Chiller is not circulating water back into the tubUpdated 19 days ago
When water is circulating properly in our plunge setup, you should clearly see and feel water steadily coming into the tub from the top connection where the chiller's hose meets the tub. First, please make sure you are using your Polar Dive Chiller with a cold plunge tub. Using it with a bathtub or any non-plunge tub will require a submersible pump you can purchase from us.
First and foremost, please make sure you change your chiller filter once ever month to ensure it doesn't remain clogged and slow water circulation. You can get new filters here:
A super quick fix for water not circulating in our chiller is if you happen to have the chiller elevated even a tiny bit - please make sure it's at ground level. Also, please just quickly make sure the hoses are correctly connected (top valve on the tub to top nozzle on the chiller and bottom valve on the tub to bottom valve on the chiller), and that the valves that come with your tub are facing DOWN and NOT UP when you screw them into your tub. One final item to be sure of is whether the water isn't circulating because of the chiller or of the tub. Please make sure that if you disconnect the hose from the bottom nozzle on the chiller, water flows out of it when the valve is turned on your tub. It is CRITICAL that water is actively flowing from your tub and into your chiller.
Otherwise lack of water flow is almost always caused by air being trapped in the pump. We've put together some easy-to-follow steps to help you flush the chiller of air and get the water flowing again. We're confident this will get you back to cold plunging quickly!
We'll be here every step of the way to make sure this is fully resolved for you. Here are the steps you can see performed in the following video:
1. Start with neither of the two hoses connected to the chiller or to the tub and the chiller unplugged and turned off.
2. Take one hose and connect it to the "water out" valve on the tub. Turn the tub's "water out" valve and allow water to flow freely. We recommend having a bucket to allow the water to pour into to avoid making a mess.
3. While the water is actively flowing from the tub out of the hose, connect it to the "water in" valve on the chiller and clamp the connection using the two latches on the hose.
4. Plug in the chiller and turn it on. Make sure water freely flows out of the "water out" valve on the chiller into your bucket.
5. While the water is flowing out of your chiller's "water out" valve into your bucket, connect the hose to that valve as water pours out of it and clamp the connection using the two latches on the hose.
6. All done!
IF THESE STEPS DIDN'T WORK:
The lack of water circulation could be due to air being trapped in the chiller/pump. We've got some great steps to take care of it and should be able to get this fully resolved for you. But just in case, we'll of course make the situation right by you and don't want you to worry at all - we're fully dedicated to you and here to help. First, please just quickly make sure the hoses are correctly connected (top valve on the tub to top nozzle on the chiller and bottom valve on the tub to bottom valve on the chiller).
You can follow a video guide on how to Prime your pump to get it circulating again. Please note that you should only have to do this once to get the water going and won't need to every single time you want to plunge. Here is a link to view - just note that you can have the "water out" hose connected to your Polar Dive tub or just inserted into a bucket or body of water like in the video:
For written steps of the above video, see the below.
Step 1
Turn off the chiller and close the water valves on the tub. Let the chiller rest for around 30–45 minutes just to give everything a clean reset. Make sure the chiller is on ground level beneath the tub.
Step 2
Open the water valves on the tub and allow water to flow back into the chiller. Continue leaving the chiller off for another hour.
Step 3
Turn the chiller back on and make sure it is plugged directly into a wall outlet. NOT an extension chord.
If the issue persists:
- Bleed the air from the filter cap. Just twist it slightly open (the clear cap on the pump) to let any trapped air or excess water escape. This helps the system build pressure.
- Loose fittings can rattle or allow in air, making noise. Check all clamps, unions, and threaded connections and re-tighten carefully.
- Set the pump/filter on a rubber mat, yoga mat, or foam insulation pad but make sure the surface is completely flat. The chiller should always be on a 100% flat surface.
Once we’ve got the water circulating properly, here’s how I recommend dialing in the temperature:
- Start by setting the temp to 55 or 60°F, and let it run for about 3–5 hours.
- Then slowly lower it to 50°F, and after another 1–2 hours, you can bring it down to 47–48°F.
The reason we go gradually is to prevent the unit from overworking right away. It helps the compressor ease into its cycle, especially on the first use or after resets, and ensures optimal performance and lifespan.
IF you try all of these steps and still don't get the chiller working, please share a video of you following the above steps and we might be able to offer some additional tips to make sure we fix your chiller ASAP. On occasion depending on the environment, we can offer additional ideas to help get the chiller working. If you're please able to share that video of you trying this process with us, we'll be able to offer more solutions that fix the chiller the vast majority of the time when this does happen.
When you're able, feel free to send us photos or a short video of the setup, just so we can verify everything’s good and double-check if anything needs a quick fix. We’ve got your back every step of the way, and I really appreciate you doing this with us.