Helpful Pool & Spa Advice

At the beginning of every season, we get a significant influx of hot tub heater purchases. Most of these early in the season purchases are usually attributed to what is called a dry fire.  Here is a little more about dry fires and how to prevent them. 

Ensuring safety in and around pools and spas is paramount for preventing accidents and injuries. Here is a good starting point for helping make your backyard pool or spa the safest possible not only for yourself, but your family and guests. Maintaining a safe environment cannot be overstated.

Are you preparing to go on vacation or away for an extended period of time? Worried about how your hot tub will fair during this time? We have prepared a checklist of things you should do to prepare before leaving. If you follow these steps, things should go smoothly and your hot tub will be in good condition when you return.

Having a first aid kit readily available for your pool or spa is crucial for ensuring the safety and well-being of all users. Pools and spas, while providing relaxation and enjoyment, also present various risks, including slips, falls, cuts, and other injuries. A well-stocked first aid kit can address minor injuries quickly and efficiently, preventing them from escalating into more serious conditions. For instance, treating a small cut or scrape immediately can prevent infection and allow the injured person to return to enjoying their time in the water sooner​.

At some point, every hot tub owner has dealt with hot tub foam. It is irritating, and is often difficult to get rid of. Here are some of the major causes of hot tub foam and a few tips on how to get rid of it. Often the solution is in knowing what causes it in the first place, and making an effort to avoid it from happening.

Algae growth is one of the most common issues pool owners face, but it can be prevented with proactive maintenance and the right strategies. Algae can quickly turn a clean, inviting pool into a murky, unusable mess if not managed effectively. In this article, we'll dive into advanced techniques for keeping your pool algae-free by focusing on water chemistry, circulation, and equipment efficiency.

Cleaning a hot tub is essential to maintain its hygiene and functionality. Here are 15 tips to help you keep your hot tub clean and enjoyable:  Here are 15 great tips for keeping your hot tub clean every day.  

Balboa M7 Control Systems are the most advanced spa controls ever developed. Balboa created the first reliable electronic spa control nearly twenty years ago and M7 technology is the biggest breakthrough since. By coupling our unique, patented software and design with state-of-the-art materials, M7 technology provides you a more reliable system that is less expensive to install and maintain. M7 controls are intended to accommodate the most demanding new spa designs and advanced water temperature management into the new millennium.

If you have a hot tub/spa, there will come a time when you will need to replace your spa heater. It is an inevitability with owning a hot tub. Generally speaking, this comes about every three to five years. This article assumes that you have already determined that the spa heater or spa element needs replacing. Generally this is the case when you have a "dry fire", where the heater is running and no water is flowing through it. That will generally kill the heating element (even if the thermostat and flow switches are working properly), and thus the need to read this article.

One of the more difficult tasks in any bath or spa project is repairing or replacing parts. Bath & spa pumps are definitely a more difficult task if you are unfamiliar with how the process works or the products necessary to complete your project. Over the years, Balboa Water Group has made a large number of the pumps in the industry. In face, they have made several hundred. Throughout that process, they have also discontinued and replaced a large number of those pumps as well. We have listed the various Balboa pumps that are currently made below.

Finding the right heater for your system is imperative in properly repairing your spa control system.  Generally speaking, you can find the proper part number from the label located on your heater housing.  If it is a Balboa Water Group heater, which will be covered here on this page, the heater number will be on the label which should look something like the following:

Hot Tub water chemistry is often an illusive cross between magic and a proper balance of chemicals in your water. We have developed a small list of commonly asked questions about your water chemistry. In addition, you can also view our Hot Tub Water Chemistry Guide for additional information. If your question is directly related to a product that you need assistance with, please feel free to give one of our customer service specialists a call at: 800-918-9143, or click our chat button during normal business hours.

For swimming pools, clean the cartridge when the filter canister pressure reaches 8 PSI above the initial system or new cartridge starting pressure. For spas, establish a routine cartridge cleaning schedule based on the amount of spa usage. If Baquacil is used as a sanitizer, the filter element must be cleaned with Baqua Clean before any cartridge cleaner is used (Step 4).

Over the course of time, Balboa has had a tendency to like to discontinue products at an exceedingly accelerated rate. There are a significant number of Balboa heaters that have been discontinued and Balboa has not provided a replacement part number for any of them. If you are trying to replace one of the spa heaters on this list, and are having trouble locating it, you now know why. You may have come to this page through our Heater Locator, which lists all of the spa control systems made by Balboa Water Group over the last 25 years.

The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act was introduced into legislation by U.S. Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida after Virginia Graeme Baker, a 7 year old drown in a hot tub after being trapped underwater by a powerful suction of a hot tub drain. Graeme, as she was known, was a member of her community swim team and a proficient swimmer from the age of three. She was the granddaughter of Secretary of State James Baker III. The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 as Title XIV and enacted by Congress and signed by President Bush on December 19, 2007.