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passos

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  1. I'll be putting in a pool house this winter that will have an indoor shower, an outdoor shower and a small kitchenette. My builder has suggested a small 5G tank water heater as people won't be taking long showers, plus the space savings. That sounds very small to me. He recommended against a tankless system and based on mixed reactions I've seen, I agree. I tried figuring out water flow rates assuming 2 people taking 5 minute showers at the same time using a 2.5 gpm faucet, plus someone using the sink, and it seems like (assuming half that flow is hot water) that is too small. Any suggestions, experiences or thoughts would be appreciated.
  2. Back again and just can't get this right. Have had the taylor for a month now, getting PH at about 7.6, alkalinity of about 100 and hardness of about 80. Every two weeks or so I use PH down to drop the PH back to 7.4 and it drifts up. Every 2-3 weeks, my Chlorine is down to 0. This is with usage set at 4, and spa size at 8. Salt seems fine. I know my calcium is at the upper range, just slightly above. Any thoughts on whether that is the reason? Was hoping to avoid having to buy the calcium dropping bag unless I was positive its the problem. I typically need to manually add chlorine once a month to get it to 5, and then it gradually drops down to 0. I've tried dropping usage to 2 because we only use it about once a week for an hour, with no difference. I've also had the temperature at 85-90 given its summer, with no real difference as to when I've had it at 100. Any suggestions?
  3. Putting in a new in ground gunite pool in NJ. I'm deciding against a diving board and instead will have a water slide feature built into a rock wall/waterfall. The water slide will flow into about a 3ft or so depth. The total pool size will be about 850 sq/ft and it will be free form. My guys has suggested that you don't really need an 8ft depth if you don't have a diving board, as kids will be fine jumping or even diving into a 6 ft depth, and not having that depth in half the pool makes it more usable. He also said the risk of kids hitting their heads diving into a 6ft depth is minimal if there is no diving board. Assuming I never intend on adding a diving board, any thoughts on whether I need to go 8 ft deep in the deep end?
  4. How long is the warranty good for? Is it the Ace warranty or the tub itself? I've struggled in getting the Ace system to work in my 2010 Grandee - have had it for 6 months now. I only purchased the Taylor kit a few weeks ago. Do you end up adding chlorine manually or rely on the Ace system alone? Although my water always seems crystal clear I've never been able to register any Chlorine on test strips. I end up adding Chlorine manually about 1 a month to get it to 5ppm. I did not expect to have to do that with the Ace system. I wonder if I have a bad Ace cell as well, although I've never had a problem with the sensor indicating issues as you have.
  5. Can I get some thoughts on automatic pool covers. I'm considering a new built in one for a new in ground pool. My primary reason for considering one is family safety. I plan on opening and closing the cover only when in use (to the extent possible) and consider it an extra layer of protection in addition to a sturdy fence to keep kids safer. I'd like to get any thoughts on their maintenance and reliability. It seems to me that their additional cost up front get compensated somewhat in reduced chemicals and heat cost savings. Does anyone think a salt water system is a bad idea with an automatic pool system? I've read that they are OK so long as you wash off the system regularly, but seems safer to go with a regular system. It also seems like you can use them year round so I guess you save some $$ in having to get someone to open and close your pool. Thanks for any thoughts and opinions.
  6. OK - back for another round starting from a fresh tank. I started this thread 4 months ago when I picked up a new Grandee with the ACE system. I've had water chemistry problems since the beginning, I can never get the Hot Springs strips or some other strips from the local pool place to ever register any chlorine. At first I thought it was a PH issue from my reading the strips wrong and when upping the amount of PH Down (from teaspoons to about half a cup), I recall getting a modest purple reading on one strip once. However even after boosting, setting it as high as 4, etc., I've never been able to get much of a reading on chlorine. My spa dealer has really been less than helpful insisting the system seems to be working fine. I've been using the tub about once or twice every 2 weeks or so for about an hour, however, because I constantly bring a sample of the water to the local pool store (and their check indicates chlorine of 3 and other readings all fine). This is even though I can't see a thing on the strips. I have never had a problem with cloudy or smelly water. Had some extra bubbling at times but nothing really surprising. So I finally broke down and paid the $50 for the taylor kit which should come next week. I emptied and refilled the tub yesterday. Went with 1/2 the recommended salt (3 cups instead of 6) as per the directions the ACE system came with after stabilizing the PH and alkalinity with 1/2 cup PH down and 1/2 cup of baking soda. Strips seemed to say all good including hardness (never been a problem), so now 24 hours later, did a check and of course, not a color change at all to indicate chlorine. I assume I will get the Taylor kit by next week and hope it will solve everything. At a minimum, it will confirm that the other levels are right, and I will have to insist that the dealer does something to fix the ACE system. More likely it will help me fine tune my levels, and get the ACE system working. I'm hoping that the prior poster is right that the strips won't pick up chlorine of some type that is actually there, as I can't figure out any other explanation why everything would appear to be functioning properly, with a pool store confirming chlorine being present, but strips showing nothing at all. If necessary, I'll use some extra chlorine (can I just use Clorox or some other bleach?), but I got the ACE system to avoid that. I know everyone knocks the strips, however I was hoping it was an easy solution. Guess it just won't work for me. Any suggestions at all would really be appreciated as this has been a frustrating experience.
  7. I'ev been doing that for years as long as there is little to no chlorine and its balanced as you say. Any thoughts on whether the Ace System makes a difference? In particular, does the fact that its got a decent amount of salt in it mean it will damage plants/grass? Also, I guess you would suggest turning off the ACE system for a few days to stop producing free Chlorine?
  8. Thought I'd add my 2 cents. Picked up a Grandee in December and had a very similar problem as use. Struggled with using strips and kept coming up completely no Chlorine after weeks. Turns out that I was reading the strips wrong on PH. The amount of PH Down that I needed to add was in the cups, not in the tablespoons. I had originally been told to take it easy but now know that you literally need to dump the PH Down in. And that no Chorine gets made by Ace if the PH isn't right. I wasn't really reading the PH colors correctly. Once the PH went down, with usage at 4 and a boost, its been smooth sailing ever since.
  9. HD2000 - that really makes me feel better. I've been adding 2 Teaspoons (not even Tablespoons) at a time. So far up to about 12 Teaspoons. Had been worried that I was overdoing it. Hearing that you have added cups, or are talking about 15 tablespoons makes me think that is definitely the issue. Only concern now is that I'm adjusting over the course of a number of days, rather than trying to get it right in one afternoon - Northeast weather is killing us with snow and ice right now. Today, checked and looks like I finally have alkalinity right, and that PH was a little high but not as high as it was and finally starting to get some chlorine from ACE. Should I be worried that the ACE system is getting burned out at all at this point given its been working for 2 weeks now with low PH (with a couple of Boosts pressed)?
  10. OK guys, once again appreciate all the feedback but think I have basically messed everything up at this point and am considering draining the tub and starting from scratch. Still using strips until I pick up the better testing kit. Had thought I was in the right range but now realize my color reading is way off. Can't get the PH down even after adding multiple doses of the PH down product from Hot Springs that came with the tub. Its generally at about 7.6-8.0. I think this is why I get no reading at all on Chlorine, because if I understand it right, Ace won't produce it until PH is right. I also noticed that the Alkalinity which I thought was in the OK range is probable closer to 40, so just added some baking soda, a few tablespoons. Think I read someplace that too low Alkalinity will prevent PH from dropping, so hoping that helps. At this point, I have no idea what the levels will be after this latest addition of PH down and baking soda. Am I better off just draining the tub at this point and starting over? Isn't it odd that I've now added about 6 tables spoons of PH down and cant get the PH down? Any help is appreciated.
  11. Thanks guys, really appreciate the insights. Was really hoping that I could get away with just the test strips but sounds like everyone feels strongly that the Taylor kit is worth the effort. I would likely keep trying strips but just realized that I'd been using the strips wrong, have had high PH all week which is likely why my Ace system is producing no ozone at all. Thought the purple was a little too purple on the strip but it looked in the range... Anyway, I'm a relatively light user - most likely will never be more than a couple of adults and kids using it for 15-30 minutes at a time, 3x per week max. Maybe an occasional day every other month where more adults will use it for a few hours during a holiday party. I saw a few of you mention shock, calcium stuff, etc. Was really hoping to not use any chemicals at all except for salt. Looks like (at least according to the strips), I'm OK on calcium hardness. And hoping I'm low enough on usage that shock won't be an issue.
  12. Been following this board for a long time before took the plunge on my first hot tub. Went with a Grandee with the Ace system and have it running for about 1 week. Have taken 3 dips in it so far in some snowy icy NJ weather, and kids love it. Trying to get a handle on best practices for regular maintenance. Sounds like from my dealer and the paperwork, its as much an art as a science. Part of the reason for going with ACE was to minimize maintenance as much as possible. My initial setup was simply adding salt and turning the system on after basic strip water testing. After 48 hours, everything was in normal ranges on the strips and we are set. However, after doing all the reading on these boards, it sounds much more complicated than just simply checking that the levels remain in that range and changing the water every so often. Can anyone outline for me what general steps make sense? Should I be adding anything other than salt when I start it up? Thanks.
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