After spending too many hours researching the best way to take care of my new hot tub this week, figured I'd write it out and hopefully it'll be helpful to someone!
1/ familiarize yourself with general hot tub maintenance and chemistry (FC, CC, TA, CH, CYA etc) all readily available through the pool school on this great site!
2/ realize that when your tub arrives new, it'll still need a purge for possible biofilm development in plumbing during factory testing or other gunk like residual oils. Use ahhsome purge product and search YouTube for how to use it. Don't believe what the sales people tell you which seems to be full of pseudoscience, unverified claims, and a shocking (no pun intended) lack of knowledge. My sales person at masterspas hadn't heard about cyanuric acid
3/ Follow dichlor to liquid chlorine principles for a week, best way to learn hot tub maintenance, chemistry adjustment and testing by actually doing it rather than passively learning about it. Get the Taylor test kit k-2006.
4/ once chemical levels are stabilized, realize that while dichlor to liquid chlorine is an effective, affordable way to get consistently clean and safe water, it's a lot of work. This is where salt water generators are awesome. They slowly convert salt into chlorine giving it a more stable chlorine level throughout the day. I purchased the smarter spa system that doesn't require any additional plumbing (just drape it over the side of the tub), has a built in sensor for chlorine level (no need to use a timer), and boost mode when needed. I assume there will still be times where I would manually add liquid chlorine/dichlor but way less frequent. The salt generator also allows you to leave the hot tub for longer stretches for things like vacation.
5/ swg does influence ph changes, so adding a ph stabilizer like borate to your hot tube Is a great idea (TFP has details on borate use). Borate has other properties like clearer water (look it up).
6/ once a week, use aqua clarity to keep plumbing clear of biofilm reducing the sanitation amount (similar product to ahhsome but at much lower dose)
7/ get a nature2 cartridge filter drop-in mineral dispenser that goes in the skimmer area. Another way to further reduce (but not eliminate) the amount of chlorine required for sanitation.
8/ get a regular schedule routine going, including filter clean, wipe around water line, change water q3-6 etc.
That's it, enjoy your soak with less maintenance!
1/ familiarize yourself with general hot tub maintenance and chemistry (FC, CC, TA, CH, CYA etc) all readily available through the pool school on this great site!
2/ realize that when your tub arrives new, it'll still need a purge for possible biofilm development in plumbing during factory testing or other gunk like residual oils. Use ahhsome purge product and search YouTube for how to use it. Don't believe what the sales people tell you which seems to be full of pseudoscience, unverified claims, and a shocking (no pun intended) lack of knowledge. My sales person at masterspas hadn't heard about cyanuric acid
3/ Follow dichlor to liquid chlorine principles for a week, best way to learn hot tub maintenance, chemistry adjustment and testing by actually doing it rather than passively learning about it. Get the Taylor test kit k-2006.
4/ once chemical levels are stabilized, realize that while dichlor to liquid chlorine is an effective, affordable way to get consistently clean and safe water, it's a lot of work. This is where salt water generators are awesome. They slowly convert salt into chlorine giving it a more stable chlorine level throughout the day. I purchased the smarter spa system that doesn't require any additional plumbing (just drape it over the side of the tub), has a built in sensor for chlorine level (no need to use a timer), and boost mode when needed. I assume there will still be times where I would manually add liquid chlorine/dichlor but way less frequent. The salt generator also allows you to leave the hot tub for longer stretches for things like vacation.
5/ swg does influence ph changes, so adding a ph stabilizer like borate to your hot tube Is a great idea (TFP has details on borate use). Borate has other properties like clearer water (look it up).
6/ once a week, use aqua clarity to keep plumbing clear of biofilm reducing the sanitation amount (similar product to ahhsome but at much lower dose)
7/ get a nature2 cartridge filter drop-in mineral dispenser that goes in the skimmer area. Another way to further reduce (but not eliminate) the amount of chlorine required for sanitation.
8/ get a regular schedule routine going, including filter clean, wipe around water line, change water q3-6 etc.
That's it, enjoy your soak with less maintenance!
