New Hot Tub Owner - Taylor Test Kit

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Let it be for a few hours. CYA mixes much faster in a hot tub than in a pool, but like you said, you won't over do it with some patience. :)

Also recognize the test may be a bit skewed later in the afternoon once the sun isn't as high in the sky.
 
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Newdude said:
Let it be for a few hours. CYA mixes much faster in a hot tub than in a pool, but like you said, you won't over do it with some patience. :)

Also recognize the test may be a bit skewed later in the afternoon once the sun isn't as high in the sky.
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Will do. Thanks. Running dangerously low on R-0013 (maybe two tests left but more on the way from Amazon).
 
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mwhitney said:
I feel like I have a counsel of elders here in the room nearly in real-time.
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When we were on the old chem schedule, the hot tub store recommended keeping the cover off when adding chemicals for 20-45 minutes. Is this necessary for adding Dichlor / Liquid Chlorine or can we add, and close the lid?

Also - is it recommended to wait go in until we have the DiChlor / Chlorine dialled? Given what's been said, I'm assuming going in early could make it a challenge to get this initial setup right (skewing values).
 
mwhitney said:
When we were on the old chem schedule, the hot tub store recommended keeping the cover off when adding chemicals for 20-45 minutes. Is this necessary for adding Dichlor / Liquid Chlorine or can we add, and close the lid?
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5 mins is probably plenty.
mwhitney said:
Also - is it recommended to wait go in until we have the DiChlor / Chlorine dialled? Given what's been said, I'm assuming going in early could make it a challenge to get this initial setup right (skewing values).
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Going in won't alter the CYA, but it will consume FC. You'll also have some FC consumption afterwards as the residuals are oxidizing from your soak.

I say hop in and dose FC as necessary after the soak. Maybe you use up what you had. Maybe there's a little left and you only need a couple ppm. It might also use up what you add afterwards by tomorrow. But it'll tell you at every step.
(Notice the recurring theme ? :) )
 
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Newdude said:
5 mins is probably plenty.

Going in won't alter the CYA, but it will consume FC. You'll also have some FC consumption afterwards as the residuals are oxidizing from your soak.

I say hop in and dose FC as necessary after the soak. Maybe you use up what you had. Maybe there's a little left and you only need a couple ppm. It might also use up what you add afterwards by tomorrow. But it'll tell you at every step.
(Notice the recurring theme ? :) )
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Cheers.
Just so I have this right:
  1. I'm testing CYA with the R-0013 to get it to 30-40 (perhaps a bit higher knowing it will come down).
  2. Then, use the calculator, here to adjust with liquid chlorine. Ex: if CYA is 40ppm, our target Free Chlorine (FC) is 5-7)
  3. Chlorine is tested via the K-1515A kit.
  4. Enter those values into the Free Chlorine tab in the PoolMath app to determine how much liquid chlorine to add.
  5. Continue to monitor and test daily, ad infinitum
>>> Once dialled, and moving forward, we're testing for CYA first and foremost? Am I on-point? Brain is starting to hurt as I'm consolidating all this info (probably making it harder than it is).
 
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mwhitney said:
I'm testing CYA with the R-0013 to get it to 30-40 (perhaps a bit higher knowing it will come down).
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Perfect. Get to 30 and if you overshoot a little, it's no biggie.
mwhitney said:
Then, use the calculator, here to adjust with liquid chlorine. Ex: if CYA is 40ppm, our target Free Chlorine (FC) is 5-7)
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I like the app. The forum calculator works too, as does the 'old poolmath page' link towards the bottom of any forum page.

So with a spa, the target level won't swing to UV loss like a pool would. As said above, daily swing will be all over the place depending on use. The poolmath targets are so the sun can burn off 4ppm a day in the peak season.

Personally, I overshoot target range to fall back into it and remain freeeeeeee and clear from min. Look how much wiggle room you have between high target and slam. And look how little there is from low target to minimum.

lc_chart.jpg

At 30 CYA, you can start at 9, lose 4 from your soak, and still be golden. If you start at 5, 'in range', you're left with 1 and below min.

For non use times, just ensure you have enough FC to make it to the next test. Say. It's consuming 1ppm a day and you're testing in 2 days. That same 5ppm that wasn't fine for use, is fine for idle time.

*examples used as theory. Enjoy it and see how it behaves.
mwhitney said:
Chlorine is tested via the K-1515A kit.
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Yup.
mwhitney said:
Enter those values into the Free Chlorine tab in the PoolMath app to determine how much liquid chlorine to add.
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Yup. Make sure you have wiggle room before a soak, knowing it will dip. Make sure the residuals didn't wipe you out the next day.
mwhitney said:
Continue to monitor and test daily, ad infinitum
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Yup. You'll get that spidey sense eventually and know it needs XXX when used by you, by 2 people, by nobody, etc. Testing will conform what you know. Eventually you'll be more comfortable and skip some test days when FC loss is steady with no use.

If you use the tub multiple times in a day, test those times like it's a new day.
 
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mwhitney said:
Once dialled, and moving forward, we're testing for CYA first and foremost?
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Sorry. Missed this one. Once your CYA is 30+, test twice a week and see how it holds. If it's holding per week, test weekly.

You'll know soon enough you need 15ppm per month (etc) and adjust test intervals appropriately.
 
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Slam is for algae or when excess people funk / usage makes the FC get away from you. It's the high FC mark for safe to use and you won't know it's not 5FC (etc). The CYA binds most of the active HOCL (the harsh part) and SLAM FC is less harsh than tap water with 0 CYA and 1 FC,

And tap water may have up to 4 FC. :shock:

Never hesitate to use the wiggle room between high target and SLAM FC. The closer you get to min FC, the more you need to pay attention to ensure you remain on the sanitary side of min.
 
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mwhitney said:
I'm realizing how quickly I'll blast through the CYA Reagent (R-0013). I found this on Amazon.
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This is the one I went for: 32oz bottle. That's in US dollars, though, so add shipping (within the US) and it quickly turns into $50 CAD. But I'm getting twice as much, and my situation is a little unusual in that I have a mailbox in MT, which makes getting a lot of stuff from the US much easier, if somewhat slower (I don't go down to collect batches of goods very often). So that 16oz from Amazon isn't bad at all.
 
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mwhitney said:
OK - round two of the Dichlor. .5 oz the fist go, waited 30 minutes with the circulation pumps going and added .4 oz (.9 oz - 25.5g) total over the course of 60 minutes. I did this as per @PoolStored 's recommendation:

I figured of 6.0 is the goal, then just under 1 oz should get me there.

The CYA test vile is filled to the 30 mark but the dot is still visible (about half-way on the cloudiness 'scale'). I don't want to overdo it. Can I expect that the CYA level will continue to change over the day, or should I be adding, say, another .5 oz to the tub.
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Vocabulary lesson time, my canuck friend: The plastic tube is a "vial". "Vile" is what your tub turns into if you just ignore all this business.

My experience was exactly as yours: The dot didn't quite disappear with the vial full (and in fact continued to do that even after another addition of dichlor), so with the following addition I wildly overshot. With all due respect to the experts here, this idiot now waits two days between dichlor tests/additions, and that allowed me to hit 45ppm with the latest 20gm dose. I knew it was going to take some time (and a lot of R-0013!) to get my legs under me with this stuff, but the dichlor/CYA part is clearly the biggest PITA of the lot.
 
dogsbody said:
this idiot now waits two days between dichlor tests/additions, and that allowed me to hit 45ppm with the latest 20gm dose
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👆 this idiot listened to his tub and succeeded. 👍 (that pesky theme again :ROFLMAO:)

Yours might behave a bit differently too, and we'll adjust the gameplan as necessary.

Also for both of you, only use the 10s for CYA. It doesn't read how it looks between the lines so we call 31 to 39 a 40. (Etc) You might as well just fill to 30 and 40 at that point and save the trouble scrutinizing it.

20 and below is shady too, so consider anything under 30 to be 20, add 10, and wait to confirm. Repeat as necessary.

If you dump and fill, you know it's 0 and you can just add 30 once you're sure you have the gallons dialed in.
 
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When in doubt just pour it back into the mixing bottle and go it again. Direct light into the tube will obscure it more then it really is that's why bright sun or bright light from behind you and the vial gets held waist height in the shadow. Take a peak, still see it add to the next line and rinse and repeat till you don't see it but do not stare at/for it.
 
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Hey gents -
So after 2 hours, I tested for CYA again and the sample looked as it did before.
I've now added an additional .5oz of Dichlor (14g), so just under 1.5 oz total (39.5g total).

The CYA test is still showing as mildly cloudy with a full vile (up to the 30 mark). I'm now out of the CYA R-0013 (more ordered from Amazon).

Does this sound right? Should I just keep adding Dichlor?
As an aside, this is the product I'm using.
sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione 100%
 
mwhitney said:
Does this sound right? Should I just keep adding Dichlor?
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Wait for the new supplies. Having some CYA will help with bather comfort and more UV loss with less CYA isn't an issue in a covered tub. If you use it tomorrow during the day, maybe you lose an extra FC. No biggie. You'll spot it and add it back.

mwhitney said:
so just under 1.5 oz total
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1.5 oz of dichlor is 20 CYA in 1200L. The tub rating may be when it's full to the brim and you're a hair over 20. You're great for now. Going forward, you'll want it a bit 'high' (40) so it can drift down, but for now, go soak.
 
I'd say make believe you have 10 ppm of cya and just add to make up for 20 ppm. If you overshoot so be it. Not the worst thing at all. In the hot tub it's more for the conditioner side of it to take the harshness away from the chlorine then the UV of a pool this time of the year.
 

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