Week of September 1, 1997 (updated Oct. 2001)
This is and exerpt taken from the booklet
"How Spas Are Made."
FULL FOAM SPAS DO NOT WORK VERY WELL WITH AN AIR BLOWER!
When you start with the cheapest way to build spas (full foam), it is sort of like
a domino effect, they fall short in many areas. (Read the
Booklet How Spas
Are Made)
In a full foam spa, the only place to locate the air pump is in the equipment
area, which is vented to the outside. Some are located in the foam, and draw
air from the equipment compartment through a tube.
When full foam spas run their air blower it destroys what little efficiency they
have. All of the air is drawn in from the outside of the spa, which is always
colder than the water temperature .
During the winter, these poor designs can reduce the water temperature by 1
degree every five minutes. The spa heater is now unable to keep the
temperature up. All of those charts showing the "average use" of electricity
are worthless with the blower running.
About ten years ago there was a spa company that used to put electric heaters
on the blower pump. The heater would get wet and start all sorts of problems.
Sometimes it would electrify the water. You won't see this on spas any more.
In Thermally Closed, the air pump is located inside the thermo- pane area,
where the heat from the jet pumps is warming the air. You can actually use
the blower and not lose any heat. The air coming in is warmer than the spa
water.
After a few minutes the air temperature inside the cabinet will go down. Of
course, after about twenty minutes, the air will turn cold, but by then you are
long done with the air therapy.
I use my air blower all of the time. I love the way it feels on my skin,
invigorating! Just great!
THE THERAPY IN AIR BLOWERS IS JUST WONDERFUL
According to doctors I have talked to, the air blower therapy is specifically
designed to increase the blood circulation to your skin.
The skin is the largest "eliminative organ" on our body. When that organ is
invigorated, our overall health is improved. It helps us to remove toxins from
our system, and increases vitality.
According to medical science, the lower legs and ankles and feet are the
farthest from our hearts. That is why the ankles get spider veins, the legs often
get varicose veins. Not a happy thought!
Gravity and the actual weight of the blood circulating causes higher blood
pressure and what is referred to as "stagnant blood". There really is no
stagnant blood, rather it is blood which is not circulating as fast as it should.
When you immerse your legs under warm water, the blood, which is a liquid of
almost the same weight as water, becomes almost neutral in weight. The
pressure inside your legs is reduced and the effects of gravity are greatly
lessened.
The only thing missing is the blower therapy, which is specifically designed by
doctors to increase blood circulation in your skin, legs and feet. It is sort of
like taking pillows full of warm water and rolling them around your body and
legs.
A spa with a blower actually helps to reduce spider veins. Mine have greatly
reduced since I started using my blower regularly and I am not getting any
younger.
When a salesman says: "What good is an air blower?"; you now have the
answer.
WHAT IS PROPER WATER JET DESIGN?
The water jets are directly designed for muscle massage, but they also have to
be designed properly.
This is another area where poor and gimmickry designs prevail in just about all
of the other brands of spas.
When a therapy seat is designed, the designers don't seem to give any thought
to the fact that the human body is placed in front of the jet patterns. It seems
they just want it to "look good". ( Many people buy spas without actually
trying them. I heartily recommend taking a "wet test.")
If you don't know about jets, you can be easily duped. An array of jets which
look like they are wonderful, can be useless and annoying.
The worst pattern I have seen is the seats that have many, (up to thirty or
more), small penetrating jets, with all of the water from one pump forced into
that seat. What looks good may just be a form of abuse. A spa user has to
hang on to the sides of the tub just to stay in the seat. If you have an iron
back, you might like that sort of "jet action", but it's too much for most people.
Years ago, a test on elderly people was performed in a spa having this set up.
All of the elderly people had bruises on their backs in exactly the same pattern
as the "bullet" jets in the seat.
First of all, directing all the power from one jet pump into one seat is just
plain poor engineering and the spa pump is too small to operate all of the jets
at the same time.
Another very poor design is large full sized vibrating jets placed in the upper
neck area. The neck muscles are small! Who wants to have their neck beat
with a vibrating large nozel? You want small jets for small muscles!
GETTING ZONED
A standard marketing ploy is to come up with bogus engineering, then give it a
technical name so the buying public believes they are actually getting
something. " Smart Zone Therapy, gives you control": sort of sounds good?
Doesn't it?
This type of engineering is to keep the costs of manufacturing down. When you
see up to thirty jets in an empty tub that has only one pump, it looks like it is
really going to give you and your guests a good amount of therapy.
Not exactly!
Did you happen to notice the handle on the upper lip of the spa shell? That
handle is the control for what is called a "diverter valve". You will not see any
of those on a fine quality spa.
When the zones are turned, only part of the jets operate. The rest of the seats
are "dead" with no jet action. Until you turn the water diverter valve, either
you or your friends don't get any therapy. When you try the center position, all
of the jets are weak and worthless.
As a service repair person, these water diverter valves are a real nightmare.
They often get stuck after about five years, which coincides with the end of
your longest warranty!
After getting the repair estimate, many customers just leave the valve in one
position and never bother to turn it again.
Many full foam spa companies are still putting them deeply embedded in foam,
so the repair person has to dig and dig to get to them.
Because these diverters are valves, much like a faucet valve, they have
neoprene, or rubber O'rings and gaskets. They leak after a while. If it is a
small leak embedded in foam, then the foam will become saturated and
worthless for support and insulation.
I have opened up these spas to find a huge area of saturated foam, with only a
tiny drip of water coming out of the diverter valve.
If you want to "GET ZONED" find a better way!
Don't forget to ask the salesman about how fast these spas freeze!
The Best Jet Design
The way the human body is designed requires jets that apply the exact
type of pressure each muscle group needs. It is that simple!
So far only one company has figured that out, Haven Spas&TM;. This company has replaced hype, gimmicks, jargon, (and just
plain lies) with intelligent engineering.
They don't use diverter valves which reduce the need for a pump and
increase the chances for leaking and extra repair costs. Haven
engineers jet the spas with the proper amounts of jets to match the water
flow and pressure of each pump.
Thermally Closed spas that we offer use totally adjustable jets throughout the entire spa. You
can control the jet pressure to your liking. Ultimate control!!
The standard pattern for Haven jets is to follow the needs of the
human body exactly.
The upper jets are "small adjustable" style. They are called "tension ease
jets" and that is exactly what they do! These jets are slightly more
penetrating. If you have ever been to a massage therapist, you know that
the best therapy is to apply pointed pressure to the tension spots in your
neck and upper shoulders. That is exactly what these small jets do. You
can adjust the pressure to your comfort on each and every jet.
As we move down your back, the muscles get bigger, and so do Haven
spa jets. That is not a coincidence. You can adjust the pressure and the type of jet to fit
the needs of your body!
The mid way jets are slightly bigger in their orifice, and are less pointed in
their therapy. They use a lot of fully adjustable spinning jets, which feel
like vibrators massaging you.
The lower jets are the full sized jets, both straight nozzles and spinning
vibrator jets. The muscles in your lower back just love this sort of
massage.
This is much better than taking a fire hose and putting a garden spray
nozzle on it, as done in other brands of spas.
I have been in many different brands and types of spas and the therapy in
the Thermally Closed Haven beats them all. I particularly like the two water pump
models, although the Silver Vista series are the best one pump spas I
have ever felt.
If you wish to email the author, we respond to all email, any questions
about spas or spa operation are welcome email ja@spaspecialist.com
