White Flakes in Hot Springs Limelight hotub

[HotTubKevin]

Hi all,
If someone could help me with the steps to fix this and any special cleaning/flushing products to use, it would be greatly appreciated.

I have crazy white Flakes in my snowglobe/hotub. They appeared after I drained and refilled it yesterday and turned the jets on. I did let it sit for a month without checking or doing chemicals. FYI, I did not turn the jets on before I drained it otherwise I would've maybe seen it before. The heater was on and was at 101 degrees. I use Leisure Time for chemicals, spa56, renew, enzyme, defender, bright n clear, calcium booster, spa up, and metal gon for refills. The temp is now set at 99 degrees.

So, I googled it and then tested 8 ounces water with 20 drops of bleach and the flakes are still there, so I assume it is calcium scale deposits and not bio film, but that's a best guess on my part.

I read and searched what to do but did not find clear steps nor what to use to 'flush' the hotub or what to use to flush it. I did some some good steps for someone using bromine on this forum but I'm not sure if the steps are same for a chlorine user.

I also read about using some pipe cleaners. I'm not sure how to figure out the sizes to get and even if they would fit in the holes, so some advice here is welcomed as well.

I also read that water hardness can cause this, but I've always had to add Calcium Booster on every fill up to get it between 25-400, right now it is reading 0 zero because I didn't want to boost it if those are calcium based flakes and I want them to go away. My Alkaline and pH are super low, at 0 zero, because I didn't want to add Spa Up since I read that high alkalinity and pH are a cause of it.

Also, the flakes did settle a lot and I used my manual "Magic Vac" to suck out the settled ones and I did get a surprising amount of them. Now it looks less like a snowglobe and more like a problematic flaky hotub.

I've had this hotub for 12 years running all the time every day, and another for 10 years prior to this and never ran into anything like this before.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome Kevin! It does sound as though you have excess calcium in the water. FYI - as long as you have about 100 -150 ppm of CH in the water, it should be adequate to prevent foaming. You might even be okay with less than 100 as long as there is no foaming. The hot tub shell itself (fiberglass or acrylic) doesn't need calcium like a plaster spa would.

If I were in your shoes, this would be my hot tub get-well plan:
1. Do an Ahh-Some purge to clean and flush out the tub and all plumbing.
2. Order a TF-Series (or Taylor K-2006C) test kit. You MUST have one of those to accurately test your levels. Test strips aren't worth the paper they are printed on.
3. Begin to balance your water as noted in one of the links below. Chlorine seems to be the crowd fav and standard, but we do have bromine users on the forum. So the choice is certainly up to you.

@Mdragger88 may have more tips for you as well. Hope that helps.

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

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

How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?

Originally Posted by waterbear There is a lot of misinformation on the proper way to use Bromine so I hope this primer is helpful. First, you need to establish a bromide reserve in the water. Bromine tablets can do it by themselves but it can take literally weeks until enough dissolves. Some...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[HotTubKevin]

Welcome Kevin! It does sound as though you have excess calcium in the water. FYI - as long as you have about 100 -150 ppm of CH in the water, it should be adequate to prevent foaming. You might even be okay with less than 100 as long as there is no foaming. The hot tub shell itself (fiberglass or acrylic) doesn't need calcium like a plaster spa would.

If I were in your shoes, this would be my hot tub get-well plan:
1. Do an Ahh-Some purge to clean and flush out the tub and all plumbing.
2. Order a TF-Series (or Taylor K-2006C) test kit. You MUST have one of those to accurately test your levels. Test strips aren't worth the paper they are printed on.
3. Begin to balance your water as noted in one of the links below. Chlorine seems to be the crowd fav and standard, but we do have bromine users on the forum. So the choice is certainly up to you.

@Mdragger88 may have more tips for you as well. Hope that helps.

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

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

How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?

Originally Posted by waterbear There is a lot of misinformation on the proper way to use Bromine so I hope this primer is helpful. First, you need to establish a bromide reserve in the water. Bromine tablets can do it by themselves but it can take literally weeks until enough dissolves. Some...

www.troublefreepool.com

Thanks Texas,
I ordered some Ahh-some and a kit Taylor K-2006C from Amazon, they should be here Wednesday.

I have sucked out what I can of the flakes and rinsed out the filter twice this morning. I see it's helping by the flakes I'm getting out, but there seems to be a never ending supply of them, haha. I'll continue to do what I can until the purge stuff arrives. I'll turn the temp down into the 80's since I'm not using it this week, and I'll add some Spa Up just so the alkalinity and pH don't stay too low.

Say, if my Calcium is reading closer to zero than 100, and it's never really read high in the past, then how did this happen? I understand I neglected it for a month, but what does that do? FYI, I usually only use the Leisure Time Calcium Booster after a fill up.

One more question, should I add extra chlorine while in limbo here?

 

[HotTubKevin]

Here is how it looks now

 

[Texas Splash]

Say, if my Calcium is reading closer to zero than 100, and it's never really read high in the past, then how did this happen?

I would have to assume you have really soft water. But remember, those test strips are really, really bad. When you receive your K-2006, your eyes may not believe the new results.

One more question, should I add extra chlorine while in limbo here?

You can, but it sounds like you will be doing an Ahh-Some purge and full water dump soon anyway, so you might try to not waste too much chemicals for now if you can.

 

[Mdragger88]

@Texas Splash has pretty much covered all the bases. Just follow the steps he’s laid out.

If in the past you’ve been raising ch to 400ppm & regularly having high ph it’s possible that scale has built up in the plumbing/equipment.
Its also a huge possibility that you have biofilms in the plumbing as well.
If Your current condition is truly very acidic water that may have potentially loosened this scale. That’s If those strips are remotely close - They can easily get bleached out so your guess is as good as ours.

Note* Leaving the tub with acidic water in it for any length of time is not really advisable.
Note 2* dichlor (spa 56) is acidic & lowers ph & subsequently ta - it also adds cya.
I assume this is how you tanked your ph/ta.
The only thing I would suggest doing until your kit & Ahhsome come in is to add enough baking soda to get ta to 50.
Use PoolMath to calculate amounts.

* You can attempt to add a little drop of muriatic acid to the flakes to see if it fizzes to confirm they are calcium.
(Do this in a place that won’t be harmed by the acid somewhere outside of the tub)

 

[HotTubKevin]

Thanks Mdragger88, I did add some Spa Up a couple days ago and the stripes say it's in the 80 range, hopefully I am good until Wed or Thursday when the purge stuff arrives.

I hope the instructions are clear.

Any tips or steps on using Aah-some are welcome. Especially around the draining and then refilling. I do not have any pipe cleaners or way to get in any holes.

Also, I took the filter out as I rinsed it after running the Jets for a while, probably 10 times in a couple days, and I feel like all the flakes were not being rinsed out.

The hotub looks pretty good now, between filter rinsing and the net I was using to scoop them out, it is no longer a snow globe, but more of a nuisance.

 

[HotTubKevin]

Hi Mdragger88, I don't have any muriatic acid so perhaps tomorrow I'll try to pick some up at the hardware store

 

[Mdragger88]

If all you have is a spa (no pool) just get 1 gallon Muriatic acid. Depending upon where you shop the full strength stuff (31.45%) might only be available in a 2 gallon pack which may last you a lifetime lol. Getting the 1/2 strength stuff is fine if thats how to just get a gallon. just means you use more - so long as you put the correct % in PoolMath either is fine.
Here’s a video on the Ahhsome purge

 

[HotTubKevin]

If all you have is a spa (no pool) just get 1 gallon Muriatic acid. Depending upon where you shop the full strength stuff (31.45%) might only be available in a 2 gallon pack which may last you a lifetime lol. Getting the 1/2 strength stuff is fine if thats how to just get a gallon. just means you use more - so long as you put the correct % in PoolMath either is fine.
Here’s a video on the Ahhsome purge

A gallon, geeze. I'm not sure if I can mentally fit another gallon jug on the forever wall. Haha. But I'll try

 

[Mdragger88]

A gallon, geeze. I'm not sure if I can mentally fit another gallon jug on the forever wall. Haha. But I'll try

Note* muriatic acid should be stored outdoors away from other chems as the bottle releases vapors that will destroy metal objects in the vicinity like shelves.
You can put the jug in a bucket with a lid if you need to. I keep mine under my patio.