Newbie questions

[rpj]

How do you clean a hot tub filter?

I added borates to the hot tub and now it seems I get bubbles when we turn the jets on. Is that normal?


Rob

 

[PaulR]

Mine has two cylindrical filters, that are easily accessible under a flip-up cover. I unscrew the filters and hose them off. Some people get more elaborate, with TSP baths and whatnot; I haven't tried that so far.

Regarding the bubbles, it's common to have some kind of control to regulate adding air to the jets on purpose; have you fussed with those? Adding borates by itself shouldn't cause bubbles.
--paulr

 

[rpj]

Mine has two cylindrical filters, that are easily accessible under a flip-up cover. I unscrew the filters and hose them off. Some people get more elaborate, with TSP baths and whatnot; I haven't tried that so far.
Great thanks. How often do you do that?

Regarding the bubbles, it's common to have some kind of control to regulate adding air to the jets on purpose; have you fussed with those? Adding borates by itself shouldn't cause bubbles.
--paulr

I didn't get bubbles until I put in the borates from the spa place. I didn't use the borax so perhaps there is something else in the stuff from the spa place that makes it bubble? It's called OMNI Presence Plus ('With-functional water enhancer with corrosion inhibitors')

Cheers,
Rob

 

[PaulR]

I do it probably once every 2-4 weeks, but then we're not in the tub every day; once or twice a week, I'd say. It's the first thing I try when I notice the chlorine demand going up.

I can't find any real information about OMNI Presence Plus on the web, so I don't have any clue what's in it. The only places I see it mentioned at all seem to be in Canada. Does the container list the ingredients?
--paulr

 

[rpj]

No the container does not list the ingredients. I'll have to find out I guess.

 

[BCHWB]

I haven't noticed that the addition of borax makes any difference to the amount of foam. On my first fill I thought it might have caused some foaming because I added it after a two weeks or so. Since then , I've been adding it as soon as I fill the tub and it makes no difference whatsoever. It's really just detergent from your suits that's the main culprit. It builds up over time and there's nothing you can do to take soap out of water really. You should not be washing your suits in the machine because all machines leave some laundry detergent behind and laundry detergent is designed for maximum foam. Oils from your skin will also react with the alkalinity and make soap but that's much less a causative factor than just leftover detergent from bathing suits IMHO. Keeping the hardness up will help somewhat but over the 2 or 3 months that the water's in there, it will become more and more foamy. Anti-foams work really well but only for a little while (like one use). I've come to grips with the fact that I'm going to re-fill the tub more often than I originally planned. It's not that hard or expensive. Baking soda, muriatic acid, sodium bromide,bleach and borax are all cheap.

 

[PaulR]

laundry detergent is designed for maximum foam.

Well, not really, as anyone who has had to contend with dishwashing liquid in the washing machine can tell you. THAT is maximum foam.

The main problem here is that there's no way to know just what is in the Presence Plus, and so no way to predict its effect on the tub. People have added borates using a combination of borax and acid, or by using boric acid alone, and not introduced any foaming/bubbles from that.

Keeping the hardness up will help somewhat

Good point, make sure CH is up at least in the 100-150 range.

If the problem goes away after a refill, then we can reasonably chalk it up to the Presence Plus, and recommend against using it ever again.
--paulr