I didn't purge and now I'm kicking myself!

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L

Lacey

0
Jul 2, 2016
25
Lincoln, Nebraska
So I bought a new spa. I did reading on here, and I KNEW I should purge it with ahhh-some! But, I got too excited, listened to the delivery guy, and went against my own better judgement and filled it and heated it up. I saw the the spa was dated 10/10/18, so I thought how dirty could it be in just a couple of weeks? Wrong AGAIN! After I got it heated up, I spent a good 6 hours working on lowering my Alkalinity. I had the cover off for aeration purposes, so that could've contributed to part of the dirt; but after about 4 hours of adding MA and aerating, I started to notice a scum ring around the edges. I used a magic eraser to clean it off multiple times and so far it I haven't seen the ring since, but this tells me it's dirty! I've invested quite a bit of time and money adjusting the chemicals and heating the tub thus far, so my question is, do you think I can just wait 3-4 months to change the water, or is that gross and asking for problems? My CC hasn't been above 0.5 (but I also haven't gotten it to 0), so I don't think I have anything growing in there. Advise?

Also, I tried cleaning the scum off the edges with just bleach on a clean cloth, but it wasn't coming off, so I used a magic eraser. Is this okay to use in spas? I use it in my pool with no issues, but I'm not real experience with spas.

The spa has an ozonator and a clearray, which I run 24/7 (except when we are in it), my plan is to disconnect it after the newness wears off and we are not using it as much, but my understanding it's a good "sanitizer" to use in addition to bleach, so long as the spa is being used daily. Correct? I can choose how long I run the ozonator and clearray, should I be running them less?

My final question is does the ozonator put off a smell? When the spa was delivered, and obviously empty, it stunk (like fiberglass?). After being filled and ran, it smells sooo good. It's not a bleach smell. I haven't smelled anything like it before, and I can't figure out what it is...

Thank you as always for thoughts and advise!
 
I am using dichlor / bleach method. I've read on here that the ozonator COULD be beneficial, with a high bather load, even with chlorine, but only with frequent and heavy use. Otherwise it is counter productive as it destroys the free chlorine. It's an easy enough thing to unplug, I just can't seem to decide if it's beneficial or costing me more. Right now it is getting used very frequently, but I'm sure the newness will wear off. i wish someone would do a study / experiment on this!

Thoughts on the clearray UV-C? Disconnect that as well? I think I read that also destroys FC.

Anyone know about the magic eraser and the pleasant smells?
 
Hi Lacey: Yes, it is truly amazing how much gunk and grime are hidden inside the plumbing and jets of new hot tubs. I have been preaching about this for over 15 years but it usually falls on deaf ears. Most new hot tub owners are not going to perform a plumbing purge on a brand new hot tub. Let me start off by saying that there are many plumbing purge products that work. I am not here to push our product exclusively. But, I can tell you that 100% of ALL brand new hot tubs are contaminated. Unfortunately, dealers are afraid to tell customers about this. Manufacturers are scared to death that the end user will learn and educate themselves about biofilm. They think that sales would be destroyed. Let me tell you, We have many dealers Worldwide that perform an initial purge at the customers home when delivered. They explain why this is an important step. Their sales are averaging an upward trend of 30% because these same customers love the results and the ease of maintenance. We actually have dealers that don’t use our cleaner because it makes such a mess and their people have to wipe up the released gunk. Excuse me! When you eliminate this detritus buildup the hot tub is Sooo easy to maintain. You do this 2 or 3 times a year. Trust me, most hot tub retailers are not going to tell you this. Ask them about it, if they say it is not necessary, walk away.
 
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Ahhsomeguy said:
Hi Lacey: Yes, it is truly amazing how much gunk and grime are hidden inside the plumbing and jets of new hot tubs. I have been preaching about this for over 15 years but it usually falls on deaf ears. Most new hot tub owners are not going to perform a plumbing purge on a brand new hot tub. Let me start off by saying that there are many plumbing purge products that work. I am not here to push our product exclusively. But, I can tell you that 100% of ALL brand new hot tubs are contaminated. Unfortunately, dealers are afraid to tell customers about this. Manufacturers are scared to death that the end user will learn and educate themselves about biofilm. They think that sales would be destroyed. Let me tell you, We have many dealers Worldwide that perform an initial purge at the customers home when delivered. They explain why this is an important step. Their sales are averaging an upward trend of 30% because these same customers love the results and the ease of maintenance. We actually have dealers that don’t use our cleaner because it makes such a mess and their people have to wipe up the released gunk. Excuse me! When you eliminate this detritus buildup the hot tub is Sooo easy to maintain. You do this 2 or 3 times a year. Trust me, most hot tub retailers are not going to tell you this. Ask them about it, if they say it is not necessary, walk away.
Click to expand...

Well said! :goodpost:
 
I have to tell you a funny story. I was at the Las Vegas Pool & Spa Show this past week. I had an inquiry about 2 weeks ago from a lady with a Bullfrog Spa that had “pull out” inserts where the seating is located. She was using our product and asked a very good question. She asked if she should pull out the front panel over the seats to be sure that any biofilm was not building up around the area. Not knowing what the Bullfrog design was at the time I decided to go to the Bullfrog booth and look at the design first hand. The salesman explained to me that water is forced into the seating area which will prevent any residual buildup because of the flow. I was not totally sold on this explanation as I saw dead spots and wanted to see if I should have my customer fully remove the seat front grate. I mentioned to the salesman about biofilm issues. I asked him directly if he was aware of what biofilm was. He indicated he was aware and told me that Bullfrog spas don’t get biofilm. I said, in a nice way, really. He said, they never ever have biofilm issues. I explained to this very nice gentleman who I will not name, that he is mistaken. I explained to him that if I put only 2 teaspoons of our gel into their 450 gallon filled and never used hot tub, half the dose, he would see more crud in 5 minutes than he could imagine. He showed me out of the display area and told me not to return and to not do this. Did he know? Of course he did. Incidentally, it is not just Bullfrog, but Every single manufactured hot tub in the world.
 
I'm finding a disturbing approach to the problem when I phoned the mfg of one of the spas I have owned. I call it "feign surprise and purge as a rescue step". It's where a mfg or a local store pretends that there is no problem except when it rears its ugly head .

The only thing I would add to the op's confessional is that before i put my spa into storage, in between houses , I purged twice, blew out the lines and winterized with RV antifreeze. When I started it up again after storage I purged and boy did I ever release stuff, and ic wasn't the antifreeze...
 

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Ahhsomeguy;1546151... I mentioned to the salesman about biofilm issues. I asked him directly if he was aware of what biofilm was. He indicated he was aware and told me that Bullfrog spas don’t get biofilm. I said said:
I found Bullfrog does mention biofilm on their website but you have to dig for it. They of course don't mention it should be purged initially but at least they do say it should be done yearly.

"[FONT=&quot]Over time, biofilm buildup can accumulate in the hot tub’s plumbing despite regular use of sanitizers. A technician will be equipped with the tools needed to completely remove this tougher layer of buildup that can contain viruses or bacteria and, of course, affect the hot tub’s water balance."

[/FONT]https://www.bullfrogspas.com/blog/expert-hot-tub-maintenance-guide/
Click to expand...
 
So I still haven't purged, because our outside temps have been in the 20's. I'm dreading the frozen lake I'll have in my backyard if I drain it. Today I noticed foaming and the water wasn't crystal clear so I'm thinking of purging this weekend, as the temp is supposed to warm up some. Do I need to slam it first? My test come out great CC<0.5, pH is stable etc. If I'm draining the water and starting fresh, as well as purging the pipes, is there a need to SLAM? Is there anything else I might be missing that I should do before purging with ahhh-some?
 
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