No Cya Okay?

[JFL]

Hi all

I just got a new small (280gal) spa and we love it. Now I am becoming educated on spa water and I am a slow learner.

The dealer had me fill it with tap water and add shock and chlorinating sanitizer. I bought a good test kit and I started to test my numbers. The water is clear and clean, but I am adding 1/2 a cap full of chlorinating sanitizer after each use just to keep the chlorine level up. After reading these posts I suspect that the absence of CYA will cause this. Of course my CYA test shows zero CYA (It was never added in the first place)so why would it show anything else right?

So my question is with a small spa, am I okay just adding sanatizer after each use and shock once a week or do I really have to introduce CYA to the spa? PH numbers are fine. We have used it for about a month, water smells clean and is crystal clear. No rashes reported and swimwear looks fine.

Thanks for the help

jim

[Dnepr Dave]

What are you using for "chlorinating sanitizer"? You should be starting with dichlor, it has cyanuric acid in it.

Dave

[JFL]

Hi Dave

My dealer gave me two jars of a product from "hth spa" One reads "SHOCK" and its made up of Calcium Hypoclorite-47.6% "Other ingredients" 52.4%, Mimimum available chlorine 45%

The other jar is "chlorinating sanitizer" also from "hth spa" and the ingredients read exactly the same on the label. I called the company to ask what the difference was and the girl said that the differenc was in the "other ingredients" (Sounded like a croc to me. Thats why I am on this forum!)

So these are the two products that I have.

Having said that, I use either one of them to bring the chlorine level back up to 1-3ppm after use. Both seem to do the same thing.

I am not using dichlor.

My question is do I "need" the dichlor or can I just continue to add chlorine after each use?

Thanks

Jim

[waterbear]

Hi Dave

My dealer gave me two jars of a product from "hth spa" One reads "SHOCK" and its made up of Calcium Hypoclorite-47.6% "Other ingredients" 52.4%, Mimimum available chlorine 45%

The other jar is "chlorinating sanitizer" also from "hth spa" and the ingredients read exactly the same on the label. I called the company to ask what the difference was and the girl said that the differenc was in the "other ingredients" (Sounded like a croc to me. Thats why I am on this forum!)

It IS a crock! I have sold both of those products in the past and they are both cal hypo. One just costs a lot more. I have also compared the MSDS for both and they are identical.

So these are the two products that I have.

Having said that, I use either one of them to bring the chlorine level back up to 1-3ppm after use. Both seem to do the same thing.

I am not using dichlor.

My question is do I "need" the dichlor or can I just continue to add chlorine after each use?

Thanks

Jim

IF you keep the spa covered when not in use AND make sure that you always have FC in the spa by chlorinating daily and not just when you use it then you do not need cya BUT adding about 20 ppm CYA will make life easier in the long run. Once you have added enough dichlor to raise the CYA you would go back to the cal hypo until you drain and refill. You would need abut 1.5 oz of dichlor (approx 3 tablespoons) to bring your 280 gal spa to about 20 ppm CYA. break that up into three doses of 1 tablespoon a day to keep the FC from going too high at once.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Hi Dave

My dealer gave me two jars of a product from "hth spa" One reads "SHOCK" and its made up of Calcium Hypoclorite-47.6% "Other ingredients" 52.4%, Mimimum available chlorine 45%

The other jar is "chlorinating sanitizer" also from "hth spa" and the ingredients read exactly the same on the label. I called the company to ask what the difference was and the girl said that the differenc was in the "other ingredients" (Sounded like a croc to me. Thats why I am on this forum!)

It IS a crock! I have sold both of those products in the past and they are both cal hypo. One just costs a lot more. I have also compared the MSDS for both and they are identical.

So these are the two products that I have.

Having said that, I use either one of them to bring the chlorine level back up to 1-3ppm after use. Both seem to do the same thing.

I would get rid of the HTH chemicals, the other "added" ingreidents" also seem to cloud water and cause issues, plus you are adding calcium everytime you put some in the spa. Its my beleif that Calcium hypo chlor is for pools, not hot tubs and it is a bunch of bull that the shock and chlronating granules are different. Its a marketing ploy and their way to offer cheap chemicals.

I am not using dichlor.

My question is do I "need" the dichlor or can I just continue to add chlorine after each use?

Thanks

Jim

IF you keep the spa covered when not in use AND make sure that you always have FC in the spa by chlorinating daily and not just when you use it then you do not need cya BUT adding about 20 ppm CYA will make life easier in the long run. Once you have added enough dichlor to raise the CYA you would go back to the cal hypo until you drain and refill. You would need abut 1.5 oz of dichlor (approx 3 tablespoons) to bring your 280 gal spa to about 20 ppm CYA. break that up into three doses of 1 tablespoon a day to keep the FC from going too high at once.

[chem geek]

If you use unstabilized chlorine (e.g. bleach or Cal-Hypo) without any CYA in the water, then the active chlorine level will be too high and this will degrade your hot tub cover faster so I would not recommend this. The 20-30 ppm CYA is there to moderate chlorine's strength.

Note that the Cal-Hypo chlorine products will increase Calcium Hardness (CH) over time. For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Cal-Hypo, it will increase CH by at least 7 ppm. So if you aren't careful, you can end up with scaling which is much more likely in spas, especially when using a hypochlorite source of chlorine since the pH will tend to rise. You should consider using 6% unscented bleach instead of the Cal-Hypo. Be sure to lower your TA level (or let the TA drop over time as you add acid to compensate for the pH) and you might consider using 50 ppm Borates. Read Nitro's Approach to Water Maintenance (a summary is near the end of the first post) which is aka the "Dichlor-then-bleach" method.