Purging with ahhsome - water level

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I

irekz

Member
May 12, 2020
17
UK
Hi guys!
I have been doing my scheduled purge and refill (every 3 months) - as always with ahhsome.
Purge no1: 3 month old water - quite a bit of green goo discharged:

IMG_1367.JPG

As it was more than I was expecting, decided to dump the water, refill and purge again.

Purge no 2: nothing more discharged. Dumped water, refilled, sanitized, went to bed. Success!

Then something occurred to me: when doing a purge, water level is low (as there is no-one in the spa), but when we use the spa (up to 4 people), water level is much higher. Will this make a difference to the purge?

Purge no 3: just "for the science" I decided to raise water level to the max (a bit above what it would be with full set of people) and do another purge. I was not expecting much - but I got quite a lot of discharge! Don't have a photo but it was a mix of green and white stuff (never saw that before, white water mold?).

Lesson: for my spa water level during purge does seem to matter. Not sure why and how - but possibly high water level allows ahhsome to reach places that purge at the "normal" water level does not.

Cheers,
Irek
 
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I purged mine full to the brim and it made for easy scuz removal. A lot of it just foamed over the sides and I’d spray the sides with the hose as needed.

I found it easier to clean the patio than to clean the inside of the tub.
 
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irekz said:
Lesson: for my spa water level during purge does seem to matter. Not sure why and how - but possibly high water level allows ahhsome to reach places that purge at the "normal" water level does not.
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Perhaps what you think is the normal water level is actually too low and the pumps were sucking in air? On my spa, if I let the water get too low, this is what happens. The pumps start sucking air in at the filters and the air makes the pumps much less effective. If this happens then the pumps won't be pumping nearly as much as they should and probably won't dislodge as much as they otherwise would.

I'd almost be willing to bet money that what you consider normal water level with no people is actually underfilled per manufacture's spec. When my spa is at spec'd fill level (halfway up spillway) and we put six people in it WILL overflow. Then once we are out when the pumps kick on for a filter cycle they suck air. So if we have 5-6 people in our 6 person tub I always top it back up to the recommended water level once everybody is out. Kind of annoying but that's how it is. I've idly thought about putting a big water container near the tub so I can pump water into the container before we cram 5-6 people in the tub, then pump the water back into the tub afterwards, but we seldom have more than 4 people and we can fit 4 people, just barely, without the tub overflowing.
 
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jseyfert3 said:
I'd almost be willing to bet money that what you consider normal water level with no people is actually underfilled per manufacture's spec.
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I think you are right. Our spa is small (due to space constraints) and I have to keep water level low on fill - so after myself, wife and two kids get in -> it's close to the max. This means that level with no people is low/maybe-undefilled. Some areas of skimmer will not be touched by ahhsome at this no-one-in-the-water level - possibly new gunk was indeed flushed from the pipes and maybe some extra areas submerged.

When everyone is out - 4x shoulder jets are fully exposed and could suck some air, but opening/closing those does not seem to change water pressure from the jets (which is really good) - but you might be right that even a small change in water pressure could disloge some more stuff.

Good comments, thank you!
 
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Hi everyone.
I wonder if there is one more possibility of why water level allows to disloge more biofilm: air system for jets. Not 100% sure so your comments I welecome.

I don't have a blower but venturi system where jets connected to an air mainfold and air valve at top of the spa.
I think air pipes might fill with water when jets are off - up to the water line). If that's the case then biofilm can build up there as water is not circulating in air pipes (but it's pushed out when I switch jets on, and flows back when jets are off - all with little of pressure). My air system works well, but I noticed it takes longer for air bubbles to come out - if jets were off for a long time (puring water for the first few seconds?).

Am I correct in assuming that water is present/expected in air system when jets are off, or should be there some kind of non-return valve? (will double check next time I open the spa cabinet).

Cheers!
Irek
 
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