Last time I posted, asking for help with a cloudy hot-tub, it really was time to drain... so that's what I did. But now it's only been a month with that new water, and I'm not wanting to drain. So I'm SLAMing, and would appreciate your opinions.
I was gone for a week, and did not add enough chlorine to last that whole time. (What should I do in the future? Throw 2-3 cups of bleach in it before going away for a week?) Came back to a cloudy hot tub that smelled like a pond.
12-18: 0 FC, 4.5 CC!, 8.1 pH, 70 alk, 40 CYA, temp 98.
I added 1/2 cup bleach (10%), and it ate it up in an hour. Repeated, it ate it up. Before going to bed, I added 1 cup bleach. I also added pH down several times throughout.
Ran the jets, got a bunch of foam. The stink improved a bit.
12-19: in the PM I tested it, and it was .5 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.8 pH, 50 alk. It looks & smells improved, but still very cloudy and a bit stinky. I added 1.5 cups bleach. Set the filters to run 14 hours a day.
12-20 I finally had time to address it better.
10:45am tested at 5 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.9 pH and added 1 cup bleach
1pm tested at 17.5 FC, 1.0 CC
4pm 13 FC, 1.5 CC, 8.1 pH and added 1T pH down
4:20pm 7.7 pH and added another 1 T pH down
5pm 7.6 pH and added 1/2 cup bleach
9pm 16.5 FC, 1.5 CC and added 1/2 cup bleach (still bubbling, but finally no foam!)
10:20pm 22 FC, 2 CC
The cover was open ALL day (12.5 hours), and I ran the jets frequently (which I know fought against my pH).
I set the filters to run 18 hours/day.
12-21 I woke up with a new resolve, and also realized a SLAM is in order. So that's what I set about doing. It's my 1st time, so please LMK what I did wrong or what else I need to do. Any feedback is welcome.
Woke up to the water smelling better (more like funk, less like a pond), and significantly less cloudy. I finally had/have hope!
The filter had been off for 2h45, so I figured a pH test would be decently accurate.
8:45am 14 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.8 pH, 60 alk and I added 1 T pH down (to try to get in a zone for SLAM)
9:35am 7.6 pH and the filter had been running for an hour (which doesn't help my pH). I switched the filter out to a clean one, and added 1 cup bleach.
11am 31 FC, 1.5 CC (I know this is higher than I was supposed to aim at... my goal was to keep it above 20 all day long, and just go out and run the jets any time I thought of it)
12:25pm 30 FC, 2.5 CC
4:40pm 26.5 FC, 1.5 CC
The cover has been open all day, and the filter has been running all day.
Now what? Just keep the FC high and it'll eventually sort itself out?
It was low-ish on water anyway, so I'm considering topping it off with water. Would that be okay? Or do I need to solve this cloudiness first?
I'm tempted to try Oxi-shock... to get that CC to go away. But you all have told me in the past that SLAM will take care of that persnickety CC. So do I just stay the course with the SLAM?
Please advise.
I was gone for a week, and did not add enough chlorine to last that whole time. (What should I do in the future? Throw 2-3 cups of bleach in it before going away for a week?) Came back to a cloudy hot tub that smelled like a pond.
12-18: 0 FC, 4.5 CC!, 8.1 pH, 70 alk, 40 CYA, temp 98.
I added 1/2 cup bleach (10%), and it ate it up in an hour. Repeated, it ate it up. Before going to bed, I added 1 cup bleach. I also added pH down several times throughout.
Ran the jets, got a bunch of foam. The stink improved a bit.
12-19: in the PM I tested it, and it was .5 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.8 pH, 50 alk. It looks & smells improved, but still very cloudy and a bit stinky. I added 1.5 cups bleach. Set the filters to run 14 hours a day.
12-20 I finally had time to address it better.
10:45am tested at 5 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.9 pH and added 1 cup bleach
1pm tested at 17.5 FC, 1.0 CC
4pm 13 FC, 1.5 CC, 8.1 pH and added 1T pH down
4:20pm 7.7 pH and added another 1 T pH down
5pm 7.6 pH and added 1/2 cup bleach
9pm 16.5 FC, 1.5 CC and added 1/2 cup bleach (still bubbling, but finally no foam!)
10:20pm 22 FC, 2 CC
The cover was open ALL day (12.5 hours), and I ran the jets frequently (which I know fought against my pH).
I set the filters to run 18 hours/day.
12-21 I woke up with a new resolve, and also realized a SLAM is in order. So that's what I set about doing. It's my 1st time, so please LMK what I did wrong or what else I need to do. Any feedback is welcome.
Woke up to the water smelling better (more like funk, less like a pond), and significantly less cloudy. I finally had/have hope!
The filter had been off for 2h45, so I figured a pH test would be decently accurate.
8:45am 14 FC, 1.5 CC, 7.8 pH, 60 alk and I added 1 T pH down (to try to get in a zone for SLAM)
9:35am 7.6 pH and the filter had been running for an hour (which doesn't help my pH). I switched the filter out to a clean one, and added 1 cup bleach.
11am 31 FC, 1.5 CC (I know this is higher than I was supposed to aim at... my goal was to keep it above 20 all day long, and just go out and run the jets any time I thought of it)
12:25pm 30 FC, 2.5 CC
4:40pm 26.5 FC, 1.5 CC
The cover has been open all day, and the filter has been running all day.
Now what? Just keep the FC high and it'll eventually sort itself out?
It was low-ish on water anyway, so I'm considering topping it off with water. Would that be okay? Or do I need to solve this cloudiness first?
I'm tempted to try Oxi-shock... to get that CC to go away. But you all have told me in the past that SLAM will take care of that persnickety CC. So do I just stay the course with the SLAM?
Please advise.
