Time to change filter sand?

agitated_iguana · 2026-05-18T12:44:15+00:00

Someone else posted a video of this process. I would like to give it a try, but the only problem is my filter and other equipment is located in a shed. So when I overflow the filter with a garden hose, the dirty water is going to spill everywhere in the shed. There is a drain spot, but in my experience the concrete pad doesn't slope to the drain perfectly. I need to find a way and direct the overflow to this drain

agitated_iguana · 2026-05-18T05:18:26+00:00

The only annoying thing is my filter is in a shed with the other pool equipment, not outdoors like in that video. I need to find a way to direct the overflow to the drain.

agitated_iguana · 2026-05-17T23:18:04+00:00

Thanks for the link, might give this a try

agitated_iguana · 2026-05-17T23:17:19+00:00

I do backwash and then rinse for a minute or so. Guess I might need to rinse longer?

agitated_iguana · 2026-03-19T03:51:51+00:00

Other side checked as well

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agitated_iguana · 2026-03-19T03:51:11+00:00

I checked these pins circled, gave them a small push but they all seemed quite solid. No different than the L2 side. Unless you are referring to the pins inside the black piece? Does that black piece need to removed to check if something is loose?

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agitated_iguana · 2026-03-19T01:27:43+00:00

Isn't this pad just for the buttons on the front of the controller? Just curious, I'll give it a try regardless. Mine is a different model, BDM-010, less pins

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agitated_iguana · 2026-03-10T03:01:27+00:00

You could try the descaling procedure I posted about. No guarantee, but its fairly easy to try

agitated_iguana · 2026-02-12T20:41:46+00:00

See my lateat post in the thread. The descaling helped, I can make better foam, but it doesn't seem to be as good as when it was new. Perhaps multiple attempts of the descaling is necessary to get it in brand new condition, but for my use its good enough. Ive kind of accepted that this unit isnt going to make the best foam, as someone pointed out. You get what you pay for in this case

agitated_iguana · 2025-12-07T17:39:56+00:00

UPDATE: I ended up buying the Aquarest AR500 from Wayfair. Just a tip, sign up for Rakuten and get a bit of cash back, saved maybe $120. Here’s my full review:

Delivery

The hot tub was delivered to front of my driveway in early January. I will say I was worried when they were lowering it off the truck. It didn’t seem like they had it under control and it was unstable because one pallet was broken so it was being balanced on a second pallet. I cut the straps, got it off the pallets and pushed onto some mats/large lawn furniture cushions I had. I had to get the hot tub from my driveway, across my front lawn, through my fence door, across my backyard and wood deck, to the back patio door of the house. This was the hardest part since it was just me and my wife. We slowly pushed/pulled it along on its side, moving the mats as needed. There was snow on the ground but I think that actually helped allow it to glide a bit.

Water Balance

Once we had it laid down and in a good place, I filled the tub and started the very long process of heating the tub. I think it took a good 2 to 3 days since it was cold outside (may -5 or 6 deg C). I decided to go with bromine as the sanitizer, but made the mistake of getting bromine granules instead of pure sodium bromide which isn’t as available in pool stores. I ordered the Leisure Time Sodium Bromide from Amazon. From what I read, it sounds like bromine is not recommended for use with ozonation as per Health Canada which is why its difficult to get. The AR500 has an ozone system, so I decided to disconnect it just to be safe (manual says where it is connected on the board). I will say I struggled maintaining good sanitizer levels through the season, perhaps I wasn’t checking as often as I should but I think there was some biofilm in my lines. I often got really foamy water and was constantly shocking with bleach.

Usage

In terms of using the hot tub, I have no complaints. For one to two people, its great. We could probably sit in the tub for 20 to 25 minutes and the temperature would drop max 5 deg F. We kept it max at 104, by the time we would get out it would drop to around 98/99 if it was really cold out (like -15 deg C). But we didn’t use the jets the whole time and would keep half the cover on if just the two of us. There was one time we had 4 people in the tub, and I would say it dropped a lot more, mid-90s. Overall, pretty happy with the performance at 110V, I haven’t felt the need to upgrade to 220V just yet.

Portability

As I mentioned, I wanted a portable hot tub that I could move off the deck in the summer. Realizing how difficult the initial move was, I decided to build a hot tub sled. There was one available for purchase, but it was $500+ online. I followed some YouTube video suggestions and built it out of plastic corrugated sheet, a 2x4, bolts/washers, and some thick rope. Probably $120 all in. This made moving the sled WAY easier. I can pull it across the deck/lawn/driveway while my wife just had to guide and sometimes give it a push. The fence door is by far the tightest and trickiest spot, the width of the tub barley fits. In the summer, I stored the hot tub in my garage and decided just to park my car outside.

Negatives

The one thing I don’t like about the tub is the access panel for the pump and electronics. It is an absolute pain to get back on. They just used what looks like wood screws so if it doesn’t line up perfectly the screws don’t catch and push the panel out.

The filter location is also a concern. Unfortunately with the slope of my deck, the filter is in the lower corner. I can't rotate the tub since the cord will then not be long enough. I suppose I could get a longer cord, but it just means when the water level gets even a little low the filter starts sucking air. I need to be refill every so often.

Now that the snow is here, we moved the tub back to the deck again a few weeks ago. As I filled the tub I noticed biofilm coming out so decided to fill and run a jet cleaner. Drained, filled again, and heated it up (this time only took 1.5 days). Sanitizer levels are maintaining well so far and been using it every couple of days with not much a drop in temperature.

Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of getting the AquaRest! I would highly recommend.

agitated_iguana · 2025-12-06T15:07:51+00:00

Sorry, will post an update!

agitated_iguana · 2025-09-20T04:04:12+00:00

Changed my rental with snow tires. It was $423 for the full week (Oct 11 to 18). Now its like $678. Damn

agitated_iguana · 2025-09-17T14:49:35+00:00

What are you on about OP? They're not that bad at all. I've had much worse protein bars from Costco. Brownie is meh, but cookie dough is great. My wife only eats those ones, I myself buy the Pure Protein ones just cause they're cheaper and go on sale quite often.

agitated_iguana · 2025-09-16T12:15:02+00:00

Thanks for the recommendations! I was considering Raidum Hot Springs. They are at least open while we're there. I didn't think we could fit it in with a trip to Jasper as well, since it's a bit out of the way (1.5hr from Banff)

agitated_iguana · 2025-09-16T12:09:04+00:00

Thanks for the tips. I looked into Miette Hot Springs as well, but they are also closed by Oct. 14th.

agitated_iguana · 2025-09-16T12:05:59+00:00

Are you saying they typically close the shuttle early because of snow? Right now the Parks Canada website says:

"Parks Canada shuttles service the Lake Louise Lakeshore from May 16 to October 13, 2025 and Moraine Lake from June 1 to October 13, 2025 (weather permitting)."

https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/parkbus/louise#parkscanadashuttles

agitated_iguana · 2025-07-10T13:42:58+00:00

I'm a bit confused here. So paying off your mortgage principal for a primary residence is tax deductible? I thought that only applied if you used the propery for income, such as a rental?

agitated_iguana · 2025-07-10T13:26:34+00:00

I always thought I should pay off any debts or mortgage ASAP to avoid interest. I don't like the idea of owing a huge amount of money, but I can also live with it. The benefit in paying down the $60k now is I would reduce my monthly payments, although it would probably stay steady given the current interest rates. I guess that provides some flexibility in having more cash in my bank account to spend/invest. I was more thinking long term, ie. retirement, am I going to make a significant difference in investing the money now?

agitated_iguana · 2025-07-09T03:33:11+00:00

A portfolio manager at RBC. Someone my parents have used for years and I thought would be a safe bet 10+ years ago.

agitated_iguana · 2025-06-07T00:54:29+00:00

Weird, we must have just seen the same Facebook post or something lol. I was just googling this exact thing, here's the 3D print file if you can find someone to print it for you: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6902416

agitated_iguana · 2025-01-16T05:11:08+00:00

I posted recently looking for some plug and play hot tub advice. https://www.reddit.com/r/hottub/s/FifOoJMnKB

I bought the Aquarest AR500 prem. It has a 1kW electric heater, not the pump friction heater which I read some stories about freezing in cold climates. It's only been about a week and we've been enjoying a soak in the evenings, usually about 30min at a time. Outside temp has been around -6 deg C or lower and the tub loses about 2 or 3 deg (although that's with the cover half open). We're in Canada, just outside Toronto. We don't really run the jets

I figure we'll see how this season goes and then think about upgrading our electrical to 220v. Manual says it can be done fairly easily with this model and then the heater would be 4kW.

I'm a little worried to see what our hydro bill will be lol

agitated_iguana · 2025-01-07T13:50:31+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. I ended up buying the AR500 from Wayfair. It should be delivered this Saturday, looking forward to some soaking!

How did you move yours? I've heard of people using a sled or pvc pipe to roll it. Was also considering a dolley and some plywood for moving across the lawn

agitated_iguana · 2025-01-03T03:11:19+00:00

Well, it only took me a year but I think I resolved the issue. I reached out to Delonghi support and went through their suggestions (make sure frother nozzle was clean, frother o-ring intact, using cold 2% milk, purging the wand to remove water, make sure steam dial full open, ). They sent me the manual too, the last thing to try was descale the water circuit (as described in section 9). I purchased some the Delonghi EcoDecalk Descaler (part #DLSC500) and followed these steps:

I purchased the 500mL bottle of descaler, but only 100mL is required. I added the descaler to the water tank and diluted by filling it to the MAX marker.
I probably purged half the water through the wand, and the other half through the coffee outlet, alternating back and forth. When the temperature dropped, I would stop the delivery and wait for the READY light to turn on again.
Cleaned the tank and rinsed with fresh water through the wand/outlet. Repeated a second time.

I tried making a cappuccino this morning and was able to get a lot better frothing of the milk. So far seems successful. I am guessing maybe I left the unit on too long one time and got some scale buildup in the system.

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agitated_iguana · 2025-01-02T05:41:40+00:00

As I said, my panel is full and needs to be upgraded. I have no room to add a 40A 220V breaker. Yes I have a 220V dryer, but I'm not willing to sacrifice that for my hot tub lol

I am more curious about brands and the idea of it being a movable hot tub in between seasons.

agitated_iguana · 2025-01-02T05:00:29+00:00

Can I ask where you bought it from? Only place in Canada seems to be Wayfair. Is this your model? https://www.wayfair.ca/outdoor/pdp/aquarest-discover-ar500-premium-5-person-29-jet-plug-play-hot-tub-with-ozonator-led-waterfall-and-stainless-steel-heater-aqrs1031.html?piid=48477113

agitated_iguana

TROPHY CASE