New to hot tubs

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BigRedRam95

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Jun 23, 2012
110
Farmington wv
Hey guys I’m new to hot tubs. Just repaired freeze damage to a j355 tub the was given to me. It’s now filled and powered. I have have been using liquid chlorine the same as I use in my pool. I have been using acid the get ph under control. Which I think it is now balanced.
What help can everyone give me on water balance. Should I stay with chlorine or switch to bromine? Should I add cya to my tub? Also what about ch? I have never really watched it much in my vinyl liner pool. Is it important in a fiberglass hot tub?
Current test
Fc 5
Cc 0
Ta 40
Ph 7.4
Ch 40
Cya 0
 
The ta is about as low as u wanna go - you may experience ph bounce. 50 is usually the lowest recommended. Adding some baking soda to get to 50/60 or probably a good idea.
A spa has alot of aeration so the ph will need to be regularly adjusted. Every time u lower ph you will also be lowering ta.
Adjusting the filtration settings & keeping the jets off unless u are using the tub can help. In my tub if the water level is a little low the jets create alot of turbulence when they are just in “standby” so I try to keep it high enough to prevent that.
30-50ppm of Borates can assist with the ph rise as well.
Using boric acid is the easiest way.
Cya of 20-40 ppm is recommended to combat the harshness of the chlorine on people & equipment (like your cover, headrests etc) & give u some wiggle room between target fc & zero. Did I mention the high bather load/fc demand?
You can use dichlor to raise cya as well as fc & then go back to bleach when you reach 20-40ppm cya. The dichlor is acidic & will lower ph as well so be mindful of that.
Or u can just use stabilizer although tiny amounts can be a little hard to measure.
Always follow the FC/CYA Levels
The fc demand in a spa is like a roller coaster compared to a pool because of the bather load in such a small amount of water & the heat. It’s essentially people soup & must be treated as such.
Dose to target for your cya or above, soak, replenish with enough to get u through to the next soak/dose without falling below minimum.
I am personally not a fan of bromine especially since I already use chlorine in the pool.
My ch is about the same as yours, I don’t add any. If u experience foaming you may want to raise it to 100-150.
Did u purge this spa with Ahhsome?
Biofilms in the plumbing can really increase chlorine demand as well as being gross 🤢
Here’s the guide 👇

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa or Hot Tub?

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Mdragger88 said:
The ta is about as low as u wanna go - you may experience ph bounce. 50 is usually the lowest recommended. Adding some baking soda to get to 50/60 or probably a good idea.
A spa has alot of aeration so the ph will need to be regularly adjusted. Every time u lower ph you will also be lowering ta.
Adjusting the filtration settings & keeping the jets off unless u are using the tub can help. In my tub if the water level is a little low the jets create alot of turbulence when they are just in “standby” so I try to keep it high enough to prevent that.
30-50ppm of Borates can assist with the ph rise as well.
Using boric acid is the easiest way.
Cya of 20-40 ppm is recommended to combat the harshness of the chlorine on people & equipment (like your cover, headrests etc) & give u some wiggle room between target fc & zero. Did I mention the high bather load/fc demand?
You can use dichlor to raise cya as well as fc & then go back to bleach when you reach 20-40ppm cya. The dichlor is acidic & will lower ph as well so be mindful of that.
Or u can just use stabilizer although tiny amounts can be a little hard to measure.
Always follow the FC/CYA Levels
The fc demand in a spa is like a roller coaster compared to a pool because of the bather load in such a small amount of water & the heat. It’s essentially people soup & must be treated as such.
Dose to target for your cya or above, soak, replenish with enough to get u through to the next soak/dose without falling below minimum.
I am personally not a fan of bromine especially since I already use chlorine in the pool.
My ch is about the same as yours, I don’t add any. If u experience foaming you may want to raise it to 100-150.
Did u purge this spa with Ahhsome?
Biofilms in the plumbing can really increase chlorine demand as well as being gross 🤢
Here’s the guide 👇

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa or Hot Tub?

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
I did not purge the spa. I did clean out the plumbing by flushing clean waterand bleach through the pipes.
If I add baking soda won’t the ph go even higher? How do I get the ph lower with out lowering the ta?
I would like the add Borates but should I get the water balanced before I add it?
 
Any gunk in the plumbing is coated in biofilms to protect it from chlorine. Ahhsome penetrates the biofilms so the fc can do it’s magic.
Increasing ta by 20 ppm with Baking soda will have little effect on ph.
EB7EE3F4-6425-4F85-84BE-B55B9EFDFEC6.jpeg
 
Vinegar is acidic, unless u have a scale problem I would skip that. I feel like it would probably take alot of vinegar to the trick & there are lots of seals in a spa that could also be damaged.
Ahhsome is the only hot tub plumbing biofilm cleaner that is epa registered & has proven itself superior over other purge/flush products on this forum & others. It is also non acidic.
They all cost similar $$
If I’m going to spend my $$ I want it to be on something that works as well as possible.
You can do a search here & on google to see what the fuss is about.
There’s no way I would dip my toe in a used hot tub that hadn’t been purged until it came out clean.
Here’s a good in depth write up about different purge/flush products as well as biofilms
rvdoug.com

Controlling Biofilms in Hot Tubs and Spas – part 1 - rvdoug.com

Controlling Biofilms in Hot Tubs and Spas - part 1 My first set of experiments Residential Hot Tub and Spa manufacturers, as well as consumers, are becoming more and more aware of the presence and impact of a contamination known as biofilms -- collections of microorganisms that anchor themselves...
rvdoug.com
 
Hello BigRed Ram95: Many websites tout the benefits of Vinegar to aid in the removal of biofilms. Vinegar is a good cleaner and has some merits. However, vinegar will not eliminate nearly the amount of slime layer within a closed-loop system that Ahh-Som Hot Tub Plumbing & Jet Cleaner will. I would love to have you perform a very simple test for you to see if what I am telling you is true. Purge your hot tub with the vinegar. Purge it even a few times. Use even more than what you are being told. Dose it up good. Run those jets even longer.
Then, purge with Ahh-Some. If the vinegar was effective, the Ahh-Some wouldn’t release any new films.
Please understand i am not trying to be a smart - - - here. I just hear these stories every single day and I realize people love to find ways to use regular household items to do the work that more expensive products do. I understand. We are beating the system. Feels good. However, biofilm in hot tubs is a very serious matter. You want them removed. The best way to get this done effectively is to use a product that was made for the job.
They will return again just so you know. You will be helping the entire community when you post your results.
Thank You for the question. Biofilms are the single biggest issue causing numerous issues in hot tubs and swim spas and health issues for many hot tub users.
 
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BigRedRam95 said:
I found a local dealer about 2 miles from my house that has the ahh-some on the shelf. I’m going to pick up some tomorrow and try it out.
Click to expand...
Don’t be surprised if it takes multiple times for it to come out clean.
For each subsequent purge u can just use half the dose with the same water, only draining once no more detritus comes out. This also means u are working with warm/hot water the whole time.
I like to use my fine mesh skim net from the pool to scoop the foam & the crud that ends up on top of it along with using a microfiber to wipe the shell as i go. My hot tub is outside so i just fling it in the yard.
I always do 2 purges - just incase even if the 1st one seemed to be relatively clean.
You don’t wanna be having a leisurely soak after getting everything back going & some gunk bust loose on ya! Trust me…
 

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BigRedRam95 said:
Current tests has been filled for 2 days. Heater has been on for about 15 hrs.
Water temp 100
Fc 4.5
Cc .5
Ph 7.2
Ta 30
Ch 40
Click to expand...
No cya? If using dichlor just keep up with how much you have added & use that as your calculated cya. It’s basically 1ppm cya for every 1ppm fc. Switch to bleach/liquid chlorine when u get to around 30ppm. Always follow the FC/CYA Levels 👍🏻
 
So that’s one thing I was going to ask. Is it ok to use chlorine tablets to build cya just like in the pool? People keep telling me it’s bad for the tub shell. The tub may go a few days at a time with out the cover being opened.
I also added a bit of baking soda to bring the ta up some.
 
Trichlor tabs dissolve too rapidly in the hot water & may add large doses of fc quickly & drop the ph detrimentally.
I believe 1” tabs are 3 oz.
D702CAB4-D722-42DE-A5FB-B330EC47DC03.png
Use dichlor or granular stabilizer in a skimmer sock/pantyhose if u have some already for your pool to raise cya.
 
So still not having luck with getting the water balanced. I retested the water last night. Ph was starting to creep up so I added 1 oz of acid which took it down to 7.2 it was good all day. We just used the tub I tested before we got in and ph was still 7.2. When we got out I tested and ph is back up to 8.
The current test
Fc 4.5
Cc 0
Ph 8
Ta 60
Cya 30
I put in 1 oz of acid just now to drop the ph back down to 7.2. I also added some baking soda to bring the ta back up to 80. Should I bring my ta up more. I was shooting for 80 just like I do in my pool but maybe I should bring it up to 120.
 
No need for baking soda. The higher the ta the faster the ph will rise - so that won’t help your endeavor.
Letting ta drop to 50 should help with ph rise. Also let the water rest a bit before checking ph - ie, don’t check it immediately after using the tub while the water is turbulent.
Since you have ta in the 50-60 range now, adding borates (50ppm) can also assist in moderating the ph a rise a little. Granular Boric acid is the recommended & easiest way to accomplish this. Duda diesel is a good source. Be sure to log your borates in PoolMath as they affect the calculations for acid to lower ph.

Borates in pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
BigRedRam95 said:
So still not having luck with getting the water balanced. I retested the water last night. Ph was starting to creep up so I added 1 oz of acid which took it down to 7.2 it was good all day. We just used the tub I tested before we got in and ph was still 7.2. When we got out I tested and ph is back up to 8.
The current test
Fc 4.5
Cc 0
Ph 8
Ta 60
Cya 30
I put in 1 oz of acid just now to drop the ph back down to 7.2. I also added some baking soda to bring the ta back up to 80. Should I bring my ta up more. I was shooting for 80 just like I do in my pool but maybe I should bring it up to 120.
Click to expand...

pH in a tub will creep up. Aeration causes pH to rise, and jets cause a lot of aeration. When I do a water change, for the first week or so I have to add acid every day. Once I get the pH and TA dance settled down, then my pH only rises a bit, and I only have to add acid every 7 to 10 days.
 
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