New Hot Tub Owner - Taylor Test Kit

[mwhitney]

Hey gents -
Hope everyone is doing well.

I've been adding liquid chlorine every day (apart from yesterday) and keeping track of drops in FC both in the app log and a spreadsheet (see below).
The drop in FC varies as you can see. There can be a drop in say 1.5 from no use and a range of .5 to 3 ppm after use (two adults, 30 minutes, one jet cycle, if that matters).

I've been using 10 as a target for dosing in view of several recommendations to 'aim high'. Yesterday was the only day I didn't test / add LC as noted by the *. I guess that the previous night's LC addition would have hit a target of 10 ppm.

Anyway - I re-checked CYA this morning and it looks about the same as last weekend ~30 ppm.

Am I on track here? The testing / adding each day feels a bit daunting but is this the nature of the beast?

Should I up my daily FC target from 10 to something higher to avoid 'riding the lower limit' and free myself a bit from testing and adding LC each day?

Also, we're heading to Mexico in about a week, for a week. What's the best practice when leaving for that long? Should I mega-dose the tub?

Thanks in advance.
-Mike

 

[Mdragger88]

Yes, this is the nature of the beast so to speak when depending upon manual dosing. You can go up to slam fc level for your cya safely. I wouldn’t recommend going much above if any.
My tub can get by with slam level of 16ppm /40 cya for a week in the high 90’s without hitting minimum- you may or may not experience this. I would also suggest that you turn down the temp on the tub - this saves energy and may help with fc loss.
If the daily replenishing of fc due to standby losses is daunting you can get a drape over saltwater chlorine generator to “feed the beast” and help keep fc more stable. I have a saltron mini and I immediately purchased a new unit when my last controller died. It was in transit at the time of my last vacation so I had to rely on raising fc to slam right before I left. Everything was fine upon my return but if it wasn’t a quick purge, drain & refill would solve the problem. Enjoy your trip!

 

[mwhitney]

@Mdragger88 Thanks for this.
Interesting about the Saltron - never heard of it but have looked it up on Amazon. Definitely worth considering.

To clarify, with a slam level of 12 for my CYA of 30, am I just setting my FC target to 12 in the app and dosing accordingly (for when we leave for the week). I'll also drop the temp to 90.

This morning, I dosed to a target of 10. It's only 8-9 hours since I added the LC and no one has been in the tub. Upon testing tonight before going in, it's at 7 ppm. I'm assuming it would have hit 10 following the dose but I can't be sure. So either it hit 10 and dropped 3 or it didn't ever hit 10 ppm. Tough to get a clear read on the daily drop with no users. I'll keep plugging away.

Back to the Saltron - what does your maintenance look like with the unit installed and 'feeding the beast'?

 

[wireform]

To clarify, with a slam level of 12 for my CYA of 30, am I just setting my FC target to 12 in the app and dosing accordingly (for when we leave for the week). I'll also drop the temp to 90.

Yes

This morning, I dosed to a target of 10. It's only 8-9 hours since I added the LC and no one has been in the tub. Upon testing tonight before going in, it's at 7 ppm. I'm assuming it would have hit 10 following the dose but I can't be sure. So either it hit 10 and dropped 3 or it didn't ever hit 10 ppm. Tough to get a clear read on the daily drop with no users. I'll keep plugging away.

You can wait 15 minutes and recheck to see if you've reached the anticipated 10. Perhaps the chlorine isn't as strong....

 

[Mdragger88]

@Mdragger88 Thanks for this.
Interesting about the Slatron - never heard of it but have looked it up on Amazon. Definitely worth considering.

To clarify, with a slam level of 12 for my CYA of 30, am I just setting my FC target to 12 in the app and dosing accordingly (for when we leave for the week). I'll also drop the temp to 90.

I would turn temp lower than that if you can - mine just happened to maintain mid 90’s because it was 4th of July week. Lower temp is mo betta!

This morning, I dosed to a target of 10. It's only 8-9 hours since I added the LC and no one has been in the tub. Upon testing tonight before going in, it's at 7 ppm. I'm assuming it would have hit 10 following the dose but I can't be sure. So either it hit 10 and dropped 3 or it didn't ever hit 10 ppm. Tough to get a clear read on the daily drop with no users. I'll keep plugging away.

I suspect after your next purge you’ll find a little lower standby consumption at least at first. Some people use the “x” ppm/day x’s days away calculation for vacation but like I said you don’t wanna go much over slam level.

Back to the Saltron - what does your maintenance look like with the unit installed and 'feeding the beast'?

I have mine set where it pretty much maintains 5/6ppm all the time during standby so its ready for use all the time with no dosing needed before use.
If its just me (130# and i am squeaky clean) for a quick 15/20 minute soak I can usually go without dosing afterwards. Any more than that & I add lc after about 30 minutes or press the button to get ahead of the curve. If my hubby is in there with me or alone I dose cuz thats alot of dude in a little tub
My tub is pretty small so a larger tub may not require as many ppm per each batherload. I pretty much prescribe to the 30 minute rule for most all bather loads. I don’t necessarily have to test mid use anymore as I know what 2 oz or whatever will yield me & just decide based on the type of bather load - if its a gaggle of kids/ teens they must get out @ 30 minutes & take a break and I always raise to slam. It gets used up quickly upon their return.
Other bather loads are somewhere between target & slam for the after use dose.
I have my saltron unit on a simple mechanical timer so it comes on for an hour 3 or 4 times a day depending upon the season. Low use season is the 3 hours.
In a larger tub this may not be necessary but I would rather have it steady than way high then perhaps too low at times.
This also allows me to press the button for a 1 hour shot of fc without messing up all my long term settings.
It doesn’t totally take away the need to manually dose but it does reduce the frequency to when you are using the tub instead of every day whether you use it or not. Some with larger tubs are able to cover more bather load with it to further reduce their manual dosage. YMMV
It’s especially nice during low use times and vacations.
I could turn it up higher to offset the batherloads but I prefer to
a)not have to adjust it all the time (& possibly forget leading to a high fc condition)
b) preserve my cell life for what I really need - standby. As its no biggie to throw a little bleach in when you’re already out there.
My cells average about 18 months this way. I am satisfied with that value. That’s about $8/month for peace of mind.
There’s another drape over maker - ControlOmatic that I was planning on trying when i ran out of cells etc but they have sadly closed up shop

 

[mwhitney]

I would turn temp lower than that if you can - mine just happened to maintain mid 90’s because it was 4th of July week. Lower temp is mo betta!

I suspect after your next purge you’ll find a little lower standby consumption at least at first. Some people use the “x” ppm/day x’s days away calculation for vacation but like I said you don’t wanna go much over slam level.

I have mine set where it pretty much maintains 5/6ppm all the time during standby so its ready for use all the time with no dosing needed before use.
If its just me (130# and i am squeaky clean) for a quick 15/20 minute soak I can usually go without dosing afterwards. Any more than that & I add lc after about 30 minutes or press the button to get ahead of the curve. If my hubby is in there with me or alone I dose cuz thats alot of dude in a little tub
My tub is pretty small so a larger tub may not require as many ppm per each batherload. I pretty much prescribe to the 30 minute rule for most all bather loads. I don’t necessarily have to test mid use anymore as I know what 2 oz or whatever will yield me & just decide based on the type of bather load - if its a gaggle of kids/ teens they must get out @ 30 minutes & take a break and I always raise to slam. It gets used up quickly upon their return.
Other bather loads are somewhere between target & slam for the after use dose.
I have my saltron unit on a simple mechanical timer so it comes on for an hour 3 or 4 times a day depending upon the season. Low use season is the 3 hours.
In a larger tub this may not be necessary but I would rather have it steady than way high then perhaps too low at times.
This also allows me to press the button for a 1 hour shot of fc without messing up all my long term settings.
It doesn’t totally take away the need to manually dose but it does reduce the frequency to when you are using the tub instead of every day whether you use it or not. Some with larger tubs are able to cover more bather load with it to further reduce their manual dosage. YMMV
It’s especially nice during low use times and vacations.
I could turn it up higher to offset the batherloads but I prefer to
a)not have to adjust it all the time (& possibly forget leading to a high fc condition)
b) preserve my cell life for what I really need - standby. As its no biggie to throw a little bleach in when you’re already out there.
My cells average about 18 months this way. I am satisfied with that value. That’s about $8/month for peace of mind.
There’s another drape over maker - ControlOmatic that I was planning on trying when i ran out of cells etc but they have sadly closed up shop

This is great. Cheers!

 

[mwhitney]

Hi @Mdragger88
We're heading off for a 1 week vacation tomorrow. My plan is to turn the tub down to 80 tonight and hit it with the shock target with liquid chlorine. I'm going to add another shock dose to a jar for my neighbour to toss in on Wednesday. Do you think this would be adequate?
TIA.

 

[Mdragger88]

Hi @Mdragger88
We're heading off for a 1 week vacation tomorrow. My plan is to turn the tub down to 80 tonight and hit it with the shock target with liquid chlorine. I'm going to add another shock dose to a jar for my neighbour to toss in on Wednesday. Do you think this would be adequate?
TIA.

Sounds like a great plan! Enjoy your trip!

 

[mwhitney]

Hey all -
Hope everyone is doing well.

I've been diligently testing for FC daily and adding as per the app.

We're at a point where the CYA is reading less than 30 (could be 20 but that's a guess). We've kept the FC in the target range. As a side note, I'll have to add about 10 gallons of water to get it to the fill line, tomorrow. pH is measuring at about 8.2.

What does one do at this point to get the CYA back up? Am I back to dichlor for a while?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Newdude]

What does one do at this point to get the CYA back up?

You add it.

Am I back to dichlor for a while?

Totally up to you. I don't like waiting for one because of something else. But you're doing it at your house so if you want to take a break from bleach and use dichlor to raise the CYA in spurts as you dose FC, it'll get there when it gets there.

 

[mwhitney]

You add it.


Totally up to you. I don't like waiting for one because of something else. But you're doing it at your house so if you want to take a break from bleach and use dichlor to raise the CYA in spurts as you dose FC, it'll get there when it gets there.

Am I correct in my understanding that liquid chlorine will not raise the CYA (does not contain cyanuric acid) and as such, the only way to increase the CYA is to go back to the Dichlor?

Respectfully, I'm not sure what you mean by ".... I don't like waiting for one because of something else."

 

[PoolStored]

Am I correct in my understanding that liquid chlorine will not raise the CYA (does not contain cyanuric acid) and as such, the only way to increase the CYA is to go back to the Dichlor?

Yes, your understanding is correct. You can buy chlorine stabilizer...it is CYA.

Respectfully, I'm not sure what you mean by ".... I don't like waiting for one because of something else."

He means that he, and many of us, prefer to add what is needed separately, rather than using a product that has two products in it. Waiting for CYA to rise by adding dichlor. Add the CYA when it needs it and add chlorine when it needs it.

 

[Mdragger88]

Many of us also have pools and already own standalone cya so we just use that sometimes. 1 small bag of it would be a lifetime supply for you though probably.
Its also a little tricky to measure such small amounts needed for a spa.
Your dichlor will be just fine & since its acidic it will also lower your ph.
Cya degrades over time due to the hot water so it does occasionally need to be replenished. I keep my tub pretty hot and find that I need to use a little dichlor every couple weeks.

 

[Newdude]

1 small bag of it would be a lifetime supply for you though probably.

This is another big plus for adding CYA by itself in granular form. The 4lb bag from Walmart for $20 raises CYA by 1065. It might even handed down for a couple generations.

 

[mwhitney]

Thanks for the advice.

1) If I were to pick up something like this: Aquarius Pool Water Stabilizer
Using the PM app, I'm guessing our current CYA is around 20, target at 40, it's recommending 24g. Does that sound right? Just add, check again in 24 hours?

2) If going the Dichlor route, just back to the initial dosing schedule to hit a target of 6ppm per day over 'x' days until the CYA comes up?

 

[Newdude]

Using the PM app, I'm guessing our current CYA is around 20, target at 40, it's recommending 24g. Does that sound right?

Mine spit out 0.8 oz (by weight) which was 22pointsomething grams when I googled it and both ways have some sort of rounding error from the initial calculation. 24 is WAY close enough either way.

Just add, check again in 24 hours?

Yes until it's all second nature and you're just comfortable that

1) it was what it was
2) what you did always does as you expect

If going the Dichlor route, just back to the initial dosing schedule to hit a target of 6ppm per day over 'x' days until the CYA comes up?

Yup. Just like you did. Add your regular daily FC doses and the CYA will go up a little each time.

 

[mwhitney]

Mine spit out 0.8 oz (by weight) which was 22pointsomething grams when I googled it and both ways have some sort of rounding error from the initial calculation. 24 is WAY close enough either way.

Yes until it's all second nature and you're just comfortable that

1) it was what it was
2) what you did always does as you expect


Yup. Just like you did. Add your regular daily FC doses and the CYA will go up a little each time.

Excellent. Thanks!

 

[Mdragger88]

This is another big plus for adding CYA by itself in granular form. The 4lb bag from Walmart for $20 raises CYA by 1065. It might even handed down for a couple generations.

I find it awkward to use in the spa with the small amounts- it never matches my Poolmath calculations for some reason whereas dichlor (and every other chem) is always dead on. I am starting to think the sock/hose absorbs/keeps some of it which is an unnoticeable difference in the amounts used for a pool.

 

[Mdragger88]

To clarify- if using standalone granular cya you don’t just add it to the water.
You add it to a sock or knee high/skimmer sock and let it dissolve that way some where away from the shell. If i do this i generally stand there and massage the sock until dissolved.

 

[mwhitney]

To clarify- if using standalone granular cya you don’t just add it to the water.
You add it to a sock or knee high/skimmer sock and let it dissolve that way some where away from the shell. If i do this i generally stand there and massage the sock until dissolved.

Thanks for the additional info - I wouldn't have known that. I'll keep this in the back pocket for now and start with going back to the Dichlor method for several days.
Cheers.