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Spa service requires special knowledge Pool & Spa Service Industry News – February 28, 2007 Throughout the country, thousands of service professionals handle pool care on a regular route. But only a handful in our industry perform their service exclusively on spas.
The major reason, most service pros will tell you, is that spas can be too time consuming and too difficult to maintain in proper chemical balance.
But many professionals have found that there are a significant number of customers who just don't want the hassle of taking care of the spa themselves. Just like in any service-oriented business, there are plenty of customers willing to pay someone to do a job for them.
Success in spa servicing requires a basic understanding of water chemistry, and three important facts should be considered when you are charged with maintaining spa chemistry rather than pool chemistry:
A gallon of liquid chlorine added to a 15,OOO gallon pool raises the sanitizer level by about 10 parts per million. But just one cup (1/16 of a gallon) of liquid chlorine added to a 400-gallon spa raises the sanitizer level by about twice that amount.
When you add that high a concentration of chlorine to the spa you are, in effect, super-chlorinating. If metals are present in the water, they will be instantly oxidized and knocked out of solution. The result could be staining of the spa shell, regardless of the surface material.
And overdoses of acid when attempting to lower the pH can be equally damaging. The higher concentrations of acid can etch the spa surface and damage metal parts in the plumbing, pump, filter and heater. On the other hand, if you are trying to raise the pH, you need to be careful that adding too much sodium bicarb or soda ash may over saturate the water and cause scaling.
As to the effect of bather load, it's a fact that two people soaking in a 400-galIon spa can reduce the free chlorine level by 1 ppm in just 15 minutes! Even if you test the spa water and all the important parameters show normal, the spa can be out of balance in the matter of hours when it is used.
Complicating the problem of treating smaller bodies of water is the fact that spas are often heated to temperatures greater than 100 degrees. Sanitizers are less effective in hot water, and heated water tends to evaporate more quickly, which can lead to an increase in total dissolved solids. The end result is that hot spa water tends to be scale forming.
All of this, means that those charged with maintaining the chemistry on a residential spa are faced with either making several visits each week, trusting the spa owner to test and add needed chemicals or using some sort of chemical dispenser.
Simple economics make several stops a week out of the question for both you and your customer. And if the customer can test and treat the spa on his own, he may not need spa service in the first place.
Most spa service technicians either use automatic control units - often a requirement in commercial applications - or they use a chemical floater. Either way, these units need to be monitored for dosage levels that could affect the chemical balance.
While many are sanitized with traditional chlorine methods -liquid, dichlor or trichlor - spas are often well suited to some form of alternative sanitizer, like bromine, chlorine generators or ozone. And with conditions subject to rapid change, spas lend themselves particularly well to chemical automation.
As a regular part of a spa chemical treatment, many professionals also find it wise to use a clarifier and a sequestering agent, which keep the water clearer, keep metals in solution and help prevent staining. And mostly for appearances and added "pleasure" spa chemical treatment may also include defoaming agents and fragrance enhancers.
No matter how well the water is treated, it will need to be drained and refilled on a regular basis. Depending on the amount of use, the water simply becomes untreatable.
Spelling out the services and charges to the customer in a contractual agreement is the key to dealing with spa customers, according to experts. This way, the customer knows what to expect from you and how much it's going to cost.
While the type of services offered varies from company to company - and even customer to customer, depending on the amount of service they are willing to pay for - spa-only service may involve any combination of the following tasks:
Advantages of spa-only service include the fact that a service call can be performed in a manner of minutes. The goal is to leave the service stop with the spa and surrounding area looking good and for the spa water to be chemically balanced.
But especially in spas, this can be a temporary situation. If the system is not automated, your contract should spell out that the customer is responsible between service calls for properly maintaining the spa and accessories as specified by the spa manufacturer.
Spa-only service may also mean that additional services are required only on an occasional basis, often involving a special charge for these services. They might include:
Trouble-shooting spa equipment packs may require specialized training , in electricity, and service professionals should proceed with caution and a safety first attitude.
In recent years, manufacturers have simplified repair on spa equipment packs, going to computer-chip-driven self-diagnostic readouts; printed circuit boards to reduce the amount of wiring; modular plugs to prevent mis-wiring of equipment; and easy-to-replace modules containing several related components.
Spa pack service should be approached considering all the possible variables, from the electric panel all the way past the equipment to the plumbing and jets. For example, a heating problem is just as likely to be caused by poor water flow from a dirty filter as anything else.
Trouble-shooting a spa pack is best performed as a step-by-step process of elimination - eliminating areas that do not need your attention so you can focus on areas that do.
One suggested method includes the following basics:
Low-speed pump; high-speed pump and air blower; high-speed pump; air blower only. o Check all sensor bleed-off by depressing the air button and holding it down until the relay cycles. o Verify proper jet action. o Check for plumbing leaks (run system in high). o Verify proper air blower operation. o Turn thermostat on (observe heater light). o Check the system with an Amprobe.
Then, while the pump is operating in "low" speed with the heater on:
After completing this trouble-shooting procedure, you'll know exactly what works and when. Then you can plan your attack at a particular symptom. Along with acquiring the training and all of the proper tools for the job, don't forget to collect owner's manuals and parts' catalogs, which often provide photos or detailed line drawings that will show you exactly what the part is that you are working with or that needs to be replaced. Many manufacturers also provide step-by-step guides for troubleshooting and repairing their equipment.
Manufacturer and trade show sponsored seminars can also be helpful in providing hands-on experience in a safe environment.
On the job, it's a wise and safer bet to know your own limitations and liability. If the job requires an electrician, get one. If you are unsure about the safety of a piece of equipment, contact the manufacturer or someone with more experience .•
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