Ahh-Some Questions for First Purge

Lacey said:

Hello,

I know you all are probably getting sick of me, so THANK YOU to everyone who is taking the time to answer my endless questions!

I purchased ahh-some before my spa even arrived haha. I've already disclosed in a previous post, I got too excited to get in my new spa and I didn't purge. I immediately regretted it. It's been 2 weeks and the water is starting to foam and looking cloudy. I'm ready to purge, just as soon as the temp gets above freezing. We've currently been hovering in the 20's. I have a few questions though.

1. I've heard to scoop out the foam as it appears with a pool net and wipe the edges with a paper towel, do I need to try to always be getting ALL the foam out, or do I let it foam up and just wipe the gunk off the sides?

2. Do I need to blow out the plumbing in between purges? Unless no gunk comes out (highly unlikely), I am planning on doing at least 2 purges.

3. Do I NEED to drain in between purges, or can I continue to add more ahh-some until no more gunk is coming out? I saw another poster did not drain in between purges, but I wanted to make sure it was effective to go this route? Not draining would be ideal considering the outdoor temps we've been having...

4. Do I NEED to reheat the water before purging each time? This would add a FULL day in between each purge, again due to the outside temp being below freezing...

5. IF I am refilling, do I need to adjust alkalinity and pH? This took me a ~6 hours to get my alkalinity down to 50... Or, can I just add bleach?

6. Lets talk about "rinsing". Do you close the drain, fill up the spa and turn on the pumps to rinse them out, or do you just rinse the sides with a hose and let the water drain out?

7. I was told, it vitally important to dose with shock level chlorine during the purge, do you test and keep adding chlorine during the purging process (~every hour) or do I just get it up to shock levels and leave it? I plan on running it for 30 minutes, letting it sit for 2-3 hours, then running again for another 30 minutes before draining (or if a drain isn't necessary, depending on answer's to question #3), adding more ahh-some).

8. I purchased the ahh-some on amazon. I was so excited to try it, I used some in my jetted bathtub. I got zero results. No foaming, no gunk, nothing. The water looked great. Is it possible I got a bad batch or is my tub just that clean? We run bleach or vinegar through it once a month and rarely use it, but I was expecting to at least see the "normal" foaming. We tried adding more and more with no results. Thoughts? (for reference, I have the Ahh-Some "Hot Tub/Jetted Bath Plumbing & Jet Cleaner")

Again, I apologize for all the questions! I know I am probably over complicating things, but I really do appreciate everyone who takes the time to help!

Thank you!!!

Lacey

Click to expand...

Hi Lacey: Thank you for your Ahhsome purchase. I will try to answer all you4 questions. First off, foaming is normal and you should keep it in the tub providing it is not overflowing during the purge. Ahhsome dissolves faster in hot water but hot water is not necessary to provide an effective purge. It is good to wipe away any gunk you see &orming at the waterline during the purge. This can be a very sticky gooey substance and we don’t want it to adhere to the hot tub shell, especially, if it is acrylic.
You do NOT have to “blow out” the plumbing after the drain is completed. Many people do in an effort to release any gunk that may have drained back into the piping during the drain and rinse.
We DO recommend draining after the first purge. If you do more than two purges back to back you can simply add half the amount of the Ahhsome gel for that purge and use the same water.
There is NO need to balance the pH and alkalinity before doing the purge(s). We DO want you to add a small amount of sanitizer, generally DiChlor granular or liquid chlorine bleach, just prior yo doing the purge. This is because the sanitizer will help oxidize and kill any bacteria and organic that may be released during the purge.
We recommend just draining the hot tub and rinsing it with a garden hose after the purge which can be completed in 30-60 minutes. The longer you let the Ahhsome come in contact with any contaminants inside the plumbing a more complete purge will result. We caution people to be sure to wipe away any sticky bio-matter and not let it dry on the shell. Be sure to remove any pillows or headrests before the purge. Another thing we find helpful is to intermittently turn the jets on for a minute or so, shut them off for a minute or so and turn them on again. The water flow helps our product dig deeper into the biofilm matrix. Ahhsome will NOT harm your plumbing or seals. It is non-acidic and has a pH of 8.5-9.5.
Lets talk about your jetted tub. If your water is what is considered “hard” the foaming will be drastically less. There is no possible way that the gel you purchased is bad or not containing the active ingredients. We have had the product tested for EPA compliance for stability and corrosion effects and the product was proven stable. Whynyoumdidn’t Get and gunk from your jetted tub is a good thing for you. Apparently, you are doing a very good job of keeping the plumbing clean. Please keep this forum posted as to your hot tub purge.

Lacey said:

I take it ALL back!!! I didn't have my air jets open...it absolutely doesn't work without them open. Almost instantly I got foam and green slime! SOOO much green gunk! Unfortunately, I had already sent the help that I recruited home after the first round was a flop. Now I'm on my own, but I'm still having a great time!

I've taken so many pictures and I will post some of the best ones tonight (I'm a nurse, I like the gross stuff )

Click to expand...

Hi Lacey: You must be the lady I called tonight based on what I am reading. I always answer my messages. My Son Jim and I were flying in from Oregon after meeting with retailers today and were not available to take your earlier call. Sorry about that. We try to be available 7 days a week. In any event, if you are the lady in Nebraska, I think your questions were answered. Glad to hear about all the gunk you released. Happy Thanksgiving. PS: Your sanitizer demand will drop dramatically.

I did my first ahh some purge yesterday. Tub was brand new 10 weeks ago and wasn't purged on very first fill.
So I did the purge and a got a fair amount of foaming and some green black biofilm mostly just in the filter compartment. Since I didn't get much I did a second purge with half as much ahh-some and didn't get anything else, so I drained and refilled. Now I'm chasing the pH and alkalinity down last night and this morning and haven't added anything else besides some Metal-Gon yet and just now I go out and find a small amount of biofilms along one edge and a fair amount in the filter compartment. Any ideas what's going on? Maybe just the last remnants getting freed up? I really don't want to go through the process again.

You don’t have do nothing except wipe the gunk off the waterline and in the filter compartment area. Balance the water and practice good sanitizer control. When you do purge, much of the biofilms will collect in the filter area as the suction pulls it into that area. what you are noticing are remnants of the purge. You may have to wipe the waterline for a few days If you see any gunk accumulating. So glad that you did release a substantial amount of nasty gunk.