kateyc61
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Posts posted by kateyc61
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If you open the cover and turn on the jets, it will gas off some helping to lower the chlorine level also.
I ran it open for about an hour yesterday, it dropped a tinge, but every little bit helps. I've got it open right now too, thanks!
Richard, many thanks for the chemistry explanation. The ph had been stable, but I noticed yes it did drop a bit. I'll drain off now and refill before I adjust the Ph , right?
I was just about to add some NA Hydrogen carbonate, but I will hold off.
Labor Day weekend! Gotta get in the spa!!
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Thinking it was my Potassium shock.
So about 6 TBS all told, and the levels are still over 10PPM.
Also using ozonator and Vision system as well.
Should I just drain off some water? How much would you recommend?
Of course everything was perfect since a fresh fill not long ago.
Boy did I screw up
Thanks in advance for any help. It's been a long time since I posted here, and we have been enjoying the spa for nearly 2 years now smooth sailing thanks to every one here who got me off on the right foot!
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Great post, workerbee! I totally agree about the importance of adjustable jets. Your post really showed how important it is to wet test before you buy.
We (the four of us, 2 adults 9 and 12 yo) adore our D1 Nautilus...had it for a year now, and always fight for the volcano foot jet.
I always win.
It's a fabulous therapy tub.
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Wow! 105 is sizzlin HOT!
Yeah, our first SDG&E bill was pretty stunning.
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Absolutely morning soaks!!
You'll kick yourself for not doing it before.
Watch out, you'll become addicted, and if you miss one?
All out of sorts the rest of the day! -
That is a wonderful slideshow!! I wish I had thought of that--too nervous taking down the fence between our neighbor's house and ours and squeezing our D1 Nautilus through a year ago.
I'll wager that you will love the Dimension 1 features. I had a lot of questions for these people here when we first set it up, about water chemistry and the like (and got lots of help I still refer to!)
But over all it's been smooth sailing keeping things balanced with the Vision cartridge. The jet system is the best and most therapeutic I've ever felt--some of our friends think they have therapy spas
Anyway, enjoy your spa and thanks again to everyone here who got us up and running and got me through numerous spaz attacks (remember the killer toe fungus question?)
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Hi all! Haven't been here in a good while, mostly because things have gone pretty seamlessly with the spa operation.( In good part because of the great advice I got from everyone here back in October)
In any case, we purchased a Dimension I spa with the Vision and ozonator, filled it and the 4 of us (two kids, two adults, occasional friends ) probably using it 2-4 times per week (down from daily when we first got it)
It continues to be lovely and clear, smells great, and is staying easy to balance if it's a little off in the ph dept or what have you.
Now it's been 4 months...is there some parameter that will say "change the water now!"
Or is it Ok to leave it be if all looks and tests well?
The PPM is creeping up a bit, probably a bit over 100 if I trust the chart color--I think I remember that being a marker?
Thanks in advance for any advice!
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Hee hee! "Dodgy" I love that word!
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thanks for all the info. i will try the windex. but i also appreciate the info on baking soda. i used to use it in my old tub but did not want to make any mistakes in the new tub. so do you feel i can really substitute the baking soda for the ph up. or is it better to use the ph up that is sold for hot tubs?
Ooops! Sorry! Of course Sodium Bicarb is baking soda is Spa up!
I misread by a word.
Robin, the "Spa up" bottle I had said "100% sodium bicarbonate" and my Arm and Hammer says 100% sodium bicarbonate.
I've been using it for a month now, following the same directions as "spa up" with excelllent results.
SOooo much cheaper!!
I wish there was a grocery shelf alternanative to Spa down.
I heard Borax somewhere, but I couldn't get that confirmed here.
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Use rubbing alcohol or denatured alcohol on real acrylic.
Use some pH down on a terry clothe wet wrag to remove calcium deposits at the water line.
Rise well to get the acid reduced before you fill the tub.
Windex on the majority of the shell is great.
Then finish with Gel Gloss on any finish.
Windex made my water foamy.
pH down is nothing more than Baking Soda, FYI!
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Because the presence of CYA lowers the redox potential of the water. What that means is that when an ORP electrode is used to measure the oxidizing power (sanitizing power) of the chlorine in the water the presence of CYA inhibits it and causes a lower reading. The ORP reading is used to determine how effective the chlorine is at killing water borne pathogens. Higher readings mean more sanitizing power. A reading of 650 mV is considered to be the minimum reading for a properly sanitized spa by most health departments. In a nutshell, while CYA (either added seperately or by using dichlor) will help prevent the chlorine by being destroy by sunlight by forming chloroisocyanurates, the chloroisocyanurates are not as effective at killing pathogenis in the water. Some state Health departments now feel that even small amounts of CYA are enough to allow some of the pathogens that are present in hot tubs to live too long before being killed. The other side of this coin is that if the tub is exposed to the sun the chlorine is destroyed in a matter of literally minutes leaving no chlorine in the tub at all! It's really a catch-22. My feelings on the matter is that the CYA level should be monitored and should not be allowed to get muich over 30 ppm. If it does then some of the water needs to be replaced to lower the CYA. This is why I personally llike adding the CYA to the correct level(IMHO, about 30 ppm) and then using only unstabilized chlorine (liquid chlorine or bleach) for both sanitation and shock. This way no additonal cyanurates are added to the water like when dichor is used. This is also why I don't like test strips for water blalancing and testing. They just don't have the precision to measure the levels accurately enough. A good drop based kit from a company such as Taylor Technologies or LaMotte is a good investment and the $60 or so for the kit is very small compared to what the tub cost you.
Thanks Waterbear....is this right that I don't have the ability to measure ORP levels myself ? What is CYA sold as?
I thought I read that regular household bleach would damage the guts of the spa somewhere? I can't recall where....
The strips that came with the spa (Nature 2) have so far helped us keep the the water fresh, clear, odorless and feeling good, and the indicator pads coloring do seem to adjust responsively whenever we need to balance something.
The second bottle I bought (Accucheck)...the pad colors never get to the intensity to match the key on the back and I don't trust them.
The drop based kits seem kind of intimidating
I don't suppose I can get away with the 14 dollar one I saw in the grocery store yesterday?
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Did you notice that it has four ANSI UL 1563 safety suctions in the bottom and the filter compartment?
I actually have no idea what you are talking about, but does mine too??
And from the beginning of ANSI;
ARTICLE 1.1.1
The provisions of this specification are not
intended to prevent the use of other designs
provided that any variation from the
specifications in this standard provide the
required quality, strength, durability and
safety for the intended use and are approved
by the authority having jurisdiction.
And with that, I'm off to Vegas!
Have a great time in Lost Wages!
Hmmmm. I think I'll keep posting till I'm a "member" and not a Jr Member anymore...how many will it take??
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(However, some state health departments are now saying that CYA should not be used in spas at all and do not even recommend dichlor for spa chlorination.
Why is that?
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Wow, that's a cool looking Spa!
I still think mine is the **** though!
Looove those adjustable neck jets!!
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That's good to know about being able to go in for future reference.
What do you guys think abouut the Borax?
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I also found this discussion on Boric Acid here in this forum.
Waterbear says its Ok to use.
Man, what a huge savings!!!
http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.ph...p;hl=boric+acid
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I posted on both sites to get a quick answer. I just added too much ph up so I could adjust my tub for use tonight. I do not have ph down. can anyone tell me what i can do to bring it down. or can we use the tub tonight without any problems even if the ph is too high.
Hey Robin,
I found somewhere that you could use 20 mule team Borax in lieu of spa down and Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking soda!!) for "Spa up" (not that you need that.
This was a helpful link to calculate the amount if sodium biicarb I needed (scroll down)
http://www.rhtubs.com/info/water.htm
I did some research and Borax is:
Disodium Tetraborate Decahydrate
or...
Sodium borate decahydrate,
Sodium tetraborate decahydrate,
Sodium biborate,
Sodium pyroborate
Spa Down is: Sodium Bisulfate
So while I'm confident Sodium bicarb is sodium bicarb is plain old baking soda....I'm not confident in what I read about using Borax.
Experts? Your thoughts?
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That we should all go so peacefully and with such acceptance Chas.
My thoughts are with you and your family, and I just wanted to tell you, I love this:
Married to my best friend - for over 26 years now. Two kids, one of whom is in the process of launching on their own. In fact, he HAS launched, and is not at all a kid any more. He's now a friend and a man on his own. Pride and pain still make this an interesting time.
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Boy! I'll bet you guys would hate coming over to our house to soak. We religiously take showers before using our outdoor tub and insist that our guests do the same.
Mmm. same here.
Yep, so far,( a little over a month) in our tub, it has only been our family, save for one night where the kids each had a friend sleeping over and I made them shower first too.
Our neighbors who let us haul the tub through their backyard and into ours (we had to take down a section of fence and uproot a bush of theirs) are anxiously waiting for an invite.....then there is fungus boy
Cue old movinon to have a spaz attack because we are clean freaks....no wait, ignorant OCD suffering clean freaks!
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True that Roger!
I'm gonna remind my husband of those numbers when our first "spa" SDG&E bill rolls in!
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Awww, you sound so happy to have your spa!
That is exactly how I feel about mine, it is such a treat...so relaxing...though with the hubby and two kids I have a bit more company than you.
I got in it alone one afternoon...OMG I felt totally guilty!!
I should get over that!
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'jennaemac' date='Nov 2 2006, 02:40 PM' post='15363'
Not to mention the amount of sweat people leave behind in the water. Just because you're in water doesn't mean you are not sweating, its hot water after all. I read somewhere that its like 1 cup per person per hour! Not really infectious but still pretty gross!
Heh.
Delicious.
I called the dealer. They said the Ozonator should kill off most bacteria and fungus, then shock it after...and good luck.
GOOD LUCK??
I found this in my travels on a Q/A site
Q. Why can't I use swimming pool chemicals in my hot tub?
A. A hot tub is dramatically different from a swimming pool because you are working with water that is both heated and also aerated. The ratios of people are also quite different. For example, four people in a hot tub is equivalent to 300 people in an average size pool. The heated water and higher bather load ratio can cause organic contaminants not found in swimming pools. Because of this, the chemical make-up of swimming pool chemicals is usually quite different from that of hot tub chemicals.
300 people. Allrighty then!
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Or the ever frightful LAS - Leaky a$$ syndrome
NOOOOOOOO!!!
Both of you zip it right now!!
shoveling chlorine in with both hands
Skippy! Where's my dead fungi/properlysanitized tub link??
Get on it!
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For some reason I can picture you snorting when you laugh -- How would you know if someone who had a yeast infection entered your tub? Or say head lice, or scabies or impetigo? Those are all highly contagious skin conditions
-- But I am sure if you put 15 or 20 TBS of dichlor in your tub before your guests enter then you should have enough sanitizer to kill those nasty buggers or at least give your guests severe skin burns -- but hey, it's better then the alternative.Honey, you really need to take a deep breath and simmah down.
Go get a pedicure.
Better yet, go soak
your head
Such An Idiot
in Hot Tub Water Chemistry
Posted
Took half the water out, refilled, now around 5 PPM FC, pH 7.6 TA 120.
I'm in.
Thanks guys!