switching from the frog ease system

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Sasouvraya

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Sep 7, 2021
6
Southwest US
Hello! I bought a new Bullfrog spa last summer and since I'm terrible at maintaining things I thought I'd stick with the frog system. We use the spa infrequently. My ex husband maintained our old spa with chemicals and in the past year I've discovered just how much better that was.

So, how do I switch now? Everything is unbalanced, the water is a little bit murky. I'm reading the posts "How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?" and "Cyanuric Acid and Free Chlorine Levels". I just bought the drop test kit recommended and am about to order Ahhsome.

I expect I'll be draining and refilling. And I found a step by step in this post First Time Bullfrog Owner - Need help with Frog Ease System. Is this good? I read that I don't need to fix the water BEFORE putting inthe Ahhsome for the first time. I think I understand that step 1b is drain the tub? And hopefully I wouldn't have to do it again (I live in the desert with drought & water restrictions). I'm guessing I'll have to do this over a weekend; it sounds time consuming. Any tips for the purge cleaning?

1) Purge With Ahhsome
2) Fill tub
3) Adjust pH with Muriatic Acid and bring CL to shock level with DiChlor
4) Keep using DiChlor for CL until I get to 30 ppm of CYA
5) Switch to bleach
6) I check my TA, CL, and pH. Takes about a week to get the TA/pH dialed in, and then it is stable.
7) I use AquaClarity once a week
8) I add Cl (bleach) once a day, and then again if I use the tub.
9) I check pH often, but only because with a meter, it takes about 5 seconds.
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What Bullfrog spa do you have? I have an A6, and I can purge, drain, clean, and refill that in 3-4 hours. It does not take over a weekend. A lot of that time is waiting for it to fill.

1. - Purge your spa, following the directions on AhhSome
2. - Cut power to your spa, and start draining (use either the built in drain, or if you have one a sump pump is much faster)
3. - While the spa is draining down, take off your head rests, jet packs, filter weir, and filters - and clean them. Set them aside. At the same time, wipe down your spa to remove any residue before it dries.
4. - Once the spa is empty (a shop vac helps to get out the last of the water in the bottom), wipe down the rest of your surfaces, paying particular attention the upper areas where the jetpacks mount. I find this to be where if there is any scum, it will start to collect.
6. Fill the spa by putting a hose in the filter hole. This helps prevent getting air trapped in your lines, which would necessitate having to remove the air by opening a union.
7. Once the water starts flowing out of the bottom of the jetpack holes, you can put the jetpacks in
8. Reinstall the filters and weir, and fill the tub to the marking on the weir.
9. Power up the spa, and start balancing your water using TFP

As for balancing, use DiChlor to raise both FC and CYA until you get to the level of CYA you want (I shoot for around 30 ppm myself)
After that, use bleach to add FC
For the first week or so after a fill I have to add acid daily until my pH and TA get into balance. Your situation will differ based on your fill water. After I have them balanced, I add acid every 7-10 days. I add bleach 5 days a week or so (some days I skip it). If we use the tub, I always dose with bleach right afterwards.
 
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It may be cheaper but less convenient to add CYA in pure granular form, and most people don't do step 7 or check PH all that often once it settles in. About the latter, you can add Boric acid once PH settles and it helps keep things more stable. BTW, on the bleach, make sure it's unscented (no additives) if you buy at grocery store. They also make fuzz balls that float in the tub to help collect oils, tennis balls are suggested from time to time for this too (I have no idea if that works as good).

You might want to add your equipment and regimen to your signature block...
 
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Methuselah said:
It may be cheaper but less convenient to add CYA in pure granular form, and most people don't do step 7 or check PH all that often once it settles in. About the latter, you can add Boric acid once PH settles and it helps keep things more stable. BTW, on the bleach, make sure it's unscented (no additives) if you buy at grocery store. They also make fuzz balls that float in the tub to help collect oils, tennis balls are suggested from time to time for this too (I have no idea if that works as good).

You might want to add your equipment and regimen to your signature block...
Click to expand...
I have a big bag of CYA for my ABG, but I still use DiChlor for the spa because it is just as you said - a lot easier. It really is not much more expensive. I buy DiChlor in the quart sized container (maybe 32 oz) and it lasts me through 4 water changes (at least). It just dissolves a lot faster than pure CYA. (Plus the CYA is in the BACK shed by the pool, and not in the spa shed by the spa, so I would have to walk all the way back there (about 100 feet :) ) to get it.

I bought a cheap ($20 or so) pH meter so I could check my pH easily in my spa, because I know it tends to rise daily for the first week or so. Recently I found that I have to recalibrate that meter on a pretty frequent basis (It tends to give false high readings as time goes on) so using the comparator block may be the best way to go . With the natural TA in my fill water, my pH will get up in the 8+ range pretty quickly until I get it adjusted, so I do check it daily for the first week. Other people will have different fill water.

The borates are a good idea. I was adding them to my pool (slowly) using Borax. But then I had to change the liner and that ended that. I keep meaning to buy straight boric acid, but never get around to it. It is something that I really should do.

I have found that with purging with AhhSome, dosing weekly with AquaClarity, and not getting in the spa while sweaty, oily, or otherwise dirty, I have no need to use any oil collecting devices. Part of my weekly routine is popping out my jet packs and wiping down behind them. There is one particular pack (the neck blaster) were because of the design of the pack (the part that sticks out in order to blast your neck/shoulders) there is a eddy in the flow, and occasionally stuff will collect there. Not every time I check, but every once in a while. Doing a minimal amount of regular cleaning does a world of good.
 
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Sasouvraya said:
Thank you, that's super helpful! I think it's L6? But I just meant I would need to wait for the weekend and don't have the time to do so during the week.
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OK, so roughly the same volume. A# is all seats L# has a lounger, but if the numbers are the same they are the same footprint.

I was asking because larger tubs, with more water and jet packs to clean, will take longer.
 
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