Winterizing your spa

1- Cut the power

Always start any procedure by shutting off the heater and then cutting the power to the spa.

Empty the water by opening the drain valve. Some spas allow you to hook up a garden hose to

carry the water away. A spa vac or a submersible pump may also be used to speed the draining

and to remove remaining water and debris from foot wells

If your spa is equipped with an air blower, you should purge it of water as well. This can be done

by first shutting the heater off to prevent damage, and then with cover back in place and power

restored, running the blower for 15 to 30 seconds. Shut off the spa circuit at your breaker panel.

Obviously if you have no blower, you can skip this step!

Remove the filter(s). Now is a good time to clean and soak them in filter cleaning solution, so that

they can be put away in a dry location for the winter. If they've had a year or more of use, they

should be replaced with new. Never store a dirty filter. Make sure to remove any remaining water

from filter compartment. Clean the filter compartment, and skimmer basket if so equipped. If your

spa has a separate filter canister, make sure it is completely drained.

There may be several fittings on your spa's plumbing system that can be loosened enough to

allow water to drain. Open any unions on the inlet and outlet of your pumps and heater. Your

pump housing may have drain plugs. These should also be opened as pumps can easily be

damaged when water freezes.

It is also important to get any remaining water out of the jets plumbing. This can be accomplished

by first opening all jets, with your wet-dry vac set to the blowing mode, forcing air into each of

your jet fixtures. Work your way around the spa clockwise, and when you have gone all the way

around, go back around counter-clockwise and blow out each jet again. Repeat until no

significant amounts of water can be purged.

Cleaning the spa shell is very important, and will make the job of opening your spa in the spring a

lot more pleasant. Use a non-foaming cleaner. Wipe down all surfaces and rinse with clean water.

Any remaining water inside the spa should now be mopped up with a towel. Applying spa wax to

inside surfaces is a good idea, and will make start up and cleaning of your spa in the spring

easier.

Clean the cover both inside and out, and apply a quality protectant to both inside and outside

surfaces. Never apply any product containing silicone oil to a vinyl spa cover, as it will promote

deterioration. Replace cover, and secure & lock the straps. If you live in a high-wind location, you

might consider the addition of additional tie-downs.

If the spa has an enclosure with doors, make sure all are closed and any thumbscrews or latches

are secured.

If the wooden cabinet needs a coat of finish, this should be applied before weather dampens the

wood, or the temperature gets too low.

Many people cover their entire spa for the winter, if in a location exposed to the weather. This

prevents rain water or snow melt from seeping back into the spa and causing potential freeze

damage.

If on the other hand, you decide that winterizing your spa is more trouble than it's worth, you can

enjoy your spa in the winter providing proper precautions are taken. If your spa is equipped with a

freeze protection system, make sure it is activated and that the heat settings are set considerably

higher than the bare minimum. Some spas have a timer/auto heat mode selector. If you have one

of these, make sure it is set to the auto heat mode to protect from freezing. If you do not have

freeze protection, you can set your timer switch to cycle on at frequent intervals. In very cold

areas, it may be necessary to cycle on at least 15 minutes every hour. This additional run time is

important in very cold weather. Remember, if you use your spa daily, it actually may use less

energy to maintain a constant temperature, than to let it cool down and then heat up daily. So

keep it warm, and constant.

Running the Air Blower or leaving the Air Controls open in the winter will greatly increase energy

consumption from the injection of the cold air into the spa water. If you do use the Air Blower or

the Air Controls in the winter, make certain that they are in the off position when the spa is not in

use

Keep an eye on your spas water level, especially if you do not use your spa every day! If your spa

should lose enough water so that the pump shuts down, the water will not circulate, the heater will

not run, and your spa could freeze.

If you ever lose electrical power where you live, have a contingency plan in place. If the loss is

for a short duration, then your risk of freezing is low. Keep the cover on tight until power is

restored. But in very cold locations, with the loss of power for more than a few hours, you will

have a possibility of freeze damage if you do nothing. You may wish to follow the draining

procedures above.

A.) Does the Flow error appear only when the low speed of the pump is

operating, and disappear when you switch to high speed? If so, skip to step

C, otherwise go on to B.

B.) Make sure that the heater is plumbed to the discharge of the pump, not the

suction. (Pressure switches require water be pumped through the heater

housing, plumbing your heater to the suction instead creates a vacuum.)

C.) Turn the pressure switch's adjustment wheel counter clockwise until it is

between the 2 lb and 3 lb mark. If that doesn't solve the problem, turn it

further, to the 2 lb mark. NOTE: Do not go beyond the 1.5 lb mark, if you do

the pressure switch may activate the heater without proper water flow which

can cause damage to the heater unit.

Due to the very weak water flow that most circulating pumps generate, the flow

switch may need to be readjusted as far as 1.5 lb. To do so, turn the pressure

switch's adjustment wheel counter clockwise until it is between the 1 lb and 2 lb

mark.

1- MOVE HANDEL OF GFCI BREAKER TO "OFF"

2- PLUG-IN OR BOLT-ON GFCI INTO PANEL

3- CONNECT WHITE WIRE GFCI PIGTAILTO PANEL NEUTRAL BAR

4- CONNECT GROUND WIRE OF THE SPA TO THE PANEL GROUND LUG

5- CONNECT WHITE WIRE OF THE SPA TO THE GFCI CONNECTOR MARKED "LOAD

NEUTRAL"

6- CONNECT THE HOT RED AND BLACK WIRES OF THE SPA TO THE GFCI CONNECTORS

MARKED "LOAD POWER"

CONNECTOR MARKED "NEUTRAL LOAD".