dcp

How do you all deal with your hot tubs when going away for a couple of weeks? Assume not possible to have someone come and take care of it for me (always possible I guess but certainly inconvenient). I was thinking one of two approaches: 1) Superchlorination before leaving and super chlorinate upon getting back. Thought is to get chlorine level high enough initially and with no use it should be good for a week or so. Then on getting back blast it again as a sort of mini decontamination. 2) Drain it and leave empty. Thought being I'm due for a water change anyway. Problem is it will definitely be cold enough to freeze any residual water in lines here during mid November. How do you get all water out of all lines? Is a shop vac powerful enough or is compressor needed? If shop vac then suck or blow? Drain lines or jets? Unless I hear otherwise I'm thinking combination of the two - i.e super chlorinate now and drain when I get back. Any other suggestions? My basic info - Jacuzzi 380, 550 gal hot tub, using dichlor/bleach.

Thanks Nitro and Hillbilly As in many things a lot of misinformation around. The recommendation to use MPS after use and dichlor weekly did not include using a mineral stick - I think I can rule that option out now. I'd also been told by a different local hot tub vender/installer to use Trichlor in a floater (based on manual saying don't use trichlor it didn't take much web research to rule that out) I guess I'm not seeing the advantage of the dichlor/bleach method over just dichlor - it seems way more complicated and prone to testing error. Unless there's a big problem with just dichlor I think thats the direction I'm headed (my #1) - per Nitro's thread linked above seems the only issue might be building up too much CYA - is that right?

Hot tub came with house and now I'm trying to figure out water chemistry/maintenance. Its a 3 yr old Jacuzzi j-385 (~550gal) with ozonator; usage 2 people for 30mins 2-3 times per week. I have been recommended two different approaches to regular maintenance: 1 - Tablespoon dichlor after every use; shock w/ MPS once a week. 2 - Tablespoon MPS after every use; shock with dichlor once a week. Currently I'm checking pH and alkalinity every couple of days and doing #1 above. Which is better #1 or #2 (or is there a better option #3)? Also I don't seem to get any free chlorine hang around for more than a day or so. Is that a concern? Seem to recall reading somewhere ozone may break it down - true or not?