New hot tub owner---lots of questions!

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WaldenVancouver, welcome to the forum. Your new hot tub's inclear system is putting me in mind of HAL from Space Oddysey 2001 ;)

But I'm sure once its l sorted, it will be uber-convenient...

If "HAL" continues to strike because he fees the TDS is too high (and you don't decide to just disable him) there s a pre-filter for spas that might help reduce TDS if in fact your water is high. Not sure if you can get it in Canada, but here's the link so you have the information if you decide to try:
http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Pre-Fresh-Spa-Pool-Water-Fill-Filter-P784C57.aspx

I am on well water so I'm giving it a whirl...I used to use water from my softener system but my repair guy blamed it for an issue so I started bypassing the softener and my raw well water was wicked!

BTW, you didn't fill the tub from a system with a water softener, did you? If so, thats where the high TDS might have come from (if in fact HAL's assessment is true...;)

If you like the tub otherwise and if HAL doesn't get with the program, is it possible to disable him? Its quite easy for a human to just do a quick check and add what's needed, especially if like me, you use it every day ;)

I hope you get to enjoy your new tub SOON.
Cheers!
 
Tested again. My chlorine/bromine level is very low, I assume because my in.clear system is refusing to work. TA and PH are good.

So if my issue is TDS and the in.clear system won't work and generate chlorine/bromine, how do you lower TDS--just drain some and fill with tap water? But if my tap water's TDS is too high, then what?
 
Your tap water TDS will likely be low. For saltwater chlorine generator systems even in spas you almost always need to add salt since there isn't enough in most fill water. Even well water that is high in CH and TA usually doesn't have enough chloride salt for most generators.
 
Another update.

Drained about 1/5, ran diagnostic on the bromine system and hooray, it is right in the middle of the green on the bromine indicator.

So, I start the tests. Bromine/Chlorine--0. How is that possible? Now I have the system, appearing to tell me it's happy but when I run the test using the kit it doesn't change colour to yellow at all.

I do not understand this system?? If the in.clear is registering bromine, how can my test show up as 0? I don't want to start throwing bleach in cause I'm afraid it'll freak in the in.clear system. Does this make any sense?
 
The BromiCharge gauge measures bromide, not bromine, at least that is what the manual says. The test kit measures bromine.

You should go back to the manual and follow the startup procedure from the point where you have the BromiCharge gauge reading correctly, basically the top of page 12 in the copy I have.
 
There are several possible reasons, but by far the most likely is that you have not yet followed the final page of the startup instructions. Bromine doesn't appear instantly, the system takes time to produce it. Until you got a valid BromiCharge reading it wasn't turning on bromine generation. Then it takes time after that before you are expected to see a bromine reading. The manual clearly spells out step by step exactly what you are supposed to do. Until you get to the step where it asks you to take a bromine reading it really doesn't matter what the bromine reading is.
 

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Ok,

Back home from work and now my in.clear system is just flashing HI again. If the in.clear system gauge measures bromide, and I have not put in any since I tested yesterday when it was in the green, how can it now be registering as high? (Especially considering I drained 1/5 yesterday and didn't add any more bromide then). If anything it should be low at this point. I have quadruple checked the math that I put in the correct amount of bromicharge in the first place.

I tested my bromine/chlorine level, still reads as 0. No colour change through the test. I am at the point where it says to measure the bromine but again, my in.clear system won't produce bromine because it just constantly flashes HI.

The manual says that could be due to high TDS levels (as we've discussed), but if draining 1/5 as I did yesterday, or the entire thing as I did a week ago doesn't lower my TDS, then what is the deal?

I have put in requests to gecko to talk to someone about this but it's just an online form so who knows where that goes. This process is totally frustrating because not only is it not working, I have absolutely no idea why it's not working. If I could feel like I were working towards a resolution that'd be something, but I feel like I'm swimming blind and directionless.

Sorry for ranting, you've all be super helpful and I appreciate all the advice. I'm just utterly lost at this point. All I can think to do is go to a spa store and literally hire someone to come walk me through this baby step by baby step.

MORE

I just turned the in.clear system off and then back on. I then immediately ran the diagnostic. It says the bromide levels are in the green. So, I guess I'll leave it and hopefully it creates bromine/chlorine? That's what I did yesterday though and eventually at some point it turned to just flashing HI. I feel like I need to monitor this thing every 5 minutes. And I don't understand how just turning it off and then on would change the level.

Update--10 minutes later and it's flashing HI.
 
It apparently takes a while to measure the level. In the meantime it thinks it is alright. It is probably a kind of sensor that has a lot of noise, so it averages the reading over several hours. In that kind of situation when a level is on the edge it can think it is alright for a while before it gets enough data to decide that it is actually too high.

I suggest replacing 1/5 of the water with fresh again. If that doesn't do it it might be time to give up, but it isn't time to give up just yet.
 
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