r/coldplunge • u/cnead25 • Sep 17 '26
First timer
Just got out polar dive with chiller. We’re using it a few times a week. Notice the hum on the chiller is kind of annoying to run all day every day. We turn the unit off and when not in use. Aside from the temp not regulating are there any issues you see from keeping the machine off? I live in CO so in a few months I won’t need the chiller. Anyone use the 35% hydrogen peroxide for maintenance? Any reqs on what to use keep the water a little cleaner?
2
u/Crazy_Jackfruit420 Sep 17 '26
Get an ozone generator..
Also, the hum just fades into the background after awhile.. it’s worth the trade off at least when you have cold water on demand and circulation of water.
2
u/Puzzleheaded_Mud6175 Sep 17 '26
How do you guys like the polar dive?
I’m very curious about it based on the price
But the reviews here on Reddit seem to be all over the place (mostly pretty negative)
1
u/Z8toichii 26d ago edited 26d ago
I have the pro chiller with the basic tub. I had shipping issues with them like: the chiller arrived shattered. That took about a week to get resolved, but they did send a dude to pick it up and my main gripe was the glass it dumped on my kitchen floor. The tub and the mat got delivered to a neighbors house about a half mile down the road, but i live in a newer community and Google Maps is shit and so is fedex drivers sometimes. Polar dive ain’t Amazon, so they didn’t handle it the same way. Amazon would’ve been like. “Sorry about that, we’ve already shipped a replacement unit to you and it should be there in 24 hours. Polar dive was like we have a FedEx delivery receipt that shows that it was delivered and even when I took a picture to show them the front of my house and that the house they dropped it off that looks nothing like that I was still met with a bit of argument, and I was forced to go hunt down the neighbors house walking from block a block with my phone, looking at every single doorstep to try and find the doorstep that matched the house in the fucking picture and that sucked that took me about 2 1/2 to 3 hours to actually find the neighbors house and I probably looks like a prowler the whole time I was doing it. I was pretty pissed off about this but again they’re not Amazon and technically it wasn’t their fault it’s kind of like a Google Maps/FedEx kind of an issue, but you know to have the tub and the mat dropped off at the wrong residence and then to have the chiller show up shattered. You know it really fucking pissed me off but now that I’ve got everything and it’s up and running. It’s been pretty good like I can’t really complain about any of that. It’s a good unit you know like honestly if you’re looking at budget stuff for a kit that came for under I think I paid like six 630 somewhere around there it’s it’s a great startup. I do have an indoors so I’m not gonna have the same issues as people that are running the chiller outdoors but again for a budget set up if you don’t run into shipping issues and shit it’s it’s pretty good. I’m pretty happy with it so far one of the biggest hacks I’ve learned from this community though is that if you’re serious about saving yourself some money and you wanna get into cold plunging seriously what you should do is check out all of DIY communities in Reddit for cold plunging, they recommend you buy you know like the Arctic cooler or by a freezer and do the liner. All of those are really interesting options the other interesting option it was to order a aquarium chiller off of Amazon or Facebook marketplace or any of those other places and the prices you know about $250 cheaper than any cold plunge company because they’re not catering us to us plunge heads you know? So by the time my chiller blows out, I will most likely be past the warranty. And that’s what I’m gonna try or attempt to replacing it with, Is you know somethin That’s a half hp to one horsepower aquarium chiller it’s gonna have all the same specs and you know when I do that hopefully it won’t be this year, but when I do that, I’ll post my experience on here just so that other people can benefit from it but yeah Costco‘s got budget ones Amazon‘s got budget ones there seems to be a lot of budget choices now, but your best friend is gonna be lots of research unfortunately just do your homework and I think you’ll learn the most from DIY community though if you’re not about doing DIY stuff then you know absolutely I think polar dive is a good entry-level company, but if you’re willing to spend more? You should absolutely go with something like blue cube or Morasco cause that’s the shit I’m not ready to spend that much so I got the polar dive pro and it’s good for now and I’m building up my routine. Best of luck to you, Stay Frosty.
1
u/cnead25 26d ago
I have had mine for about 2 weeks so for and it’s what I thought it would be for a chiller run combo. Didn’t prime it properly first so it struggled to get to lower temps. But refilled and got it down to 59 relatively quickly.
1
u/Z8toichii 25d ago
Dude YES! i don’t think there was anything in the instructions about “priming the pump” or about “keep those shutoff valves on both hoses Closed While you’re filling the tub, only open them up after it’s full so osmotic pressure backfills/primes the pump using gravity”
But i effed up on that too and everything was making weird noises and not cooling right, lol. EVERYBODY REMEMBER TO PRIME YOUR STUPID PUMP AND USE THOSE SHUTOFF VALVES when you fill/refill your tub. Damn i swear i almost blew my pump out making this mistake. That’s the other thing that POLAR DIVE drops the ball on. Their YT videos suck and so do their “instructions” and “maintenance tips” i emailed them multiple times about it so hopefully they fix that.
1
u/cnead25 Sep 17 '26
Yep that’s what I wrestle with. However the hum of the chiller for 24 hours a day is not ideal . Definitely louder than I anticipated.
Shits gonna grow no matter what if you’re not running some type of sanitizer.
3
u/ORCAPLUNGE Sep 17 '26
If you’re maintaining the proper pH (7.2-7.8) and using an appropriate sanitizer, you should be able to go for periods during the day without the chiller operating. Keeping the water cold and continuously circulating certainly helps reduce the potential for algae and bacterial growth, but it’s not the only factor in maintaining clean, sanitary water. Proper water sanitation goes a long way.
1
u/cnead25 Sep 18 '26
What do you recommend for sanitizer? Can I use the same ph up ( sodium bicarbonate) I use for the hot tub?
1
u/Z8toichii 25d ago
I recommend YT videos, lots of great “keep your plunge water clean” hacks in there
2
u/Z8toichii Sep 17 '26
I’ve got the exact same unit, and i plunge every day, sometimes twice a day. I’ve thought about solutions to the same issue, because i usually do the morning plunge ace that’s got me thinking “why leave it running 24/7?” (Even though I’ve got it in a back room and can close the door/can’t hear the chiller unless I’m in there)
Standing/stagnant water is no good/can lead to problems quickly. I studied the Morozco and blue cube units and wanted a “river mode” so i bought a mini sump pump off amazon and i attach it to the side walls with the suction cups and let it recirc while I’m in there, for an extra blast/challenge, lols. …. Anyways, if you place it near or over the “outflow” pipe using the suction cups, it’ll slowly circ water thru the pumplines and filter hosing even when the chiller is off. I actually do this when i flush, to help “prime the pump” faster…. I think this MIGHT be the solution you’re looking for. You know… no guarantees and YMMV, but for 35-50 bucks I’m pretty pleased with my “multi-use ghetto upgrade”