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Resolved any I-sopod owners out there?

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  1. Luke
    Luke
  2. For Sale
  3. Thursday, January 02 2014, 03:13 PM
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Hey everyone, I'm looking for those who currently run an I-sopod to give me any kind of feedback on this please.


I have an opportunity to buy two I-sopods used at a great price. I've heard nightmare stories about their service to the US so I wrote them to get a feel from them and they didn't respond. Now that I think about it, the 3 new pod manufacturers I know of cite their experience with I-sopod as the reason they are now building their own! Sounds scary, so if you own an I-sopod, or have worked with one before, can you give me a warning or an assurance or something in between about it please?


Luke

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Tim Strudwick
Hello Luke



I know we've had some email contact since you originally made this this post - But I would like to comment further as follows



On the subject of the 3 new manufacturers citing their poor experience with i-sopod as the reason they new build their own tanks - everyone should be aware that they will all say what suits their ends, which is to try and gain position in the market place.



The truth of the matter is that all 3 of them had asked on numerous occasions to be able to partner up with us and take over manufacture of the i-sopod. Both Float Pod and Genesis wanted to build the i-sopod in the US and either partner with us or build it under licence, whilst Dream Pod were interested in building it China with cheap Chinese labour and materials.



The fact that they wanted to build the i-sopod would tend to show they didn’t actually have too many concerns about the performance of the pod itself and if they had found us to be so sloppy in our service then it wouldn’t seem particularly sensible of them to be so keen to tie themselves up with us in a joint venture.



In the end we didn’t have a good enough feeling about any of them to want to partner up in anyway, and I think hindsight has shown this to have been a wise decision, especially the Float Pod which was actually made using an i-sopod unit being taken to a fibre glass facility and used as the master pattern to create the mould tooling for the Float Pod. Which is actually absolutely incredible as an action lacking in integrity & the full ramifications of that act, for both Float Pod and their customers, has yet to be played out.....



In regards to nightmare stores experienced by our North American customers, I would urge you and anyone to contact float centres to get an understanding of what our customers really think. We maintain regular contact with most of them and many talk about adding subsequent i-sopod units as their businesses grow.



To name but a few



Ray at Float Spot, TX

Joe at Urban Float, WA

James at Serene Dreams, NJ

Brent at The R.E.S.T. Centre, ON



We now have 150+ i-sopods in 25 countries around the world and have 10 full time members of staff. Parts are always kept in stock and are couriered directly to our customers and are usually with customers in a couple of days.



New news, The i-sopod will be manufactured in the US in 2014 which means the new kids on the block will have to come up with new scare stories.
  1. Tim Strudwick
  2. more than a month ago
Luke
Great information Tim, thank you.
  1. Luke
  2. more than a month ago
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Luke_in_London
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You would have to use some seriously strong chemicals to destroy the gelcoat and it should be immediately obvious if that were the case.

I understand your hesitation but I am wondering if any potential pitfalls can be mitigated? Such as replacing bulbs with LEDs when they need replacing which should eliminate the need to do that task again, and maybe building a stock of replacement parts to have on-hand could solve the potential issue with obtaining spares in a timely manner?

I guess it depends how cheap the i-sopods are and how tight your budget is as to which way the hassle/savings balance tips.
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Natasha Botbijl
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Hey Luke,

Our center is looking at the Floatpod design too... We also saw the Isopods they had available used... I think those may be the ones you speak of.

Would love to connect with you and chat! I am in Canada and you can reach me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Luke_in_London
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> Looks like the used pods may be compromised.
In what way are they compromised?
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Luke
Well the manufacturer said a welding machine had been used on it, and that some chemicals may have been used to compromise the skin. After checking them out and talking with the owner, neither of those seem true. The owner said I-sopod blamed his use of H202 for the chlorine nozzles dripping, but from what the owner says the chlorine nozzles are the achilles heel of the whole design, he says all I-sopods have problems with the nozzles dripping and perhaps not even working. There are two sides to the story, and I'm no chemist, but I'm having a hard time imagining how H202 can cause such damage?? It doesn't seem very harsh, corrosive, etc.



After checking out the pods they do seem workable. There's some cosmetic damage but that's fine for the price. My biggest worry with them is the replaceability of parts. The owner said it took him and two other helpers 6 hours to change a light bulb in the tank. I've heard of other stories where owners were out a pod for a long time because of a part going out. Parts go out, it's the ease of replacement that needs attention. That's one reason the Float Pod is appealing to me. They say that every part can be replaced without draining the water. There are more positives, but what worries me about the Float Pod is the new heating system they are going with. Two solid-state heaters along the sides that are custom made. The ease of replacement is there, and they are supposed to be silent, but I worry about the convection currents from the sides causing movement of the floater. Glenn Perry says the heating element should be right in the middle. Something tells me he has experience with this.



I'm also looking at the Dreampod because of the price, features, and I have a good feeling about that company. I had counted it out before because of no in-session heating. Then I realized that with our in-floor heating, we've got some nice resonance there. We'll just add extra coils under the pod. There may be some more logistics to figure out with that, but I'm pretty stoked on the idea.



Long answer to a short question, I know. I just gotta vent the headspace these pods are taking up for me!
  1. Luke
  2. more than a month ago
Kane Mantyla
Luke, a couple of things... h2o2 and ozone are highly oxidative chemicals and interact in detrimental ways with numerous materials. My guess is that the seals on the chlorine dripper were not made of EPDM which is highly resistant to oxidizing chemicals. Gel coats can also be susceptible unless they are specifically formulated for that purpose. Fiberglass is one of the materials that is susceptible to oxidative damage.



On the matter of heating sides vs bottom. The movement of water due to convection is imperceptible to someone floating and may, depending, act as a centering mechanism. Its weakness is insuring that the temperature is homogeneous throughout the pod. A heater centered on the floor, does a good job of circulating the heat throughout, but also slightly pushes the person floating to a side. But again, the movement of water is so subtle, that it may take a while for a person who has stabilized themselves in the center to be pushed.



I am somewhat leery of non-constant heating. Given they are designed to heat only when pumps are running, I would assume that they are extremely well insulated, in which, I doubt even floor heating would do much to keep the temperature up. imho
  1. Kane Mantyla
  2. more than a month ago
Luke
My experience with central placed heating is that I was able to relax right into the middle of the tank. In the center I interned in for 3 days, there was another device that had the heaters side by side, on different thermometers. This kept the solution at a very constant temperature, as they were both continually adjusting, but it pushed everyone around.



And even with double-skinned pods, there's no way the heat right under them wouldn't have an effect. If that heat loss is happening, then heat gain will happen as well. And we don't want a zero output pod I know, because the person would naturally overheat. I value your opinion, but I do think it would stabilize our temperature a bit.



Interesting what you say about H202, I had no idea. I am such a rookie to chemicals. Thanks Kane
  1. Luke
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Luke
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I have since heard back from Tim @ I-sopod, and he has been helpful. Looks like the used pods may be compromised, however, so the search continues!
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Harrison
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I've only floated in one and I really enjoyed it, they also look very nice on the outside. Good luck with your decision!
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