Hot tuber in West Texas

[jweaks]

Hello. I bought a 15 year old Hot Springs Prodigy a couple years ago. Works great, but have never kept my balance great.
Used chlorine for a year, then switched to bromine thinking that would be more forgiving for an irresponsible lazy owner like me.
I'm switching back to chlorine (probably unrelated but the timing of switching to bromine triggered extreme eczema. is that a thing?)
Just bought my first real kit (the TF-100). Gonna do my best to do better now, to see if my skin can handle more frequent dips.

Our tap water comes up crazy high Ph/TA/hardness, so always a struggle when I do a water change.

I used to use thepoolcalculator years ago for an above ground pool.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Is it the Chlorine that bothers you? If so you could add ozone. You also need to make sure ph is in check. High FC amd ph off is recipe for itching skin

 

[Dirk]

Hi jweaks, welcome to TFP. You're in good hands now, we have a lot of tubbers here. We use an app called Pool Math, available for your phone. Good job on buying that kit. Test your fill water and post the result here. Then our experts, like Jimmy or @jseyfert3, can get you going.

I tend to be lazy myself. But pools and hot tubs are not very forgiving of that quirk...

 

[Mdragger88]

Have u ever done an ahhsome purge?
if not I would do one (or multiple) before u drain & then just follow this guide for chlorine

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

If you have a question about any information within this Sticky, please start a new thread for yourself where you will receive very quick responses to your specific questions. Thank you! Introduction There are two main things to consider when maintaining your hot tub water, Water Balance and...

www.troublefreepool.com

& here is the guide for bromine

How do I use Bromine in my spa (or pool)?

Originally Posted by waterbear There is a lot of misinformation on the proper way to use Bromine so I hope this primer is helpful. First, you need to establish a bromide reserve in the water. Bromine tablets can do it by themselves but it can take literally weeks until enough dissolves. Some...

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[jseyfert3]

I used to use thepoolcalculator years ago for an above ground pool.

TFP has a web based calculator, as well as an app. I use the app and purchase the yearly subscription. If you get the app use "vinyl" for pool type when setting up.

Hello. I bought a 15 year old Hot Springs Prodigy a couple years ago. Works great, but have never kept my balance great.
Used chlorine for a year, then switched to bromine thinking that would be more forgiving for an irresponsible lazy owner like me.

As @Dirk mentioned, hot tubs are not as forgiving as pools for lazy people. It's something I struggle with myself. The biggest thing is making sure to maintain the FC appropriately when not used. If you can do that the water stays clear, and I'm not super concerned about the pH drifting high when I don't use it, I can always lower it before I get in. The best thing for someone who is lazy is a saltwater chlorine generator, or SWCG. I use the Saltron MIni, as do a number of people here like @Mdragger88. While you usually need to add extra chlorine after use (unless your soaks are short and consistent), the SWCG really helps maintain FC during periods of unuse.

Our tap water comes up crazy high Ph/TA/hardness, so always a struggle when I do a water change.

There's nothing you can do about hardness short of a water softener, but usually it's not a concern for standalone hot tubs. It has to be extremely high for it to cause calcium scaling. A high TA will need to be knocked down with the acid/aeration method, which is outlined in the guide for using chlorine in the above post from @Mdragger88. In short you'll run all your pumps on high with all your air valves open until the pH is 8+, then knock that down to 7 with acid addition (use Poolmath to get this amount, it varies with TA), then run the jets with air again until the pH is 8+ again. Measure TA, get a new acid amount, repeat. Once you get the TA down to around 80 that's usually around the point I stop this process and you can start maintaining it with smaller acid additions targeting a pH of 7.5-7.6 when it rises to 8.

 

[jweaks]

Thanks, all.
I meant to post this in the Introduce Yourself section (sorry moderators). This original post was very lame as a pure "can you help me" post. Sorry.
Yesterday, I did two rounds of 2oz of dry acid three hours apart, and the TA and Ph are still off the chart high for the crappy strips I have. I really can't get serious until I get my TFKit. Hopefully it'll ship soon.
Thanks for pointing me to the main posts. I had already found them, and I've read through them again (did so couple years ago as well).
My spa was refurbished by a tech, with a new pump and heater as well, and came to us very clean. But I'll get the AhhSome for my next purge.

When I get my kit and begin the struggle with the balance, I'll make a better post with specific questions if I have them.

 

[jimmythegreek]

Your #s are prob not that far off in reality, the cheap test stuff isnt accurate. I'd take a pool store results in off season rather than those if you have one nearby. Dont buy anything they're peddling tho

 

[jweaks]

That's a great idea. I have a Leslie's I can take a sample to. I am out of dry acid, surely I can buy it there, right? LoL. I normally get my spa chems at the Ace Hardware around the corner. But why they carry everything including Spa Up, but no Spa Down is pretty weird.

 

[Dirk]

@jseyfert3, dry acid in a hot tub? Is that right?

@jweaks, While you're at Leslie's, see if they carry the same water sampler they do here. It's the perfect thing for testing your water. Grabs just the right amount for all the tests. And makes it easy to squirt just the right amount of pool water into the testing vials. They give them away for free.

When Leslie's complete's their testing, they will hand you a printout, which will include all the junk you need to buy to staighten out your water. Then they will likely pressure you to buy all that stuff. You have to resist that. But be prepared with a good excuse. Otherwise you'll just look to them like a deer in the headlights. Something like "OK, right. I gotta show this to my wife/husband first. She/he makes all the pool decisions." Or some such nonsense so that you can make a quick getaway...

 

[jseyfert3]

@jseyfert3, dry acid in a hot tub? Is that right?

The TFP recommendation is to use muriatic acid instead, as dry acid adds sulfates which will increase heater corrosion. Muriatic acid does not contain sulfates.

If someone is worried about fumes from muriatic acid, the green muriatic acid can be purchased. It’s half strength for usually the same price, but a spa doesn’t use a lot relative to a pool so that’s not a big deal.

I measure my muriatic acid for my spa using this graduated 8 oz measuring cup. Works pretty well especially for the acid/aeration process, though I’ve been meaning to pick up a set of plastic measuring spoons to dedicate to acid addition for the very small amounts needed when the tub is balanced, as sometimes that’s less that 1/2 oz, the lowest mark on my 8 oz measuring cup. But I also use full strength muriatic acid, half strength would be twice as much and easier to measure from that 8 oz cup.

 

[jweaks]

Ok, @Dirk @jseyfert3 , I should get muriatic acid instead of Dry Acid? Ok, I should get that at the hardware store then. I did not know.
I'm familiar with the Leslie's ethos, as I had a pool and separate hot tub for 9 years at a prior house. I used the BBB method.

 

[Dirk]

Yes, Muriatic. I buy mine at Leslie's, because my local Lowe's carries the 14% stuff and I want the 31% stuff. 14% is safer and easier to handle, and as j points out easier to measure. Start with that if you can find it. Either way, you just need to be sure to define that in Pool Math so it can do the right calculations for you.

Most of us know what "BBB method" means. It's now referred to here as TFPC (Trouble Free Pool Care). Same same. I forget now why they stopped using BBB. It might be because it implied you needed all three chemicals, when that's not the case. Just wanted to define TFPC, in case you come across that once in a while...