New Hot Tub Owner. Lot to Learn

[Mdragger88]

So, even with saltwater system, I'll have to dose with bleach every time I use the tub?

Not necessarily every time - if it’s just me or a really quick dip I don’t usually need to. The quandary is If you turn the swg up high enough to cover all the bather load fc loss you may end up with extremely high fc in times with less use unless you be sure to turn it down.
I don’t like adjusting mine all the time so I have found a happy medium setting that does well in standby times but needs a little shot of lc for extended soaks or when my husband/ kids etc. get in. The swg takes time to produce fc, you don’t want nasties proliferating while you wait & the swg plays catch up either.
Also, All swg cells have a finite lifespan- i wish to preserve mine for as long as possible.

 

[Mdragger88]

I want to add that my tub is 1/2 the volume of yours. This means my bather load to water volume ratio is somewhat higher than yours. It also means that each hour of swg run time will raise my fc higher in the smaller volume. For instance: 2 or 3 hours a day is plenty for standby fc & mild use as I mentioned above & although 4 hours would cover most bather situations I encounter, if I miss one day of using the tub my fc will be well above slam level. The unit I have doesn’t offer any more fine tuning than that - ymmv with bather loads, standby needs & settings.

 

[mayberry32]

The only thing that I’ve noticed is that I do have a small amount of CC since I got back. Does that go away on its own, or should I lower the pH or super chlorinate one more time to get rid of that?

 

[Mdragger88]

Ph has nothing to do with cc’s.
How small is “a small amount of cc’s” ? Anything above .5 isn’t good & SLAM Process is needed until it gets back down below that.
Sharing all your test results will help with guidance.
I agree with everyone above that your fc decay rate seems excessive.

 

[mayberry32]

I ran it uncovered for about 20 minutes tonight before getting in and the CC was back down to .5. So, apparently aerating does disseminate the CC’s. After this weekend, I’m probably going to purge again with Ahhsome and refill. Before then, I’ll decide if I’m definitely switching to saltwater. I hate the idea of spending that money and still having to manually add chlorine. But if it’s much less often and the water feels better, it may be worth it. Here are my test results tonight:

FC: 5.0
CC: 0.5
Calcium: 200
Alkalinity: 110
PH: 7.8
CYA: 40