softub82

Thanks. I have read somewhere on here before about leaving the cover off for a while after you get out of the spa, to help it clean itself out some. Is that something I should be doing in our case? If so, how long? We usually go in at night, when it is cold outside, so the longer it stays open, the more heat will be lost.

Yes, it does help, thanks. Any other thoughts are always welcome.

Anybody?

First off, this site has some great information. I have been lurking for a while, and doing lots of reading, but I have decided I need specific advice tailored to my needs. So here we go, first the background. Warning: this is a long post. I have a Softub, the larger model that is about 300 gallons. So it has a vinyl lining, and heats up off the pump only. I believe it is also supposed to have a built in ozonator. It sits outside, under an overhang, so it gets no direct sunlight. Any time it gets used, it is always for about 30 minutes average, by just my wife and I, no suits, relatively clean (we don’t always shower first, but if we are really dirty, then we do), and stays at 102 degrees. Average use of 4 times per week. After we get out, the cover goes right back on. Cover only comes off when I add sanitizer, or use the tub. A Scumbug stays in it all the time. I bought it used, cleaned it up real good, filled it, and used if for about three months on my first fill. I used strictly Easycare’s SoftChlor (dichlor) for the entire time for sanitizer, which usually meant adding a tablespoon or two every day or two, depending on how much we used it. Ph down was used a lot in the beginning, as well as 8 oz. of metal/stain eliminator on the initial fill. I use only test strips right now. I did not always remember to add the dichlor, so sometimes I would get a reading of zero chlorine when I checked it, so then I would ad some, but it never seemed to be a problem, because it wasn’t for long. We used it about three months with no water problems at all. Then I decided to drain and refill because it seemed to be running more often to keep the water warm, I thought maybe the water was somehow going bad. I ran the recommended amount of Swirl Away through it before I drained. After draining, I wiped down the whole inside of the tub with bleach water, cleaned the filter with water only, then refilled. Refill was done the same way as the first time. However I got REALLY lax for a little while about adding the dichlor. Meaning a week would go by without adding any. This happened more then once. After about a month, we noticed that it started to have a different smell, king of like a plastic/vinyl smell. I thought maybe the ph was wrong and it was breaking down the liner, checked and ph was high, so I brought it down. About the same time, we noticed an unusual amount of bubbles when the jets were on, almost like the water was carbonated, with lots of fizz popping. And it irritated our noses, causing us to sneeze and cough. So we stopped using it. I did more reading on here, and tried super-chlorinating it with Clorox bleach, which seemed to help some. Then I left the jets and air on high for about 5 hours with the top off, just to let it bubble out for a while, and it was able to get a little bit of sunshine. This too seemed to help some, but nothing cured it. So I decided to drain and refill again. Do you think that my slacking in sanitizing led to the above problem? If not, then what? I just finished refilling. I rinsed the filter out good with water, then soaked it in bleach water for about 3 hours. (it is about three months old) I have added two tablespoons of dichlor, 8 oz. of metal/stain eliminator, and have not touched the ph yet. I know ph goes up with aeration, so when should I test for ph? After it has been sitting for a while without the jets running once it warms up? Or should I try to adjust it now before it even warms up? (it will take about 36 hours probably for it to heat all the way up because of the cold ground water and air temps here right now) I am going to make sure I keep up with the sanitizing this time. I am also thinking about doing the two weeks dichlor, then switch to bleach method also. So besides the ph questions above, here are some others I have: Softub does not recommend shocking, but I understand from my reading here that I probably should be doing it at least some. So should I shock, and if so, how often and with what method, based on our use of the tub? How often should I change out filters? Is a filter cleaner really necessary? How long do the filters usually last? How can I tell if it needs replaced? After we get out, should I leave the cover off for a bit? Is the product Spa Perfect anything I should be using? Since the bather load is always consistent, are just using test strips ok? Any other hints, suggestions, etc, feel free to offer them. Thanks in advance.