What Am I Doing Wrong

[Trey9007]

A few weeks ago I noticed a white flakey substance on the surface of my tub. I have since drained the tub and had to use my power washer and vinegar to clear the flakes. In error, the other day I added too much MA when balancing my water and my PH took a dive. So I have started to add Borax. Problem is the borax does not seem to be dissolving. When the jets are off the borax seems to just sit on the acrylic surface. Its seems to settle in the same places where I had the white flakey stains, which makes me think the Borax was culprit. Is there a certain way to add Borax to the tub? Right now, I simply add borax to a container, add water, stir pretty good, and pour it into the tub. What am I doing wrong?

 

[JasonLion]

Please post a complete set of water test results, especially a CH level. I suspect calcium scaling, rather than undissolved borax. Borax dissolves very easily and quickly.

The best way to add borax is to pre-dissolve it in a bucket, and then pour into the pool/spa slowly in front of a return jet while the pump is running.

 

[Trey9007]

Ill post my numbers when I can, a little later. CH scaling was my initial thought as well. But I dont think its a CH problem. For one, my CH was in range, and because now that I think about it, when it happend the first time, I had just added a dosage of Borax.

I wonder if Im not dissolving it enough.

 

[chem geek]

The CH needs to be lower in a spa than in a pool and should not be higher than 150 ppm. This is because the water temperature of the spa is higher than a pool. Also, the TA needs to be lower in a spa than in a pool (at least when using hypochlorite sources of chlorine) because of the higher temperature and aeration jets in a spa that cause the pH to rise more quickly. A high pH, TA and CH will cause calcium carbonate scaling/precipitation.

 

[Trey9007]

I do apologize for not posting back. But after allowing the pump run a little longer everything was OK. But hearing you guys say Borax dilutes very easy, made me do a little more investigating about what happened to my tub. Found out wifey added a product called Clorox Spa Passion. It an aroma product. But on the back it says do not allow the product to settle on tub surface, which is what I'm pretty sure happened as she admits she didn't read the label. So if anyone reading this decides to use this product, I would proceed with caution. I had to empty tub, use power washer on the med setting and scrub with vinegar to get that stuff off.

Now my problem is that I'm still not getting a PH reading. Is it possible to use so much MA that the PH will not come back after adding borax. Ive almost used an entire box,and still no PH reading. I'm starting to think I may be in for another water change...

 

[JasonLion]

Could you explain what "not getting a PH reading" means? The standard PH test always turns some color.

Muriatic acid is very concentrated compared to borax, it takes several boxes of borax to cancel out one gallon of acid.

 

[Trey9007]

Yes it does turn a color. 'Not getting reading' meaning the color is lighter than the color for 7.0.

I will grab a 2 more boxes and continue.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Is the cost of buying additional boxes of borax less than just dumping and refilling?

 

[JasonLion]

In a spa, the normal way to raise the PH is to raise the TA slightly and then run the spa jets for a couple of minutes. You typically want the TA around 40 or 50, whatever gives you the correct PH.

 

[Trey9007]

I was thinking the same thing. But either way I will have to so some kind of water balancing so Ill probably just stick with adding borax. Ive been doing small dosages until now. I will increase my dosage and hopfully be back tubing shortly.

- - - Updated - - -

Ahh.. I will use that approach.


thanks!

 

[Trey9007]

Wow!!! That was fast. TA is now 50 and PH is 7.4.


THANKS!!!