What to do with the SPA.

[astroprojector]

Hi There.

I purchased a house last year. The property have the above ground Sundance Spa; it is 1999 Cameo Series 880.

http://www.sundancespas.com/880Series/Cameo.html

I am not much of a spa person, my wife may be use it several time during the year, however, my kids loving it. The spa was idle the fall and winter and I just recently changed the water in it and used it for the first time. I check the water every day, even if no one is using it. I am maintaining the water quality using the BBB method and try to keep the FC around 8 and pH between 7.5 and 7.8. Since I just refilled it the CYA is very low, according to the TF-100 test it is below 20. I have never had a above ground spa before and not sure how difficult to take care of it, or how much electricity it eats up.

If I decide to keep it, what electricity cost of keep it the spa? How difficult to maintain the water quality?

If I decide to get rid of it, is it possible to sell it and how do I go about it?

Thanks

DS

 

[spishex]

Portable tubs are a little tough to sell because they have to be moved. If you can do the moving you'll find it pretty easy to sell. They go for anywhere from free to about $2000 used around here. Search your local craigslist for "Hot Tub" and you'll get an idea. I'd probably wait until it gets a little colder to sell it.

Electrical costs vary depending on the temperature you set it to and the quality of your cover. I'd expect to see somewhere around $20/mo in the colder months.

As long as you remember to pop the hood every now and then (weekly) to check things out they're pretty easy to maintain. Keep the filters clean, the water sanitized and balanced, and they can always be drained and refilled without much ado.

 

[astroprojector]

Thank You.

 

[tnthudson]

I have an ozonater and I also use ion, and it seems to help...I do very little maintenance and my portable is easy to keep up. Just don't use Baquaspa!
I use CL and non-CL shock, and test and add chems according to the BBB method and Jason's pool calculator. I think I probably use more that $20/mo in electricity, but I have 220V. We love it, if you use it I think you'll fall in love with it.
Good luck!

 

[PaulR]

My spa stats are FC 2-3, pH 7.5, TA 50, CH 200, CYA 25-30, borates 30. Maintenance is SUCH a nightmare... a dribble of bleach every other day (more when we use it, 1-2x per week). Nothing else has budged since I got the TA and borates settled, for over a month now.

I have not made any effort to calculate the electricity costs. Don't want to know.
--paulr

 

[chem geek]

Congratulations! I'm glad things are working out well for you with your spa.

 

[astroprojector]

I usually check the spa water in the evening. I notice that if I add bleach to raise the FC to 7 the FC gone to 0.5 or 1 by the next evening. No one is using the spa during the day and the spa is completely covered all day long. I am not sure where chlorine is being used for. My pH stays at 7.2 and the CYA is lower the 20. I can see the black dot very clear at CYA 20. I tried adding the baking soda to raise the pH and I do have filtering cycle set 4 times a day for 15 min.

Should I shock the spa and raise the CYA? Also, what are the borates? I thought if I use BBB method, I do not need to use borates.

 

[chem geek]

I'd shock the spa with bleach since it sounds like it somehow got "behind" in oxidizing bather waste or something else in the spa. You shouldn't be losing that much FC over 24 hours. More normal is a 25% loss; anything over 50% indicates some sort of problem. So raise the FC up to around 10 ppm and hold it there, adding more chlorine as it drops. If this problem persists, then you might consider a more thorough cleaning of the spa using Spa System Flush, Swirl Away, Spa Purge or similar product just before dumping the water for a refill. Since you took over someone else's older spa, who knows what's been built up over the years.

You can raise the CYA a bit to 30 ppm (most easily done by using some Dichlor) and that can help lower the rate of chlorine loss from outgassing, but since you've got it covered then that should be fairly low already.

 

[PaulR]

Maybe check it morning and evening until the FC is holding up better. If you use dichlor for this shock process, or at least the first 20-30ppm (cumulative) of FC, your CYA will be right up there.
--paulr

 

[astroprojector]

What is dichlor? I use regular 6% bleach. Last night I raised the FC to 10.

 

[tnthudson]

Hey, remember that if it gets too frustrating, at least you have the option of emptying it and starting fresh...I've decided to empty mine at about 8 weeks during the summer, then more like 16 weeks in the offseason.

 

[spishex]

What is dichlor? I use regular 6% bleach. Last night I raised the FC to 10.

Dichlor is a granular, fast-dissolving stabilized chlorine. It's an easy way to add chlorine AND stabilizer to the tub. You can find it at any pool store or in some big boxes. Check the ingredients and you should see something along the lines of "Sodium Dichloro-s-triazinetrione dihydrate". Be sure that's the only active ingredient.