As many of you know by now, I took over ownership of a 1995 Hot Spring Grandee which I have nursed back into working order. I was hurrying to get the tub operational before winter set in here so I didn't have time to flush the tub with Ahh-some before I filled it and started it up.
Everytime I get into the tub I'm noticing a bit of cream coloured sediment/grit appearing on the floor of the hot tub. I'm only ever in the tub when it's dark and never turn the light on so I've just been reaching around on the floor, sweeping it to a gathering spot and picking it up pinch by pinch and chucking it onto the ground beside the tub. Today, I finally put some on the shelf behind the tub so I could look at it. I had just assumed it was sand because I know this tub came from a town on a nearby lake with sandy beaches and figured people tracked sand into the tub and it had gotten into the jet lines or wherever. Now that I've looked at it. I can see it's not sand. It's light tan/cream coloured sediment that I can break up if I rub it back and forth between my fingertips. I'm guessing that's scale/chemical residue? If so, it could be coming out of the jet lines when I turn the jets on and/or it could be coming up out of the circ pump discharge outlet which is also the drain hole at the bottom of the tub. I imagine the heater which is just after the circ pump would be one place where scaling would often occur. Is that a sound hypothesis?
I'm guessing that because I'm using the TFP method, the concentrations of chemicals and minerals (especially bicarbonate because I got my TA down to 50 at startup) are lower in my system than the previous owner's systems. Could that be a factor in why this scale (if that's what it is) is breaking down and coming off the plumbing and settling in the tub? Our water is Calcium-Magnesium Bicarbonate type here.
Everytime I get into the tub I'm noticing a bit of cream coloured sediment/grit appearing on the floor of the hot tub. I'm only ever in the tub when it's dark and never turn the light on so I've just been reaching around on the floor, sweeping it to a gathering spot and picking it up pinch by pinch and chucking it onto the ground beside the tub. Today, I finally put some on the shelf behind the tub so I could look at it. I had just assumed it was sand because I know this tub came from a town on a nearby lake with sandy beaches and figured people tracked sand into the tub and it had gotten into the jet lines or wherever. Now that I've looked at it. I can see it's not sand. It's light tan/cream coloured sediment that I can break up if I rub it back and forth between my fingertips. I'm guessing that's scale/chemical residue? If so, it could be coming out of the jet lines when I turn the jets on and/or it could be coming up out of the circ pump discharge outlet which is also the drain hole at the bottom of the tub. I imagine the heater which is just after the circ pump would be one place where scaling would often occur. Is that a sound hypothesis?
I'm guessing that because I'm using the TFP method, the concentrations of chemicals and minerals (especially bicarbonate because I got my TA down to 50 at startup) are lower in my system than the previous owner's systems. Could that be a factor in why this scale (if that's what it is) is breaking down and coming off the plumbing and settling in the tub? Our water is Calcium-Magnesium Bicarbonate type here.
