New Salt Hot Spring Grandee

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imaslyanchuk

Member
Jul 20, 2022
16
Inman SC
Hi everyone, few weeks ago I bought a Hot Spring Grandee with Salt cartridge and Silver Ion stick.

I had the salt output at 7 at first when they set it up. Everything was good. Been hitting the boost button every time we used it adding chlorine when needed. Then my wifes girl friends were in the tub and even though she told them to not have make up and other products on i think they did and now water is foaming when jets are on. Also i noticed that chlorine is being eaten up too quickly. I've increased salt output level to 9 and been adding chlorine each day to make sure it doesn't completely get to empty. Water is still foamy with jets on. Is it due to makeup products, swimsuits washed with detergent being in hot tub?

I tested the water today with Taylor test kit and my results were:

TA 50
CYA 90
Ph 7.8
Chlorine 5-10
Calcium Hardness 25

Ive been using Spa Guard Chlorinating Concentrate to add chlorine when low, SpaGuard Total Alkalinity Increaser to increase TA when low, SpaGuard pH increaser to increase pH when low.

Should i be using different products to balance water since i never see these products recommended on here? can some recommend them with specific links since i see Dichlor recommended but i don't know what that means. and what levels should i be targeting with the salt system?
 
With a test result of 5-10, Your chlorine test is inadequate. Are you using strips?

You have very likely identified the foam culprit as oils (from make up usually). The solution is a VERY easy fix.......more chlorine. How much more is influenced by your true FC in the pool now.

Please tell us what test kit you are using.
 
Sorry not Taylot but TF Pro test kit.

for chlorine i used the yellow red block that checks ph and chlorine. I'll do the actual chlorine FC test tommorow.

For TA, CYA and CH i used the instructions from TF Pro test kit.

How much chlorine should i add to completely eliminate oils/makeup to prevent foaming? is it one time shock thing or overtime?
 
Your cya is now very high from all the dichlor (sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate) you have used - this will make it very difficult to keep fc above minimum for your cya at all times (which is essential to prevent the proliferation of nasties 🤢)
& requires a much higher fc level than you are likely achieving to reach SLAM Process level & attempt to clear your problem that has arisen due to having to inadequate fc levels.
See —> FC/CYA Levels

Here’s how every tablespoon of 99% dichlor effects your water
👇
2CA6B8F4-2ED3-4114-9D71-9C1C895F15A0.png
The ta increaser ( Sodium hydrogen carbonate/sodium bicarbonate) is just very expensive baking soda.
The ph increaser (sodium carbonate) is just very expensive soda ash/ washing soda.
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Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.
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Non-Recommended Pool Chemicals

These pool chemicals should not be added to your pool. Save your money and frustration and avoid these chemicals!
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To get your issue under control you will need to replace at least 1/2 of the water to get cya under control so might as well do an Ahhsome purge to eliminate biofilms (especially if you haven’t done one yet), then drain & start fresh.
This time using this guide
👇

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...
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Basically, You should stop using dichlor & switch to liquid chlorine when cya gets to 30ppm - this will also have less detrimental effects on ph & ta than the acidic dichlor likely mostly eliminating the need to use baking soda/soda ash on a regular basis.

It is essential that you use the fas/dpd tests (fc &cc) so you can differentiate between the fc (good stuff)
& cc’s (bad stuff) as more than .5 cc’s is indicative of a problem.
The yellow oto test only measures TC (total chlorine) which is the combined total of fc & cc so you have no clue if you’ve got good stuff or bad stuff 🤷‍♀️.
It also only goes to 5ppm (the 10 is for bromine measurements). It is not very precise, more of a “do I have any chlorine or not?” Kinda test.
 
So it's okay to use all those pool products (liquid chlorine, baking soda, soda ash, washing soda) from recommend pool chemicals guide in hot tub? Hot tub people kept saying over and over not to use pool chemicals in hot tub.

Also what's the best way to setup the pool math app for hottub? What would I select for type of pool? Fiberglass? Also for type of sanitizer used? Bleach or SWG?. And which chemicals should I track?

Thank you so much for all this help.
 
It is perfectly fine, They are the same chemicals- only in different sized packages for different prices. The important thing is to know what your ingredients are - PoolMath only uses the actual ingredient/chem names so that should tell you something 😊
The one exception is trichlor pucks- they dissolve very rapidly in a spa environment putting out high levels of fc & are very acidic which can damage your surfaces & equipment.
All the “hot tub people” sell the expensive products that they are telling you to use.
I use pool salt (softener salt is fine too), a little dichlor, muriatic acid, liquid chlorine/unadulterated bleach, boric acid for borates if desired & Rarely baking soda (if I make a mistake with an acid dose).
I also purge with Ahhsome twice a year. The one thing that doesn’t get used in my pool is the Ahhsome because I don’t need it there.

For poolmath setup select vinyl & swg - be sure to turn on salt & Combined under tracking so they show up on the overview page.
Also at the bottom of that menu you can switch on sharing w/ tfp & we will be able to see your logs via clicking on your avatar. This is helpful for diagnosis if you encounter problems & seek advice.
 
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One other note - if you use granular cya in your pool & wish to use that to reach 30ppm in your spa instead of using dichlor you can certainly do so but use a scale to measure it because it is easy to overshoot your target. I sometimes do this if I have some on hand. The 99% dichlor is generally only sold as a dedicated spa product - steer clear of any that say “blue” on them or that aren’t 99%.
For reference in 3+ years I’ve used a little over 2# of dichlor. It’s not something you need a ton of.
I use it for startup (to get to 30ppm cya) & a little every week or two to replenish cya.
The swg takes care of the standby fc & I dose with liquid chlorine to compensate for bather waste when the tub is used.
 
Retested the water today.

FC 4.5
CC 1.5
TC 6.0
TA 60
CYA 80
CH 25
Ph 7.5

I bought some liquid chlorine (Pool Essentials Pool Chlorinating Liquid), baking soda (Arm & Hammer 12lb Baking Soda), muriatic acid (HDX 1 Gal Muriatic Acid Balancer) from home depot. Hope those are the correct chemicals. Will try to maintain water using them combined with Pool Math app. Also will get Arm & Hammer Laundry Booster Super washing soda and 20 Mule team Borax detergent booster.

Do i add a certain amount of liquid chlorine every time i use hot tub? what amount? or after i use hot tub? what amount? or only if chlorine is low and let Salt cartridge do the work?
 
I will try to shock it first. According to Pool Math for shock level target its telling me 31 FC and to add 15oz of 10% Bleach (Liquid Chlorine in my case). Does that seem right?

when I shock do I let the jets run for longer or usual 10 min cycle is enough since the hot tub has one pump running all the time to circulate water?
 

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Yes, but check again in an hour or so. If there's a drop you add again. Keep it up until there is no drop. No need to do CCs until your FC is holding.

But I would purge. This is what came out of my purge when new. Continuously for 20 minutes, let it sit and ran the jets again, got some more but cleared up.
IMG_20220629_142812_01.jpg

IMG_20220629_142812_01.jpg

 
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You probably won’t need soda ash, baking soda or borax but they are good to have on hand. You can use up the expensive chems you have - they aren’t hurting anything, just over priced.
Please use pool math effects of adding to see each one’s effects on all parameters BEFORE using them.
To solve your issue You will need to MAINTAIN that SLAM Process level until there are .5 cc’s or less & the water is clear. This can be an arduous task. If it takes more than a few rounds of raising to slam level most people cut their losses & purge, drain, refill.
Mixing liquid chlorine (or any chem added) for 10 minutes is plenty sufficient. If your tub is 450 gal then the amount of liquid chlorine you posted is correct 👍🏻

Please understand, Even new hot tubs can contain Biofims as they are wet tested at the factory then things grow in the plumbing while in transit to you. This gives many a higher fc demand right out of the gate & they struggle with keeping fc in range then things go south quickly. This is why an Ahhsome purge is suggested, chlorine alone cannot remove all the biofilms. Even tubs that have never had fc below minimum for their cya & are impeccably maintained accumulate biofilms & should be purged & refilled at least twice a year.

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JoeSelf said:
Yes, but check again in an hour or so. If there's a drop you add again. Keep it up until there is no drop. No need to do CCs until your FC is holding.

But I would purge. This is what came out of my purge when new. Continuously for 20 minutes, let it sit and ran the jets again, got some more but cleared up.
IMG_20220629_142812_01.jpg

IMG_20220629_142812_01.jpg

Click to expand...

Added 20oz of 7.5% bleach to SLAM FC to 31. Had the jets run for 30 mins. waited another 30 mins rechecked FC it was at 21.5 so I added 7oz more of bleach. Will recheck FC later tonight again.

When I was buying the tub I asked the sales lady if I should do Ahhhsome to clear out oils from pipes because i read here that it was recommended but she said no and shes worked there for a long time and never had anyone doing anything to clean out the pipes. Not sure why they don't just recommend doing it. I would expect selling that many hot tubs they would know about the oils.

If the Slaming works how long do i need to wait before anyone can go in hot tub? does FC need to drift to certain level first?
 
Drop of 10 FC in an hour. Something in there. I would wait until the CC's drop to .5 or less.

But under SLAM FC is safe to go in for chlorine. But if you still have high CCs there's something in there.

Its BioFilms not oils. And it's not going away until you purge.
 
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JoeSelf said:
Drop of 10 FC in an hour. Something in there. I would wait until the CC's drop to .5 or less.

But under SLAM FC is safe to go in for chlorine. But if you still have high CCs there's something in there.

Its BioFilms not oils. And it's not going away until you purge.
Click to expand...

I bought some Ahhhsome today should be here in few days.

How much bleach/liquod chlorine should i add after/before hottub use? is it dependent on how many people? Usually its wife and I and kids sometimes but on weekends sometimes there could be more people.
 
Your testing will tell you. Depends on where you start FC at and FC level after.

I add 1/2 Oz per person of 12% in 410 gallons before and more after. I have ozone that runs 8hrs at night, so that takes care of CCs and higher FC amounts. Sometimes I hit the ozone button after about ten minutes when I get cold and shut the cover. It will run for 1 hour and complete what ever is left of the 8 hrs thru the night.
 
imaslyanchuk said:
For CYA test when do you decide to stop? I almost feel like my brain is playing tricks on me, feel like i can still see the dot but not really. Do i stop when i can't see the dot at all? or if i see any tint of dot i continue?
Click to expand...
Yeah that’s the test most people have the hardest time with. I bought a bottle of standard testing solution to teach myself what the end of the test actually should look like. You simply use the standard solution instead of the pool/spa water. You run the test and know that the test result should be 50ppm. Whatever that looks like to you at the 50ppm mark is what the dot is supposed to look like at the end of any test. It basically just shows you what to look for under any kind of conditions. Once you know, you know.

tftestkits.net

R-7065 CYA Standard 50ppm (2oz)

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net
 

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