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coursonb

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  1. Update: I had a service technician come out to work on the spa, and they were able to resolve the problem by replacing the temperature sensor. Thanks a lot for your reply!
  2. I have a Jazuzzi J470 that is about 8 years old. The temperature is set at 104F, but currently reads 96F. I went to get in the tub last night, and the water was unbearably hot, and I needed to exit immediately. Today, I took a meat thermometer (all I had available) and stuck it in the water to get a quick, rough estimate on the temperature. The actual water is measuring around 116F, which is in line with the extremely hot water I felt the other night. Has anyone encountered something similar before? Since the actual water temperature is higher than the set point of 104F, is there an issue with the high limit, or temperature measurement in general? Before I do yet another service call on the hot tub, I wanted to see if anyone has encountered this before, and if there's something quick I can do on my end to fix things.
  3. Hi, I returned from vacation to find my hot tub cover had blown off (straps broke), and the majority of the water was out of the tub. Of the water that remained, the water level was about up to the very bottom of the seats, so not much water. On top of the water was some ice that had formed. I can pick this ice up with my hands and get it out of the tub. The tub was on, and has been running without the water in, and with the cover off. The water in the tub is freezing cold. It is currently 45 degrees out, but had been 20-30's the last few days. I have a J470 hot tub. Any recommendations on how to get this back up and running and test if everything is still working?
  4. I have ProTeam Spa Oxidizing Shock and I also have liquid chlorine bleach. When I had an issue a couple months back with cloudy water the oxidizing shock worked. However, I was using a chlorine tub. Now, I'm onto Bromine. Is my Bromine too high for a shock though? It has been about 20 hours since I changed over to Bromine last night and here are my numbers: pH: 7.6 Total Bromine: 11.5 ppm-->8.0ppm after 25 min running open with jets going and floater removed Total Alkalinity: 120 The total Bromine is up from last night (possibly because I closed it up after probably about 5 hours involved in the entire switch where I was aerating it. When I closed it up, I had let it run for about an hour and it was still 10ppm. I then added 2-3 bromine tabs and went to bed. I just removed the Bromine tabs, opened the tub, and ran the jets. Any advice? Do I still shock? With which chemical? Is it safe to get in? <EDIT> I also have an ozonator that was installed by the dealer and I believe constantly runs. I have a J470 and the control panel shows it as off, but after the installation bubbles started to form and have ran ever since, continuously. I'm not sure if that affects anything. INFO on Pro Team Spa Oxidizing Shock Web Page MSDS - Oxone, Monopersulfate Compound, and proprietary ingredient
  5. Awesome advice guys One other question. My spa if very cloudy right now. The filters are 2 days away from needing to be cleaned (90 day cycle) and I'm wondering if that could be an issue. I also just switched over from chlorine to bromine and there was a day or two in there inbetween where the chlorine tabs ran out in the tub and I forgot to replace them. I'm going to retest again tonight or tomorrow, but the main specs on TA, pH, Bromine, and CH seemed to be in line. Any idea on what could cause the cloudiness? Also, there is a slight odor but it's hard to place.
  6. After gradually adding, testing, and aerating, I used up the entire bottle. The TA went from 200 to 110 and my numbers are now around this: CH: 120ish PH: 7.4 TA: 110 I went ahead and dumped in the sodium bromide, and shocked with liquid chlorine bleach. I am now waiting for the bromine to drop (currently 10ppm) and then will add the floater and bromine (1") tabs I was given from the dealer. I'm thinking around 3-4 tablets to start out but have no idea if you care to comment. Afterwards, I'll probably add a bit of gentle spa. When I added the sodium bromide/bleach I noticed quite a bit of foaming, is that standard? It seems to have gone down. Also, do I just go into the spa dealer and ask for dry acid? I assume I want the sodium bisulfate you suggested? Thanks a lot
  7. I cannot find an ingredient list anywhere, but this MSDS spec sheet shows it has hydrochloric acid. Not sure what that means exactly or if it makes a difference: Hydrochloric Acid
  8. Is it possible I did not wait long enough? After the last reading, I kept the jets going and the hot tub half open. The new readings, after half an hour were: pH: 7.6 TA: 165 The TA looks like it dropped down a bit. I'm not sure where the pH originally was as it was >=8.0, but required about 5 drops to bring it down to 7.4-7.6 or so. Also, I just measured the Calcium Hardness as 120ish. It was red until 12 drops went in, then turned a light blue/clear color. I continued adding drops to see if it would get darker blue and at 16 drops it was the same, so I figured it must be 120. Here are details on the pH decreaser: ProTeam pH Down, Spa (edit: this is a liquid pH down) "To lower pH .1 use 1oz of pH down per 100 gallons of water. To avoid lowering total alkalinity mix 1 oz of pH down into 10 oz of spa water in a container and pour evenly around the spa. Should total alkalinity need lowering the same time as pH correction, pour directly inso spa water in one area without dillution" I have a 535 gallon tub, so it should be 5.35 oz to lower the pH .1. Since it was over 8.0, I started out with about 16oz and figured I would be safe. The aeration seems to be raising the pH back up, so maybe I should try again with the pH down? I have 16oz left. Here is a link to the pH Down I was given: My link
  9. I'm attempting to get my spa water back to where it should be and here's the readings I've had so far in regards to pH and TA: With Taylor 2006 test kit: Temp: 103 Gallons: 535, J470 <EDIT>: Ozonator running 24/7 pH: above 8.0 (took 5 drops to lower to the 7.5 range) TA: 200ppm (took 20 drops) I had pH down on me and put in 16 oz, opened up the spa halfway, ran the jets for about 20 minutes and then left it open for about 20 minutes before testing again. I believe I put in too much pH down at one time, but according to the directions on the bottle I needed quite a bit more than this. Here are the next readings, about 40 minutes later (is this long enough): pH: 7.4ish TA: 180ppm The TA did not drop like I thought it was going to. I'm trying to get the TA within a reasonable range before switching over to bromine. Any more advice? Should I use the remaining 16oz of pH decreaser to lower the TA, although the pH is at 7.4? The water is cloudy and has a slight odor.
  10. Thanks a lot for everyone's help so far. Basically, everything that was said has been true with the hot tub. The Chlorine tabs dissolve way too fast and I have trouble maintaining the pH level. I seem to have had some skin irritation/itching as well as a result. Nothing major, but noticeable. After some traveling, and waiting to get in the Taylor test kit and chemicals, I'm now ready to switch over to the Bromine tub. Here is what I bought. I've never bought 'spa chemicals' from the grocery store before, so I want to make sure I'm on the right track with some of this stuff: 1) Baking Soda (to raise TA): Arm and Hammer Pure Baking Soda, Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate 2) Borax (to raise pH): 20 Mule Team Borax, Ingredients: Sodium Tetraborate 3) Sodium Bromide (Bromine reserve): Leisure Time Sodium Bromide, Ingredients: Sodium Bromide (99%), Other (1%) 4) Chlorine (to shock spa): Clorox, Regular Bleach, Ingredients: Sodium Hypochlorite (6%), Other ingredients: 94%); Yields: 5.7% available Chlorine Test Kit: K2106 Still need to find: Dry Acid (to raise pH) Thoughts? Do I have the right stuff?
  11. It's been a while since I wet tested a Jacuzzi 470 hot tub, but if memory serves me correctly, the jets (at least some, if not all) in this tub are designed to always operate with a combination of water and air (50/50 mix). This means that your jets are drawing exterior air into the water. If its cold outside, the exterior air introduced into the water will cool the water. The colder the air, the quicker the water will cool. Combine that with the loss of heat from the open tub, it does not surprise me that you would lose a few degrees of heat. It will be hard for your heater to compensate for both the heat loss above and the introduction of cold air into the water. This may be the cause of your drop in water temperature despite your electrical corrections. Of course, if you're not in a cold climate (or your hot tub is indoors), then you still have a problem. FYI, I have a Sundance Optima. The Optima comes with the option to add air to the jet stream (for a different/additional hydrotherapy effect). In winter with temperatures in the teens, I lose approximately 2-3 degrees of heat over a 40 minute soak when I elect to add air into the jet's water stream. I don't recall, but I don't believe you have the option to not have air mixed with the jets in the Jacuzzi J470. I hope this helps. gman Thanks for the info. Sounds like some good stuff that I wasn't even thinking about. I do believe thee J470 has the option to add or not add air to the jets. There are knobs by each jet that I believe 'add' air bubbles to the jets. I'm not positive that they are 'adding' air, or if it merely increasing the amount of air going through the jets. I'll have to test the heat loss with and without those knobs in the on position. Anyone else have any experience with the J470?
  12. Thanks everyone for your replies. The hot tub has been changed over to 60 amps and I was able to negotiate the work to be done for free. Now that I'm in 60 amp mode, and had the spa company come out to change the hot tub logic, the heater works with both jets running. However, I'm still having more heat loss than I would expect. Tonight, with two jets turned on, and only half of the cover off, the temperature of the spa went from 105 to 102 over a 40 minute period. Last night, with the entire cover off, and both jets on, it went from 106 to 101 in 40 minutes of use. Shouldn't the heater be maintaining the temperature within a degree or two of the set temperature? It was around 20 degrees out both nights and the heater indicator was on. The heater also heats the spa back up to the set temp with the cover on. Is this normal? The tub is a Jacuzzi J470. Thanks a lot, brent
  13. Correct, the Proteam 1" tabs are trichlor and not suitable for spa use at all, IMHO. Proteam does make bromine tabs. It is a good line, IMHO. Then again I used to sell it when I worked in the retail end of the industry. I wish I had read this thread a little earlier today. Here is what was recommended that I followed through with: Shock the system with the ProTeam Oxidizing Shock and run the jets. Then, make sure to maintain at least 6 chlorinating tabs in the floater...making sure to average about 4 tabs at all times. Check the spa every 2-3 days. I was originally given testing strips that don't test Chlorine, but show Bromine instead. Apparently, I just noticed they were expired as of 3 months ago as well. I was told that I could have some free additional chemicals, including granular chlorine and pH increase and pH minus. I will also be given the ozonator I was promised upon the initial delivery. The water appears to have improved but it is currently dark out and I really can't get a good look until tomorrow. It appears to have improved slightly on the testing strips. If I choose to switch to bromine in the future, do I need to drain the water and start all over? Is that what you would recommend?
  14. Thanks a lot guys. In response to your replies so far, here's what I found out today: The hot tub is a brand new J470 model; must be 2009 or 2010 model year. The wiring was #6 wire and 50amp breakers were used. The hot tub was put on a rooftop deck and wiring the hot tub was part of the quote. Apparently, in the original quote, the electrician, a subcontractor, was not given the correct information on the hot tub and quoted using 50amp breakers. He claims it will cost him about $300 to switch over to the 60amp breakers. His solution that he is recommending is that, since the max flowrate for the 60amp service is only 45 amps, that I bypass the 50amp service on the tub and "trick" it into thinking it has 60amps. He claims the 50amp circuit breakers will be more than adequate to handle this...especially since the tub is close to the box...maybe about 50 feet from the main breaker box. By doing this, he claims the hot tub will work perfectly in all ways, just as if it had 60amp service. My worries are twofold...will this work, and what about any warranty issues? Anyone have any experience with this idea?
  15. Here are the chemicals and items I was given: Pro Team Sky Blue Clarifier Pro Team Gentle Spa Pro Team Oxidizing Shock Pro Team pH Down Pro Team ph Up Pro Team Foam Fighter Pro Team Sanitizer, 1" Pure Tabs (chlorine) Aquachek Spa and Pool Test Strips Floating Dispenser I am supposed to have an ozonator as well, but I have not received it from the company yet.
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