pezley69

Thanks for the input. I find my artic does not heat cycle much so I doubt I will be saving much if any money. I was more curious what others thought. I find I can get 5 degrees up in about 1/2 hour with the top on. With your formula I bet I can get 6 months no problem. I have very clear water with little problems. I only add minimal amounts of product to keep me within range so I am definately not over doing the chemicals. (I test chlorine/ph about once a week to once every two weeks....and test the other stuff about once per month). I just mainly hate the idea of changing the water under our drought conditions. I would feel guilty almost knowing we should be cutting back. I think I will try to get a couple more months outta my water and hope by then the restrictions will be over. Thanks so much for the links above. I will read them over as well.

If I am using my Artic Spa say every two or three days should I just leave the temp set at 100 or turn in down to maybe 95 or something lower? I do not have an issue with turning up the temp a 1/2 hour before I plan to get in....I mainly just wondered if I am really saving anything by turning it down a few degree for the day or two between when I use it. If it matters I live in an area where typically it is above freezing (North Carolina). We have cold nights sometimes but it usually even in the dead of winter is in the 40's or lower 50's during the days. Second, we have a pretty bad drought in my area. How bad is it to leave the same water in my hot tub for say around 6 months? I really don't want to have to refill as were not supposed to be filling pools, spas, water grass, washing cars, etc. This has nothing to do with the expense or anything, I just dont feel right "wasting" water on refilling is the right thing to do with all the cut backs were making in other water areas. Thanks for any advice.

Tom, Good info....I especially like the screened louver door thing.... Thanks.

Well, I have not had the tub over the winter...So I can not really comment on the heating cost....but I can tell you this... The heater in my Arctic Spa tub barely came on when I have it set at 100 when the outside temps were in the 60's....The enclosure is very well insulated and the heat from the motors is captured in the enclosure as well....I also have a very nice Arctic brand cover that seems to really hold the heat in.... It took approx 2 1/2 hours to heat the water from 60 ish degrees to the middle 90's when I originally filled it....so I would probably not set it lower than in the 80's during the winter if you plan to use it often....I think I was getting around a 1 degree raise per 3 to 5 minutes or so the heater was on....so at 80 it would take about an hour and 1/2 maybe to heat...too long to wait in my opinion.... I will just leave it at around 99 or so in the winter and we will probably use it most days. If I am paying 50 or 100 bucks a month then I just guess that is the cost of ownership....I barely notice the cost of it this spring....So I have been pretty happy. I hope this helps.

I ended up just leaving it full....and turning the heat down....It has been in the uppper 80's here so going in the tub is not my idea of enjoyment right now.... I have a cover and I treat the water maybe once per week or week and 1/2..... So no worries...I can't wait until fall and winter so I can get back to enjoying the tub...

The tub is not new and not under warranty. I mainly wondered what people thought would be best for the tub. I would assume from your comments that you feel it is best to keep it full..... Anyone else care to throw out anything?

Any ideas people?? Just throw something out...

Thanks. I think I will do a partial drain to get the CYA in check. I know what to do on start up now so when I do a total drain and refill I wont have this problem again. Things are really starting to make sense. It seemed so complicated at first but with some help it is getting easier. I really appreciate your help.

Ah...Ok...Waterbearer....It is starting to make sense... I think if I understand correctly I should just use the liquid clorox to shock and not use the non-chlorine shock right? I think you recommended a level of about 12 PPM for the liquid bleach right? In 350 gallons what would that be approx?? I think about 1 cup should do it. And I should do this once per week right? Is there a guide to the baking soda to raise the TA? IE: How much to use??? I think from your note I should be in the 80-100 PPM range so I need to raise it approx 40-50 PPM. Also, any good products for anti-foam or do you just suggest the spa product anti-foam stuff at the local supply store? It is really stinky in the bottle and does not help much but if there is no other option I will stick with that. Otherwise my water is staying pretty clear at this point. Please advise. Thanks so much for your help.

TA---What is the range it should be in and what do you use to raise/lower it. I tested my tub last night and I have been having problems with low ph. My TA was 40 PPM as I recall so I think I am low. Will raising the TA help stabilize the PH? It has never been high...just low. Also, I used my non-chlorine shock two days ago and I am still getting 1.8 PPM of CC. I hear I should open it up and leave the cover off in the sun for the day. Anything else I need to do? I did add my normal 1/2 cup of clorox bleach. Would adding the clorox the next day after the shock raise my CC to 1.8 ppm? Thanks in advance for all advice.

Good info...thanks. I can do a partial re-fill but I may just wait as I will probably be shutting down the tub shortly. You have been very helpful. I used the dichlor too long is the problem. I ended up using it too often and for over 2 weeks so the CYA added up. I know the deal for my refill now. Thanks.

I did the non-chlorine shock yesterday and I will re-test everything tonight or tomorrow (Mon or Tues.) and post those up and see what you think. Mainly the CYA has me concerned. I may need to drain out 50-100 gallons and refill to get this in line. I think my FC level is mostly in the 4-6 ppm range so I need to either keep the FC higher or lower the CYA right? My water is staying pretty clear. I only have a slight problem with foaming. The anti-foam stuff I bought just does not seem to be working. Also, it is very smelly (in the bottle not after I put it in the tub). Is this normal? Any other products you can suggest? (I am using the Spa products in the blue bottles from my local Lowe's store). Thanks for the help.

Here is my question. I live in NC and pretty much starting at the end of May or first of June the average temps are just too high to really enjoy the hot tub. So I plan to shut it down from about June 1 thru about September. Now the question. Am I better of draining it and leaving it empty or leaving the water in it and just turning the heat off and putting chemical in it every few weeks? The cost of chemicals and what not is not a problem. I am not looking to "save" money more I am looking at what is best for the tub. On one hand leaving something sit and not using it can be harder on it than just letting it run. But it will be only for a few months so it might not even be a big deal. And if I should empty it any storage procedures to follow? It wont freeze so antifreeze wont be needed!! Just curious if anything preventative stuff should be done. Let me know your thoughts.... Thanks.

Good info....let me digest that and see what other questions I have. I got some of the Borax as suggested previously. Is there a formula for how much of that to use? Seond, you mentioned "add calcium chloride or even sodium chloride salt if you want a silkier feel to the water and less dry skin or folded skin that often happens from being in water for a long time" Where do you get these products? Thats it for now. I will post up some new readings maybe tomorrow and see where I am at right now. Thanks.

Ok, I have had the new tub for about 2 weeks now. I finally got my Taylor kit via the mail order yesterday. I have been using a cheapo kit from my local Home Depot (not the strips but a test kit that used drops for PH and also Chlorine). Here is what I got last night with the Taylor. I had put that morning (approx. 9 hours earlier) the prescribed amount of the sodium dichloro as we had not been in the tub in 4 days. I have as of today switched over to the liquid bleach. Test Results: Free Chlorine 2.2 ppm Combined Chlorine 1.8 ppm Calcium 30 ppm CY 65 ppm (This one is hard in my opinion as the more I stare at the tube the more I think I can see the black dot at the bottom but I think this should be fairly accurate. PH 7.0 or possible slightly lower Ok, if I have an understanding of this all I am pretty sure the FC is ok considering it had been sitting all day. I think it should be slightly higher. CC I have no idea what this should be normally and I have no idea how to raise or lower this so any help is appreciated. Calcium is this considered around normal? My PH has been low off and on so I was using the PH up and it seemed to take care of it. Does the spa products PH up mess with anything else when you add that? Is there something else that is recommended that is better to raise the PH? Is is more common to have to raise the ph than say lower it? Just curious. I know the dichlor is raising the CY. Is my level ok or too high? I think the liquid bleach does not raise the CY so I should not be raising it anymore as I will just be using the liquid bleach. What keeps dropping my PH?? Is this a result of the dichlor? I have non-chlorine shock that I have used once. Should I used that or do the high concentration of the liquid bleach to "shock"?? Or do you have to switch back and forth? We use the tub around 3-4 times per week with 2 people. How often should you shock? I thought about once per week would do it. Anyway, look over my numbers and and suggestions are appreciated.

I have a couple of questions: Where do you buy the dichlor and Sodium bisulfate? I assume the dichlor will be available where you buy the chlorine products for pools and spas but I have no idea on the sodium bisulfate. Thanks for any help.

Hello All! I am new to the spa world (well, technically I will be in approx. 2 weeks). I am getting an older (2000 model) Arctic Spa Cub Signature. Is there a regime I should go through to clean the spa prior to my first fill up? The Spa is 350 gallons and I have been reading all the posts over the last few days and I feel very confused with the ppm and cya and what not and not totally understanding about adding dichlor (sp?) and liquid chlorine, and ph up and down, etc. So, here are my comments/questions and any advice is appreciated. First, it sounds like to me the way to go is the chlorine or bromine systems over the baqua/soft soak systems. As far as I know neither my wife or I have issues with either chlorine or bromine. Is one particularily better or easier to maintain? Being newbies I need the easiest system to follow Second, is there a write up somewhere with the standard procedure to follow at initial fill up and then for maintainence of the water? I would imagine we will use the tub at least 3-4 times per week (both of us but most likely no one else on a regular basis). I get from reading that test strips pretty much suck and are inaccurate and I should purchase a kit such as the Taylor K-2006 right? How often should I test, etc? Basically, if someone can point me in the direction of the write up or website or something that details what I need to be doing to keep the water clean and can keep me from getting any kind of funk from getting in my tub I would appreciate it. Also, a list of needed chemicals to have on hand would be appreciated as well. Thanks in advance for your help. Pez