h0ttubber

The problem with the instructions for the pH Balance product is that they tell you to use an entire bottle for any hot tub up to 500 gallons, and they don't even mention anything about Borates or trying to get them to 50 ppm. My hot tub is only 180 gallons, so my Borates are probably way over 50 ppm. I have a Taylor K-2005 test kit, but I don't believe it has any means of testing for Borates. Should I be concerned about my Borates being too high?

If your TA is 180, your pH will eventually rise too high. I'm not familar with that product, so I can't comment on it. Bottom line is, adjust your TA to WHATEVER it needs to be to keep your pH in the 7.4-7.8 range. I found 60-80 ppm TA is a good range. But if you need to go down to 50 ppm, so be it. Also, add Borates to your tub by using a product called Gentle Spa. That will lock your pH in perfect range. Thanks for the reply. I found the MSDS for pH Balance, and it's a combination of boric acid and sodium carbonate, the latter of which I assume is driving up the total alkalinity. The next time I dump the tub, I'll try Gentle Spa instead and hopefully that will work better. Thanks for your help.

I've been having a hard time keeping my pH from drifting up, so I recently added Leisure Time's pH Balance to my spa after adjusting the pH to 7.6 and the total alkalinity to 90. After adding the pH Balance product, my pH was still at 7.6, but my total alkalinity shot up to 180. Is this a problem since the ideal range for total alkalinity is 80 - 120?