Ahh-Some in Brand New Costco/Strong Hot Tub! WOW!! (with photos)

[Steve_F]

So, I bought a brand new Costco (Strong) Evolution Hilton 7-person, 120 jet, 4-pump, 60A, 480 gallon Hot Tub. We got it on a $2500 off sale, for the price it is an amazing hot-tub. After initial set up & balance I had water within proper TFP parameters, but was going through chlorine (bleach) like crazy. Even overnight with no-bathers I was easily losing 75 +% of FC. I shocked with both bleach, and MPS, tried enzymes, even switched to bromine to no avail.

I remembered ChemGeek raving about a product called Ahh-Some even for initial start-up, but i thought there was no way a brand new tub could be that dirty.... LOL. Boy was I wrong. So, with the tub still sucking down sanitizer after 3 weeks, I decided to try some Ahh-Some. WOW is all i can say.... And DISGUSTING! Within a few minutes green slime appeared on the foam, then started sticking to the walls like crazy. I read some advice to clean it as it formed, so I started doing that - and kept doing that for the next 1.5 hours! The photos i attached dont even show the real extent because that was just a few minutes worth of slime since i was cleaning as going.

In short, I HIGHLY recommend Ahh-Some even on an initial start-up. ChemGeek is right again, as usual I was completely amazed at how much disgusting green oozing slime was in this new tub.

FYI, I used 1 full 2oz jar on my brand new 480 gallon tub. I used 1/2 the can on the first dose, let pumps run for about 30 minutes, continuously wiping. Then added other 1/2 and ran another 45-60 minutes, continuously wiping again until the green ooze stopped. Few tips:

- Make sure you remove headrests if you have them, see pictures.
- Clean as you go, trust me on this.
- You will want more than the small 2 oz can on an old tub that hasn't been purged with this stuff.
- A hard pool skimmer will let you get globs of slime off the top
- Make sure you have ample sanitizer in the water when you use Ahh-Some, I had approx 20ppm FC
- If you want to clean, but aren't able to fully drain, i suppose you could - just have lots of sanitzer in, continuously wipe, then drain at least a few inches to wipe the water line real clean.

Good luck & get yourself some of this stuff! I'm doing a fresh re-fill & going back to a dichlor/bleach/MPS regimen.

 

[mknauss]

Yuck!!!!

Good luck ---

 

[ant 83]

wow

So this was a brand new tub?

Yeah, when the pipes have scum, the tub eats a lot of chlorine.

In my experience, the scum comes back over time.

Ahh-some seems like the best tool available to me to remove pipe scum, but it is an on-going battle at my house. I regularly wipe out the shell with a wash cloth to prevent bio-film from touching my skin sitting in the tub. It forms everywhere, even with chlorine in the water.

For a "trouble free" hot tub, clearing out the pipes, and keeping FC above target are the main focus.

It's absolutely worth your time to keep up with these things.

 

[Ahhsomeguy]

wow

So this was a brand new tub?

Yeah, when the pipes have scum, the tub eats a lot of chlorine.

In my experience, the scum comes back over time.

Ahh-some seems like the best tool available to me to remove pipe scum, but it is an on-going battle at my house. I regularly wipe out the shell with a wash cloth to prevent bio-film from touching my skin sitting in the tub. It forms everywhere, even with chlorine in the water.

For a "trouble free" hot tub, clearing out the pipes, and keeping FC above target are the main focus.

It's absolutely worth your time to keep up with these things.

Hi Steve: Your post is spot on regarding biofilm issues. Your instructions are exactly what the hot tub owner should follow. You mention Chem Geek. He definitely is the go to guru on these issues. Your post mentions the Strong Spa Brand that is sold at Costco. The gunk and biofilm issues your images show are not only in this brand of hot tubs. All hot tubs, jetted bathtubs, whirlpool tubs and the newer walk in tubs have the same issues. No matter how diligent one is in hot tub maintenance, Biofilm will form. If you see brown or black flakes in the water when the jets are on, you are seeing planktonic biofilm. We absolutely recommend that all hot tub owners purge, drain and refill their hot tubs every 4-6 months. All jetted tub and walk in tub owners should purge their vessels every 2-4 weeks. It is unfortunate that most hot tub, jetted tub and walk in tub manufacturers and dealers try to keep this under wraps. You exposed what is happening in all hot tubs, not just Costco. New hot tubs should definitely have their plumbing purged before first use. Most dealers are way too busy to do this. You should do this on your own if they won’t. It will pay big benefits. Steve, please report back to the forum as to how your water maintenance is going and how crystal,clear your water has been because of your plumbing purge. Happy hot tubbing.