Cleaned, drained, filled, going to do the dichlor/bleach method--some help?

[davesurfer]

So I cleaned, drained, and re-filled my hot tub. Just waiting for it to heat up before adding anything right now. (Cold outside, water was 45F when filling)

After getting itchy rash, experiencing way too high CYA, trying to lower ph, I want to switch the dichlor & bleach method but have a few questions:

I read the sticky on how to do this, but still can't grasp some stuff:
"On a fresh fill use Dichlor until you get to 20-30 ppm CYA. (10 ppm FC = 9 ppm CYA)
Then switch to Clorox Unscented 6% bleach.
Never let FC drop to Zero for any length of time. Keep it between 3-6 ppm normally, min of 1 ppm, and shock to 12 ppm once a week."

1. So on a fresh fill, my dichlor granules "Boom" bottle says to put in 30g for my 1500 L /400 gallon hot tub. But should I ignore that and just put in the 14g as recommended by the PoolMath calculator to get 5 ppm? Or should I just pump it up to 10ppm right away?? Is it a good idea to shock it right off the bat?

2. So I keep adding dichlor until I'm sure I've added around 20 or 30 ppm of CYA (28 ppm of FC), then start using bleach only. Or do I? Do I "shock" weekly with the bleach instead of the granules? When I do, do I have to "gas" off the chloramines by having the jets run and the top off?

3. The bleach calculation on the calculator is a bit weird. What does the "of blank field weight %" mean? It seems that one can put whatever they want in the field before the "% bleach"...and not sure what the jug size would help? Or should I ignore the rest and only read the ml quantity after the "Add"?

4. The bleach, I'm assuming it can't be the "concentrated" kind, just regular unscented bleach?


Thanks!!!

 

[tim5055]

1. So on a fresh fill, my dichlor granules "Boom" bottle says to put in 30g for my 1500 L /400 gallon hot tub. But should I ignore that and just put in the 14g as recommended by the PoolMath calculator to get 5 ppm? Or should I just pump it up to 10ppm right away?? Is it a good idea to shock it right off the bat?

Ignore the bottle or your CYA will go too high. You will not be addign sufficient dichlor to get to your 30 CYA at once. No need to shock a fresh fill.

2. So I keep adding dichlor until I'm sure I've added around 20 or 30 ppm of CYA (28 ppm of FC), then start using bleach only. Or do I? Do I "shock" weekly with the bleach instead of the granules? When I do, do I have to "gas" off the chloramines by having the jets run and the top off?

You can shock with dichlor as long as you are still getting up to your CYA level. Once you get to your CYA target, no more dichlor. I generally just leave the top open after a use with the jets ruining once or twice a week. Your test kit will tell you if you are getting rid of the CC

3. The bleach calculation on the calculator is a bit weird. What does the "of blank field weight %" mean? It seems that one can put whatever they want in the field before the "% bleach"...and not sure what the jug size would help? Or should I ignore the rest and only read the ml quantity after the "Add"?

You can put in what you want in that field, but it should be the % chlorine you are using. Regular bleach is 6% and concentrated is 8.5%. Don't worry about the jug size.

4. The bleach, I'm assuming it can't be the "concentrated" kind, just regular unscented bleach?

Yes, you can use concentrated, you will just use less. Again regular bleach is 6% (some are actually lower) and concentrated is 8.25%

 

[davesurfer]

Wow thanks that explains everything well regarding the shocking and bleach! So I I'm doing good so far, got it to 5 ppm FC the first night, today it dropped to 3, so I just fed it more dichlor to get back to 5. So right now, I'll have put in 7ppm dichlor total

Oh by the way, it was recommended to get a good FC test strip just for quick testings. Any recommendations or should I use the cheapo ones that I've been using. I plan on buying a Taylor kit soon for everything else.

 

[tim5055]

Wow thanks that explains everything well regarding the shocking and bleach! So I I'm doing good so far, got it to 5 ppm FC the first night, today it dropped to 3, so I just fed it more dichlor to get back to 5. So right now, I'll have put in 7ppm dichlor total

Oh by the way, it was recommended to get a good FC test strip just for quick testings. Any recommendations or should I use the cheapo ones that I've been using. I plan on buying a Taylor kit soon for everything else.

The test strips are all ablut as inaccurate, so just use what you have - but get the Taylor kit for accuracy.

FC or CYA would have ppm, dichlor is measured by weight. A specific weight of dichlor will give you Xppm FC and Y ppm CYA.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Well, if you must have test strips, I only trust Taylor chemistry, so why not use their test strips like the K-1302 - Welcome to Taylor Technologies

Just remember that test strips assume you are within reasonable limits on FC and pH. If your FC is really high, then it can bleach out the test strips and make them look like you have no FC. So ALWAYS default to your test kit if there are any questionable strip readings.

 

[Edwin45]

OK,
i have last week do also a fresh fill.
first i bring My TA down till 25 of 30, how?.
Bring jour PH down till 7.2 And your TA is also going down, aerath til PH is 7.7 do iT again And again til TA is ok.
put Dichloor in till cya is 30/50 then switch to liquid chloor.

today i have.
chloor 3
cya 32
Ta 25
Ph 7.4
tonight i put in boratic acid, boor zuur 200 gram