Filter replacement schedule and reorder

Last reviewed

Pick the cartridge that is already in this dataset. The schedule that follows is the one that manufacturer printed for that kind of cartridge. Jacuzzi’s pleated range is 12–24 months. Hot Spring’s article says 2–3 years for polyester and 4–6 years for TRI-X, and its maintenance page says three years. Sundance’s 2024 manuals use 12 months and 4 months on the 680 Series MicroClean Mini pieces, and 3 months, or earlier, on the 780 Series disposable cartridge. Those are different products. A brand with no month count on the sources below does not inherit one of those numbers. The result also lists the OEM, Unicel, Pleatco and Filbur numbers stored for that row, with a buy link. It does not print a price.

Unicel, Pleatco and Jacuzzi say to keep a second set, so one cartridge can be cleaned while the other is in the spa. The spare-set line is that second set, in the count you enter. It is not a bundle and not a sale. Dates are calendar readings of published intervals. Gift ideas through December 24, 2026 are in the holiday note.

What each manufacturer prints

Read across a row. Do not read down the Replace column as one cartridge’s range. The 3-month figure is a Sundance 780 disposable cartridge. The 4–6 year figure is a Hot Spring TRI-X cartridge. Those are different products. The calculator will not move a figure onto a brand that did not print it.

SourceCartridgeCleanReplace
Jacuzzi: Hot Tub Filter Cleaning Made Easy Pleated cartridges Regular family use: rinse every 7 days, deep clean every 4–6 weeks. Heavy use (4–6 bathers several evenings a week, a rental or Airbnb amenity, or frequent sunscreen and cosmetics): consider a rinse every 2–3 days and a deep clean every 3–4 weeks. Light or seasonal use (winter-only, 1–2 people): rinsing every 2 weeks and a deep clean every 6–8 weeks may be sufficient. Every 12–24 months, or sooner if the fibers are torn, flattened, or heavily stained. One page gives that range. It does not print a shorter replacement calendar for heavy use.
Hot Spring Spas: How Do Hot Tub Filters Work? Polyester (“paper”) cartridge Rinse with a garden hose every month. Soak the filters every time you drain the tub. The article says the schedule varies with use, and the month it prints is still “every month.” Every 2–3 years, depending on usage and visible wear.
Hot Spring Spas: How Do Hot Tub Filters Work? TRI-X cartridge Same as the polyester row on that page: a monthly hose rinse, and a soak every time you drain. Every 4–6 years, depending on usage and visible wear.
Hot Spring Spas: Maintenance Tips Filters (the page does not name TRI-X) A light clean each month: hose the pleats, and use a filter cleaner. Every three years, with genuine Watkins replacement filters.
Sundance Spas 680 Series Owner’s Manual (2024) 680 Series pleated MicroClean Mini filter Clean the pleated filter monthly. The manual calls for a high-pressure hose nozzle on that outer filter. 12 months.
Sundance Spas 680 Series Owner’s Manual (2024) 680 Series MicroClean Mini insert No chemicals, and a low-pressure rinse. Not a degreasing-soak schedule. Every 4 months.
Sundance Spas 780 Series Owner’s Manual (2024) 780 Series small disposable MicroClean cartridge The monthly clean in the 680 and 780 manuals is for the pleated filter, a different piece. Sundance says not to use filter cleaners on the inner inserts. Every 3 months, or earlier.
Unicel: Maintenance & FAQ Spa cartridges Set a routine from how much the spa is used. No week or month count for spas. The 8 psi gauge mark on this page is for swimming pools, not a spa calendar. No defined end date. Replace when cleanings get closer together, flow stays low and differential pressure stays high, or the media tears or the center core collapses.
Pleatco FilterWash information sheet What Pleatco says most spa makers recommend Monthly, every two weeks with heavy use, and after a party. Pleatco does not print a separate light-use gap. Not a replacement interval. This sheet is about cleaning.
CDC: Controlling Legionella in Hot Tubs Hot tubs, in CDC’s Legionella module Not a week-by-week home cleaning calendar. Replace cartridges according to the manufacturer. No month count of CDC’s own.

Two housing counts are already in the sources, and they appear only on the matching row. Leisure Time’s Hot Spring 71825 listing says many of those models take three cartridges. Unicel’s 2026 guide says Eco-Pur systems from 2006 on use two C-8341 cartridges, plus a separate inner element. Neither number is a replacement interval, and neither is applied to a different brand. Sundance Norway’s May 2026 model table is what separates OEM 6540-501, the pleated lower, from 6540-502, the disposable upper. The 2024 manuals’ month counts stay with the pieces those manuals name. The same table is on the Sundance filter-by-model page.

Count it for one cartridge

Choose a brand and a cartridge, or type a part number. If the part field has anything in it, that number is what gets looked up. Use levels are Jacuzzi’s and, for heavy use, Pleatco’s. A maker that did not print a separate light or heavy number does not get one here. The count is how many of this cartridge you removed. Nothing you type into the dates or the count is sent anywhere. The reminder form further down is the only part of this page that stores anything, and only if you submit it.

The form stores a request. It does not send email, and it is not a newsletter or a series of updates. The interval list is the list the form can store. It is not a promise that your manual uses one of those choices.

Remind me when it's time to replace my filter

This stores a request: the filter, the date you installed it, and how often you replace it. Submitting stores the request and does not send email. It is not a newsletter, and it does not sign you up for regular updates.

We'll only use your email for this request.

Deletion requests go only to the address on the privacy page.

The interval comparison without a cartridge is the replace and clean calculator. Every equivalent for a typed number, without the schedule, is the cross-reference lookup. The longer write-ups are how often to replace a hot tub filter, how often to clean a hot tub filter, and how to clean one.

Gifts for a hot tub owner, through December 24, 2026

Two gifts match what the manufacturers already say to keep on hand. A spare set of the cartridge the calculator names, in the count you entered. And a filter cleaner for the soak, plus a skimmer if you want a cleaning tool that does not depend on the part number. This note stops on December 24, 2026. That date is the UPS delivery day in its year-end schedule, the day before Christmas. It is not a sale window, and Amazon’s Black Friday post does not name a spa filter.

Amazon’s news post says Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, and Cyber Monday is Monday, November 30. It says shoppers can browse early Holiday Shop deals and to check back for more. It does not give a percent off. This page does not add one.

Shipping cutoffs the carriers printed

These are send-by dates for expected arrival, not a promise. USPS says the actual delivery date depends on origin, destination, when the Post Office accepts the piece, and other conditions. UPS says some lanes need an earlier ship date and to check Calculate Time and Cost, and that a limited number of Ground packages from November 16, 2026 through January 8, 2027 need extra time in transit.

USPS service, contiguous United StatesRecommended send-by, for delivery before December 25
Ground AdvantageThursday, December 17
First-Class MailThursday, December 17
Priority MailFriday, December 18
Priority Mail ExpressSaturday, December 19

USPS does not print one Ground Advantage date for Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories. It says that service to or from those places has an expectation of 10 days or more. Hanukkah in 2026 is December 4–12, so the Christmas dates above are too late for the start of Hanukkah. The full table, including military mail, is on the Black Friday page.

UPS service, for delivery on December 24Recommended last ship date
UPS GroundNo single date. UPS says to check ups.com/ctc.
UPS 3 Day SelectMonday, December 21. UPS also says a limited number of packages tendered December 14 or 15 may take an extra day.
UPS 2nd Day AirTuesday, December 22. A limited number tendered December 14, 15, 16 or 21 may take an extra day.
UPS Next Day AirWednesday, December 23, with a scheduled pickup or a drop-off at a UPS Store or UPS Authorized Service Location.

December 24 is a UPS delivery day. Pickup that day is Air only, and only if it was arranged by December 18. December 25 is closed. FedEx’s holiday page lists December 24 as modified service and December 25 as closed, and it says that schedule can change. It does not print one nationwide Ground send-by date, so this page does not invent one.

The same dates, written out with the carrier’s other conditions, are on gifts for hot tub owners 2026 and Black Friday filters and spa care.

Cleaning tools with a listing we checked

These are not the spare filter. The spare filter is the cartridge the calculator names. A cleaner is for the soak Unicel and Pleatco describe. A skimmer does not require the part number. This is not a ranked list, and the price stays on Amazon.

Filter cleaner

Skimmer

The longer page is cleaning tools: skimmers and vacuums.

Questions

How often should I replace the cartridge I looked up?

There is no single interval. Jacuzzi’s filter page says every 12–24 months for a pleated cartridge. Hot Spring’s filter article says every 2–3 years for a polyester cartridge and every 4–6 years for a TRI-X cartridge, and its maintenance page says every three years. Sundance’s 2024 680 Series manual says 12 months for the pleated MicroClean Mini filter and 4 months for the insert. The 780 Series manual says every 3 months, or earlier, for the small disposable MicroClean cartridge. Those figures are different products. This calculator counts a figure only when the cartridge you picked is the one that source is talking about. For every other brand in this dataset, no replacement month count is in the sources named on this page. CDC’s Legionella module says to replace cartridges according to the manufacturer. Unicel says a cartridge has no defined end date.

Does the number of filters change the schedule?

No. The number is how many of that one cartridge you said are in the spa. It sizes the spare set. It does not shorten the interval. Unicel, Pleatco and Jacuzzi say to keep a second set so one can be cleaned while the other is installed, so a spare set is that same count again. Some housings hold more than one, and some hold two different parts. Leisure Time’s Hot Spring 71825 listing says many of those models take three. Unicel’s 2026 guide says Eco-Pur systems from 2006 on use two C-8341 cartridges plus a separate inner element. Those are housing counts, and only on those rows. The buy link does not set a quantity, and this page does not print a price.

Why do the brand intervals differ?

They come from different pages about different products. Jacuzzi, Hot Spring and Sundance do not print the same month count, and Hot Spring’s polyester and TRI-X sentences do not match each other. The table lists each source, the cartridge it names, and the clean and replace lines it prints. This calculator does not average them and does not copy one brand’s months onto another brand.

What is a straightforward gift for a hot tub owner through December 24, 2026?

A spare set of the cartridge this calculator identifies, when you have the part number, or a filter cleaner and a skimmer when you do not. Unicel, Pleatco and Jacuzzi already tell owners to keep a second set. For expected delivery before December 25 in the contiguous United States, USPS recommends Ground Advantage and First-Class Mail by December 17, Priority Mail by December 18, and Priority Mail Express by December 19, and says the actual day can vary. UPS prints last ship dates for delivery on December 24: 3 Day Select on December 21, 2nd Day Air on December 22, and Next Day Air on December 23. It does not print one Ground date. This page does not add a discount or a countdown. The gift note stops on December 24, 2026.

Will the reminder form email me or sign me up for updates?

No. The form stores the request and does not send email. It is not a newsletter and it does not sign you up for regular updates. The only address for a deletion request is [email protected].

Sources

  1. Jacuzzi: Hot Tub Filter Cleaning Made Easy
  2. Hot Spring Spas: How Do Hot Tub Filters Work?
  3. Hot Spring Spas: Maintenance Tips
  4. Sundance Spas 680 Series Owner’s Manual (2024)
  5. Sundance Spas 780 Series Owner’s Manual (2024)
  6. Sundance Spas Norway: Filteroversikt alle modeller fra 1995 (filter overview by model, year and serial number, May 2026)
  7. Unicel: Maintenance & FAQ
  8. Unicel: When to Replace a Cartridge Filter (PDF)
  9. Unicel 2026 Replacement Guide
  10. Pleatco Catalog & Cross Reference Guide: filter care FAQ
  11. Pleatco FilterWash information sheet
  12. CDC: Controlling Legionella in Hot Tubs
  13. Leisure Time Inc.: Hot Spring Highlife 71825 filter cartridge
  14. USPS: 2026 Holiday Shipping Deadlines
  15. UPS: 2026 U.S. Holiday Schedule
  16. UPS: 2026 Year-End Holiday Schedule (recommended last days to ship)
  17. FedEx: Holiday schedule and last days to ship
  18. Amazon News: When is Black Friday 2026?

This page summarizes published manufacturer, catalog, and carrier guidance. Follow your own spa’s owner’s manual when it differs. See the disclaimer. A correction goes to contact, which reaches [email protected] and no other address. The method is on the about page.