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lagreca

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Everything posted by lagreca

  1. I did just that, and super chlorinated the ahh-some water after it sat for 24 hours. My spa is 340 gallons. I say double fill because according to the original decon instructions I had to empty the spa and fill with super chlorinated water, which was only then emptied and filled a second time for actual use, hence the double fill I was trying to avoid. By super chlorinating the original ahh-some water, I only had to use 340 gallons, not 680. This is important me because I live in Southern California where we are in constant drought! It might help others if the original instructions were edited to show that this method of saving water is ok, as it seems other people were also concerned about this. Another thing to note in the instructions is that the water should be balanced and have proper sanitizer levels in order for the ahh-some to work. I nearly did the ahh-some with zero chlorine (I got back from vacation and my chlorine levels were at zero....long story), but read the back of the ahh-some container, and it mentioned that I needed proper sanitization levels in order for it to work. Thanks again for all of the help!
  2. I'm trying to follow the decontamination procedure. I've put 3.5 teaspoons of Ahh Some enzyme in my tub, and ran it for 30-45 minutes. I'm running it for 5 minutes every hour until I go to bed to try and knock anything left on the inside of the plumbing. My problem is that I now have a nasty greasy scum on the waterline of my tub. The instructions listed on this site say to just wipe it off with a cloth, but that is not getting it off. I'm wondering what I can use to really clean that crap off my water line and make the tub really clean? Should I run up to Leslies pool supply store and get a water line cleaner? I would like to save 340 gallons of water and not have to double fill my spa. I was wondering, can I super chlorinate the gunky water after the Ahh Some cleaner has done it's job, then drain and refill? Or would it be better to drain the gunky water, refill and super chlorinate, then use hydrogen peroxide to lower the chlorine level and keep that water to soak in? Thanks for all the advice!
  3. I came back and tested the water.....I was at 0 ppm chlorine and at 80 degrees temperature, down from the normal 101. I just put in 3.5 teaspoons of Ahh Some spa cleaner, and am now going through the decontamination procedure, as there was a probably a biofilm in my spa.
  4. I'm planning on leaving for a one week vacation, and am trying to figure out how to leave my spa... Since I have an ozone generator installed, I think I'll adjust the ph to 7.4, shock the spa to 20 ppm chlorine, once sufficiently mixed in the water, turn the breaker off to the spa and seal the lid. This will keep contaminants out, lower the temperature, and prevent the ozone from oxidizing the chlorine. Does anyone see a problem with this plan?
  5. Why is there a minimum CYA level for the bleach/dichlor method? If the spa is covered and primarily only used at night, is there a need for any dichlor, or can you start using bleach right away?
  6. I can second adding boric acid. I got all my numbers good, then added boric acid, and my pH has been LOCKED in since! Before it was doing as you said, after the jets were run, pH would be quite high. I bought my boric acid from DudaDiesel, and it arrived quickly.
  7. Does anyone have a response or opinion?
  8. I remember reading somewhere that buying spa chemicals at Walmart was NOT a good idea. I'm wondering which chemicals this refers to and why? A friend gave me some Muriatic acid, which I have been using to lower pH. At some point I'm going to run out and will need a way to lower pH. I'm wondering if the hth Spa pH Decreaser they sell at Walmart is ok to use? It claims to be 91% Sodium Bisulfate, with 9% inert ingredients. Or would I be better off finding more Muriatic acid? I bought a hth 3 way test kits at Walmart today. I have a Taylor K-2006, but I wanted a cheap and QUICK way to test the chlorine and pH. I've tested it against my Taylor and so far it seems like it will work...
  9. Can regular household Baking Soda be used, in place of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda or 20 Mule Team Borax, to increase the pH? What is the maximum ppm that you would want to shock your spa to with bleach, before causing damage to the spa? I am trying to keep TA between 50-80 ppm. What will happen if TA gets too low? What is the best way to raise it? Leslie's Pool Store tested my water today and said that my phosphate level was too high, at 200 ppm. Is this a problem? How should I deal with it?
  10. I added 12 oz by weight of boric acid yesterday. We couldn't use the spa again last night because I accidentally over chlorinated it the day before... FC: 5.5 CC: 1 PH: 7.2 TA: 60 CH: - CYA: Calculated to be around 50-55, not tested CSI: -0.51 (calculated at http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html) Everything is looking pretty good, but the pH is slightly low. Pool calc says my CSI has "Potential to become corrosive to plaster". Since this is in a Spa, that is plastic, do I need to worry about manually raising the pH with baking soda? Am I in danger of damaging my heater or pipes? Or will it slowly rise on its own after regular use and aeration? When I do accidentally over chlorinate the water, is it safe (I don't want to throw off any of the water chemistry) to use 3% hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the chlorine to bather safe levels, or should I just not use it and wait for the chlorine levels to drop on their own? If I do add hydrogen peroxide, roughly how long will it take to drop the chlorine level?
  11. FC was down to 5 tonight, so we were able to get in. I also was able to completely balance the water today! FC: 5 CC: - PH: 7.6 TA: 60 CH: 200 CYA: Calculated to be around 50-55, not tested CSI: -0.11 (calculated at thepoolcalculator.com) Boric acid should arrive this week. I purchased new bleach this week that is 8.25% instead of 6% chlorine. I calculated that I should add 3.6 oz per person per hour to oxidize bather waste, is that correct? Would it be possible to add this new common strength of 8.25% bleach to thepoolcalculator.com? Thanks again for all of your help!
  12. I used dichlor (0.6 oz) last night to bump the CYA slightly, however I think I put too much in, and tonight my spa is still at 10.5 ppm FC. The good news is that I got TA down to 80 ppm. As TA reaches my goal of 60 ppm, will pH tend to stabilize and not rise to 8 everyday? Do the borates help steady the pH as well? However, even with the FC level high, my CC still measured 1.5 ppm. What would cause this? I still don't think I'm smelling chloramines. How can I lower the CC? Should I be concerned over this measurement?
  13. Can I substitute liquid chlorine for bleach in the dichlor/bleach method? I understand the strength would be calculated differently, but is everything else the same?
  14. I will shoot for 40 ppm CYA for my calculations. Is it safe to assume that CYA under 30 ppm, bleach is NOT safe to use because it will be too strong? If so, does that mean I should dose with dichlor (enough to raise FC 10 ppm) every 2 months to raise the CYA back up into safe levels to use bleach?
  15. I'm adding 2 tablespoons (1 oz) of 20 Baume muriatic acid, then aerating. My question now is, how long should I aerate to drop the TA 10 ppm? Or how long should I wait after adding the acid, before I add some more? I ordered Granular Boric Acid, 5 lb from DD this morning. Hopefully I will have the TA down by the time it arrives. Thanks for all of your help!
  16. I guess that would explain why you have to check the pH in a spa regularly, because most of the time the jets ARE aerated...In the meantime I should just keep adding acid and aerating, until I see the TA drop to an acceptable level, and THEN add borates? Is 20 Mule Team borax (http://goo.gl/YkvQux) the same as granular boric acid (http://goo.gl/IpC3jc)?
  17. I added 1 oz of 20 baume muriatic acid this morning, which was supposed to drop the pH to 7.4. I checked the pH this afternoon, and it was back up to 8. I did aerate a bit to try and bring the TA down, but I didn't think it was enough to bounce the pH back to 8. Maybe I need to drop the pH to 7.2 (1oz and 2 tsp of 20 baume muriatic) and try again? I have NOT yet added Borates or any pH lock. First I need to buy some, and I don't want to add them until I have the pH at a desirable level. If and when I buy some 20 Mule Team borax, how much should I add to a 340 gallon hot tub to bring it to 55 ppm Borates?
  18. So why are there two boxes and numbers for CSI? What does the left and right box mean?
  19. What is the acceptable CYA range for using the dichlor bleach method (both the upper and lower end)?
  20. Would best practice be to use MPS once a week, few weeks, or month to oxidize whatever the bleach was unable to? Or is MPS simply not necessary at all?
  21. What does the CC tell me? My current understanding is that low CC means waste is being oxidized. A high CC would mean the chlorine has binded with the waste but can't oxidize it. Is that correct? What range do I want my CC to be within?
  22. Tested my water this afternoon with a Taylor K-2006. Here are my results: FC: 2.5 CC: 0.6 PH: 8 TA: 150 CH: 200 CYA: Didn't test today, but was 34 a few days ago CH is high, should be 130-150 TA is high, should be 50-80 PH is high, should be 7.4-7.6 So I added 4 tsp of 31.45% Muratic Acid, which will hopefully bring the pH down to 7.5. I'm also aerating right now, to try and drop the TA a bit. My ozone generator arrived in the mail today. I hope to have that installed in the next few days...
  23. Why do spa manufacturers look down on the bleach method? I've heard it's because it can splash on the cover and damage it. But I can take responsibility and keep the bleach off the cover. Isn't bleach the same as liquid chlorine, just a much lower concentration? Isn't it also very similar to dichlor, but without the CYN?
  24. I'm trying to understand how to balance my water while using http://thepoolcalculator.com/. When I look at the CSI values, I see two boxes, but neither are editable. Can someone explain what the box on the left and right mean? Thanks!
  25. A friend recently told me that Chlorine is not as good an oxidizer as using MPS. I'm following the dichlor/bleach method, but have NOT used any MPS since switching to bleach. I'm not real clear on if or when I should even use MPS? I thought if I shock with bleach after a high bathing load, that would oxidize the waste. Does one oxidize faster? When dosing by the rule of thumb, 5 fl oz 6% bleach per person per bathing hour, how long should it take to oxidize the bather waste? 30 minutes, 1 hour, several hours, 24 hours?
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