Before I delve too far into it here, I know the general feelings about the inline @ease bromine systems.
We just installed a brand new 2016 Artesian Pelican Bay spa with Crystal AOP system (Artesian Spas - DirectFlow Platinum Luxury Hydrotherapy Hot Tub), that includes an inline @ease. However, this is not the bromine version, it's a brand new 'SmartChlor' system, which, from what I'm told, is a new type of chlorine to the industry.
The problem I'm having is the pH rocketing up off the chart after any use of the tub, and by use, just running the jets alone for 15-30 minutes without people being in it. Let me also say I'm having an incredibly difficult time finding any information about this 'new' chlorine. This is about the only info I've gotten regarding this type of chlorine:
The tub has been filled about 2 weeks, and we've used it (up to 4 people at a time) maybe half dozen times for an hour or two each time.
The water has remained crystal clear this entire time, so I guess something is working.
However, as mentioned, the pH seems to be completely uncontrollable at the levels they recommend.
Per @ease SmartChlor, I see this:
pH 7.2 – 7.8
Total Alkalinity: 80 – 120 ppm
Calcium Hardness: 150 – 250
Total Dissolved Solids: <1500
*Free Chlorine: 0.5 – 1.0 ppm
I filled my spa initially with a PreFresh filter (city water) and initial testing had CH: 90, TA: 90, pH: 7.2. I added enough calcium to bring it up to the 150ppm mark, and TA increase to get 110ppm. AT this point I added to Frog jump start shock and let it get up to temp.
After it was up to temp, I added the mineral & chlor cartridges and tested everything the next day. It all seemed OK, so we started using.
I checked the next morning, CH, TA were consistent, but pH was so dark it looked almost purple. I did the acid demand test, determined enough to bring it down, added it, and all was well again.
But this keeps going on...use the spa, add acid, use spa, add acid, TA dropped too low, add baking soda, use spa, add acid...etc. (using dry acid)
Now I read the 'using chlorine in your spa' thread which states to do ~50ppm TA, but manufacturer of the chlorine states 80-120ppm. ANd I also read that too high TA is trademark bouncing pH symptom.
So does anyone have any ideas? Can I run with low TA so long as I'm balanced on the SI scale? I had my water tested by a local pool store, and no metals or phosphates or anything that shouldn't be there was found.
The other TA\PH\CH numbers all matched what I was getting. They also measured FC at 0.6 and CC close to 9; so it seems that's working as expected too.
Sorry for the long post, thanks for the help in advance!
We just installed a brand new 2016 Artesian Pelican Bay spa with Crystal AOP system (Artesian Spas - DirectFlow Platinum Luxury Hydrotherapy Hot Tub), that includes an inline @ease. However, this is not the bromine version, it's a brand new 'SmartChlor' system, which, from what I'm told, is a new type of chlorine to the industry.
The problem I'm having is the pH rocketing up off the chart after any use of the tub, and by use, just running the jets alone for 15-30 minutes without people being in it. Let me also say I'm having an incredibly difficult time finding any information about this 'new' chlorine. This is about the only info I've gotten regarding this type of chlorine:
Di or Tri chlors have 2 atoms that split and immediately become free chlorine. This "smartchlor" allows for one atom to become free chlorine and the other stays in reserve. Thus, you tend to have a resting free chlorine reading of .5-1.0 (approx. the same as your tap water) but a reserve to total chlorine of 10-15ppm.
Where this becomes a benefit is that when you use the tub, the chlorine levels do not fall off a cliff. Rather it pulls from the free chlorine to keep a consistent level of approx. .5-1.0ppm. It handles heavy bather loads as well, since the free chlor can keep up with the burn up of the active sanitizer.
This allows for you to only have to shock with potassium peroxymonopersulfate (MPS) once a month. That is a nice benefit. However, it is also very much reflective of your pH level. While pH is always important to your sanitzier, as it is the the basis of how effective your sanitizer is is, its even more-so with @ease.
The tub has been filled about 2 weeks, and we've used it (up to 4 people at a time) maybe half dozen times for an hour or two each time.
The water has remained crystal clear this entire time, so I guess something is working.
However, as mentioned, the pH seems to be completely uncontrollable at the levels they recommend.
Per @ease SmartChlor, I see this:
pH 7.2 – 7.8
Total Alkalinity: 80 – 120 ppm
Calcium Hardness: 150 – 250
Total Dissolved Solids: <1500
*Free Chlorine: 0.5 – 1.0 ppm
I filled my spa initially with a PreFresh filter (city water) and initial testing had CH: 90, TA: 90, pH: 7.2. I added enough calcium to bring it up to the 150ppm mark, and TA increase to get 110ppm. AT this point I added to Frog jump start shock and let it get up to temp.
After it was up to temp, I added the mineral & chlor cartridges and tested everything the next day. It all seemed OK, so we started using.
I checked the next morning, CH, TA were consistent, but pH was so dark it looked almost purple. I did the acid demand test, determined enough to bring it down, added it, and all was well again.
But this keeps going on...use the spa, add acid, use spa, add acid, TA dropped too low, add baking soda, use spa, add acid...etc. (using dry acid)
Now I read the 'using chlorine in your spa' thread which states to do ~50ppm TA, but manufacturer of the chlorine states 80-120ppm. ANd I also read that too high TA is trademark bouncing pH symptom.
So does anyone have any ideas? Can I run with low TA so long as I'm balanced on the SI scale? I had my water tested by a local pool store, and no metals or phosphates or anything that shouldn't be there was found.
The other TA\PH\CH numbers all matched what I was getting. They also measured FC at 0.6 and CC close to 9; so it seems that's working as expected too.
Sorry for the long post, thanks for the help in advance!