Portable Spa Technology and Hydrotherapy Hot Tubs

Over the years technology advancements have stunned the generations before them. The 1800’s marks major developments in the use of electricity and here we are now about 200 years later and we have micro technology that allows us to actually store, compute and communicate over thousands of miles with tiny wireless circuitry. Printed circuit boards are what most modern hot tubs use, however electro-mechanical parts are not uncommon. Electro-mechanical parts include air switches, relay switches, analog timers and other components that can be used to monitor a hot tubs activity. An electro-mechanical system usually has more parts and they are quite easy to replace which differs from printed circuitry which replaces the normal circuit board in an electro-mechanical based system. A printed circuit board gives you more control of your portable spa, allowing you to program it for you individual preferences and use. Other than the circuitry the other components in a hot tub are powered by a centrifugal or hydraulic water pump powered by an electrical motor. Without this the other components won’t work properly. The water pump pulls water from the tub through an inlet, when it reaches the pump it will come into contact with a some sort of moving part that will convert the kinetic energy to potential energy and releasing through an exit valve at a higher pressure. A centrifugal pump uses a fan like turbine to push the water out.

Depending what type of filter the system uses it could come before the pump intake (suction filter) or after it exits the pump (pressure filter). After the water exits the pump it is pushed on to be heated by an electrical resistance heater which usually resembles a small cylinder and contains a piece of metal that is heated according to the thermostat setting. The water pushes through, gets heated and moves on to a division of tubing to take the water to its designated jet. Some systems use air pumps to pump air into the water to make for a more robust hydrotherapeutic experience. These designs use more energy than is required, a Venturi air injector does the same thing and is simply a small piece of tubing attached to the hose, the tubing narrows increasing water pressure and creating a vacuum as it passes over an air inlet, pulling air into the water. The tubing expands and the water is pushed on, the air inlet should take air from the heating compartment to ensure the water is not cooled by the temperature of the air.

This system of components may vary in actual order and may involve other parts such as a surface skimmer to help keep the tub clean or ozone which adds chemicals while the water cycles. As you can see the basic process isn’t that hard to understand. Some models may have several pumps for the vast amount of jets that need to be powered or for the different cycles of the hot tub. Single pumps with multiple speeds are not as efficient as they might seem, it is much more effective to find a model with one pump for the jets while the tub is in use and another pump for the circulatory or cleaning cycle.