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Emprov

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  1. My parents have a 16x24 Doughboy that they've had for about 35 years -- I grew up swimming in it and now my daughters are in it 24x7 whenever they're over there and we're at a point at which the liner needs to be replaced. I've heard that Doughboy liners are far better than any of the others on the market and I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience, good or bad, with non-Doughboy liners. We only need to get 5 years tops out of the pool and nobody has a Doughboy liner locally in our size. We're thinking that, as long as something needs to be shipped, we might as well try to save a few bucks. Any thoughts?
  2. I was referring more to the temperature thing. In my long history of owning a spa (going on 4 months now?), I've always assumed that testing at spa temperature was the way to go. Knowing a bit of what happens to chlorine (as you pointed out), I assumed that the other chemicals may react similarly and, that the water should be tested as close to real life spa conditions as possible, i.e. same temp. You've piqued my interest on this.
  3. Looks like I stand corrected by someone with vastly superior knowledge on the subject.
  4. When I used to maintain pools, I never dried the kits out and never had a problem. I'm guessing that, because the water that is being tested has chemicals in it to kill the kind of stuff that would otherwise be problematic, you'd be fine by just putting it away wet and rinsing in the spa water before testing. And test the water at spa temperature. It seems to me that the longer the water is out of the tub, the less it resembles the water that's actually in the tub.
  5. We just got back and the first thing that I did after getting home was run out to the spa to check the results. Spa water is pretty cloudy and my test strips showed no hint of FC. So, I know that it needs a shock but I'm dying to get in it tonight, brought it up to between 3-4ppm, adjusted the acid and PH and I'll do the big shock after I use it tonight. Tomorrow, I'll take the cap off of the bleach and try that for a day or so.
  6. We actually only used the tub once in the last week before vaca, life is pretty darn busy so no, we didn't use it. I think that the cap, even though it's completely full of holes, is inhibiting the transfer of bleach into the water. Since the bleach is heavier than water, I'm thinking that not enough is mixing with the water on top to make its way out of the bottle while the cap is on. When I get back, I'll take the cap off for a few days to check it out though.
  7. Ok, I'm on vacation and I'm a bit concerned. I played with the bleach a bit and I've yet to maintain a 3ppm FC level in the tub by putting holes in the bleach container. I started off with three 1/8" holes and added a few day after day. Right before I left, I drilled so many holes in the cap that I might as well have left the cap off. BTW, I'm using 4 cups of bleach and filling the rest of the container up with spa water. I shocked and dropped the temp to 85 degrees about a half hour before I walked out of the door so we'll see what it looks like when I get back. In the end, I don't think that the water would have any issues that I wouldn't be able to correct fairly quickly but I'd like to hop into it ASAP.
  8. Yep to everything that B0Darc said. I too am a new spa owner and am just starting to get a handle on the whole chemical thing. I can be pretty confusing at first but you'll get it quickly enough. There are a few here who have been extremely helpful, Chem geek is the first to come to mind, so read the threads and try to pick up the lingo -- you'll have it down in no time.
  9. Dang, that means that I actually have to get off my butt and do something.
  10. I've been told that I'd need to drain the tub if I wanted to switch back to Lithium. I liked it when I was using it but I wound up dumping almost a cup of it a day into the tub to maintain the FC. With Dichlor, I'm adding maybe a tablespoon a day and that's about it. Regarding liquid bleach. How much (ballpark), do you need to maintain the tub at 3ppm? And would you then do a weekly shock with Dichlor? I've read just enough about this stuff from your previous posts to make me irritating to those in the know so forgive the the question if it's repetitive. Edit: Would putting something in the jug such as lead weights to make sure the jug stays put affect the chemicals at all?
  11. That's an awesome idea, thanks. Perhaps a plastic quart milk jug with about a 1/2" hole drilled in the cab would do the trick? Once again Chem geek, you da man! I'll have to do some experimentation over the next few weeks. I can't use Bromine, Hot Springs says that I've got this silver coated thingy in my filter that doesn't like Bromine. So, I'm currently using Dichlor. Bleach would be a good fit?
  12. I'm going on vacation for 11 days next month and I'm wondering what to do about the tub. Been thinking about getting a floater, filling it up with chlorine tabs and opening it up only slightly. Is that the thing to do or is there a better idea. How about lowering the temp to about 80 degrees and shocking right before I leave?
  13. So far so good, thanks. 2 questions: what is the real world difference between FC and combined chlorine? And, how much of the time do I want the water to be at 3ppm? If I get it there or slightly above after using it at night, by the next day it's slipped down well below that level. Whatever the case, I'm using about a tablespoon a day, which is much, much better than the cup a day that I was using before.
  14. Update: Finally got tired of trying to balance everything (FC never did come down since I shocked), and just decided to drain and refill. Did that and the Ph an Alkaline came into line really easily. I decided to give Dichlor a try so I added a touch over a tablespoon and, when I checked, the FC was between 5 and 10 ppm. Man, it was taking almost a cup of lithium to get those results! I'm guessing that there was some other funky stuff happening with the spa but it seems all good now!
  15. We're in the middle of redoing our backyard and, I'm ashamed to say, they're sitting in a water tight cooler (yes, the kind into which put blue ice and food), right next to the tub. Kinda white trash'ish but it's working for now until we get a more permanent solution. How about you?
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