u/Allegedly_OstrichLvr

I have a 2021 HotSpring Sovereign spa that has had these beige colored flakes at the bottom of the spa, particularly around what I believe is the diffuser cap. Does anyone know how I can get this cap off? I’ve tried pressing it down and turning counter clockwise, clockwise, I’ve tried prying it… but it’s not budging.

I’ve shocked the water, ran jets for a while, took the filters out then added some Ahhh Some jet cleaner and ran the jets for awhile, drained the tub, cleaned the shell, refilled it and still flakes. I repeated the process and still flakes. They’re mostly coming from that cap.

Any other suggestions?

We have a 5 year old Sovereign salt water hot tub that was cleaned in March - full line purge, scrub, the whole kaboodle. The past week we’ve had small beige colored flakes that sit on the bottom. When we skim them out, they’re slimy in texture and a bit thick. A couple of days ago I replaced the filters, did a non-chlorine shock and upped the salt/chlorine hoping one of those would get rid of whatever the flakes are but they keep coming. We live in the PNW and our hot tub cleaner thinks it’s from the high pollen in the air but our tub is covered all the time. I’m guessing it’s biofilm and the lines and jets need to be purged and cleaned but that’s a ton of work that I’m not eager to do if there’s another option. Any thoughts?