Newbie with Questions

[Spurki99]

Ok so I have a new hot tub that's kinda got me scratching my head. I have been checking it a adjusting it and have a pretty good handle on my water all except the chlorine level. The tub is brand new and been setup for a week. I keep adding chlorine but it keeps eating it. At first it was dropping to like .3 overnight. So I was going to SLAM it but today I have checked it three times just hrs apart and it drops that quickly. I put 5oz of 8% Bleach in it and two hrs later I was at .8? The water is very clear no slime on the sides I am perplexed.
I have tested it with strips and an old tester we have from a pool also same results as my LaMotte ColorQ....Thanks in Advance for any advice

EDIT So my wife told me that saying that water is very clear is kinda not true it is slightly cloudly
Last test
FC .03
TC .13
PH 7.4
ALK 192
CH 249
CYA 60

 

[pooldv]

Have you read this yet?
How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?

Keep adding bleach and retesting 15--30 min later to make sure it holds. There is something using up the FC.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If it's a new tub, you should run it through with Ahh-some hot tub cleaner. We see this all the time in new tub setups. When they build the tub they have to pressure test the plumbing. This leaves stagnant water behind. You will be amazed at the biofilm scum removed from a supposedly "brand new" hot tub.

 

[Spurki99]

Thanks Guys for the quick responses the how use chlorine was very helpful I am getting as little nervous with as much as I seem to be adding. after reading that I see my TA is aslo high.. I will fix that tomorrow when I have a few hrs. Going to look into Ahh-some right now thanks

 

[orion6192]

If you shock your tub - it would be 24ppm you would need to add. CYA of 60 x .4. You can use 8.5% bleach also. If it's biofilm though - you may need to do an ahh-some purge or two or three depending on what you see.

 

[bikeguy]

Something doesn't make sense. Is your CC level increasing or elevated?

My 1 month old hot tub kept having CC levels around the 1-1.5 level 24hrs after chlorine add and 2-2.5 within a few hours of use. Chlorine use was relatively high 5-6ppm per 24h.

I finally gave up the battle and did a purge with Ahh-Some as was recommended here. Much, much better so far. CC was <<0.5ppm (TF-100) and more like 0.1ppm (ColorQ). In my 1 month old tub there wasn't a ton of foam with the Ahh-Some but there was a lot of the green slime all over the sides. Definitely "seems" much cleaner now and the low CC level makes me hopeful.

Definitely recommend a full purge if the chlorine usage doesn't drop.

 

[Spurki99]

That is exactly what I'm thinking Bikeguy. Something is not making sense to me also. I put about 12oz of 8% bleach in last night total. At about 8pm I checked it for the last time with a strip and it was high(I also checked it with my other test kit that said it was High it goes to 10. Don't know how high it was but above 10ppm)at 430am before work a quick test with a strip showed low. This afternoon at 4pm it was .13Fc and .24Tc I'm baffled as to how it can use that much chlorine in that amount of time(No one has been in the tub since Sat evening) Heck looks like I need to setup a chlorine IV because I'm not home for much of the day and cant add it

 

[JoyfulNoise]

That is exactly what I'm thinking Bikeguy. Something is not making sense to me also. I put about 12oz of 8% bleach in last night total. At about 8pm I checked it for the last time with a strip and it was high(I also checked it with my other test kit that said it was High it goes to 10. Don't know how high it was but above 10ppm)at 430am before work a quick test with a strip showed low. This afternoon at 4pm it was .13Fc and .24Tc I'm baffled as to how it can use that much chlorine in that amount of time(No one has been in the tub since Sat evening) Heck looks like I need to setup a chlorine IV because I'm not home for much of the day and cant add it

If the tub is new then biofilms and manufacturing residues can easily explain the chlorine usage. Those types of problems can only be cleaned out with powerful surfactant cleaners. Biofilms that harbor bacterial colonies can not be destroyed by chlorine, even at FC levels well above shock levels.

 

[bikeguy]

spurki99, if I were you I'd purge and refill.

My CC level has been ~0.1 or 0.2 all week and I've been adding dichlor to about the 6ppm level daily and it's about 3ppm after 24hrs.

I've been testing with the ColorQ and TF100 and once you are below about 7-8ppm both agree very well (with the accuracy of the TF100 0.5ppm test or so) so I think you can believe your results.

FYI, on the ColorQ the pH, TA, CH are all with the accuracy of my pH test block, 10ppm, and 25ppm resolution of the TF100 as well.

 

[orion6192]

I agree with JoyFul Noise and bikeguy - get some Ahh-Some and do purge. When you have Biofilm - you can sanitize all you want and shock and you won't alleviate your issue. What Ahh-Some is, is a surfactant cleaner. It breaks down the "skin" of the biofilm so when the shock / cholorine mixes with it, it will kill it. You be shocked at what floats to the surface when you do a purge, or maybe two.