Trying to remove ocean care tile/grout protectant. It messed up my negative edge spa.

[Mbk71]

Like the title says...
Have a negative edge glass tile spa that was running perfect. Flowing over on all 4 corners seamlessly.
I have hard water and noticed some white chalky hazing on the sides of the spa when turned off and it dried.
so I used a acid/water ratio to clean the tile. Then I applied the ocean care sealer protectant stuff.
go to start the pump back up and now the spa is not flowing over seemlessly anymore. Two corners and multiple other areas on straight lines of the spa are not spilling over. It’s like it’s repelling the water in those spots forcing the water to flow in areas with the least resistance.
Its got to have some kind of ceramic or silicon agent in it.
Nevertheless, been trying to reach out to the company to find out what I can use to remove this stuff. Or at least what ingredients are in it so I can use my own judgement on removing it.
should I use a stronger ratio of acid to get it off? Any suggestions would be great. I’m literally ****** at myself as I tried to eliminate an issue and created a much bigger one for myself.
thanks so much.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Can you fill out your signature so that we can see equipment specs?

Have you tried increasing the flow to the spa (assuming you have a variable speed pump) OR is your filter clean so that you are getting maximum flow rate to the spa?

 

[Mbk71]

Can you fill out your signature so that we can see equipment specs?

Have you tried increasing the flow to the spa (assuming you have a variable speed pump) OR is your filter clean so that you are getting maximum flow rate to the spa?

Yes,
The pool has been started up for 2 weeks only. 18k chlorinated
I’ve done all that. Pentair VSVF pump.
30 minutes prior to draining to plaster line, cleaning and applying the protectant it was flowing perfectly fine at 2600 rpm in pool mode. Filter pressure hasn’t changed.
now even at 3100 rpm and in spa fill mode there is still areas resistant to water flow.
you can tell when moving the water around with your hand the protectant coating is resisting the water. Basically keeping a layer between the water and the tile.
I’ve called the company numerous times at different extensions to get some kind of info and I constantly get a recording.

this Is so frustrating that it was flowing beautiful moments before I applied this Crud. I’m so angry at myself right now. All I want is my spa to flow smoothly again. I can life with the white hazy stuff when it dries at this point. Now it looks like completely Crud when running and not even offering the full effect of the feature that it’s designed to be.

 

[Mbk71]

Can you fill out your signature so that we can see equipment specs?

Have you tried increasing the flow to the spa (assuming you have a variable speed pump) OR is your filter clean so that you are getting maximum flow rate to the spa?

basically where I’m at now is using WHATEVER I can to strip this stuff short of ripping the tile off the spa and re tiling the whole thing.

this is what it looked like a day before...?

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Those types of tile “sealing” compounds are usually very hydrophobic siloxane polymers (think of it as a glassy like silicone) and they sometimes contain Teflon type materials as well. It forms a very thin but very hard surface sealer. This is what repels the moisture and keeps watermarks and evaporite (the white crusty stuff) from forming. They are not easy to remove even with the strongest solvents and I doubt you’d want to use that stuff around your pool.

I would highly suggest you not try to do anything more as it will likely make the situation worse. Over time, the tile sealing chemical will breakdown slowly and you may see a return to normal flow. Can’t say when, but it will happen.

If waiting is impossible, there might be automotive buffing and polishing compounds you could apply to try to polish away the material (or roughen it up a bit) without damaging the tile but that would be a major trial & error process. If you were to do that you would want to test stuff out in only the most inconspicuous spot to avoid creating an eye-soar. I would even go so far as to test it out on scrap tiling you might have leftover from the build to avoid potential damage.

 

[Mbk71]

Those types of tile “sealing” compounds are usually very hydrophobic siloxane polymers (think of it as a glassy like silicone) and they sometimes contain Teflon type materials as well. It forms a very thin but very hard surface sealer. This is what repels the moisture and keeps watermarks and evaporite (the white crusty stuff) from forming. They are not easy to remove even with the strongest solvents and I doubt you’d want to use that stuff around your pool.

I would highly suggest you not try to do anything more as it will likely make the situation worse. Over time, the tile sealing chemical will breakdown slowly and you may see a return to normal flow. Can’t say when, but it will happen.

If waiting is impossible, there might be automotive buffing and polishing compounds you could apply to try to polish away the material (or roughen it up a bit) without damaging the tile but that would be a major trial & error process. If you were to do that you would want to test stuff out in only the most inconspicuous spot to avoid creating an eye-soar. I would even go so far as to test it out on scrap tiling you might have leftover from the build to avoid potential damage.

yes this was what I was afraid of. I’m willing to try anything at this point as it could be months before it wears off naturally. Worse case I screw the tile up and have to have the top re tiled.
Thanks for your info/input ?

 

[homegameroom]

I have a waterfall as well and love the siloxane stuff. Maybe you got some in your pool and it clogged the filter a bit? I'll see it floating in my pool if I'm not super careful applying it.
Some gentle rubbing with a reasonable fine grit of sandpaper might help, but be very careful and test somewhere if possible.

Check your filter pressure and see if it went up a bit.

 

[Mbk71]

I have a waterfall as well and love the siloxane stuff. Maybe you got some in your pool and it clogged the filter a bit? I'll see it floating in my pool if I'm not super careful applying it.
Some gentle rubbing with a reasonable fine grit of sandpaper might help, but be very careful and test somewhere if possible.

Check your filter pressure and see if it went up a bit.

Pressure is good. Same as it was yesterday and day before. I’m positive it’s not that. Even in spa fill mode with all 8 jets on the highest rpm setting it’s still not cresting over every piece of tile. That’s how strong this sealant is.
im still waiting to hear back from the company. Hope by Monday. I know it will wear off eventually but how long that takes who knows.
so at this point I’m going to give it a couple weeks to see if I can come up with a solution or resolution. If not I’m calling my tile and coping guy to come tip the top section of tile off and re lay new glass. This seems to have been a very costly mistake for me.

 

[Mbk71]

As you can see here, this is how it’s acting on many edges of the spa now. Where as immediately before adding this product it was cresting over smoothly 100%