Hi. Thanks to everyone here who has taken the time to help out, over and over, week after week. It's truly a tremendous site.
I've been testing my water and logging it, and have converted to a Saltron swg. But I've got a lot of questions still as I read so many different things on this site. I apologize for the complexity of this post in advance, I write walls of text.
I have a 425g bullfrog tub that is at 101deg. I have been able to keep my pH at 7.4-7.5 sitting and 7.7 after a couple hours use. My CH has been 240 every time I test and the TA is at 40-50 at my current pH levels. These have been very steady after testing multiple times a day.
My salt level has also been static at 2400ppm. Assuming my 30ppm borate and 40ppm CYA have not changed as I've only topped off some fresh water once and only an inch.
I have read here that 20-30 CYA is plenty, yet the FC to CYA conversion shows a SWCG to be 60CYA minimum. What would the consensus be then on a mostly covered outdoor spa be?
Also on borates, I read 30 to 50 but is there truly an ideal?
Does salt water cause either of these to have an optimum?
Bearing in mind that my tub is under UV filtering and covered most of the day, should my Ozone be turned on to help with the CC? I have been struggling with the CC. I have read 0.3-0.5 is the maximum and to shock if above that. Mine has been 1 to 1.5 usually and a few times at 2CC. I have shocked it up to 32ppm FC but that did not bring it down. I've left the top open but that also did not bring it down. I've had my Ozone off since before converting to salt water.
I've found I need to run my saltron swcg at 16 hours per day and that if I start out at 4FC in the evening and 2 people use the tub for 2 hours that after 16 hours I am lucky to have 1ppm FC. I had thought the swg would emit .8ppm FC per hour according to what it states yet I end up with only 1ppm after 16 hours.
So the questions could be:
1. while the salinity is 2400 and within specs, would more salt = more chlorine per hour generated?
2. since my CC is above 1, is this presence interfering with the swg?
3. is the CYA at 40 perhaps too much buffer for the FC and not allowing the CC to drop?
4. since there is lack of off-gassing and UV help, is the CC just going to stay up, and if so
a. would turning ozone back on help
b. would MPS help here and is it really advisable to use. I was under the assumption to not if you don't have to
5. is it possible I am just anticipating the swg to do more than it should or that I have a completely illogical set of assumptions going on here?
I realize there is no "this is your number exactly" type of answer. I'm very much a detail guy and am very interested in having my water be the best quality. I'm thinking about ahh-some drain and start over but the water is stable other than the CC a little too high and FC not generating as fast as I thought it should.
Thanks for any suggestions.
I've been testing my water and logging it, and have converted to a Saltron swg. But I've got a lot of questions still as I read so many different things on this site. I apologize for the complexity of this post in advance, I write walls of text.
I have a 425g bullfrog tub that is at 101deg. I have been able to keep my pH at 7.4-7.5 sitting and 7.7 after a couple hours use. My CH has been 240 every time I test and the TA is at 40-50 at my current pH levels. These have been very steady after testing multiple times a day.
My salt level has also been static at 2400ppm. Assuming my 30ppm borate and 40ppm CYA have not changed as I've only topped off some fresh water once and only an inch.
I have read here that 20-30 CYA is plenty, yet the FC to CYA conversion shows a SWCG to be 60CYA minimum. What would the consensus be then on a mostly covered outdoor spa be?
Also on borates, I read 30 to 50 but is there truly an ideal?
Does salt water cause either of these to have an optimum?
Bearing in mind that my tub is under UV filtering and covered most of the day, should my Ozone be turned on to help with the CC? I have been struggling with the CC. I have read 0.3-0.5 is the maximum and to shock if above that. Mine has been 1 to 1.5 usually and a few times at 2CC. I have shocked it up to 32ppm FC but that did not bring it down. I've left the top open but that also did not bring it down. I've had my Ozone off since before converting to salt water.
I've found I need to run my saltron swcg at 16 hours per day and that if I start out at 4FC in the evening and 2 people use the tub for 2 hours that after 16 hours I am lucky to have 1ppm FC. I had thought the swg would emit .8ppm FC per hour according to what it states yet I end up with only 1ppm after 16 hours.
So the questions could be:
1. while the salinity is 2400 and within specs, would more salt = more chlorine per hour generated?
2. since my CC is above 1, is this presence interfering with the swg?
3. is the CYA at 40 perhaps too much buffer for the FC and not allowing the CC to drop?
4. since there is lack of off-gassing and UV help, is the CC just going to stay up, and if so
a. would turning ozone back on help
b. would MPS help here and is it really advisable to use. I was under the assumption to not if you don't have to
5. is it possible I am just anticipating the swg to do more than it should or that I have a completely illogical set of assumptions going on here?
I realize there is no "this is your number exactly" type of answer. I'm very much a detail guy and am very interested in having my water be the best quality. I'm thinking about ahh-some drain and start over but the water is stable other than the CC a little too high and FC not generating as fast as I thought it should.
Thanks for any suggestions.