everything dialed in and so your alkalinity is 8120, ph at 76, hardness is at 75, salt's at 1750, and chlorine's at about a three part per million Then we turn on our sensor and then it's just like the angels start singing and it's like there's an installation period you got to remember, but yeah, very correct.
Speaker 1:So you did mention the initialization.
Speaker 2:Initialization. I can't ever say that correctly.
Speaker 2:What that does is just the. When a hot tub turns on, it's like clicking the brain on. It's got a let me get through this water. Let me tell you it just can't go boom with one drop of water and give you the exact results. We have to get all that water going through that. And that's why that initiation period, your hot tub will say it's got a 24-hour installation period and once that gets through, sometimes it it happens within 10 minutes and sometimes it does take two days yeah, I have seen it take two days where it's, so it's just a period of time, but it'll when it comes on, that's when you know, and it'll give you the exact ratings and voila, it is.
Speaker 2:Uh, it's hey, this is good, we're there. Right, and so, once a, it's a, this is good, we're there.
Speaker 1:And so once that happens, it's totally awesome. Wow, we're. I was going to try to keep this whole podcast at 30 minutes, but we're already at 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:Okay, one more trick, though I have to give it when we got into this. Yeah, I just did a few more things that what I've been doing, cause I've you're right, I've done about 50 now, and every time I get there's some confusing parts here and there and why is this and that? And one trick I found when your hot tub does come from the factory, sometimes it gets to a dusty trailer. Sometimes there's just situations where all of a sudden, wow, this is a brand-new hot tub, brand-new filter. I pulled out the filter before and seen lots and lots of dust and paper floating around. So be very sure that you open that filter compartment, check that filter before you start filling that with water.
Speaker 2:Just one of those tips that it's real simple. You just look at it. All you have to do is look at it. You might find a paper strip around it, something that fell in, something broke, fell in your filter compartment. It's just one simple trick that, because if you do fill all that water up, that water does start flowing through there. Your filter's not working correctly, your freshwater queue is not going to work correctly. So just one little pointer of when you get a brand new hot tub. Have the rep do it or you do it or whatever, but check your filter.
Speaker 1:And that's a really important point. And if you guys watch my spa school video that I did, there's a lot of really great pointers in there, especially all you new hot tubbers. Spa school is my newest one and it was actually a class that I taught at Combined Pool and Spa. We do it every second Saturday of the month. So if you're ever in Sioux Falls, south Dakota, on Saturdays second Saturday of the month at 9 am, we do that. But one of the things that the most important thing you have to do to your hot tub is clean your filter and you guys have heard me preach, preach, preach that but one of the things that a lot of people will be like I've only had my hot tub a week. You're telling me I have to clean my filter already and I've seen it a hundred times.
Speaker 1:And. But the reality is that first week of a fresh fill or the first week of a new hot tub, that is when that water is the dirtiest. It's because it hasn't been through a filter at all and that filter has caught all that stuff. So it's always a good idea after a fresh fill that you actually clean that filter after about a week for the first time, and then we're going to tell you to clean it once a month, hoping you do it once a quarter. But our number one service call is a dirty filter.
Speaker 1:So that's really a big thing. Kayla's got a really good question here and she says can I throw away my dummy filter after I put my sensor?
Speaker 2:in. I think that's a dummy.
Speaker 1:Cell or filter.
Speaker 2:Can I throw it away? Yeah, your dummy, excuse me, your salt cell I recommend?
Speaker 1:The answer is no.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Thank you the answer is no, let's just go with that. I don't want to do any explanation on that, kayla. Sorry, kayla, the answer is no. Because the answer is no.
Speaker 1:There is going to be.
Speaker 1:For example, sometimes you have to purge that hot tub, sometimes you're going to have to do some extra things to that hot tub and you don't want to waste a cell or a sensor. So what you're going to do is you're going to actually save that, keep that in your chemical box and like for example, we had a customer back here in Sioux Center, iowa, earlier this month and he had totally calcified up and we actually had to do a stain and scale purge on that hot tub. And if we wouldn't have had the dummy sensor and the dummy salt cell to put in there, he would have toasted both of those pieces of equipment. And when you do that, when you toast that piece of equipment those are very expensive, they are a hundred just to waste them, to do a purge. And you have to have them. Because if either one of those two things are not in the hot tub or the two plugs are in the hot tub, then you are a hundred percent you're going to. The hot tub's not going to run, it's going to drain out.
Speaker 2:Great explanation. To drain out Great explanation. I strongly recommend just keep everything. When you get that first initiation orientation box that the salesman gives you to go start on your hot tub, keep everything. We'll let you know when it's time to throw something away.
Speaker 1:But that was way more. We took Frank's fix-it tips a little further than I intended to, but that's okay.
Speaker 2:That's okay. We got a lot of fix-it tips on a lot of other hot tubs we can go over and stuff.
Speaker 1:But then so our next feature is going to be Soak Spotlight, and so each week we're going to talk about a different hot tub, and this week we're going to talk about the Caldera Niagara, which is our current hot tub. This one's going to be easy. I'm going to let you start. What do you love about the Caldera Niagara?
Speaker 2:The seating is my favorite part. The seating is my favorite part. Three different hot tubs, now maybe four, but everybody's body's different. Everybody's legs are smaller, shorter, whatever it is. Everybody's. Every feature is different, but for me the favorite thing about the Niagara is the seating in it. I get in there and it hugs my body perfectly, keeps my buttocks to the hot tub. You don't slide out. Had issues with that on a different couple of hot tubs and the jets are super, super good the way that you can adjust them to your neck, your lower back, stuff like that and your feet. I love the feet jets about it too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that Euphoria jet is pretty awesome yeah that's pretty much my favorite. I don't think I'll get away from the.
Speaker 2:Niagara after having such a good experience with this one. But there's always others, and so far this has been my favorite it's I see Kayla's is. The back right seat is best. No wonder why you hogged that one when she's not in it. I'll sit in that one too.
Speaker 1:All the seats are comfortable for me. It is my seat, so this is in all my years I've had. I've been doing this for 24 years now and I've had the Caldera or the Niagara five times in my backyard. This is the fifth one I've had. I always go back to it. I love it. So if you take away the salt system, which is, wow, amazing I absolutely love it. I do. It's the only hot tub that I've ever owned that I fall asleep in, and you didn't believe me. You told me that. How can you fall asleep in a hot tub?
Speaker 2:I've witnessed it.
Speaker 1:Because our last hot tub.
Speaker 2:I fell asleep in a hot tub and I thought that would never happen in my life. I have fallen asleep in a hot tub and that was a scary thing for me, a scary feature. I have done it. I love it. I think it's great. True fact.
Speaker 1:There was one night he woke me up. He's like, let's go in, we need to go, we need to go to bed and I moved from one side of the hot tub to the other side of the hot tub and she fell back asleep again. And I fell asleep again. So it is just such a comfortable hot tub and it's just in that salt system feels so amazing. It's aa hot tub how many gallons is?
Speaker 2:it's about 450, yep, okay, uh, one thing we forgot to mention when we were started up on when, when, uh, jackie was talking about the salt. It's a very important subject that we should have explained earlier. But I think everybody that will get a hot tub will come with instructions. But never overdo salt in your hot tub. Never overdo salt in the hot tub when you first initiate filling it up. What you want to do is say it says seven cups, start with six and a half. You want to go a little bit more into that. Every hot tub is different to your gallons. We have charts, charts and of course, your owner's manual will tell you what your gallons are in the chart is.
Speaker 1:But don't think that you don't. If it says eight cups, don't put in nine, You're nothing but trouble. And with on the note on Frank saying that in in the description on both the podcast notes and in the YouTube notes there are, there is a download. It's a freshwater IQ startup and all the stuff that we talk about and the dosages of everything that you need. Those are all in that cheat sheet. So it's a great little cheat sheet. You can find that at the hot tub ladyco. That's C O, not C O M, and just go to the download sections. But I will also have the links in the description.
Speaker 2:She does have a great channel here. There's all your stuff that you got. I recommend everybody out there listening. If you ever do see this, please look her channel up. Very helpful hints and tips to hot tubbing. It's super fantastic shows that you do. And again, thank you for having me. It's been exciting and congratulations again on the 10 000 subscriber.
Speaker 1:Let's see if we can't get to. That's uh, you know how big of a goal.
Speaker 2:That was a great goal for you, very proud of you and I hope you get to 20 it took.
Speaker 1:I thank you. It took me a lot longer to get there than I thought it would, but uh, as a hundred percent there. So we do have time for a couple questions, but I think we've answered all those.
Speaker 2:Let's maybe show that, or don't you want to show that today?
Speaker 1:100% show that we did have. I did have one question come in earlier. It was from Amanda. Where is it at now?
Speaker 2:Right here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, so this is Amanda's question. If you're someone who wants easier water care, softer water and less time dealing with, oh, that's, that's my answer how do I know if salt water system is right for me, the salt salt water system is right for everybody.
Speaker 1:it's what I'm gonna say it is. It is so much easier to take care of. It's less chemical. The water doesn't smell like chlorine, the water is softer. Salt systems are 100% the way to go. You'll feel so much better on your body it does and you only have to change the water once a year and it's just really a wow thing.
Speaker 2:If you're in South Dakota, I recommend you do it twice, but yeah, it's once a year If you balance your chemicals the whole time through and keep your water clean.
Speaker 1:Yep, sergio, thanks for the comment. He says cute couple Boy. I learned a lot with you, so thanks for joining us. So a couple of things. One, we're going to be on every Tuesday night at 630. And, just to help get things going, if you will share this on either your social media, just make sure you tag me at the hot tub lady, either on Facebook, instagram, youtube, wherever Tag it. I am going to give away a copy of the hot tub clarity logbook. Whatever system you're on, whether you're salt, frog, chlorine, whatever I will definitely 100% give one of these away next week and we will do a giveaway every week, but this week it's going to be the Friday, so we'll announce that at the end of next week's, next week's podcast. So please make sure you tag me in any shares that you do and we will.
Speaker 2:These are great books. I recommend everybody have one. If you don't out, shout out to Sergio. Thank you, sergio, love you, buddy.
Speaker 1:And then don't forget to buy the book Hot Tub Clarity. If you guys have any questions or you need to learn something about a hot tub, how to take care of it, this is great. You can get this on Amazon. Just search hot tub books. It is 100% the way to go.
Speaker 2:Either that or call Sergio.
Speaker 1:So that is absolutely amazing. Join the Facebook channel. Clean my Filters. We have a ton of people on there. Definitely there's a lot of really great information and would love to have you guys all join us. And if you guys are just getting started and just want a real quick, easy reference guide, download the free seven-page guide. And all the downloads of everything we talked about today are 100% going to be here, but we ran a little bit long today.
Speaker 2:That's okay. There's a lot to learn in hot tubs. We say it's simple to change this or that, but there's a lot to them. There's a lot more than that. And to be a happy hot tubber, you want to keep everything in perspective and 100% good.
Speaker 1:So you guys are awesome. We will watch out for us. We're definitely going to, we're definitely back, we're going to see us, we're going to be on a weekly basis now, and thanks for letting me help you become a happy hot tub owner, thanks everybody. And we will see you next week, thank you.
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