Black flecks in Intex spa - my solution
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- Опубликовано: 19 июл 2019
- after about a year of ownership I noticed black specks appearing in my hot tub even though it was covered and nobody else had used it I suspected they might be coming from the filtration unit and I was correct watch the video to see my solution to the problem
Thank you! Going to try now. These flecks are making me crazy. Take care!! Kim
it's still working setup this way for me, going on 4 years now but have repaired the tub multiple times... I'm now getting aluminum chunks in the filter and the support system has a slow leak, it's outside on a deck so I just add water once in awhile since it's a very slow leak.
We had similar issues. Swapped light with second filter as suggested. Works perfectly. No black flakes! Thank you!!!
Glad my video helped you. The reason is the black flecks are some part of the filter system deteriorating. At this point I'm on my 3rd season and I've replaced the pump once, I'm also getting chunks of aluminum from the heater spewing back into the tub. What I wound up doing most recently is taking the filter off the return (as it is in the video) and instead I wrapped the filter holder with a skimmer net (sold for pools), it's sort of like a stocking and that seems to be catching the smaller junk that the filter holder does not. It's a shame that it's so hard to find parts for the unit because the inflatable part itself in my case is in very good condition and may have many years left.
Is the “pump” that whole unit that came with the tub or just one part of that unit? Where did you find parts for it? Our tub is on its second season and so far the only issue has been the flakes. I looked at buying a new one to put in the barn until we need it but the units have more than doubled in price since we purchased ours. We paid around 500 for the six person tub , now they are 1200-1300 online. Crazy. 🙁
@@promotolife3783 The pump was not the whole unit, I think it cost me $75 and I found it on intex's website. I'm not sure if I posted a video to youtube, I think I just put something on my facebook but replacing it wasn't too difficult if you have some mechanical skills. With mine what happened was the magnetic impeller rusted inside and cracked the plastic from expansion, the tub was running but shutting off quite often with an E90 error because I guess the flow wasn't up to par. I think I paid $475 for my 6 person tub 77" and I took looked online just recently and saw they were now 800 dollars! I'm guessing this is due to the shortage of goods, I have looked in the past and the price always hovered around 500 with sales sometimes as low as 350 for the whole thing. I don't know if it's of any consequence but I modified my tub so it could go hotter than 104 degrees, it's possible that contributed to the heater breaking down a bit sooner. The black flakes seem to be something most everyone encounters around the 2nd year and usually by the 3rd year the ceramic shaft that goes through the pump also fails, there's a few videos here on youtube showing how to fix the pump but in my case with the impeller ruined that wasn't an option and nowhere could I find a replacement impeller, only the entire pump. If you go on intex's site you need to know the exact model of your tub because apparently each year was slightly different.
Thank you so much, we have this hot tub this is our 3rd year and the first time we have ever had the black flakes, going to try what you suggested!!
Yeah, it's sort of a band-aid but it keeps debris from getting back in the tub. I'm on my 4th year and I even get bits of aluminum from the heater coming back in. Another thing i noticed, I have to clean or change the filters every 2 weeks or I get an E90 error due to lowered flow. I acid wash and re-use the filters to save $$ but eventually replace them after a few cycles. I saw a video where someone took apart an intex heating unit and apparently they painted the inside of the heater which explains the black flecks. Also if you use the a light the buttons deteriorate and can produce black rubber flecks as well , my buttons are so deteriorated I don't get them anymore from it. Good luck, I'm curious how long people can keep these tubs running before they're not repairable.
@@robwasnj yes I was wondering the same thing me and my husband are looking into getting one I could use all the information anyone can give me would help me out so much thank you have a wonderful day God bless you always
@@milothechihuahuabrunetandmommy Mine is going on year 3 right now but not without repairs. The tub and cover seem to last but the filter/heater/pump system isn't that robust. I have noticed since covid the prices on the tub are greatly inflated so it's not the steal it once was. Hoping mine holds on another year or two.
You are a genius! I just did this and it was an amazing idea! There was actually a ton inside the light housing, not sure how long they have been in there! My buttons were flaking also and I also noticed that the spot for the batteries for the light was compromised as the batteries were wet inside. So I tossed the light altogether. We will see how this works maybe less vac'ing. Thank you for sharing!
It works but not a permanent solution, unfortunately the debris means the heater is rotting away but it's gotten me another year and a half so far out of the tub :)
I had the same problem with my intex spa, but I did not have a light installed. It kept getting worse and worse. Toe the point I was having to change the output filter every time we used the spa. I couldn't take it anymore, figured it was something that would eventually be fatal, so I broke that bad boy down to "parade rest"! I found out it is the coating that is on the inside of the heat exchanger unit that has that black coating! I called Intex, and told them what I found. I told them I was considering buying another one of their spas, (as I liked it), but wanted to know if this was a known issue, and was it a quality control problem, or had engineering step been taken to resolve the issue. They had me box everything up, (even in pieces), and send it to them. They sent me a whole new spa. My wife and I decided we wanted something more permanent, so we bought an actual hard side hot tub, and sold the Intex replacement. Just wanted to let you know what I had found.
Hey Steve, thanks for the story it is much appreciated. I actually read somewhere that the dirt getting into the spa is as you said the coating inside the heater coming off. I'm still operating mine but as you said it keeps clogging the output filters and they only last me about 5 days. I''ve setup an adic washing bath to recycle them but it really is a real pain, sometimes I just take the whole filter off and let the crap go into the but then vacuum it before use. I''m going on my 5th year now, Ive had to replace the pump once, I couldn't get the impeller ala carte so I spent the 80 dollars to buy a whole new pump. These things really weren't made to last and it's unfortunate because the tub itself is fairly well made but this heater unit is not. I keep wondering if mine will eventually just rot through and start leaking. Right now I'm at the end of the season, I usually take mine down when it's steadily below freezing here in NJ. The first year I kept it up all winter, i made it through single digits but struggled to keep up, it also ran my electric bill up higher. I too thought about getting a hard shell tub and may do that but it really seems going with a 220V system is superior and I need to have that installed. Again, thanks for the info, at least we're not alone.
@@robwasnj My hard shell is a 110, the only down side is the heater won't run with the pump on high. That said, (I live in West Central MD, near Hagerstown), it really isn't much of a problem. We set the temp to 103*, and even when the temp is below 20, it will drop down to 101* in the 30 or so minutes we sit in it. When you cover it back up, and let it do it's thing, temp is back to 103* in 15-20 minutes. Ours is convertible from 110V 15 Amp to 30 A, and 220V up to 20 Amp. I would recommend going that way. You can use it 110V, and when you get a dedicated 220V circuit in, swap it over. We bought a Freeflow Cassina, and it was reasonably prices, ($3,100 about 4 years ago). We feel it was well worth it. We used to leave our Intex up year round, but found the same issues you did. We have a pool too, and also vacuumed the spa, but it got to be too much of a painj to keep doing everything that was needed to keep it going. It was to the point where you had to "PLAN" to use the hot tub, and sometimes that just didn't work. Good luck to you, and Merry Christmas!
@@stevemohl30 Thanks for sharing your experience and Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I purchased mine April 2018 and it's still going strong....but I'm getting flat black plastic bits coming out of the pump/heater jet, much bigger than what I'd describe as flakes! (they are the size of my fingernail!!!) I don't keep the light installed (I like to let the jet shoot straight out and circulate the water better than it would if the diffuser/light was installed) so the rubber switches aren't deteriorating on me. I'm the only one that uses it, it's actually in my basement, and kept covered when not in use, and I shower before I get in every time, so I know it's not coming from outside the hot tub! I've put a mesh strainer sock on the pump jet and captured more of it, so I know it's coming from inside the pump/heater. Suspect it's a lining of the pump, heater or integral hoses and expect it will fail at some point. Too bad I can't attach pictures to this post!
Thanks so much for posting this video and starting a sort of forum for this topic, which has been really difficult to research. The only similar thing i found was a post with no resolution on Reddit. I started getting the notorious flecks very soon after getting my tub back in March 2021. One thing i've noted is that my pH has probably been too low most of the time i've had the unit because the test strips i have seemed to indicate the water was ok out of the tap. Trying a different set of test strips, however, the pH was clearly too low - which i've heard can destroy the inner workings of a pump. So for now i'll up the pH and put a filter on the output. Thanks again for posting.
Yes, seems our experiences are common. I actually own a pool business (yes, I know it's funny I bought an inflatable hot tub) so my chemistry is always right on. Low pH is definitely a killer of pools and attached equipment. I'm headed into my 4th season with this hot tub but have replaced the pump once and just recently bypassed the flow sensors inside the unit. I definitely do not recommend doing this for safety reasons but the company sadly doesn't make any of these parts available so it was that or scrap the hot tub. I bought mine for $375 back then and it was quick gratification putting it on my back deck and just plugging it in. I saw during the pandemic and even later they're selling for double and even triple that cost! I'm pretty positive my black flecs are coming from the paint they used inside the heater, I've actually stopped getting black flecks now in favor of chunks of aluminum material as well as a slow leak seeping out of where the heater bolts together. I tried to take it apart but after torquing on one bolt I realized they'd just snap if I did and decided to just leave it as is and finish out the season. I don't think it has another season left in it. I also had to replace the inflatable cover with a pool toy since once again I couldn't buy that part from intex, it said sold out for months so I finally got round watermelon raft on amazon that fit perfectly. I'll leave this up like you said to serve as a forum for intex owners looking for answers. Thanks for sharing your experience.
@@robwasnj that's what struck me about your video - I knew it wasn't just a biofilm problem once I realised you would be able to diagnose that easily. (I've been convinced for months I had a biofilm problem I couldn't crack). I feel like this is a widespread enough problem that Intex should address it.
@@robwasnj and yeah, unfortunately I paid more then double what you did! Although hearing the hard time some people have had just getting a hot tub during the pandemic I consider myself lucky.
It'd be a really nice product if they could make the support system better quality and also repairable. Sadly most people probably just throw them away after the 2nd year at most once something breaks. The inflatable part both spa and cover are quite well made, I never had a leak or hole in mine except for the bladder that goes inside the cover.
Yes, that was part of why I repaired mine, both the cost and also availability. Hopefully you'll be able to get at least a few years out of your tub. After the flecks the next thing you'll likely encounter is an E90 error which means low flow, it can be caused by the pump shaft wearing out but also can be caused from the flow sensors (there's two) totally deteriorating. They're like little switches, if they're open you'll get the error.
We have had our spa for 1 year and are having black flakes and particles as large as 1/2 inch. Once we looked at them we could tell it had to be some kind of coating on the inside of the pipes in the pump somewhere. We keep our pool clean and all chemicals at the correct level. So we emptied our spa, cleaned it adjusted chemical balance, and put the net sock from our manual vacuum over the water inlet from the pump that flows into the spa. So far so good. The net sock catches any of that debris. This must be a common problem with these spas. I expect at some point it will affect the pumps operations.
I'm guessing it happens to all of them. Mine started flaking off around a year and a half into ownership. My chemistry is right on, I'm actually a pool professional and have been servicing and repairing inground pools for 35 years now. I bought the spa in 2017 as a quick fix until I could get a better one but it changed my way of thinking. It's a shame the support system isn't better made because the spa itself has held up with no leaks now for it's 4th season and I ran it through the winter solid for the first 2 seasons even though that's not recommended. So far I've had to replace the pump, that failed last year and this year the inflatable bladder for the cover started leaking air. It's impossible to get parts for the spa so I wound up using a round inflatable raft I found on amazon that fit perfectly into the cover. I was going to take apart the heater and see what's going on inside but the bolts are so seized I'm sure they'd snap so I'm going to run it until it fails and at that point make the decision as to whether or not I want a spa. I've even looked at changing out the filter/heater/pump with something better but most of that gear is meant to be housed in a spa structure and works better if you have 220v not 110. I'm guessing most peopele get 2 years then throw them out, when I bought mine it was $375 shipped to my door but now I see them selling for more than double that.
I have had one these spas for 2 years. In my case the black flakes were paint chips from the heater element. I also had small gray particles in the spa. When I removed the heater element, I found my heater was so full of corrosion that water would not pass through it (this then causes an E90 error code due to low flow). It is not too difficult to remove the heating element and scrape out the corrosion products. All the wiring is clearly marked.
Hey Randy, thanks for the tip. I'm about to restart mine for the season and have been getting lots of E90 errors, I'll have to take out my heater and see what it looks like inside.
How do you find and clean the heater unit? I think mine may be corroded
@@robcochran The bolts to take apart the heater were so corroded I didn't, they would have snapped. I'm running it as-is now until it finally dies. Can't even get parts, I need a new cover bladder and nowhere can it be purchased. Also the price of the entire toube has more than doubled since I bought mine, probably covid pricing.
Thanks a lot for the video. Very helpful. Cool tip. Will try it. 🙏I have the same problem. Do you think those black specs are toxic ? 🤔
I've already replaced the entire hot tub once and also 2 pumps. This is a new problem to solve ! Lol. Intex customer service is not always very helpful (to say the least 🤪). As you said I guess you get what you pay for. Thanks !
I think the black flecks are paint from inside the heater, I doubt toxic but I'm no expert. Getting parts for intex is impossible right now, I need a new cover and it's sold out everywhere. I'm on my 2nd pump but 1st tub.
I think it’s something to do with the gaskets in the pump or fittings that’s where the black stuff is coming from
someone said the inside of the heating element is painted and that's flaking off. I get chunks of aluminum it looks like as well in my filter. I've gotten through 3 years with a pump change, I don't know how much longer the rest of the tub will last before something fails or causes a leak.
Thanks! Hopefully this helps. Intex sent a new motor in June, but we are still getting the black specs. I just called back and the Intex guy said there is nothing wrong with their unit, it has to be something I'm putting in it. I told him we use the 1 inch chlorine tablets and nothing else. He said it must be from a lotion I have on. 👎
The black specs are from something deteriorating inside the unit, as you saw in my video putting a filter on the return fitting captured that junk. I'm also getting bits of what looks like aluminum now in mine but the filter catches them. I'm guessing eventually whatever is deteriorating will begin to leak but not there quite yet. Going on my 3rd season with the intex hot tub.
Oh yeah, I told the guy there is something defective with the unit and he kept arguing with me telling me it was something I was doing. We haven't even had ours a year yet. Good luck!
@@courtney7546 Yes, I don't believe they're built to last very long but something you should check is the pH with some test strips, you said you only use chlorine tablets but those will lower your pH and make the water acidic, this can erode anything metallic and also shorten the life of the vinyl. I actually own an inground swimming pool company. In my hot tub I use laundry bleach and pH adjuster, I also drain mine once a month and refill it. Im guessing the bits coming out out of the filter are part of the heat exchanger... mine started spitting in black flakes about a year into ownership, it took me awhile to figure out why I was always vacuuming it then it occurred to me try to filter the return from the filter, that was it so now I have one filter put on improperly but it does capture the garbage. Its a shame a higher quality version of these inflatables isn't produced, hard to beat the convenience of them, I like mine a lot and may install a different filter/heating system when it finally goes.
Thanks, I will check on that!!
@@robwasnj is there a way to upgrade the heater and pump?
I'm having the same problem with black carbon I'm not shure what is causing it but I will try to do as you did please let me know your thoughts
I think the black flakes is actually paint of a sort from the inside of the heater. Since the debris is coming from the filter system itself putting something over the outlet (not inlet as they instruct) can capture this. It worked for me putting a filter on the return but I do have to change out the filter weekly, I started acid washing mine and re-using them to save money. I'll be going into my 4th year with the tub, the structural part is still in good shape but sadly the heater/pump system has required a lot of attention to keep running.
That's from your heater. It is slowly getting clogged , there is a black lining inside the heater that's what is coming out into your tub.
Yes, thanks for the information too! That tub is now retired, it made it for about 4 seasons with one pump change and a lot of disabling sensors that rotted out. I'm guessing the inside of the heater was painted with something or coated and that's what the black flakes were. I actually broke it open before disposing of it and the heater was just a mess inside. I wound up replacing the spa with one made by Bestway sold under the coleman name at Walmart, it's smaller and seems not as well built but it heats up faster, maybe due to less water and has been working so far this season. I still have the tub itself boxed back up but the heater/pump unit is no more.
I seen on someone's channel that there was mold inside there moter so they used some kinda celsum cleaner to clean everything out and it worked just wanted to let you know
In this case it wasn't mold but that is common with hot tubs. I actually took the motor off and replaced some parts, pretty sure the black flecks in my instance are the paint they used inside the heater flaking off.
Have the same issue what I did was a reverse my filter so it would catch it all going out and have to change the filter went out the filter once a week
I did the same thing and put my filter on the discharge. It seems to work but I have to change it often, I acid wash and re-use mine. The back pressure becomes too much and I get an E90 error if I don't change it soon enough.
A few years ago my Intex hot tub started showing blacks flicks also. Tried everything to make it stop. Called intex company they told me to cut my hot tub open and send them samples turned out it was the rubber tubing on the inside of the hot tub. They sent me a replacement tub
I think the inside of the heater is painted black actually but good to hear they sent you a new one. Mine is past any warranty, also can't purchase parts to fix it myself even so many thing have been bypassed on it to keep it running. That's something I wouldn't make a video on for safety reasons.
I swapped the light with the out flow filter / top and bottom…. Should that work?
yeah, since the black flecks are actually coming FROM the inside of the heater/filter system a filter on the return back into the spa will catch them. It's not really how the filter was designed to work though, it used the inside of the paper when you do this but it worked out for me and saved a ton of time vacuuming up those black flecks. I have another tub now that so far hasn't emitted them but it's only a year old.
This happened to mine, turned out it was the rubber buttons on the light that were deteriorating and leaving pieces and marks all over the tub. I’ve taken the light out and have had no more issues with black spots or dirt.
The buttons on my light did the same thing! Unfortunately I still got specs even with the light removed in my case, sadly the impeller in my pump rusted out inside the plastic encapsulation but I did get a replacement motor for 75 bucks, haven't installed yet but it should give me more life when I do.
@@robwasnj so I have been getting those black specs but they are not always small. Some big ones too. It’s not oily they are hard like the something inside the motor is burning off and shooting out into the hot tub. I called inter and they have no clue! I am thinking this is a defect and I wish everyone would call the better business bureau to get them to correct the issue.
Black flakes are not carbon... they are paint. Intex painted the inside of the heater core, and some chemicals (or just time) will cause the paint to peal and flake off. See my post here: www.troublefreepool.com/threads/intex-inflatable-hot-tub-has-black-carbon-flakes-in-the-water.133146/post-1859864
Wow, thanks for the information and the photos. Mine's still running, had to change the pump once already but no leaks and still heating. I think at the end of our season I'll take apart my heater and see what it looks like inside. I can definitely see chunks of aluminum coming into my tub or in my case into the filter that catches them now. I do wonder if eventually it will rot through and leak.
You do realize those black flecks have nothing to do with the filter. It’s the petroleum based crappy rubber seals on the light. Took mine out after i found it polluting the entire bottom of my intex spa. Vacuumed them out, removed the light entirely solved my black speck problem. Now I just wish there was a fix for the light because I really liked the look with the light on at night.
Hey Eric, yes, I had the same deterioration from the buttons on my light too but I get them even without the light installed, I also get aluminum chucks as well which I'm assuming are coming from the heater. Someone said they coated the light buttons with some clear silicone caulk and it solved that issue. I've been removing my light when not in use to prevent more decay, I'm sure in time water will ingress into the switches of the light. It's quite possible the black flecks coming from the filter are originating from some rubber inside that unit as well. On a side note I own a swimming pool business and maintain my chemistry and have still have the rubber come apart so it's some low grade stuff.
@@robwasnj yes the black flakes I get are flaky not oily. I don’t have a light and I do believe it is coming from something inside the motor that is deteriorating
@@Lonestar2711 I think I saw somewhere the inside of the heater is painted and that flakes off in time. My tub is still going on year 3, replaced the motor this spring but it still works. I have put my filters on the discharge port to capture the junk that comes out, it works but I need to change the filter or wash it weekly.
Black particles … check the heater. They are painted black from factory and will flake off.
Yeah, the filter from this but is now in the trash but you're right, it was likely paint from in the heater flaking off. If you're curious here's what it looked like inside after 3 years of use... ruclips.net/video/kMpxzMmrq5g/видео.html
Mine are more then flakes. They are more like black pebbles. They do not float
Probably some part of the heater internals, it's made of aluminum. When I got rid of it finally I cut the heater apart and it was all messed up inside there.
The black flecks are from the rubber buttons on the light
The buttons on the light did deteriorate but the black flecks in the video were from inside the heater, I just threw it out but before doing so cut the heater into 2 pieces to look inside. Putting a filter on the outlet of the tub (not inlet) stopped the flecks. I have a new one now.
@@robwasnj I removed the light but I got an error message when I started the pump back up. So I took one of the filters and put it on the outlet like you recommended and of course it blew all the dirt out of the filter into the water so now I've gotta drain and refill again haha