sws1

Thanks. If I switch to liquid chlorine now (to prevent even higher CYA), do I need to add it every day since I'm no longer using an automated chlorinator. Presumably I have to. What sucks is that I have to use the more complicated chlorine test in my test kit rather than a strip since my FC is so high. And a FC of 12 means ALOT of drops to do the test.

My pool is 25,000 gallons. (20x40. 3' shallow + 5.5' deep) When I get to draining some water out, is it better to do it just before the closing, when the water is clearer, or do it after opening when the water is green and gross? Seems a bit like a waste to do it in the fall if I'm just gonna close it up, but I can't imagine dumping green water out into the street is a good thing.

Got my TF100 test kit today and immediately ran out to test. 25,000 gal inground, vinyl lined pool Live in NJ. Pool gets direct sun from morning until 4pm. Then shade. Trichlor pucks in auto-chlorinator. (4 or so per week) Cal-Hypo (2 lbs) shock per week. Algaecide and clarifier (4oz per week) (This is the approach from pool people who maintained for first half of summer.) The pool has also been super clear all summer. No chlorine smell. All great. Here are my results: FC: 13 CC: 0 TC: 13 pH: 7.5 T/A: 130 CH: 400-500 (Had to do test twice because I gave up when didnt' turn blue. Maybe it's a hair lower.) CYA: Best guess is 120-130, given than it's above the 100 line by a little bit. Didn't have time to dilute by 2. SO - Clearly have very high CYA and CH due to the use of chlorine sources. I've been starting to backwash every week now to flush a few inches of water. This'll take a while, but it's more manageable. Not sure if I'm simply offsetting what I'm putting in, or if I'm gaining ground on the CYA / CH issue. NJ has been very dry this year, so there's been minimal rain. If I wanted to switch to liquid chlorine for the rest of the summer (5 more weeks), about how much chlorine, and how often? And would I need to shock weekly?

This person is an internet troll and only posts to get attention. His advice on pools is bad and he has ignored advice on this and a few other pool forums for the past two years. He only likes to create discord. His username has ended up in the Urban Dictionary as "an irritating, repetitive message board poster." and he seems to be proud of this. the first link is to that page. Read this. (If you wonder why keep checking out the links) and this (thread was locked) and this and this and this (This one is a must read!) and this (This also, he got banned on this board for three days in this thread) and this and this and this (thread was locked) and this and this and this (this is a good example, the thread got locked. Be sure to read the second page also!!) and this and this (be sure to read down to the last three posts on page one and the posts at the top of page two, they say a LOT. This thread was locked also!)) There are many more examples. do NOT feed the internet troll. Do not feed the troll. Thanks. I'm aware of him. (I have been reading this board.) So, is the weekly shock approach the best approach? I'm not in a position this year to go the liquid chlorine approach which is discussed so highly here and elsewhere. But trying to learn as much as I can. Thanks

First time pool owner (25,000 gal, in ground). I've been reading alot on here, and understand much of it now. But do have a fundamental question. My pool was maintained by pool company for first half of the summer, and now I'm taking it over until mid-september when I close it. Their basic approach is: - Stabilized 3" pucks in automatic chlorinator. 3-5 pucks added once per week, with knob on chlorinator turned to max. - CalHypo - 2+ pounds per week added to skimmer, presumably to do a mini-shock. - Algeacide - 4oz per week - Clarifier - 4oz per week Other things as needed (PH, Alk, etc.) The basic questions I have are: - If the chlorinator is keeping FC at the right level, then why am I shocking each week? Is this necessary? - The 3 pucks dissolve in the chlorinator, which means they probably give off more chlorine on day 1 then they do on day 7. If that's true, then it's not exactly giving off a "consistent" chlorine level, right? On a side note, my TF100 test kit arrives tomorrow, and I intend to monitor more than the once per week the pool company did. But for now, I've had trouble finding the answer to the questions above.

OK, I follow....it's to equalize voltage differential between the ground and the spa. Haven't really heard of this but like I said I don't do residential design. So what is the requirement if somebody puts a tub on a wooden deck? Not sure, but it's not an option for me. I don't have room to put a deck around the spa. (Well, I do, but it'd become cramped.)

Thanks. This isn't a new tub. It's a 2008 (maybe 2007) Tiger River Bengal. It is supported fairly uniformly, and not just around the edges. The bonding thing is a NEC 2008 requirement. There was some leaway in the 2005 code, but for the 2008 code, a hot tub requires that the surface within reach of where the tub is all be bonded together to prevent an issue where...you are getting out of the tub, and you touch both the water in the tub, and a piece of ground that may have some stray voltage. It's the same requirement for pools, although the dimensions are different. Technically, they want wire mesh 3' around the tub and underneath, to be tied together and bonded to the ground of the tub. HOWEVER, there is an exception that says you can create a loop of 8 gauge wire around the tub, 12-18" away from inside edge of tub, buried 4-8" deep. Read paragraph 21 here: http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_code_changes_13/ I plan to follow the "alternate means" which are described in that article.

Any thoughts?

Hi - New member here, but have been reading alot. I just moved into a new home in which much of the back yard is already poured concrete slabs. I would like to move my hot tub from the old house. I can't tell if the concrete is reinforced, but my guess says no, since I'm not sure there would have been a need previously. I can tell based on sticking my finger in a cracked area, not near where the tub is going, that the concrete is roughly 2.5 - 3" thick. My hot tub dimensions are roughly 7' by 6.5'. Where I'd like to place the tub is more or less towards the corner of a 7.5" x 11.5' slab. (The yard has lots of slabs, seperated by plastic dividers.) So, the 7' edge of the hot tub would go along the 7.5" edge of the slab. I would then move the tub 6" or so of the edge so the cover has room to fold. So in essence, it would run the entire length of a piece of slab, and about 1/2 way across it. On 2 sides of this piece of concrete (and therefore next to the tub) is dirt / mulching, etc. To complicate things a bit, the town is going to require a bonding wire to be put around the tub. So the plan is to saw cut a groove in the concrete to insert some 8 gauge wire. 2 of the 4 sides of the loop would be under concrete, and the other 2 sides would be in the mulching. The cut through the concrete would then be patched. SO, my questions are: - Is this 2.5" concrete (without rebar) going to be strong enough for hot tub when filled? - Does the fact that the hot tub is towards the corner of a big slab inherently introduce more stress? (About 6" of concrete) - Does cutting and patching this groove that is needed for bond wire also cause structural issues? I'm not really psyched about ripping up existing concrete, and given that it is winter, it's not really an option. Should I just give up?