jdekan

That all makes sense - thanks for the replies, guys!

That little plastic piece is not part of the check valve. I pulled both of the check valves off and they are both working fine. I blew into both ends - one way was unrestricted, teh other way was blocked. This piece of plastic did not come out of that check valve, it is a separate piece that was shoved into the tube in between the two check valves. I'm certain that the culprit is that plastic piece and not either of the check valves, because the air flow was stopped, then I poked the hole, then air flow started again - with no change to the check valves, only to that plastic piece. So problem solved, but I'm still curious as to: 1) what is that plastic piece, and what is it's intended function? 2) why only a pin-size hole in that plastic piece? Why have 1/4" tubing in the system only to have the system eventually blocked by a piece of plastic with a tiny pinhole in it? Why not use a smaller tube, if the airflow is restricted by that plastic piece and its pinhole opening? P.S. this is a 2008 Sundance Marin hot tub.

Upon further troubleshooting, I found the problem to be with this little plastic insert thing right in front of the check valve at connection #2 shown in the photo above. Here's a few photos of the insert, which I guess is supposed to have a hole in it, but the hole was apparently plugged. Although I couldn't really tell - one side has an obvious hole about the size of a paper clip, the other appeared to be flat solid white plastic. I poked the hole all the way through using a needle, and the air is flowing again. But I still have no idea what this thing is or why it's supposed to be in there. Can anyone shed some light on this thing?

After one year, there are very few (if any) bubbles coming out of the ozone port inside the tub. I tracked the problem to the four-inch piece of tubing shown in the photo. If I disconnect the tube at connection #2, then still no bubbles. But if I disconnect at connection #1, then bubbles start flowing like crazy. I haven't tried disconnecting in the middle. So what are those two little disc-shaped filter-looking things and what's the best way to fix this problem? Thanks - Jim

My understanding is that you can recharge the bromine bank in your hot tub by using ozone, MPS, and/or dichlor. If that's the case, then do I need to keep adding bromine tablets to the bromine cage on the filter door? And if so, then why isn't recharging the existing bromine enough?

I was in a similar situation, new tub with no instructions on how to maintain the water. I bought a Taylor 2106 test kit which came with a comprehensive manual describing all aspects of water maintenance. Also, they don't sell pool chemicals, only test kits, so their info is unbiased. You may be able to get some information from them on their website, but I don't think it's as comprehensive as the booklet that came with the test kit. The kit was about $70 on Amazon.com and includes tests for bromine, ph, TA, and CH. http://www.taylortechnologies.com/learnmore_chemistry.asp

My owner's manual says to keep the calcium hardness at 150 - 250 ppm. My test kit shows I'm actually at about 100 ppm. I went to the pool supply store to get some calcium chloride, but the guy told me not to worry about it, that calcium was only a factor in swimming pools, to keep the plaster from dissolving. Is that true, and if so, then why would my manual specifically address this variable? Can CH be ignored in hot tubs? Also, where can I get some calcium chloride in a smaller amount? I don't need 15 pounds, I only need about 1-2 oz. to treat my little 300 gallon tub. Thanks! Jim

Should I keep the waterfall running when I'm not using the tub? Or shut it off? The waterfall is fed by the cirulation pump, which pretty much runs 24/7. It's a 2008 Sundance Marin. Thanks, Jim

OK thanks for the information. The TA was around 80 but I increased it to fall in line with the manual recommendation of 100-120. The Sundance manual also calls for CH to be from 150-200 and the Taylor manual says that low CH will make the water "corrosive" but high CH will cause scaling. My tub is about an inch low so I can add more water and see how much that brings the TA back down. I'll pick up some MPS and calcium chloride at the hardware store as well. Thanks again, Jim

My hot tub sits on a small section of covered deck up against my house. There's not much room there and there's a support post (that holds up the corner of the roof) in the way. Does anyone know of a cover lift that would work in this tight area? This is a 2008 Sundance Marin, it's a smaller tub. Note from the last photo that there is enough room for the cover to fit at the end of the tub, in the space between the tub and the support post. Have a look and let me know what you think. http://www.jamesdekan.com/hottub Thanks, Jim

In this tub I am using SpaGuard products: brominating tablets in the cage/compartment on the weir gate stain & scale control (liquid) brominating concentrate ( sodium dichlor 82.5% plus sodium bromide 14.7% granules) ph decreaser (sodium bisulfate) ph increaser (sodium carbonate) test strips (total bromine, free chlorine, ph, TA) I got a Taylor kit last week and it showed TA and CH too low, so I added a bunch of baking soda, which brought the TA up from 80 to about 120. I have not yet added any calcium carbonate because I don't have any, I don't remember what the CH test number was, only that it was too low and the Taylor manual suggested adding, I think 2 oz. of calcium carbonate. I am shocking the tub with six tsp. of the brominating concentrate, and this tub holds about 300 gallons of water. The Taylor kit also showed that the PH was too high, up around 7.8-8, so I lowered it back to around 7.5 wtih the sodium bisulfate. Every Friday I add 1 oz of the stain and scale control, and Sunday I shock the tub. The rest of the week I try to do nothing to it, and hope that the bromine tablets will keep the bromine level where it needs to be. This tub is on a covered deck and the hot tub cover is closed whenever the tub is not in use, except for when I open it for 30 minutes after shocking, but that's at night time. Thanks! Jim

There are two "ports" on my ozone generator. One has a tube leading to the plumbing, and the other has nothign attached. My understanding from talking to the guy at the ozone manufacturer is that the unplugged port is a plain ambient air intake, and that whenever the circ pump runs, the venturi draws air from the intake, through the generator, and into the water return. If the generator is off, you'll still get air flow, just no ozone. So just because there are bubbles coming from the water return, that doesn't necessarily mean that those bubbles are ozone - they could be plain air. So that leads to the question, why wouldn't it just stay on all the time? And does the generator control itself, or does the board control the generator?

I am shocking my bromine tub once a week by adding 6 tsp of brominating concentrate (sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione 82.5% and sodium bromide 14.7%) per instructions. The tub is 302 gallons. I did this Sunday night. It's now Tuesday night, and the bromine strip is still showing 10 ppm of bromine. Is that right? You shock your tub once a week, then you can't use it for two more days? I didn't think that I would only get five days a week usage out of my tub when I bought it. Unless of course I'm doing something wrong (not surprising since I never got chemistry instructions from my dealer). Am I using the wrong chemical to shock? Should I use Chlorox bleach, or MPS? Thanks, Jim

How does the spa decide when to turn the ozonator on and off? I know the ozone generator shuts off when a user turns on the jets. But I would think that all other times, the ozone generator would be running if the circulation pump is running (which it does 24/7 unless the water temp exceeds the set temp). There are times when the circ pump is running (waterfall is on) but the ozone indicator on the control panel goes off, then later comes back on. This is a 2008 Sundance Marin. Sundance customer support told me: "The Ozone continues to work 24/7 along with the 24 hour circulation pump. The ozone symbol however does not always remain on." Huh? Why would the symbol not remain on if the ozone generator is still working?

So how do I know how much of a maintenance amount of sodium bromide, and how periodically? One capful of (sodium dichlor 82.5% plus sodium bromide 14.7% granules) per week? One new tablet in the cage every month? The only useful test I have at this time is the strip which gives me a green color to measure total bromine, and a purple color to measure free chlorine. So I can tell when my "total bromine" level is between zero and 10 ppm. How do I use my test strips to determine when to add sodium bromide/dichlor granules, when to add tablets (bromo-dimethyl-hydantoin), and when to leave it alone? Thanks! Jim

If the bromide ion level gets too low, then will the "total bromine" reading on the test strips go down to zero? Is it possible to have a "total bromine" reading while also having the bromide ion level too low? Thanks for your responses! Jim

I accepted delivery of a new 2008 Sundance Marin last week. The delivery guys placed the spa on the deck, installed the filter, added a bit of spaguard stain and scale control, started to fill and then left. The sales guy was supposed to stop by an hour later, but unfortunately he had a last-minute family emergency so he wasn't able to show me how to manage the chemistry. The delivery guys left the following SpaGuard products with no instructions: brominating tablets stain & scale control (liquid) brominating concentrate ( sodium dichlor 82.5% plus sodium bromide 14.7% granules) ph decreaser (sodium bisulfate) ph increaser (sodium carbonate) test strips (total bromine, free chlorine, ph, TA) SO I've been trying to piece together the puzzle using info on this forum and elsewhere, but I have yet to find a simple, definitive instruction set for managing my tub chemistry using the products provided. Day 1 - after about 8 hours of letting the stain and scale sit and having 3 bromine tablets in the brominator cage, I shocked with 6 tsp. of the brominating concentrate. I shocked again Sun. night so that I'll get on a weekly regimen. I can't really read the ph or TA due to color-blindness, but my wife can't really make it out either and she's not color-blind. The bromine shows between 5 and 10 and the FC shows around 1-3. The tub has an ozonator. So I shocked twice already and have tablets in the cage. Is there anything else I need to do? I have no idea what CH level is, the dealer didn't leave me any test strips for CH, or CYA, or SI or TDS. Question 1) if I'm getting a total bromine reading, then does that mean that I have activated my bromine bank? Is the bank established by the tablets or by the concentrate, or both? question 2) do I care what my chlorine reading is? question 3) do I care about CYA? Does it have any effect on bromine? question 4) do I need any MPS for any reason? I ordered a Taylor 2106 today, BTW. THanks everyone! Jim first-time spa owner