Scale Forming Around Fiberglass

[soakitup]

Help! What product is good for getting rid of scale around the walls of my spa? I have am using Bromine for my sanitizer and getting good levels of calcium hardness readings.

Do I need to drain the water or can I add something to stop the scaling?

[waterbear]

Scale forms when calcium hardness, pH and TA are high. Please post a full set of test results (NOT from strips) and we can take it from there. The only thing that removes scale is muriatic acid. It is better to prevent it by paying attention to your water balance.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

what you see may not be scale also. Bromine can leave a white residue on the spa shell, i see it more in the pure bromine systems. Scale is rough to the touch, scratchy feeling. bromine salt residue is not as rough, if rough at all. A good spa shell cleaner will take it off, just make sure to get all of the cleaning residue out of the spa after to prevent foaming issues and chemistry issues.

[soakitup]

Ok,

So heres the results from testing:

calcuim - 130ppm

pH - 8.0

TA- 80ppm

bromine - 10ppm

I guess my levels were a bit too high. I added some Spa Down which will lower the pH and TA, and also put less tablets in the floater to see if that will bring down my bromine to a better level in the long run. Hillbilly , you mentioned it may not be scale - its hard to see the color of it since my shell is also white. The texture though feels like ultra fine sandpaper.

[quantumchromodynamics]

You are definitely at risk for scaling with these numbers. Assuming a temperature of 104 F, your CSI is about +0.4.

You should target a pH of about 7.5 and you should allow your TA to fall a bit as you add acid to lower the pH.

You should consider adding 50 ppm borates.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Ok,

So heres the results from testing:

calcuim - 130ppm

pH - 8.0

TA- 80ppm

bromine - 10ppm

I guess my levels were a bit too high. I added some Spa Down which will lower the pH and TA, and also put less tablets in the floater to see if that will bring down my bromine to a better level in the long run. Hillbilly , you mentioned it may not be scale - its hard to see the color of it since my shell is also white. The texture though feels like ultra fine sandpaper.

With the numbers you give, it very well could be scale. Rough like sandpaper also leads me to beleive that. Bromine will also leave a residue, white on the shell but its not really rough, just a little. You need to bring down the PH. If you run your tub at 104, with these numbers you want a PH of 7.5-7.6, as quantum said. To lower your bromine level, open your cover in sunlight. Sunlight will burn of bromine rather rapidly.