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Hey Smash !! Just wanted to chime in that PHs of 8 or above can be tricky. Most of the test kits only read to 8 or 8.2 and you can be higher than that. So you add enough acid to get to 7.X and still test 8 because you only actually lowered it to 8.5 (?).

It may take a few tries to make it readable below 8. Just keep verifying 30 minutes after you add and repeat if necessary.
 
Newdude said:
Hey Smash !! Just wanted to chime in that PHs of 8 or above can be tricky. Most of the test kits only read to 8 or 8.2 and you can be higher than that. So you add enough acid to get to 7.X and still test 8 because you only actually lowered it to 8.5 (?).

It may take a few tries to make it readable below 8. Just keep verifying 30 minutes after you add and repeat if necessary.
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Understood thank you. I guess we will stay out of it until I finish shocking it to 30/x ppm of CYA and then I'll have to work on that Alk/ph.
 
samshpamalta47 said:
FC makes sense. You're right that I was not maintaining this before. I appreciate you helping learn about this. What is a good workflow for maintaining chlorine? Test every day? Always test before going in, always test after getting out?
You need to test before going in or at least daily
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samshpamalta47 said:
- at the beginning (right now) before getting in & after getting out is a good plan so u can get a feel for the amount of fc consumed during an average soak & w/ 1 person vs 2 people etc. If it isn’t going to be used that day you also need to test to see what the “idle” usage rate is. Once you have an understanding of those you can test more infrequently because you’ll know that a 2 person 1hr soak eats about 3ppm or that sitting idle uses 2ppm/day or whatever.
I understand I'm shocking with dichlor to raise my CYA and when I get to 30something I will switch to liquid chlorine. I feel like I should be comfortable with the app to work that out. Can I speed this process up in any way? Like can I dose twice a day? You just add what the tub needs. If you are already @ shock level for your cya it doesn’t need anymore fc & going higher will just risk surface & equipment damage.
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samshpamalta47 said:
Ph- because I'm using dichlor to raise CYA I can't treat ph until that's done. I was going to ask if I could start adding acid yesterday. When this entire process is done I'm going to create a workflow so I can repeat it on next fill.
You can add acid - you just want to be aware of what your dichlor addition will do to ph as well. You only need to do what the tub needs (see a theme here?) Example—-> If u add 30g of dichlor this will lower your ph by.4 - if your ph was 8.0 that would result in a ph of 7.6. Thus making an acid addition unnecessary.
Static. I have a zerostat gun I wonder if I can zap the bottles. I will figure out the static with the paper towel method or my gun. But I expected alk to be high because my source water chemistry is that high. Thing about the CH is yes I have whole home water softener and it was supposed to be zero but all this water I used my softener is out of salt lol.
I would Stick w/ the damp paper towel 😁
Thank you so much for helping me get to this point. Amazing.

Is it safe for us to use our tub? I know you said that a couple times but the pH is 8, alk is 260, aren't those in the danger zone? high ta is not dangerous in any way. Lower your ph a dab with acid or a dichlor addition if fc is necessary & definitely use the tub! That’s what it’s for 😊 Happy Hot tubbing !
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RDspaguy said:
🤣 Love it!
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I didn’t come up with it - stick around here & fun sayings rub off on u 🤣🤣
unbreakable kimmy schmidt netflix GIF
 
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I really appreciate the information I'm learning especially from @Mdragger88.

My CYA is getting closer but still not registering above 30ppm. I've been dosing with dichlor each of the 4 days since I purged. I thought it would have hit 30 by now because I've added minimum 45-50 ppm of dichlor.

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Hopefully I can start treating the alk/pH soon. Ph still above 8.0. I've read the two step muriatic acid/aeration process but I have many questions. The two steps as described assume some details that are left out.
 
To get pH down:
-test pH
-enter pH level into Pool Math and tell Pool Math you want it at 7.5
-Add the amount of muriatic acid Pool Math tells you to with the pump running.
-Wait about 10 mins (pump running the whole time) and retest the pH.

Keep doing the above until your pH tests in the 7s. It might take a couple/few times to make it happen as we really don't know just how high your pH really is as the test only goes to 8.0.
 
If it were I……….

  • Go ahead and halt the use of Dichlor So you avoid it getting to high. Give it a week or so then retest to see where you’re at.
  • Don’t worry at all for now about your TA. I say this as you were clearly overwhelmed at the start. TA is a parameter that’s easy to ignore. The main purpose of TA is to help control your pH. Too low and your pH sways all over the place. Too high and it takes a ton of acid to push the pH lower. Nothing about TA will stop you from enjoying your water.
  • Instead of worrying about TA, focus on pH. Add enough acid to reach 7.5 and enjoy your water. TA will come down on its own
 
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Assuming the water looks good, follow the steps KimKats mentioned.
  • Assume your pH is 8
  • Use PoolMath to see how much acid you’ll need to lower to 7.5. Add that
  • Run the jets for a few minutes and then retest
Do that a few times until your pH is in the 7’s. Don’t stress about this much, a high pH shouldn’t keep you from enjoying the hot tub.
 
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My TA/pH balancing diary.

I'm documenting the process I did, you guys tell me if I did it wrong please.

I used a syringe which I know holds 12.5ml of fluid and a standard measuring cup.

I decided I can't use pool math to tell me how much acid I need because we don't know what pH is. So I used the drop test acid demand result. 2floz to drop pH to 7.5.

Knowing how much acid I needed I added 12.5ml of acid to 2 cups of water from the hot tub. This was about 1/5th of the total dose to bring pH down to 7.5.

Ran the jets with aerators off and slowly poured the acid solution in the middle of the tub. Opened the aerators and let everything run for 15 minutes. Retested. TA came down 10ppm, pH unreadable.

Ran the process again with 2nd of 1/5th dose. TA 250ppm and pH unreadable.

Third time added doses 3, 4, and 5 of 1/5th

At this point I didn't know what I was trying to accomplish anymore. Lower TA, or lower pH? TA is coming down but pH is still nowhere in sight. If I run the aerators then pH will go up. Seems like what I'm doing is counterintuitive. TA 230ppm, pH unreadable.

Fourth dose. I've already added what the first acid demand test told me. But I continue undeterred to prove to myself I wasn't meant to play guitar or care for a hot tub. Added 5x12.5ml all in for another go. My logic is if I get a 10ppm reduction from 12.5ml of acid, which is what happened the first two doses, but not the third of, I for some reason thought that 5x12.5ml should drop it by 50ppm. Is that what happened? Nope. Came down 20ppm TA 210ppm, pH still unreadable. New acid demand result is to add 2floz of acid.

Right back where I started. Tell me what I have done wrong. Besides get a hot tub, that's an obvious answer.
 

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You're over thinkig this process. Use the highest you have there which is 8.0 and use MA as per poolmath to drop it to 7.5, now if after its in the mix for ten minutes check again. If it's still at the 8.0 level do it again and see if it drops below the 8.0. Keep doing it this way every 15 minutes and at some point it'll be below the 8.0 . Once you achieve the 7.5 you're good. Don't worry now about the TA as has been said before. If when it drops below and say it lands @7.8 then per poolmath figure out how much is needed to bring it just to 7.5.
 
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So make sure you fill the block to the right level with pool water before you begin. Secondly, the dropper bottle needs to be perfectly inverted and not sort of sideways for the droplets the fall off the tip to be all uniform in size. Don't squeeze but just let the correct amount of drops fall off the tip with ever so slight help. Put the plug in and invert the solution several time for a good mix. To get a better reading of the color comparison you'd be best off with a well lit white background while looking through the comparator but keep the block off the background enough so you're shading the background.
 
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Do just as @wireform instructed.
Just wanted to add that at higher levels of ta the decrease from each dose of acid isn’t as much as it would be at lower ta levels.
You’ve got plenty of room for ta to come down before it’s a problem so don’t worry about it.
Don’t get discouraged- follow the test instructions & poolmath.
Also add acid directly to the tub vs diluting it (there’s less chance of splashing/spilling it this way)
Hold the measuring cup over the water, pour acid into the cup, set ma bottle down & cap it, pour cup in water & rinse it out.
*Always add acid to water - never add water to acid.
U can do this! 🤩
 

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