After 7 years - a Spa at last!

[jerryk1234]

In connection with our gigantic pool project, we just got delivery of a small, brand new spa. Unfortunately, there is no electricity for it yet. But the electrician is coming out tomorrow! The instant that sucker's ready, I will be filling it.

A bucket was given to me with a cornucopia of chemicals; bromide granules, PH-up, PH-down, sequestrant, foam reducer, a floater with bromine tablets.

My understanding of the startup process is - you establish a bromide bank with the granules, then activate it with some sort of oxidizer ( e.g. Chlorine ). Adjust the total alkalinity to (120-150) - and adjust the final PH to slightly alkaline.

They only gave a small container of bromine tablets; my wife informed me that she had saved a bottle of same from our last spa. These would be at least 8 years old. Out of date?

I just received a "deluxe" package from tftestkits. Are any of those tests suitable for the spa?

 

[Lacey]

Do not make the same mistake I made and be so excited to fill it and get in that you don’t purge it! When people say they come from the factory dirty, they are not joking! My was just built 10/10/18, so I thought how dirty could it be? Now I’ve spent a lot of time and money heating it and getting my chemicals perfect only to realize it was hiding something nasty in the pipes and now I have a brand new spa with a constant scum line! So now my choices are to drain and start over or constantly clean. Get some ahhh-some and purge it before heating and putting chemicals in. You can search the forums for directions and more information. 1 extra day will be worth it to start out right.

 

[jza1736]

You should get your CH range from the manual.

TA you want to bring up to 50, then work on PH 7.2-7.6. TA is good between 40-50.

Get the pool math app. Plug your info in and will tell you how much chemical to add. Till your used to your spa cut the measurements in half and retest.

 

[jseyfert3]

You shouldn't need sequestrate or foam reducer. For a chlorine spa, I need dichlor, bleach, muriatic acid or dry acid (aka pH down), baking soda to increase pH and/or TA (no need for pH up), and a good test kit. I also add borates using Borax for water feel and additional pH stability, but it's not required. I only need the baking soda if I overshoot my initial target of ~50 ppm TA, or when I add dichlor to bring CYA up after it wears away from the heat (dichlor is slightly acidic). Bromine spas are similar, except that instead of dichlor and bleach they require a bromide bank, oxidizer, and possibly tablets (optional). All other water balance things are the same. Biggest thing on the water balance is the TA and pH are intrinsically linked! Changing one will change the other one (although you won't see a change in pH after increasing TA until you turn on your jets...). I see so many new spa owners here that say: "I dropped my pH, but then my TA was too low, so increased that, then my pH went to high, so I dropped my pH..." Typically, most water supply has a high TA (above 100, mine is 250). Typically, most spas are happy at around 50 if non-acidic sanitizer is used (bleach), may need to be slightly higher if acidic sanitizer is used (tablets). Key point is 40-50 is not too low, you will find your equilibrium point and your pH will be happy. Lower it until your pH doesn't rise with aeration, then note it and keep it there. Don't adjust TA to some specific number. To do this, follow the procedure in the first link below.

Start with this for water balancing, and you're done if you want to use chlorine: How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?)

Follow up with this if you want to use bromine: How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?)

Then follow up here with any questions on the process.