greenworks

just like in life one person wrecks it for everyone else anyway thanks richard my water is crystal clear, smells goood and is cheap to maintain thanks to you! Jason

Fellas I have had air injection problem as of late, when I bought the tub used I had one side of the tub not working the warrnaty on it came in and the repair guy came out cleaned and lubed the jets etc and over a period of three days the jets came alive. So much that it will hurt your back with air for over a month, then the last couple of days I lost one side of the tub again. The repair guy blew compressed air from my shop into the air intakes would there be some scale or deposits in the air lines causing this blockage if so are there things that can clean a spa of these with out dumping water as we are still pretty cold up here to be draining water.Exactly how does the jet inject the air if you pull the jet out you get no air with the jet in(the ones that work) you get air so it must be something the jet is doing. The tub is a beachcomer tub.

Well got the TF-100 kit Ph 7.2, T alk 90, Cal 210, CYA 30 ( i think crappy test), chlorine was 0 but we had been on holidays for 3 days I will dose the tub and try to keep the Chlorine up to burn anything off until it can be 2-3 ppm in 24 hrs. Everything seems to be in line...

Richard I only have the FC test I believe it is the R-0001 dpd and #1 R-OOO2 DPD #2 I am pretty sure they test for FC and not for CC once I get the rest I have been emailing Dave and meg regarding my shipment. I ahve most been concerned with them not sending the package with " protect from freezing" on it as I am sure at some point it will be in a mail truck with no heat and we went through a -35'C couple of days and as I speak we are hovering at a balmy -26'C.

richard I do not have a ozonator, and the rates I use are a daily rate( usually 2 peopl 1/2hr) and I should mention once a week I use a quite high rate to get up over 10ppm as a shock. I wasn't really tring to hijack the thread only report that I am using bleach with no pH issues. Lastly I can't tell you any other water parameters as I ordered the tf-100 kit three weeks ago and haven't got it yet. I can report the levels once I recive it though. The one thing that still troubles me is when I test for FC I see no results in a pink (taylor dual reactant) form yet 5-10 minutes later it reads 5 ppm, this is 24 hours after adding bleach.

I haven't been on here in a while what a read! Just some more food for though on guys using bleach Anyway I tested my Ph today and I am at 7.5 I use bleach and have used bleach for 4 weeks +or-. I have a tub that only cycles for 2-2 hour sessions and I make sure the air jets are off when I leave the tub based on not bringing cold air in to the tub to save on electricity. We also have the tub setup so my wife and I are in it during a cycling time (7-9pm). I have a 0 residual as well , I usually add 4-5 oz of 5% depending on the if the kids are in as well, I add 1-2 oz before to bring it up a little (1-2ppm) then when leaving the tub add the rest this will bring me up past 5 ppm then leave the cover off and the jets on low with no air for 10 minutes give or take. I assume that any problems that are brought in the tub will be killed therfore even though the fc is low after 7-8 hours it is fine due to anything that was there should have been oxidized.So the only time the jets have air is the 20-30 minutes during use, just though I would throw that in for info as well. I should note I use a 1/8" foam water cover with another layer of open sided bubble wrap on top of it plus the tub cover, gets cold up here... must be working though as my first electric bill was $35 more than previous month and thats with a fill and heating from 51... Jason

I use one as well, I think the cover helps retain heat myself but no facts to prove it, however being I use the tub lots at night by myself I can flip up half the hard cover then just pull up a small piece by the lounge seat and relax for 1/2 hr with jets before the heater needs to cycle versus 5-10 minutes without the cover. Mine is the version closer to 1/8" and it is white and cost 40 bucks.

the fellas at the calgary dealer are looking into why the price difference I wasn't willing to wait so I ordered the TF100 being it is the same test fluids at the taylor and the bottle sizes are bigger and best of all landed to me 103 bucks...Chemgeek had stated these are the same accurate testing kits versus other where you are playing match the pink to the pink... Hilly Billy...As far as the comment about dealer service, I don't feel that being taken advantage off is treating customers well either. It would cost me over two dollars (maybe more in heavy use) a day to treat the tub the way they wanted me to, and the whole reason I found this site and chemgeek helped me out is our tub was cloudy and I had swimmers ear from using it, since switching to bleach my tub has had NO problems at all the water is crystal clear and I have spent $1.89 on a jug of bleach that lasts 3-4 weeks. Lastly my tub had very little warranty when I bought it due to the nature of the deal so warranty was not in the picture.I pour my bleach over a return jet slowly so the mixing is right away I may even add it with water to make the process less of a chance of settling out in the bottom.

The TF100 kit contents are listed in this post where you can see that the kit contents are the same as the Taylor reagents -- just larger quantities. So you can reorder the Taylor reagents locally to refill (though Dave will be disappointed -- but he'll understand since the shipping is so expensive). Of course, those refills might be pretty pricey locally. we that ends this guys chase for a kit!! thanks for the tip

DAvid I found a guy in Calgary, they where given to me by the link richard had posted. CL Marketing Inc. 2770 - 24 Avenue NE Calgary, AB T1Y 6V7 Canada Phone 1.403.250.2494 Toll Free 1.800.661.8179 Fax 1.403.250.8767 Toll Free Fax 1.800.301.7104 problem they are still 159 for the 2005 and 199 for the 2006 but I have a email in as to why the price differcen with the fairly even dollar. High but much lower than the 300+ I was getting from everyone else up here, I may go the t-100 route in the long run my only sticky point is I can get taylor refills easier here go figure just not the bigger kits, with the t100 kit I have to always get refills across the border.Or I can get rainbow kits from pentair up here for 60 bucks but they are not as accurate in the fc it is the match the colour which gives you a ball park but not much else. the biggest pain is answering everyone up here why I need a test for CYA as I use a cover they are just trained to push the 50 dollar bottles of dichlor or bromine or x product. I had a long conversation with a spa guy that said his chemicals are the cheapest bar none on the market so me being the kind of guy I am said really because after I get my tub loaded with cya and Chlorine after a fill which I am estmating costs me 7-8 bucks I am a $2 a MONTH which is a jug and some of bleach a month give or take a few pennies....I told him if he can beat that I will listen it got very quite in the room

Richard I finally found a taylor supplier in canada but anyway here is is his reply to my telling him I only use dichlor to get the CYA up the switch to bleach as to not increase the CYA to a point that the chlorine source is not as effective Jason, Generally for a spa CYA is not required. If the tub is outside with no cover on it ever.. then CYA would be required. You may be better to switch to Lithium as it is unstabilized and still a granular product. BLeach has many by-products and not a very "clean" product. he also gave me a price for the 2005 and the 2006 kit which one was better for chlorine tubs the 2006 right? and the 2005 is 50 bucks cheaper... Jason

Great post Richard as a new guy around here if I would have seen this thread it would have saved the 10+ questions I asked as I couldn't find all this in one nice article. to the admin guys here could we make this post a sticky so newbies are seeing it right away it would save alot of work for Richard & water bear answering the same questions daily, and then free them up for weird and unusal water issues... Just my opinion however it just that many sites I frequent attach high usage questions in a sticky at the top of the appropiate forum to save repetive posts. Jason

that is exactly my issue as even on the pentair site that makes the kits there is very little info, I guess I will be still looking for a taylor kit as I am a chlorine guy

I am having a hard time getting a taylor k2006 test kit up here however I can get a rainbow test kit R151716 with " Complete 11 test lab. Tests Free, Total and Combined Cl, Br, Iodine, ph, Acid Demand, Total Alkalinity, Water Hardness and Cyanuric Acid. Handy red box contains complete instructions, solutions and tests". Anyone have any experince withthis kit or one of rainbows kits? It seems to offer the same line up as the k2006 kit that chem geek recomends as far as I can see anyway... Jason

WOW I can see the jets at the bottom of the tub this afternoon, came home after work and check the chlorine and it was above 5 but not by much so I gave it 6 oz to take it up in the 12ppm mark as mentioned. My only question is now if the tub gets clean in a day and I have keep the FC at 12 ppm for the entire time +- when is it safe to use the tub?and should I be adding bleach 5 minutes before we get in based on the trouble we have had instead off after we get out for a few days

As luck would have it the store didn't have the clarifier so at lunch when I stopped at the house I put another 3 oz of bleach in, removed the old filter installed a brand new one I had anyway, the old one looked like it had cleaned a sewer line not sure why lots of crap in it for a 2 week use tub. The care free line is a ONCE A WEEK 1 oz of dichlor shock on my sheet that they gave me from the Dealer. This could be the whole source of the intial problem especially when a new tub is in as the highest use for a tub is the first 90 days after purchase. The water looked better today than a couple of days ago, I ran the jets on high with the foot wells on and air at max for 1/2 at lunch to promote the most gas exchange then shut the lid and will do the same tonight. I will test again and if I do not see a good colour for 5 ppm in 10 seconds I add more bleach Richard in 3oz doses until I see it? I have 2 oz of Dichlor and 9 oz of bleach (5.25% couldn't find any 6%) in the last 24 hours with no one using the tub obviously One thing I never mentioned but all this talk of algae got me thinking is we had some trouble with the air addition at some of the jets so the Beachcomer tech came out last week and cleaned the jets and blew compressed air through the air intake system afterwards there were lots of small pieces of browny/greeny looking material floating around. At the time I thought it was just dirt and junk but maybe there was some water at some point that got in those lines during testing and when blown out whent he FC was low caused the bloom and issues I am having?Probably also why the filter was dirty. OH well we will get it as it looks to be getting better SHould a person be able to say indentify sand at the bottom of a tub while no jets are running or is that a little to clear, at this point in my tub I would be hard pressed to see sand on the seats to give you an idea (the shell is blue however) of the clarity but again it is better than it was so we are on the right track.

the test I have for chlorine test pink it is a taylor 2 part reactant kit I have used Soft as required so there would be 3-4 oz of the product in the tub since filling, and it recommends soft as the first product you put in followed 20 minutes later by the dichlor the the carefree boost 20 min later again. Should I go and get a organic binding product then change the filter and keep the chlorine up at least the tub would clear up and help the chlorine do its job... or no am I wrong there I do have a hardware store in town that sells some spa products.

unfortantly I haven't got a larger test kit yet as I am not in area I could buy and the links I have found in canada are three times what your link was.I tested my general hardness with my fish tank pro kit and it is 200 and it should be 100-130 I have read not sure if that nakes a large differnce.I put more bleach in this morning. With the taylor kit at what time is best to measure the colour with FC as after 10 sec after shaking it reads 1 if I walk way for 5 minutes it reads 5+ppm I have been using the later maybe that is where I am erroring. My tub doesn't have a circ pump it is a single pump system set for 4 hours a day On the bright side saw the doc yesterday and the drugs are making life MUCH easier to deal with, I have had broken bones and torn ligamnets from years of hockey but the ear pain I have had this week equals anything I have ever had...that was until the drugs kicked in

I was going to dump in bleach but I decided to go dichlor just to ensure the the CYA levels are between 20 and 30 ppm which I believe they where before but they are for sure know. The FC probably at some times gets to 0 we have been putting in bleach after we use it but only recently as per your advise so this may have grabbed me last week. I have read though that swimmers ear and hot tub itch are the same pathogen and being no one has any itch in our house I believe it could be simply bad luck with a wet ear. Just the same I have it and if I have it then the tub probably has it as well from me. Anyway I am going to check the tub twice a day and add bleach to keep it at least 3-5 for a couple days (its over 10 right now) and that should kill everything right? I am in pain and I do not want my 4 year old with this. The one thing I did notice is the water has gotten cloudy in the last week...I was thinking of buying a water clarity product that bonds to the the organic and then the fliter is able to pick it all up better, then change the filter and clean the one in right know as i have two. My thought train good in this? I can't thank you enough Richard for the help in the last couple weeks on my new tub!

well I went for dichlor and dosed it on a super shock, needed to try something soon

OK so I have had the tub for over two weeks and just got swimmers ear. I want to shock the heck out of it. I have my CYA levels at or around 20 should I go fro more bleach or more dichlor? I am in a cold climate and would rather not drain, I was figuring If I shocked it 2 days in a row and didn't use it I could save the water but what do I know I have simmers ear even keeping everything where it was supposed to be. Lastly it may not be the tub either swimmers ear can be caused from other things as well but just the same I have two young kids and do not want them t get the itch or waht i have it kills! Jason

I may have not been clear sorry for the confusion the 4 tablespoons (2 oz) was the total amount since filling 2 per week. so the test today 3 days after my last addition I am still at 6+ppm FC should I go to bleach after each use then.

ok fellas I went to add more dichlor after work but before I did I thought I'd check quick Ph 7.5 fc 5ppm+ not sure how high it is higher than I can read on my taylor kit? Now I am totally lost I have 2 oz (4 tablespoons in in 2 weeks and my FC levels are high enough I shouldn't be in the tub? The FC chlorine starts out barely readable after 10 seconds then after 5 minutes is of the map is there a time to read it at my thought was it shouldn't change based on time.I do run a buble wrap cover that sits on top of the water under the regular cover however not sure if that effects the gas exchanges. Jason

So I only have 4 tablespoons in and I need 11 +-. I should add 2 tablespoons each day until I get to 11 then test to check at least 20 ppm of CYA and switch to bleach after each use.How mauch 6% bleach after each use should I use.Why would a company say only put in 2 tablespoons each week if that was way low?

I have put in 28g 1oz after filling then I put in another 28 g after a week I am not sure how many table spoons that would be the product is instructed to be dispensed by weight not amount and per week, however the measuring device has cups as well and TOTAl I have put in 1/4 cup if that helps the tub is 350 gal I do know the last time I checked (after both dichlor apps) the chlorine it was low 2-3, but it says only to not use the tub when it is above 5.0 ppm. Should I dump in some more? where does a guy get a CYA tester I can only test CL,BR and Ph. If I get a chance tommorrow I will check it and report back with CL & pH results. Thanks again Richard!