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us5camp

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  1. Update, so far we have done the following to this 1997, 500 gal, indoor Cal Spa to combat the cough irritation: Added a CLR product to tub to help flush out crap that may have been in the tub plumbing in the years it sat idle. Circulated, Drained. Refilled, SuperChlorinated, 12hrs, drained ala the proceedure posted here. Decided cover is WAY past it's prime, so orded a new one from RHTubs. - - Dealer Chemical 'expert' felt the cover may be the culprit, as did others here. Spa is now empty, d-day +1 Filters are out and cleaned... noticed one is a 50 sqft and the other is a 25 sqft, so need to get another 50. N2 stick looked good, was only 3wks old with very light spa use, so soaked it in a higher FC level bucket of water, drained and am planning to reuse for the balance of it's recommended life. So, question is, do I leave the tub idle the next 2-3 wks while waiting for the RHTubs cover??? or Refill and resume use, following a proper restart, balance routine? Argument for the later is if the cover is the culprit, and the cough resumes, shouldn't the cough irritation stop when the new cover arrives and the old one is discarded? It should NOT be possible for the cover to contaminate a freshly decontaminated spa as long as it's properly sanitized and shocked? Correct? I am not convinced it's the cover anyway as the cough didn't bother me when the cover was open and on the spa top, but only or significantly more when the jets came on. Even with the cover off fully, sitting behind the tub, we had coughing. Your thoughts are appreciated.
  2. Thx all.... after researching all we could..... we ordered a cover from RHTubs today. Looking forward to seeing if it looks up to it's reputation on this site.
  3. Subject says it all. Looking to replace a spa cover, looking for good on-line dealer.
  4. OK, so here's an update and (unfortunately, many) new questions. Still have the cough that affects all 4 of us; so have scaled back usage until I get this under control. Recall, only filled spa 3.5wks ago after sitting empty for 3yrs. The spa is a 1997, 500 gal Cal Spa. Working (NEW) Ozonator, N2 Mineral Santicizer, dichlor & MPS. Everything was apparently going fine until about a wk after filling we started to notice a cough when using the spa or in the room with the jets running. Was also getting plenty of foam. * I scraped off all the excess foam I could, added 4tbs dichlor & 4tbs MPS. * this brought the Saticizer and MPS levels off the charts, which is what I was after to see if this cough was bacteria or chloramines related. * Calcium Hardness - bought strips to test. Came back 50-75, so added Calcium Boost to bring it up. Can't tell exactly from the strip, but somewhere between 150-250 judging by the color, though it looks a little pale, but seems to be in the correct hue. * After shocking w/dichlor & MPS and adding Calcium boost 3 days later, foam is not a problem. * Which brings me to test kits, I'd love to purchase a liquid reagent test kit like a TF Test Kit , but it's been about -25degF around here lately and worry about mail order of reagents as freezing won't do them any good. So, in this rural town, I do not as of yet, have a test kit. * CYA - I see this mentioned all over this board, but why is it so abscent from mainstream discussion? I have NO idea what mine is, but do know I need to find out. * Cover - My primary spa dealer believes the cough may be related to the old cover on our spa. I don't know the exact spa cover age, but it may be an original cover. Dealer thinks we may have activated mold or something in the cover that's causing the cough. Thoughts? - New Cover from local dealer = $450+ - Thoughts on the cover causing the coughing? - GOOD online cover source? * SpaBright - Haven't used any yet, understand the principle of causing particles to bind to allow the filter to take them out, but what's the downside? Seems there's a downside to each spa chemical. What's the preferred spa brightener chemical? * Enzymes - My dealer did not propose use, talked to another dealer who says you need to / should use enzymes. Upside / downside? * Chemicals, Chemicals, Chemicals.... I've been trying to figure out what chemicals are 'needed' w/o having a chemical for every ailment. So... here's where I'm at. * After shocking spa and raising Cal Hardness up to acceptable range, - pH appears to be low (nearest I can tell from a selection of sh_tty test strips), near 6.8 or 7 or ?? - Alk has dropped to 40-50 - best method for raising Alk?, which I understand needs to be corrected before worrying about pH. - how much baking soda? or ?? * Drain/Refill - though the tub has only been full for 3.5 wks, thinking of draining as it was empty for 3yrs prior to this. - Will follow HillBilly Hot Tub's list here - along with a jet/flush product. * So, cover or water flush or both? If we don't get the cough figured out, might as well break out the chainsaw and turn the room into a pool room.
  5. Newbie here .... did search, looking to solidify a couple of things on test kits, strips. Looking to buy a Taylor test kit. ? is, which one. Main Chemical's used in Hot Tub are in the Nature2 system... Nature2, MPS, Dichlor. So, which test kit in the Taylor family would be appropriate. In another post a user recommended which tests we may need, but they have a zillion test kits on the web, which is most appropriate and reasonable? Also, What's a good source of online supplies. We live a ways from anywhere, so online is how we'll likely buy most items (testing, chemicals, etc). ?? Test Strips... any better than others? We have the Nature2 Strips and some older ones left by the previous owner by Leisure Time. They seem easy enough to read, looking to verify accuracy. pH is difficult for me to read on these test strips. I know it's not at either extreme, but have trouble figuring out the correct pH as that orangish square is so marbled that the outside of the square looks like low pH and the center of the square looks like a 7.4 pH, so am confused if pH is correct or not. Thx,
  6. The Cal-Spa Maintenance Sheet called for: * 1-2 teaspoons of Dichlor after each use (or 1oz or 1/2 cap) * 2oz or 1 cap of MPS 1/wk, 2 if necessary. We only use the spa every 2-3 days, sometimes every day. Normally it's me alone or me and 3 kids. My wife will not use the tub if it's at all irritating as she's always been a little gun shy of chlorine and pools. So, we're not off to a good start. We had been doing the above and get the cough, throught tickle. So... started researching on the net and on Nature2's site and they recommend MPS after each use and Dichlor on a less frequent basiss, so now we are questioning what is right? So, right now, I don't know if I should be using more MPS, or more Dichlor or ??? to solve this.
  7. Hello All, New spa owners, bought home with 500gal indoor cal spa. Just getting it started. Using a Nature2 mineral santicizer stick, MPS for shock and dichlor. Tub also has brand new ozonator. When you fire the spa up, each person that comes in the room begins coughing periodically and I also feel a slight irritation in the throught. I have been reading and calling our hot tub dealer and have not licked the irritation. Cal Spa dealer, has recommended the following for daily/weekly type maint.... dichlor after each use, MPS for shock 1-2 times/wk This seems to be direct opposite of Nature2 directions which use MPS at each use and dichlor for periodic shocks. Cal Spa dealer said to shock more often as this irritation is likely chloramines. So, we've been using MPS at each use and dichlor as 1x/wk shock. What are your thoughts? a) what's causing the irritation? What to do about it? preferred treatment, role of dichlor vs MPS ?? Which should be our primary chemical at/after each use, MPS or dichlor, considering we're running a Nature 2 mineral stick and have a working ozonator. ??? Also getting some decent amount of foam, dealer says this is a sign of other issues, for which more shock was prescribed. So, thoughts on foam too? Use anti-foam, or what's the chemical problem that's causing foam and what to do about it? Thx, Sorry for the long post
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