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2020 HS Envoy Review

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Sammi:

--- Quote from: wcmorris on September 15, 2021, 12:40:54 pm ---Kind of an old post but lets see if we can resurrect.

Sammi, I'm curious how the Envoy is a year on. I just got mine last month and we've been loving it other than having issues dialing in the salt system. You mentioned adding chlorine once a week and having the system set to 10. The manual says you shouldn't add chlorine once the system is maintaining 3-5 ppm on it's own. We're you ever able to get it dialed in so you only have to use non-chlorine shock once in a while and set the output lower to like 6 or 7? How long are the salt cartridges lasting you?

I've been having a similar experience as you where I have it set to 10 and have been boosting constantly but I still find it struggles to maintain. I now just got the error where it looks like the salt cartridge needs to be replaced. My dealer charges $250 for a three pack which I refuse to play if I'm replacing them  every 1 to 2 months.

--- End quote ---

First 4 months were a pain as I documented in other threads it looks like you had a chance to read. Basically the tubs sit a bit after they have been wet tested at the manufacturer before theu are shipped, sit at the dealer, and the. Installed and filled.

If I did it over again I would have filled the tub, used it for a bit, then put Ah-Some or Silk Balance Clean Start (have used it once and liked it a lot) in, and drained and refilled.

Ever since my first full refill my spa has worked great. My cartridge after the first refill lasted me 6 months. My second cartridge is going strong after 3 months. This was after going through 5 in the first 4 months. I balance ph and alkalinity every other day, and put chlorine enhanced shock in once a week unless the spa is being used daily then twice a week. If my test strip shows low or no chlorine thats when I add. My water has been great since that first dump and I love the system now. I do think water needs to he changed 3x a year rather than once a year but we use our spa a lot. Once the water gets difficult to maintain and you feel like you are having to add a ton of chemicals it is past time to change.

wcmorris:
Thanks for the updated. I cleaned my filters yesterday and tried to reset the salt system as the manual suggests that dirty filter can be one cause of the salt system failing. It almost immediately turned off again so I assume now that the cartridge needs to be replaced. My plan now is to do a drain and refill as you and others seemed to have good luck with this. I order ahhsome, salt cartridges, and vanishing act pillow. I'll give it a go this weekend and see what happens.

Do you try to fully balance water before activating salt system? If my second fill is anything like my first, it took weeks of adding pH down once a day before pH and Alkalinity balanced. My calcium was between 0 - 25 the entire time and has stayed steady. My dealer said salt system could be activated before all the other levels were perfect but I'm not sure I buy that. 

Sammi:

--- Quote from: wcmorris on September 16, 2021, 10:48:40 am ---Thanks for the updated. I cleaned my filters yesterday and tried to reset the salt system as the manual suggests that dirty filter can be one cause of the salt system failing. It almost immediately turned off again so I assume now that the cartridge needs to be replaced. My plan now is to do a drain and refill as you and others seemed to have good luck with this. I order ahhsome, salt cartridges, and vanishing act pillow. I'll give it a go this weekend and see what happens.

Do you try to fully balance water before activating salt system? If my second fill is anything like my first, it took weeks of adding pH down once a day before pH and Alkalinity balanced. My calcium was between 0 - 25 the entire time and has stayed steady. My dealer said salt system could be activated before all the other levels were perfect but I'm not sure I buy that.

--- End quote ---

I've refilled twice now since the initial first fill. I let the water temp get to above 80 and then tested with the FreshWater test strips. I just balanced alkalinity and then 10 minutes later ph. After letting that sit I throw in a quarter cup of chlorine granuales (enhanced shock would work too) and then add 4 cups of the salt when I hits 90 degrees.

It shouldn't take weeks of adding ph down to balance. If you test 10 minutes after adding ph down it will definitely show the ph has come down. My ph always seems to run high FYI, and I'm not sure why that is. For example I can add ph down right now, test it at appropriate levels, not use the tub, and by this evening my ph will be back up. Alkalinity seems to stay stable until I actually use the tub then it drops. I've used my spa 3 times this week for 30 min each time and twice my wife was in as well. I tested my water this morning and still have ample chlorine and slightly high ph, so the salt cartridge is for sure working properly.

wcmorris:
I was planning to do a full drain/refill, but I took a water sample to my dealer and they said all my levels looked really good so they didn't think I needed to start fresh. The salt was a little high at 200 and the pH was a little might at 8.2 but everything else was perfect. They said my salt cell probably died prematurely because I was still learning the system, boosting too much, and just needed time to get a handle on how to maintain everything. Since the levels were pretty much perfect they suggested I just replace the salt cartridge, set it to a lower output and see if it now will maintain chlorine on it's own.

I added the new cartridge last night and the arrow immediately went to 12:00. The water felt and smelled the best it has been since I got the spa. Maybe they were right that I just needed to get past the learning curve. I'll have to check tonight to see if it's holding chlorine. If not, I'll add shock instead of boosting and see if I can get things working properly without boosting or increasing the output a ton. Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here. We'll see..

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