mhaleusa

I think this is related enough to post here since we are talking about "locking of Ph".... Does anyone know how much of this gentle spa I have to add to my 420 gallon spa to get the required 50 borates? I don't know how to test for this and just followed the instructions for addition found on the bottle (can't recall the amount) at this time. Thanks!

Here is the link to the product which is made by a company called "In The Swim": http://www.amazon.com/In-The-Swim-Chlorine-Free-Shock/dp/B002WKM6GM/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1358808853&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=potassium+monopersulfate+renew#productPromotions

Hi All, Let me say that I like using MPS as a shock with my nature 2 system. In shopping around it seems that options are rather limited to a few brands like liesure time and oxy spa. However, I found a company on Amazon.com that sells this MPS at a much cheaper rate (about 3 dollar per lb vs. 5 or 6). I checked the ingredients against the listed ingredients on my Leisure Time Renew (MPS) and it appears to be the same ratio (MPS = 43%, to 57 inactive ingredients). However, nowhere on the webpage does it say that it is safe for hot tubs. Not wanting to take any chances.... I called an 800 number they had listed and asked the guy. He sounded like I was asking a calculus question or something and gave me a rather lame "I guess you'd be alright" kind of answer. Seems to me that this stuff would be fine and appears to be the same thing as the Liesure Time brand stuff at half the cost. Can one of the experts here give me a warm fuzzy about buying this stuff in bulk? I've linked the page below. Please let me know what you think and many thanks! http://www.amazon.com/In-The-Swim-Chlorine-Free-Shock/dp/B002WKM6GM/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1358808853&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=potassium+monopersulfate+renew

I am no expert... but I don't think chlorine degrades the N2. It just makes for more expensive water since you are using enough chlorine to be considered a sanitizer. As far as your 2 week vacation... I'd feel really confident for a week... maybe even two. However, I'd feel even better if I could get someone to check in on it (and add bleach) after a week. Hopefully you can get some more firm advice on this.

Pretty new owner here (about 4 months) and wanted to say that I like the Nature2/MPS set up. I would have to say though.... that I liberally use bleach (after using dicholor to CYA = 30 or so) at least 2x per week (wednesday and sunday). Some would say I'm wasting money and I should just go all bleach.... but for me this works. There is never a question that there is something in the tub working on the nasties MPS/Chlorine/Silver. My biggest concern was how long I could walk away without problems over the holidays. Before leaving I just double dosed with bleach (1 cup for 435 gallons) and a week later upon returning from Christmas vacation... water still looked just fine. Good luck to you.

Back when I was buying my first batch of chemicals and things I thought I might need I picked up a "filter cleaner" made by "leisure time" that you add a prescribed amount to a 4 gallon bucket and let sit over night. However, your mention of TSP intrigues me... Back in my brewing days we used an expensive mixture of TSP and something else called "Powdered Brewery Wash".... turns out that we wound up eventually just substituting oxyclean right off the supermarket shelf and it did the job we needed it to. I have to imagine that this would be cost effective and its a great thing to have around the house. Just a thought... I've never tried using this as I am a newbie to hot tubs. I am sure you'll get lots of info from this thread to help you out. Best of luck!

I don't think mine is like that... I am a relatively new owner... but I think I'd remember that.

I had to face this decision too. My first thought was is it really necessary for the increased service for only the times that I'll be in it. Will it drop in temp while I'm in there? Is it worth it to pay for a new circuit when what I had in place would have been sufficient for 50a? I can't say that the temp would change even a degree if you sat in it for 20 minutes in the winter (new jersey) even without the heater working. But, I really wanted to do it right. More importantly, I like the fact that if I feel like cranking the temp while i'm in it... I can feel the hot water output. Might sound silly... but I like that.

Disregard... google did the trick. Sorry!

Where do I find this pool calculator? Sorry, poked around a bit and can't locate it.

If I were to use 1/2 -3/4 cup of bleach after each use.... wouldn't that still be pretty expensive? I've never really priced much of the stuff as I have what the dealer "gave" me when I bought the tub. I may abandon the N2/MPS method after a while but my wife is highly sensitive to bleach/chlorine and so for now I'm going to go with it. Plus I have 8 lbs of MPS and 2 weeks usage from my N2 cartridge so it doesn't make sense just yet anyway. I was just curious if there was a way to equate the 1/2 oz dichlor with a particular amount of bleach as a subsitute for shocking. I would think that if I were to add half a cup of bleach in place of my twice weekly dichlor that that might be too much since your chlorine levels are 5-6.5 (which is not what I want if I'm using N2 and MPS. Thanks for responding!

Everything I've read here hasn't exactly helped me answer the question for my system. Here is what I have: 485 gallon Sundance Optima Using Nature/2 MPS along with bi weekly "shocks" using dichlor at 1/2 ounce. Bather load is daily... but just me after showering EVERY time for 20-40 mins. Maybe once a week my wife gets in with me. I have the taylor kit and I also use the recommended MPS dip strips (nature 2 I believe). So I'm thinking that even though I'm not using dichlor as my primary sanitizer I'll still have CYA go up over time if I don't start switching to bleach at some point. However, how much bleach would I use to replace 1/2 ounce of dichlor granules?

Thank you Chem Geek (and sorry to hijack your thread Ja4496) hopefully that information benefited you as well.

Ja4496, Have you used the taylor reagent add on to test for MPS compound? If so, I'm curious if you have been advised what that number should be. Mine was something like 10.2. I'm getting the nature 2 Strips in the mail so I can just read Hi or low... but for now... I'm stuck with a number that I don't know what it means! Thanks!