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new2spa

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  1. Get yourself a taylor test kit. It is without a doubt the best thing you can buy to maintain your spa water.
  2. Really I was wondering if it would hurt anything to have both running. The instructions for the ACE system say it's fine to have an ozone unit with the ACE system. I read that ozone can make chlorine less effictive ( I have no idea how ). I assume ozone somehow breaks down chlorine. I have read about the benefits of ozone, however are there any downsides to having an ozone unit?
  3. I recently upgraded to a Hot Springs model from a Limelight. The Hot Springs model comes standered with an Ozone unit. I also have an ACE system. My question is should I unplug the Ozone unit on the spa? The ACE system produces ozone while it creates chlorine, on what level of ozone I have no idea. I am a heavy user of my spa, at least 30-50 minutes everyday, and thats just me. About 3-4 times a week my wife and 2 year old get it in it also for about 20 minutes a pop. If I leave the ozone plugged in would it hurt anything? Or should i just keep it plugged in and running?
  4. My Glow has both the new cell and new standpipe installed. I was still having flow problems threw my standpipe. I upgraded to a Hot Springs Sovereign today so I am hoping I am leaving all my troubles with the ACE system.
  5. My Hot Springs dealer and the Watkins service tech have found the problem with my ACE system. Turns out that there is a flow problem in the standpipe. If I move my ACE cell to outside the standpipe, inside the filter compartment, it works without any problems. My dealer has told me that Watkins engineers are working on a solution. I just wanted to give a final update so that anyone out there who might be having the same probelm can find this thread. My hats off to my Hot Springs dealer and Watkins service tech. I have never had to pay 1 penny to anyone. My dealer must have been out to my house around 15 times, never once was I charged for a "service fee" or pressured into buying anything.
  6. I notice that my test strips (i use for quick chlorine check everyday) always say my pH is really low, but my Taylor test I'm right at 7.4. I always trust the Taylor over the strip for my readings, however is there any reason I get such different readings between the 2? My dealer told me my pH was low because of the test strip he was reading, but my Taylor drop test is telling me I'm at 7.4. My dealer has been in the spa business for 25 years, and I am a new spa owner, so who should I believe? My Taylor kit, or my dealer?
  7. WTF is Freshrain? Fortune cookie say; if it's to good to be true... it is.
  8. OK Have a brief update. I tossed some stain and scale in my spa and found that my salt level decreased. When I say salt level I mean the salt test on my ACE system, not the actual salt level. My guess is that my water has a high amount of metals in the water, making it more conductive. I was able to bring my salt up to 1600ppm and still only read a salt level of 5. The ACE system isn't producing much chlorine, about 1 ppm in 24 hours with the settings maxed out (i.e. USE 5 and SIZE 8). I notice that is I bring my pH down to 7.2 the system creates a little more chlorine. However my dealer told me that pH shouldn't have any effect on the ACE system to produce chlorine.
  9. We have a water softener, however I always bypass it when filling my spa. When I did my full re-fill yesterday I ran a salt test on my ACE system as soon as the spa was topped off with water. It came back with a value of 1 everytime I did the test. I did your test and found my salt test came back with a value of 2 in the softened water. Maybe my water has a high amount of other solids in it that will make it more conductive? Maybe I should try to put some stain and scale in and see if that drops it at all. As of right now on my new re-fill my salt test is returning with a value of 6-7. My actual salt level is 1500ppm. Does stain and scale actually remove metal solids in the water somehow? Does MPS increase conductivity at all? I use MPS once a week in my spa.
  10. Got my TA/pH in line, added 5 cups of salt per the directions. Which should get me around 1500ppm of salt (the min for operation). Salt test on my ACE system shot from 1 to 7. Guess it wasn't the Gentle Spa. The normal thing now is my ACE will run fine for a few days with a 6-7 salt reading on my ACE system. Then maybe by mid next week it will start going into the high 7 low 8 range and start kicking itself offline. The only thing I ever add wil be dichlor because I can't count on the ACE system to work. It's my dealers busy time fo year with the pool season. So it's rare that i get an e-mail or call back from him. I called Hot Springs a few times last week, they at least called me back to get my numbers on pH, TA and CH (all are right within perfect range). However I haven't gotten any word since. I kinda get the feeling they don't know what to do. I can see both my dealer and hot springs jerking me around for a few more months until my warrenty is up on my cell and then have them tell me I need to buy a new one. At this point nothing would suprise me. :angry: I know this is blasphemy on this forums... but I have to say I am sorry i didn't go with Master Spa. The only reason I went with the Limelight Glow over the Master Spa LSX 557 was the fact that my Hot Springs dealer was giving away this ACE system with the purchase of a new spa. Well in all fareness at least the actual spa hasn't given me any grief. Just this blasted ACE system. However I have to be honest, I doubt I will ever purchase another Hot Springs product after my experience with this ACE system. Is there anything I can add to my spa water to decrease the conductivity? Does pH/TA/CH have anything to do with conductivity? I'm thinking maybe if I play around with 1 of those maybe I can get this thing to work.
  11. How did you fill the spa? Put the garden hose in the filter compartment City water? Yes (CH = 100 out of tap) Well Water? No Do you have a water softener? Yes (Spa is at 50ppm of CH) Did you pump water from the pool to fill it up? (if you have one) No sir! Spa is only thing I have. I'm in the process of doing a full drain and refill, I have a hunch. My system was working fine till I added Gentle Spa. I'm thinking Gentle Spa might be somehow making my water more conductive, without adding salt. It would explain why I am getting high salt readings but have low salt in the spa. It's a long shot, but I have nothing to lose except an afternoon. I had nothing on the books today anyways so...
  12. Thanks for the replies Waterbear. I gave up on the ACE system. I have it "shut off" now and just maintain my water per nitro's guide. the ACE system was great while it lasted, but it's just been too much of a complete nightmare for me anymore. Even when I add, just by math, only 1080ppm of salt, my ACE system reads "high salt". So testing strips aside, 1 cup of salt adds 310ppm of salt to my tub. so adding 3 and a half cups brings to me around 1100 just with the math. Yet my ACE system gives me "high salt" reading and will not work. I just give up. I've spend almost 6 months now trying to just get this thing to work. I don't have the strength anymore to deal with it, my dealer, and Hot Springs about it.
  13. I am getting the 1500ppm salt reading from an AquaChek Salt Test Strip. I see what you're saying about a difference in readings between the 2, however even when my salt was at 1100ppm the ACE system was giving me a "High Salt" reading and kicking itself offline for high salt.
  14. Went out to my spa before work last night and found my ACE system kicked itself offline for high salt, again. This has been an ongoing issue for a few months. I have the full support of my dealer and Hot Springs tech support. However the problem still continues. My salt is at 1500ppm, which is actually a little low (HS recommends 1600ppm+). I'm at my wits end with this ACE system. For almost 6 months now it has been one issue or another. First I had the wrong cell, then I had the correct newer cell installed but the wrong control box, now I have the correct control box and cell, and I am getting this high salt reading. When the system works it's outstanding, but in the almost 6 months I've owned it, it has maybe worked without issue for about 2 of those months all together. I wish I listened to the people on these forums and just got my spa without the ACE system. It's simple enough to maintain my spa water properly without it. For a product thats suppose to make my life easier, it has done the exact opposite. Is there any way to shut off the "salt" test on the ACE system? I know it would work fine if I could just do that. Well, I would at least get a few months more of it working without issues. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have no idea what to do anymore.
  15. Waterbear to bring this back on topic is the Oaktron and various digital "salt" testers actual salt testers or do they just test water conductivity? I'm making an educated guess here that since they give a reading in ppt that they test salinty. Also; given your ppt to ppm formula that would mean that salinity testers go from 1000ppm-10,000ppm if they measure in ppt 1-10?
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