Good Day, everyone and I am asking for your expert advice. I have been a student of TFP since before purchasing my first hot tub. Your guidance has helped me through years of wonderful tubbing with great success and economy. I attribute that to following your directions to the letter.
My issue recently began with high chlorine consumption in my bromine based tub. I could not clear the sudden cloudiness. I attributed this cloudiness to the fact that I used Family Dollar brand 8% bleach instead of the usual Clorox 8.25% bleach. I have had to open the slots in the bromine tab dispenser double than normal to keep sanitizer levels up. Are my tabs bad? Four days of high chlorine and the tub would not clear. I was adding 3-6 ounces at a time and it was not getting any clearer. Yes, it was eating the bleach like crazy for 2 days.
I therefore decided to drain and refill. I had no Ahh-Some for the Spa as I forgot to re-order it. I did, however, have Ahh-Some for the clothes washer. I called the manufacturer and Gerry assured me I could use it instead. The difference between the two formulations was that the washer type Ahh-Some contained detergents but it would be fine to use instead. I was concerned about the foaming of the washer Ahh-Some but was told it actually foamed less that the Spa Ahh-Some.
I performed a lazy drain and refill because I was not feeling my best. I did not clean behind the jet pack, I did not blow out the piping, I did not use the Fast Gloss as I usually do. I then went to the store to get my normal Clorox bleach only to find out it was gone from the shelves. I was mortified.
I come home and back to TFP for advice. Seems that store brand regular bleach is acceptable. Because Clorox has changed their formulation and effectively abandoned us hot tub owners. Ok, so that blows my cloudiness blame on the no name bleach out of the water. Must have been my failure to keep adequate sanitizer in the water to cause the cloudiness.
So, I Ahh-Some with the clothes washer Ahh-Some and very little gunk is surfacing. I fill it, I let it warm, I balance it with hardness increaser. I add one T of pure Sodium Bromide and 3.5T of bleach and the Metal Magic. The Metal Magic I had never used before. I usually use Metal Gon and Defender but the stores around here do not carry them, just like no one carries Ahh-Some.
I stick my hand in the water that night to do the bromine testing and the water feels slickery. Almost akin to the slimy feeling that bleach leaves on your hands. The walls of the tub were not normal either. A little gritty feeling but still squeaky clean feeling underneath. I know that sentence makes no sense but some may get my point. I used the tub for two days until I could not take the thought of whatever might be remaining in that water. I drained and refilled. This time, with the proper Ahh-Some and I cleaned the heck out of that tub, the proper was I always do. The Ahh-some purge showed nothing, it was clean as clean could be. Behind the jet pack was very clean as well. So I know the Ahh-Some does its job.
I was perplexed as to what went wrong to give me the slickery feeling on my hands. Yes, the bleach was different, yes the Ahh-Some was different and the Metal Magic was different. By having all of this new stuff in the scenario, I was a mess in trying to figure out what happened.
So, here is the new fill. I used the proper Ahh-Some. I used the same sodium bromide as usual, the same hardness increaser and the store brand bleach to activate. I did not use the Metal Magic. I go to check the bromine level and I am horrified to find that I still have the same slickery feeling on my hand. I do not know how the walls of the tub are, I have not entered the tub yet.
I would appreciate your input. Be it known that, the bromine tabs could be months old. I have a habit of buying in bulk. They don’t seem to be dissolving as fast as they used to. The hardness testing chemicals in my DPD kit are 2 years old. I am aware that it is possible that I am experiencing this slickery feeling due to an innate reaction of my skin to the water and I may not be due to the water at all but my chemical composition. I have come up with some sudden allergies this winter and am headed for allergy testing today. As I sit here, if I rub my thumb and forefinger together, it does kind of feel very smooth, almost as if I have hand lotion applied recently. If you feel I have done nothing wrong with my tub, I will attribute it to my own skin reaction. I have learned to not change chemicals in my tub routine, makes it impossible to diagnose anomalies! Thanks again and I look forward to your input.
My issue recently began with high chlorine consumption in my bromine based tub. I could not clear the sudden cloudiness. I attributed this cloudiness to the fact that I used Family Dollar brand 8% bleach instead of the usual Clorox 8.25% bleach. I have had to open the slots in the bromine tab dispenser double than normal to keep sanitizer levels up. Are my tabs bad? Four days of high chlorine and the tub would not clear. I was adding 3-6 ounces at a time and it was not getting any clearer. Yes, it was eating the bleach like crazy for 2 days.
I therefore decided to drain and refill. I had no Ahh-Some for the Spa as I forgot to re-order it. I did, however, have Ahh-Some for the clothes washer. I called the manufacturer and Gerry assured me I could use it instead. The difference between the two formulations was that the washer type Ahh-Some contained detergents but it would be fine to use instead. I was concerned about the foaming of the washer Ahh-Some but was told it actually foamed less that the Spa Ahh-Some.
I performed a lazy drain and refill because I was not feeling my best. I did not clean behind the jet pack, I did not blow out the piping, I did not use the Fast Gloss as I usually do. I then went to the store to get my normal Clorox bleach only to find out it was gone from the shelves. I was mortified.
I come home and back to TFP for advice. Seems that store brand regular bleach is acceptable. Because Clorox has changed their formulation and effectively abandoned us hot tub owners. Ok, so that blows my cloudiness blame on the no name bleach out of the water. Must have been my failure to keep adequate sanitizer in the water to cause the cloudiness.
So, I Ahh-Some with the clothes washer Ahh-Some and very little gunk is surfacing. I fill it, I let it warm, I balance it with hardness increaser. I add one T of pure Sodium Bromide and 3.5T of bleach and the Metal Magic. The Metal Magic I had never used before. I usually use Metal Gon and Defender but the stores around here do not carry them, just like no one carries Ahh-Some.
I stick my hand in the water that night to do the bromine testing and the water feels slickery. Almost akin to the slimy feeling that bleach leaves on your hands. The walls of the tub were not normal either. A little gritty feeling but still squeaky clean feeling underneath. I know that sentence makes no sense but some may get my point. I used the tub for two days until I could not take the thought of whatever might be remaining in that water. I drained and refilled. This time, with the proper Ahh-Some and I cleaned the heck out of that tub, the proper was I always do. The Ahh-some purge showed nothing, it was clean as clean could be. Behind the jet pack was very clean as well. So I know the Ahh-Some does its job.
I was perplexed as to what went wrong to give me the slickery feeling on my hands. Yes, the bleach was different, yes the Ahh-Some was different and the Metal Magic was different. By having all of this new stuff in the scenario, I was a mess in trying to figure out what happened.
So, here is the new fill. I used the proper Ahh-Some. I used the same sodium bromide as usual, the same hardness increaser and the store brand bleach to activate. I did not use the Metal Magic. I go to check the bromine level and I am horrified to find that I still have the same slickery feeling on my hand. I do not know how the walls of the tub are, I have not entered the tub yet.
I would appreciate your input. Be it known that, the bromine tabs could be months old. I have a habit of buying in bulk. They don’t seem to be dissolving as fast as they used to. The hardness testing chemicals in my DPD kit are 2 years old. I am aware that it is possible that I am experiencing this slickery feeling due to an innate reaction of my skin to the water and I may not be due to the water at all but my chemical composition. I have come up with some sudden allergies this winter and am headed for allergy testing today. As I sit here, if I rub my thumb and forefinger together, it does kind of feel very smooth, almost as if I have hand lotion applied recently. If you feel I have done nothing wrong with my tub, I will attribute it to my own skin reaction. I have learned to not change chemicals in my tub routine, makes it impossible to diagnose anomalies! Thanks again and I look forward to your input.
