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You're right. I shouldn't. I'll just worry about me and what works for my pool and hot tub. Thanks.

Thanks for the replies. That's what I'm talking about though. I've been keeping my hot tub alkalinity around 50 and it's been doing good keeping my PH under control from drifting, but on most other sites and even the chemical bottles or testing kits, they all tell you to target between 80-120...

Hello everyone. I've been using this site for quite a few years with my pool and hot tub and love all the advice given. My question is about recommended levels for Bromine, PH, Alkalinity, and Hardness for hot tubs. It seems like everywhere you read on the internet and even on the spa chemical...

Thank you everyone for the advice. I'm still relatively new to hot tub maintenance. I have my pool down to a science and it goes great all summer. This hot tub is a little trickier, but I'm slowing beginning to understand it better. I'll make sure to target the 50 alkalinity and when my PH gets...

When I do my drop test, the sample doesn't turn completely red at 50 ppm, but at 60 ppm it goes bright red, so I just split the difference and call it 55. Maybe I'm not doing that correctly, but I figured it was better than under or over shooting it. I know CYA is probably a moot test to run...

Hi Everyone. I have been reading as many posts on this subject as I can, as well as pool school and I still don't quite have an answer. I have a Viking Royale Hot Tub and every time I think I have my alkalinity in line, my PH drifts high into the 8.2 range, so I lower it with muriatic acid to...

Thank you for that informative response Matt. This is why I love this site. I think I'll just pass on using it. It was free so it's not going to hurt if I don't use it.

Hello all, My wife and I recently replaced our old, aging hot tub with a brand new Viking Royale hot tub. We have had it for about a month now and the I'm using a 3 step bromine system for sanitation like I did with my old tub and everything is going great so far with the water. When I...

I always seem to get strange looks from people when they comment on how nice my pool water looks and I try telling them about the TFP method. I guess people are creatures of habit and don't like trying something new, even if it works better and saves money. I was a slave to the pool store for...

Hey Mhokenberg. I have a Jacuzzi Echo/Essence hot tub and I ran into a similar issue you did last fall. My control panel is a Balboa model and I had to have some parts replaced on my heater. The repair person unplugged all connections to the heater, including my control panel. When he plugged...

I used the HTH Bromine Reserve packet first. I've since begun adding chlorine following the pool math calculations with good results so far. I plan to continue to use this method and put my bromine tabs and floater on the shelf for awhile. I like keeping better control of my chlorine level...

Thanks for the help. I definitely think my PH rise is due to me keeping the TA so high. I'm going to keep it much lower. I think I'll give chlorine a try this time around since I'm doing a fresh fill anyways. I'll see how that goes. Hopefully I can keep better control of the ppm with liquid...

Hello. I read the sticky note on Bromine usage for a hot tub and I have some confusion. I'm going to do a drain and fresh water fill because it's been about 4 months since my last water change. I always use the HTH Bromine Reserve packet once the hot tub has been refilled and then I use bromine...

Good to know. Thanks for all the help. I was not really accounting for error margin + and - and that would explain a lot. Makes me feel better about things. You guys have eliminated my need to depend on the pool store and I'm flying solo for the first time on my own and loving it. Thanks.

Yes it is Richard. It's a Lamotte Color Q 7 Pro 2056 test kit. I really like it and it probably is just the error margin. You guys don't seem too concerned over my numbers so I'm not going to stress over them either.

Thank you. My PH has been relatively steady and I've only had to add chlorine every 2-3 days so everything is going good with the pool. I just see that higher than normal number and get nervous. I don't want to damage my pool, equipment, or mess my water chemistry up badly. This site has made it...

I have been monitoring my pool water everyday with an approved testing kit and the PH of my pool has been sitting steady at 7.4 for the last three days which is fine, but my total alkalinity has continued to rise everyday. My last three readings are 151, 155, 167. I know looking through this...

Thanks pinguy. I'll test chlorine and ph daily for awhile. My PH looks good and that's good to know with my TA because it's 147 and I was a little concerned with that, but I'll monitor it and just try to keep things running right where they are. I want to get my chlorine to at least a 4.5 or 5...

Sucess!!! By following the pool math calculator for the liquid chlorine, I was able to get my FC up from 0.23 to 3.73. My TC is up from 0.44 to 3.74. All my other numbers are pretty much the same from my earlier test before adding the liquid chlorine. The floating dispenser is now out of the...

Good call pinguy. I found some 10% stuff at Walmart for $2.39. Bought 3 boxes. Just added the pool math recommended amount of chlorine to the pool and I'll retest in a few hours. I don't know why I'm so excited to switch to this stuff, but if it works as good as everyone says on here, I'm going...

Good idea RobbieH. I think I might go check out a walmart to see their strengths and go from there. Got to get this chlorine level up. Heading out to the store right now. I'll post some new results later this evening once the chlorine has had some time to mix. Probably just going to run my pump...

I do drain my pool at the end, leaving about 25% before covering for the winter. I'm going to stop the tablets right now and head to the pool store for some good old liquid chlorine and see what happens.

Good afternoon all. Here are the numbers on my pool that I just ran. The water is crystal clear and I can see the bottom with no difficulty at all. FC- 0.23 TC- 0.44 PH- 7.5 ALK- 146 CH- 334 CYA- 51 I said I'm going to start using liquid chlorine since my CYA is good in the area I don't mind...

I currently use the LaMotte Color Q Pro 7 test kit 2056. I purchased it before this swim season began and I really like it. In the past years I always used test strips along with water testing at a pool store which I have since learned is a huge no no and I will stop doing that. This seems like...

Hi everyone. Just opened my pool a week ago and the water was clear and I have all my chemicals balanced and in line except for my free chlorine. I continue to show low and can't seem to raise it. I will provide some true numbers tomorrow afternoon to hopefully help us figure out which direction...

Thanks for the welcome everyone. It's good to see another Michigan person as well DebbieO. As you know, the weather is always so sketchy up here that it's hard to exactly tell when to properly open and close your pool (It snowed in mid-May). Looking forward to all the help and keeping my pool...

Hello everyone. I've been a reader of this site for awhile now and wanted to introduce myself and hope to become more active in the forums. I have been a pool owner for 5 years now and have never owned a pool before this. The pool was already built when we bought the house. It has never given me...

Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I guess I got a little greedy to get it done and see the results. I will add a little at a time and be more patient with it. I got my chemical situation all sorted out and through balancing the water, brushing, and backwashing I got the water straightened...

Hello all. I've been reading this site and forum for quite awhile now and require a little advice at this time. I have a 12,000 gallon vinyl lined above ground kayak pool. I ran into a slight algae and cloudiness problem recently and once I corrected it with advice from this site, I started...