Haywire

Interesting... tested again this morning and got 30. Are you sneaking in at night and stealing my CYA? I guess the results are subjective unless you have a totally standard light source every time. I believe the guy at Leslie's had a light pad that he set the vial on. Maybe there's an app for that. Turn your phone or pad into a standardized light pad. Hmm... take a sample to Leslie's, get his results and then go to a white web page and adjust the brightness till I get the same results. Ian

I tested this morning and got 50. This is with 101F water and direct lighting. I'll try it again with room temp water. Ian

Dichlor then bleach method... I stopped the dichlor when CYA tested 30ppm a few weeks ago. Yesterday, I tested it again just for grins and got 60. Does it continue to creep up after you stop the dichlor? I'm going to test again tomorrow to see if I can duplicate it. I'm using the Taylor drop test. I'm not seeing any ill effects and am not going to do anything about it, I'm just wondering how it might have happened. Ian

No ozonator, 325 gallons. It did seem a little clearer last night after the extra chlorine. I'll change my routine. Thanks, Ian

I check the FC and pH every day when I get home and add enough bleach to bump it to 4-6ppm. It's usually about 0.5 - 1.0 ppm when I check it (Taylor drop test). I don't specifically add it just before or after a soak. My wife usually soaks 20 minutes in the morning and evening, and about half the time, I join her in the evening. No bathing suits. PH is usually around 7.6. TA is 65. CYA is at 30. This morning after our 20 min soak, I bumped it up to 8 ppm. Ian

Seems I read someplace that when on the dichlor/bleach method, that you need to shock the spa to 10ppm FC once a week. In the 3-4 weeks that I've been on this method, I've been keeping it at 1-4ppm with no weekly shock. It seems the water isn't quite as crystal as it was and the bubbles from the jets don't break up quite as quickly as they once did. Could not shocking once a week be the cause? Ian

Good. I suppose I could have tried it both ways and compared the results, but frankly, I didn't think of doing that. Duh. thanks Ian

Just got off the Bacqua and am on the Dichlor/bleach method... haven't gotten off the dichlor yet, waiting for CYA levels to reach 30ppm. I am using a Taylor drop test. The instructions say to add 2 dippers of the DPD powder to turn the water pink, and add more if necessary to achieve the color. I am doing the 10ml test, and the pink usually shows prominently with just one dipper of powder. Do I still need to add the second? Seems a waste if one will do. thanks, Ian

Yes, normal regular clorox... not the ones with added scents, or "no splash" varieties. Plain Jane bleach. Here is the pool calculator that will tell you how much to use. Just type in all your specs. Regular Clorox will be 6%. I think the ultra concentrated is 8.xx%, it should be listed on the bottle. Ian

Thanks, I'll try that next time. Ian

It worked out fine, I bought some baking soda and the water is now at 7.6 and 60. I also bought some calcium carbonate and adjusted the CH to 225 as I read here that harder water generally foams less. It's a bit hard to test the CH because the change from purple to blue is subtle. I know the test says "red" to blue, but my water generally starts on the purple side of red. thanks, Ian

Ok, will do. Thanks. Ian

I have some "pH increaser" which is sodium carbonate. Is that better or worse than the sodium bicarbonate for my uses? My CH is 170-180 per my taylor kit. We keep the water at 100. I'll be switching to the CYA then bleach method when I run out of the current chem supply I have. thanks, Ian

Should I lower the pH with acid to 7.6 and not worry about the TA, assuming that it will settle where it wants to be? Reminder.. I'm on the Baqua. Borates at 50ppm. I just added weekly shock, sanitizer and waterline control this morning not too long ago. Should I wait till tomorrow and do another test? thanks, Ian

I'm still on the baqua till I run out of the chems I have on hand. I won't be converting till the next water change, which looks like mid-winter. That should be an adventure. Maybe it'll be above freezing on the day I dump it. Ian