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Show Notes

Discover how to safeguard your hot tub investment from the insidious threat of counterfeit salt cells in this episode of Tub Talk with the Hot Tub Lady. Joined by the insightful Frank Johnson, we shine a light on the growing issue of fake products infiltrating online marketplaces like Amazon. These imposters are more than just a nuisance; they are causing significant damage to hot tubs everywhere. Learn from our experiences as we urge you to choose authenticity and reliability by purchasing from trusted local dealers or their verified websites to keep your hot tub in pristine condition.  If you need a trusted dealer you can buy Freshwater Salt Cells from Jacque and Franks employeer Combined Pool and Spa Here.

As we navigate the intricacies of hot tub maintenance, we emphasize the critical role of proper salt system care and the support of local dealers. Uncover practical solutions to common maintenance challenges, such as rising pH levels, which can disrupt the chemical harmony in your hot tub. Our discussion sheds light on the science behind chlorine generation and how it impacts water quality. Get equipped with the knowledge you need to maintain a balanced freshwater IQ system, with actionable steps that address the nuances of different water conditions.

In an interactive Q&A session, explore the unbeatable value of the Caldera Merino hot tub, which strikes a perfect balance for budget-conscious buyers without compromising on quality. With its impressive features and a remarkable 20-year parts guarantee, the Merino promises long-term satisfaction. We share expert tips on managing water chemistry, from allowing chemicals time to work their magic to choosing a consistent testing method for reliable results. Don’t miss out on these essential insights that will elevate your hot tub ownership experience to a whole new level.

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!

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Show Transcript

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Hey Hot Tubbers, welcome to the podcast Tub Talk with the Hot Tub Lady and my host.

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Joining me is Mr Frank.

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Johnson, frank Johnson.

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Glad to be here.

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We're glad to have you here.

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Just want to welcome everybody back to episode three of season five.

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It's been five seasons already that we've been doing this or I've been doing this.

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You just joined me recently, but that's what we've got going on there and just so you all know if you're new to the live stream.

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we go live every tuesday at 6 30 and then the podcast goes live on all your favorite platforms on wednesday morning so you can always catch the new stuff there.

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We will be taking a couple weeks off next week because next Tuesday is Christmas Eve already and next Wednesday, the Tuesday after that, is New Year's Eve.

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So we'll be taking the two weeks off after that, but we will be right back right after the new year.

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It'll be a whole different year.

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Before we get into today's episode, I want to do a big shout out to David Wright.

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David shared the podcast on LinkedIn last week and I really appreciate that.

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So he did win the log book and at the end of this episode we are going to be giving away one of our super cool sip soak and soothe hot tub lady coffee mugs to go along with the 30-day soak challenge.

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Stay tuned to the end of the episode and I will tell you guys how you get to win that.

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But let's just get into it.

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It's the big thing I want to talk about today because this has become a super popular topic.

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So I get literally hundreds of messages every week from all the different platforms, whether you follow me on Instagram or YouTube or TikTok or wherever.

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But every once in a while I've got somebody's having issues that their freshwater IQ is or even just their regular salt system.

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Let's not even include the freshwater IQ in this mix, but they're getting error messages.

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The messages are telling them anything.

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They have high salt, they have high pH, their salt system isn't working completely, the water is completely gross.

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There's all kinds of things that happen and I start going through the process Okay, where's your hardness at?

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Where's your salt at?

00:02:18.668 --> 00:02:21.247
Where's your pH at?

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I start asking all those questions and I've actually had to start asking lately where did you buy your salt cell?

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Because there are a ton of counterfeit salt cells out there.

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I hate to say amazon is one of the worst place to buy them.

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You have to be really careful because they're the fakes look just as good as the reels as the real salt cells.

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And there are even companies on Amazon that are faking even on Google in general that are faking out good friends of mine.

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They're stealing their websites and making them look like their website and they're selling these salt cells and there's.

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Just check the website.

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If it looks fishy in any way, shape or form, it is probably not a real salt cell.

00:03:06.533 --> 00:03:17.330
And the more important thing about these counterfeit salt cells is, a they're not producing chlorine, they're not working correctly and B they're wrecking hot tubs.

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They are absolutely wrecking salt systems and in some cases you're paying up to $1,800 to get that salt system in your hot tub and now you're putting this counter $1,800 to get that salt system in your hot tub, and now you're putting this counterfeit salt cell in the system and it is literally messing with the brains of your hot tub.

00:03:32.942 --> 00:03:37.461
So you really need to be careful where you buy your hot tub or where you buy your salt cells.

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I highly recommend the number one place that you need to go is you need to go to the dealer that you bought your hot tub from.

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You bought it from your local dealer for a reason they're there to take care of you.

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It is really important that you support them and you go back to them.

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That is the best place that you should go.

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If you have to order them online, please, please, make sure you're ordering it from your dealer's website and not a fake website.

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I do have links in the show notes down below where I'm working at now Combined Pool and Spa.

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If you need me to, I will personally pack those salt cells, but these fakes look really good and, in fact, let me-.

00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.206
So why are the people purchasing them?

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Oh, because they're cheaper.

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Bottom line is-.

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Well, that's what they need to know.

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They're buying them because they're cheaper and, to be honest with you, if it's below $99, it's a fake.

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Watkins has a map pricing and unfortunately that is the lowest that any of us can go.

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So, for example, we can see one here for $74 right here.

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That's not okay, that's not legit.

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That's a fake salt cell.

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You can look at these down here on the end $189 for three.

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Those are fakes.

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Those are going to wreck your hot tub.

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So that few dollars that you're going to save on that hot tub or on that salt cell, you're actually going to wreck your $25,000 hot tub.

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This is a really big deal.

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There's a ton of them.

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There's a ton of them.

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They're coming in from China and they are just a bad actor and it's not worth the money.

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And I have yet to find anybody who's actually gotten one of these counterfeit salt cells.

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And they work properly.

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So you're just wasting your money.

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Yep, we sure haven't.

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So it's been an issue.

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So, and the great thing about buying it from your local dealer is they have record of it.

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So if something were to happen and I can't speak for every dealer in the nation, but I know at our dealership if you're really having an issue and I haven't seen a bad salt cell.

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That is a non-counterfeit.

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I haven't seen a bad one in three years.

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I bet they really have.

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They've got that dialed in.

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Everything is working perfectly on those salt cells.

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They are not going bad early.

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But if you buy it from a local dealer they're going to have records and they're going to know exactly when you bought that salt cell and there's just some peace of mind there that if for some reason you're having a bad salt cell, we would look at our records and we would honor that and we would replace that for you.

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Now again, I can't speak for all the dealers in the nation, but that is something that our dealership would do.

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But we have to have record that you actually bought it from us and it's just not worth it.

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It is not worth wrecking your hot tub to save a couple hundred or to save $100 on a three pack of salt cells.

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And they look, you guys, they look like they are the real thing.

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They are just definitely they look like it.

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I mean they look like they are.

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I mean they can fool me.

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They look that good but it's just not all there.

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They don't have all the brains in it and they are not communicating with the control panels, and it's just one of those things that I have to tell you guys about.

00:06:52.845 --> 00:06:54.410
Yeah, exactly.

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I just got to give a shout out to Kyle and Kayla.

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Are they having a good time over here in the comments?

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They're having a good time asking us questions.

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And Kayla says you pay for what you get.

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Spend the money.

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Know that you're getting the product you need.

00:07:07.569 --> 00:07:09.365
Oh, I could use a new mug.

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Yes, kayla, we'll get you a new mug.

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And Kyle says, as a customer told me today, frank around and find out.

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Thanks, kyle, appreciate that.

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Buddy, you actually had a customer say that today.

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That actually happened.

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Yeah well, frank, you actually had a customer say that today.

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That actually happened?

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Yeah well, frank around and find out.

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Did you fix?

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it.

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I had a long day today and it was fabulous and I had a blast and I got everything in order and we got it fixed, yeah.

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Yeah, so it was a good day.

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So if anybody has any questions about the salt cells, just shoot me a message.

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Bottom line if it looks too good to be true, it is probably not the real deal.

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You're going to pay for it later.

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We all get burned by it.

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We all do the thing.

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I just fell for a whole shoe thing the other day.

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I bought all these shoes and they were not the right shoes.

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In fact, I never got the shoes.

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It's like buying a whirlpool and thinking you're getting a hot tub.

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Yeah, there is a big difference.

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So just do yourself a favor and support your local dealer.

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That's the number one thing that you need to do.

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If you need to buy them online, like I said, I have links down below Combinepoolandspacom.

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There's some there my friends over at La Crosse Hot Spring Spas of La Crosse I know that they have really good ones and my friends in Reno Spa and Sauna Company.

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They have a really good website where you can buy them from there.

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All of those I know are really good and I have hundreds and hundreds more of people that you can buy from.

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But just go to your local dealer and buy them from there, and most of them anymore are set up on a auto ship program, so you don't even have to think about it.

00:08:46.563 --> 00:08:48.294
Just every three months they're going to send them out.

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I know that's something we're kicking off at the first of the year and it's just.

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You know you're getting the real deal and it just shows up when you need to do it and that's just a really great thing to do.

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Buy your salt cells from a local dealer.

00:09:01.104 --> 00:09:05.634
You'll be glad you did segment number two.

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Okay, so I missed my graphics.

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I'm sorry, everybody.

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I I messed that up, so we didn't have a lot of time today to prepare.

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You're doing just but it's snowing out today beautiful, you would think it was the first snow ever, and nobody's ever driven my oldest, oldest daughter I was standing outside when I came home tonight in the driveway and says dad, isn't this beautiful?

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And I said yeah, sure is it's a beautiful fluffy snow.

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We're going hot I have to shovel it I'll let him worry about shoveling, I'm gonna hot tub.

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It is the perfect.

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These are the type of days that I come home from work to go sit in the hot tub.

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There's no wind, it's just really.

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But anyway, it took me a really long time to get home today, so we're a little rushed that way.

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So we are going to jump into Frank's Fix-It Tips.

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What do you got for me tonight?

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So this has been like a really popular question that I've been getting, and it's people are saying I have to put pH decreaser in my salt cell all the time, why?

00:10:12.655 --> 00:10:24.495
Oh, jackie, I've been out there quite a bit here lately and that's the number one thing is this is why I am out there in the field and I do like to do my own startups, and about 90% of them have been.

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My pH is decreasing.

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Excuse me, my pH is increasing Increasing.

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Excuse me, my pH is increasing.

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I have way too high pH.

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When that first comes up on your monitor, when we get that freshwater IQ all set and the main thing is what I like to go out there and start these freshwater IQs up, I always need a good 24 hours and I follow you three days afterwards.

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Now, in this process, I maintain the chlorine process up.

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Okay, the first three days we have to get that chlorine up to date with your salt and everything else.

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Let's get those chemicals right before we want to even turn that freshwater IQ on.

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So what happens is when we do this chlorine process for the first couple days, this pH will rise.

00:11:05.691 --> 00:11:07.591
Okay, this is normal people.

00:11:07.591 --> 00:11:15.839
Okay, don't panic, you'll get that little red dot Say my pH is too high.

00:11:15.839 --> 00:11:16.221
My pH is too high.

00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:22.086
We get that, I get that, and what you can do is just a simple fix, which is our three tablespoons of decrease every day Depends on how much water you have in your hot tub, but let's start decreasing that.

00:11:22.649 --> 00:11:28.706
Sometimes it might take three days, sometimes it makes 16 days, it's just that level will start to fall down.

00:11:28.706 --> 00:11:31.529
And you're it makes 16 days, it's just that level will start to fall down and as long as your chemicals stay adjusted.

00:11:31.529 --> 00:11:37.706
You got to watch your salt levels and stuff like that too, because if you have no salt in there, we're not getting anywhere, and if you have too much salt, we're not getting anywhere.

00:11:37.706 --> 00:11:55.024
We really want to go into this where you are pretty picture perfect with your chemicals to start with and then, when you do this chlorine process, your pH will rise and we'll get to 10 net down and with pH decreaser and I have the decreaser bottle right here this is what you will start with.

00:11:55.024 --> 00:12:06.000
But about 90% of this freshwater IQ startups have gone that way and just a simple fix you just start decreasing that pH with pH decreaser and it'll start to come down.

00:12:06.542 --> 00:12:15.884
And 100%, and so one of the big things that I need to explain in all of that is a byproduct of just making the chlorine.

00:12:15.985 --> 00:12:34.169
So what these salt systems do is they actually take the salt in the water and they split that molecule is chlorine and sodium and all it's doing is splitting that molecule over and over again and a byproduct of that process actually raises your pH.

00:12:34.595 --> 00:12:50.263
So here in Sioux Falls, where we actually have really low alkalinity and pH to begin with, we are finding that most of our customers are having to put two teaspoons of pH decreaser in every month or so and the hot tub is going to tell you when to do that.

00:12:50.575 --> 00:13:04.225
But Frank was saying at the beginning, if you turn that sensor on before that stuff is balanced, it's going to really mess with it and like we've got a market just outside of us anywhere in Minnesota branding anywhere like that.

00:13:04.225 --> 00:13:07.018
They have super high alkalinity, so your pH is going to.

00:13:07.018 --> 00:13:17.563
You're going to have to take that down really slow and it may take 16 days before you actually get to turn your sensor on and that's why you have to do that.

00:13:17.563 --> 00:13:19.432
But then, after you get it balanced, you're still going to.

00:13:19.432 --> 00:13:30.190
Anytime you bring in a water test, we're probably going to tell you that you have to lower your pH and that's because there's a byproduct of making that chlorine is actually raising the pH.

00:13:30.190 --> 00:13:35.263
So that is super common and super normal and there's nothing wrong with your salt system.

00:13:35.263 --> 00:13:37.027
That means it's actually working.

00:13:37.794 --> 00:13:39.921
Correct, yeah, and just a few tips to go along with.

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That too is, like I said, check your salt.

00:13:41.645 --> 00:13:50.804
And another tip I have for you is maybe go ahead and pull that filter out and clean it one more time, because sometimes that factory stuff is still in there that the cold water might be.

00:13:50.804 --> 00:13:52.248
It depends on how you get to start up.

00:13:52.248 --> 00:13:57.326
But it never, ever hurts to clean that filter and then just recalibrate.

00:13:57.754 --> 00:13:58.820
How often should they clean the filter?

00:14:00.438 --> 00:14:06.461
Oh, I always tell everybody for sure, once a month, but once every three weeks is actually what you should honestly do.

00:14:07.034 --> 00:14:14.067
Okay, and so I just taught spa school again this week and this was a really popular question and people were like how do you do it this time of year?

00:14:14.067 --> 00:14:19.655
And one of the best things for you to do is I actually have three sets here and I don't even do it anymore.

00:14:19.655 --> 00:14:20.518
Frank does it for me.

00:14:20.518 --> 00:14:27.259
But now we have I have one hot tub in the filter and that's that hot tub's in the filter.

00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:35.565
I have one soaking in my filter cleaner, so I have a container, I have a brick on my filter so it stays submerged.

00:14:35.565 --> 00:14:37.903
About half a bottle of my filter cleaner.

00:14:37.903 --> 00:14:43.044
Actually, on the salt systems, I actually recommend that you guys switch to filter tabs.

00:14:43.044 --> 00:14:44.860
There's less phosphates in there.

00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:48.105
And then I have one filter drying on the shelf.

00:14:48.105 --> 00:14:51.099
Once a month we rotate those out and we're good to go.

00:14:51.099 --> 00:14:52.325
It's cold right now.

00:14:52.325 --> 00:15:00.337
I don't really want to be outside with a hose rinsing off that filter, so I'll let that one soak a little longer and we're good to go, but it's pretty convenient for us.

00:15:00.859 --> 00:15:01.660
And it really is.

00:15:01.681 --> 00:15:05.477
So if you're just down to the one filter, you do got to maintain it and clean that one filter.

00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.003
But that is definitely have a second pair.

00:15:08.003 --> 00:15:13.158
Number one service call is a number one service call.

00:15:13.158 --> 00:15:14.822
Hands down is a dirty filter.

00:15:14.822 --> 00:15:17.067
And it does.

00:15:17.067 --> 00:15:26.208
It makes such a huge difference and, unfortunately, if we have to come out and clean your filter that is not covered under warranty, you do get a full service charge for that to happen.

00:15:26.208 --> 00:15:29.558
Always have a spare set available or just make sure that you're cleaning it.

00:15:29.558 --> 00:15:32.586
And while we're on the topic, do you know what our number two service call is?

00:15:33.115 --> 00:15:34.097
I'll let you answer that.

00:15:34.900 --> 00:15:36.905
Our number two service call is not enough water in the hot tub.

00:15:37.355 --> 00:15:40.222
That's what I was going to say, but I didn't want to be wrong.

00:15:40.222 --> 00:15:47.121
So, yes, your water level is very important and as we go through this holiday weekend, I just want to throw a reminder out there to everybody.

00:15:47.121 --> 00:15:56.181
If you do have that extra day off before the kids come home I know I'm out of line here, but, yeah, go ahead and lift that hot tub up and see where your water level's at.

00:15:56.181 --> 00:15:57.163
It might be real important.

00:15:57.163 --> 00:16:04.466
Six kids want to jump in when they're home for Christmas and your hot tub's not going to run correctly because there's not enough water in it or your filter's not clean.

00:16:04.466 --> 00:16:06.515
So 15 minute job.

00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:14.455
So, and it's you just that's one of those things preemptives is way better than actually waiting till there's a problem.

00:16:14.455 --> 00:16:15.578
So that's a big deal.

00:16:15.578 --> 00:16:17.736
Kayla has a good comment here.

00:16:17.736 --> 00:16:19.998
She says even the kitchen sink.

00:16:21.390 --> 00:16:26.523
Even the kitchen sink hose is the last resort, better than not cleaning the filter at all.

00:16:26.523 --> 00:16:27.735
So correct, kayla.

00:16:27.735 --> 00:16:28.437
Thank you for that.

00:16:28.710 --> 00:16:30.597
So that's, that's a big deal for sure.

00:16:30.597 --> 00:16:36.261
And so that does it for Frank's Fix-It Tips.

00:16:36.261 --> 00:16:40.197
And then I missed a segment in there somewhere Are you ready for Christmas?

00:16:41.640 --> 00:16:42.243
Absolutely yep.

00:16:43.591 --> 00:16:45.615
You got all the shopping done I got all my shopping done.

00:16:45.615 --> 00:16:47.876
He actually did really good this year.

00:16:47.876 --> 00:16:49.076
I'm super impressed with him.

00:16:49.714 --> 00:16:57.434
He did way more than I wanted to do I'm not a ups driver anymore, so it was pretty simple to to get that stuff done we're probably loving it.

00:16:57.615 --> 00:17:00.085
I'm uh, we have been crazy busy.

00:17:00.085 --> 00:17:04.657
I can't believe how many people are getting hot tubs for christmas presents this year.

00:17:04.657 --> 00:17:07.545
It is, um, it's been pretty fun.

00:17:07.545 --> 00:17:13.260
The my the delivery manager is not overly happy with me because I'm like, oh sure, I can get that delivered by Christmas.

00:17:13.260 --> 00:17:14.771
Sure, I can get that delivered by Christmas.

00:17:14.771 --> 00:17:17.104
But she'll pull it off and we got plenty of help.

00:17:17.124 --> 00:17:22.893
She's the best, she's incredible and she's been doing a fantastic job.

00:17:22.893 --> 00:17:25.576
I can't say enough how good she is.

00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:37.953
She makes sure I dot all my I's and cross all my T's, and that is a hard thing to make sure jackie is dotting her eyes and crossing her cheese shout out to you caitlin, you're awesome yeah, we do.

00:17:37.953 --> 00:17:39.396
We do appreciate caitlin very much.

00:17:39.396 --> 00:17:46.079
And then let's talk about hot tub of the week hot tub of the week yeah, hot tub of the week.

00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:47.722
We didn't talk about a hot tub of the week.

00:17:47.742 --> 00:17:49.827
We didn't talk about a hot tub of the week.

00:17:49.847 --> 00:17:50.308
You're talking brand.

00:17:50.308 --> 00:17:56.522
I know we're going to talk about the Caldera Merino hot tub.

00:17:56.522 --> 00:18:01.402
This is not even a saltwater hot tub, but it is one of our best sellers.

00:18:02.913 --> 00:18:04.058
It would be a spa frog.

00:18:04.589 --> 00:18:08.490
It is an awesome 7x7 hot tub, 36 inches.

00:18:08.490 --> 00:18:13.041
It lands in our value line so it is a fantastic hot tub.

00:18:13.041 --> 00:18:18.079
Kayla says Selena, but yeah, I see that we got Kayla over here saying Selena.

00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:19.737
Everybody's got their own preference.

00:18:21.895 --> 00:18:28.173
But the Merino is for those of you that are out looking for a more budget-friendly hot tub and still want a really good value.

00:18:28.173 --> 00:18:31.840
The Calder, the Caldera Marino, is just great hot tub.

00:18:31.861 --> 00:18:32.481
I love doing them.

00:18:32.701 --> 00:18:33.824
It's great hot tub.

00:18:33.824 --> 00:18:35.957
It's got the inline chemical system.

00:18:35.957 --> 00:18:51.701
Uh, has two jet pumps, about 38 jets, color changing lights, waterfall, all the things and you can usually get into those anywhere from about 9,500 to $13,000.

00:18:51.701 --> 00:18:57.650
So they're a really good deal, just depending on what your dealers are throwing in and what the financings are and that type of thing.

00:18:57.650 --> 00:19:00.076
But really good hot tub.

00:19:00.076 --> 00:19:04.152
If you guys are looking for a value hot tub that you're going to have peace of mind.

00:19:04.152 --> 00:19:15.441
And don't forget that Caldera hot tubs all have that 20-year parts guarantee where they guarantee that they're going to have parts available for the next 20 years for that hot tub.

00:19:15.441 --> 00:19:20.779
And if you don't think that's a big deal, go buy any other brand and try to get a part for five years from now.

00:19:21.181 --> 00:19:30.419
I would, it's a huge deal in fact call around and tell them you have a five-year-old version of that particular hot tub and you need a new heater for it, and see how that goes for you.

00:19:30.419 --> 00:19:38.651
A lot of stuff was sold over COVID that maybe shouldn't have been sold, and people were just getting parts from wherever they could, and that's something that Caldera never did.

00:19:38.651 --> 00:19:46.794
You did have to wait for your hot tubs at that point, but they never, ever, compromised on quality, so that was a really big deal there.

00:19:47.334 --> 00:19:50.237
The question from Sarah and I went over it.

00:19:50.237 --> 00:19:53.398
But just one thing to add for Sarah Go ahead and read her question.

00:19:53.819 --> 00:19:57.182
Yeah, so if you guys have any questions, it's a good time to jump on and ask.

00:19:57.182 --> 00:20:00.705
We are jumping into the Q&A section.

00:20:00.705 --> 00:20:02.507
I don't have that page.

00:20:03.670 --> 00:20:04.789
Okay, she's asking about the same thing I went over.

00:20:04.789 --> 00:20:06.978
She's having the same problems with her pH.

00:20:06.978 --> 00:20:16.278
Just to keep track of what I said before I go back and listen to the pH increase or decrease or no matter which ones you do always run those jets while you're putting any chemical.

00:20:16.278 --> 00:20:20.758
So you always want those jets running so it can filter through all the water.

00:20:20.758 --> 00:20:27.201
Just a point to tell her that never put any chemicals in without the jets running.

00:20:27.891 --> 00:20:32.153
Sarah's question is what is the easiest way to lower my pH without overcorrecting?

00:20:32.153 --> 00:20:38.593
Tip number one download the Hot Tub Lady's pH guide or read the back of your bottle.

00:20:38.593 --> 00:20:42.301
That actually gives you the exact dosages of what you need to do.

00:20:42.301 --> 00:20:46.638
So you need to find how many gallons you have and how much you need to lower it.

00:20:46.638 --> 00:20:56.770
So if you have an 8.2 and you have a 300 gallon hot tub, you just look on the back of the bottle, you line up the two charts and it'll say add this much pH decreaser.

00:20:57.291 --> 00:21:04.534
Now the thing is that a lot of people don't realize is your alkalinity a lot of times is connected to the pH.

00:21:04.534 --> 00:21:05.777
So you can drop that.

00:21:05.777 --> 00:21:13.217
You can drop that pH and then if your alkalinity is high, it's going to bounce right back up and you just got to keep working at it until the alkalinity comes down.

00:21:13.217 --> 00:21:18.397
Now, if you do lower your pH too much, very easy fix.

00:21:18.397 --> 00:21:21.946
You just put in a little bit of pH increaser and let that do that.

00:21:21.946 --> 00:21:26.034
Now the biggest trick that I can stress to anyone is give your chemicals 24 hours to work.

00:21:26.034 --> 00:21:34.342
Is, give your chemicals 24 hours to work, don't stand over the hot tub and act and play mad scientist.

00:21:34.521 --> 00:21:43.170
You don't want to put in two teaspoons of pH decrease or test the water and be like, oh, that was too low, and then add a teaspoon of pH increase or be like, oh, now it's too high, and go back and forth.

00:21:43.170 --> 00:21:47.882
All you're doing is wasting your time, your money, your chemicals, your test strips, all of that.

00:21:47.882 --> 00:21:51.220
So put in your chemicals, wait 24 hours to work.

00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:55.260
If you have the Freshwater IQ, put in your chemicals, let it test.

00:21:55.260 --> 00:21:59.121
Wait 24 hours before you do anything else it suggests to do.

00:21:59.121 --> 00:22:02.718
Let your chemicals work before you make more adjustments.

00:22:02.718 --> 00:22:03.839
That's a huge deal.

00:22:03.859 --> 00:22:11.701
Great question, AB why is there a different reading between the strips and the hot tub monitor?

00:22:11.701 --> 00:22:12.993
We just explained it.

00:22:12.993 --> 00:22:14.900
But go ahead, that's a great point.

00:22:16.354 --> 00:22:17.117
That is a great question.

00:22:17.117 --> 00:22:21.349
So her question is why are there different reading between the strips and the hot tub monitor?

00:22:21.349 --> 00:22:24.339
And I'm assuming you have a freshwater IQ, and so that's what I'm going to go with.

00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:26.211
Now, the first thing's first.

00:22:26.211 --> 00:22:34.532
If your freshwater IQ isn't completely dialed in before you start testing it, that could be some of it.

00:22:34.532 --> 00:22:37.298
It could also be you have bad test strips.

00:22:37.298 --> 00:22:45.431
We see that a lot Test strips expire, and if your test strips ever freeze, they don't always test the way you want them to.

00:22:45.431 --> 00:22:47.575
Again, you don't want to.

00:22:48.877 --> 00:22:51.523
So I've had a couple of people who've had the Freshwater IQ.

00:22:51.523 --> 00:22:54.397
They have their test strips, they have the five-way salt test strips.

00:22:54.397 --> 00:22:59.780
They bought other test strips on Amazon and then they also have the eye care that I sell on my website.

00:22:59.780 --> 00:23:03.096
So they got all four of those and they're comparing them all against each other.

00:23:03.096 --> 00:23:11.810
And unless you want to spend the $2,500 that we have on our lab at the store and test your water that way, you're really not going to have.

00:23:11.810 --> 00:23:14.656
They're not all going to be exactly the same.

00:23:15.077 --> 00:23:21.196
So my advice to you is to pick one and go with it, and you do want to.

00:23:21.196 --> 00:23:33.410
On the freshwater IQ, I suggest you go with a freshwater IQ but sometimes those are out of calibration so it's good to test up against that, like once a month.

00:23:33.410 --> 00:23:40.183
And sometimes they get off and the freshwater IQ is not testing alkalinity.

00:23:40.183 --> 00:23:53.001
So if your alkalinity is high and you test, you put in your two tablespoons of pH decreaser and you say okay and you come back the next day it's probably going to tell you put in the pH decreaser again, even though it's high on your test strip.

00:23:53.342 --> 00:23:53.782
Thank you.

00:23:54.304 --> 00:23:55.271
That's one of those things.

00:23:55.271 --> 00:23:56.895
I hope that kind of answered the question.

00:23:56.895 --> 00:24:14.961
But there's, they all test just a little bit differently and on these color coded test strips everybody reads those colors and those codes just a little bit differently and so what I think is a one, frank will think is a 0.5 or a three.

00:24:14.961 --> 00:24:17.048
So there are definitely some differences there.

00:24:17.048 --> 00:24:27.458
So everybody reads those a little bit differently and unless you've got a scanner that can actually read them and they're out there, you can buy them if you want to get the software and do all that.

00:24:27.458 --> 00:24:31.163
But it is definitely a reason for that.

00:24:31.343 --> 00:24:36.481
Kayla says why would I put in pH decreaser to lower my alkalinity?

00:24:36.481 --> 00:24:45.451
Great question, and I know Kayla knows the answer to that question and the reason for that is there is no such thing as alkalinity decreaser.

00:24:45.451 --> 00:24:57.405
There is alkalinity increaser, which is sodium bicarbonate, but there is no alkalinity decreaser, and so you have to lower it with a pH decreaser or a muratic acid.

00:24:57.405 --> 00:25:00.012
I do not recommend muratic acids in hot tubs.

00:25:00.012 --> 00:25:06.717
Swimming pools is fine, but in a hot tub it's too much acid in too small of a space and it can cause too big of an issue.

00:25:07.238 --> 00:25:09.103
But you have to go very slowly.

00:25:09.103 --> 00:25:20.679
So if you take, if you read the back of your bottle and it tells you you need 16 tablespoons of pH decreaser and you dump all that in at once and not over the 16 days that you were told to.

00:25:20.679 --> 00:25:29.893
All you're doing is you're going to bottom out that pH for two to three days and then, once that alkalinity gets a hold of everything, again you're going to pop it right back up.

00:25:29.893 --> 00:25:31.215
And you got to do it all over again.

00:25:31.215 --> 00:25:36.734
So if you don't slowly do that that's why you have to use pH decreaser to lower your alkalinity.

00:25:37.517 --> 00:25:38.980
So great answer.

00:25:39.942 --> 00:25:40.162
Is it?

00:25:40.242 --> 00:25:40.950
great answer yes.

00:25:41.250 --> 00:25:41.872
Okay, good deal.

00:25:42.713 --> 00:25:44.156
You would explain it just like she would have.

00:25:46.280 --> 00:25:46.961
I would have for sure.

00:25:46.961 --> 00:25:52.863
So I think that answers all our questions and I think that's going to wrap us up for today.

00:25:52.863 --> 00:25:58.803
Don't forget that you can win the Sip Soak Soothe Hot Tub Lady Coffee Mug.

00:25:58.803 --> 00:26:00.355
I will ship that out to you for free.

00:26:00.355 --> 00:26:03.660
All you have to do is share this week's podcast.

00:26:03.660 --> 00:26:12.651
You can either share the YouTube version of it or you can share it on any of the podcasts, the platforms that you like so apple, spotify, whatever.

00:26:12.651 --> 00:26:14.615
Just share those on your social media.

00:26:14.615 --> 00:26:17.642
Make sure you tag at the hot tub lady.

00:26:17.642 --> 00:26:21.096
That's my handle on everything instagram, facebook, all of them.

00:26:21.096 --> 00:26:25.913
Be sure to follow us on the facebook page sorry, just wait a second.

00:26:25.933 --> 00:26:26.816
Now I got one person.

00:26:26.816 --> 00:26:28.760
I've got a surprise for you, maybe in a month or two.

00:26:28.760 --> 00:26:29.712
I did ask.

00:26:29.712 --> 00:26:30.978
Got a shout out to Sergio.

00:26:30.978 --> 00:26:36.537
Sergio, I hope you're watching, buddy, I don't remember what I talked to you about, so hopefully we're going to get Sergio on the show once.

00:26:36.537 --> 00:26:37.820
Well, 100%.

00:26:37.930 --> 00:26:39.276
I would love to have Sergio on the show.

00:26:39.810 --> 00:26:43.912
We can have it in Spanish and English, so we're going to work on that.

00:26:43.912 --> 00:26:46.654
Sergio's got our back.

00:26:46.674 --> 00:26:48.617
We'll get him on and then Sergio.

00:26:50.199 --> 00:26:52.101
And then make sure you join the Facebook page.

00:26:52.101 --> 00:26:53.222
Clean your Hot Tub Filters.

00:26:53.222 --> 00:26:54.223
We'd love to see you guys there.

00:26:54.223 --> 00:26:57.086
We will also be on Instagram.

00:26:57.086 --> 00:27:00.272
That's a great place to find us.

00:27:00.272 --> 00:27:02.785
And again, you guys, we will.

00:27:02.785 --> 00:27:10.201
And Kayla's saying at the hot tub lady all one word on any of the places linkedin.

00:27:10.201 --> 00:27:13.990
All of them and guys, thank you so much for joining us.

00:27:13.990 --> 00:27:17.016
Merry christmas, happy new year.

00:27:17.016 --> 00:27:17.717
We'll.

00:27:17.717 --> 00:27:26.999
We will be back december, january 17th, 7th, january, 7th uh, so that'd be the first tuesday in january two tuesdays.

00:27:27.019 --> 00:27:29.594
We're off the next day after that, so whatever that lands.

00:27:29.634 --> 00:27:30.518
So we'll be back then.

00:27:30.518 --> 00:27:32.557
Be sure to shoot out your questions.

00:27:32.557 --> 00:27:33.915
Make sure you share the podcast.

00:27:33.915 --> 00:27:35.635
Don't forget to buy my book.

00:27:35.635 --> 00:27:40.021
This is a great stocking stuffer for the hot tub people that you have in your life.

00:27:40.021 --> 00:27:41.635
You can definitely check that out.

00:27:41.635 --> 00:27:45.490
Go to Amazon and just search Hot Tub Clarity.

00:27:45.490 --> 00:27:46.790
You will definitely find it.

00:27:46.790 --> 00:27:48.713
That way you might hit the word book in there.

00:27:48.713 --> 00:27:53.378
But, guys, thank you so much, get your salt cells from your local dealer.

00:27:53.378 --> 00:27:56.162
It'll save you so much time, money and effort in the end.

00:27:56.162 --> 00:27:59.385
And thank you so much for watching Merry.

00:27:59.405 --> 00:28:00.446
Christmas Happy holidays everyone.

00:28:00.690 --> 00:28:08.017
We'll see you next week, you.

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