dashmer

I add liquid chlorine directly into my hot tub with the jets on high without issue. It is instantly mixed in with the larger volume of water. I also do that with dry acid but not sure about muriatic acid. Someone else in this group will know.

I would just shock the tub...

Keep in mind to that even if you don't use the tub, the Cl will dissipate over time. If you are looking for something that requires less intervention, you might want to consider bromine and use a floating dispenser. Maybe the frog solution could work as well, not sure.

My hot tub never smells like chlorine. What people think is chlorine smell is actually chloramines, which are chlorine waste products. When you smell these, you have not been using enough chlorine or non chlorine oxidizer to "burn" these off. As I understand it, ozone will help to oxidize waste, but how much I do not know. Others on the forum might be able to help with that. To keep it simple, you are only looking to add enough Cl to the tub to leave you with a residual amount the next time you want to use it. The health authorities claim this is 3-5 ppm CL. You can start with the guidelines I gave you and if there is too much left when you test it before you use it, just use less the next time. FWIW, salt water hot tubs are still chlorine tubs. They just pull it out of the salt using electricity and some expensive and consumable components. Many people who have them still need to add additional chlorine or non chlorine shock to compensate for higher bather loads. Alkalinity, along with pH are brought down with a pH minus product, typically dry acid. You can also use muriatic acid. The process for doing this is on a sticky in this forum. If your test strip shows Cl on the top pad and in colors of purple, it would appear you have none, or close to it. I am not familiar with the frog system but I understand it is a Cl system. One last thought. You are mixing a lot of different things together making it difficult to get the amounts right. Chlorine is both a sanitizer and an oxidizer. I recommend just sticking with just Cl until you learn how to dose it correctly. Then in the future, you can use a non chlorine oxidizer to cut down on the Cl demand. I don't use it but you certainly could.

Hi Claus, Looking at the results you posted above, your ALK is high and will cause you pH to easily shoot up. You should bring it down until you pH becomes more stable in the 7.6-7.8. Your main issue seems to be insufficient sanitizer. As a general rule for a hot (104 deg) hot tub, you need about 7 ppm chlorine per bather hour to "clean up" bather waste. Personally, I find about 5 ppm per bather hour works for me. So if there are 2 people in the tub for 30 min, you have one bather hour. You will need a few ppm more to leave a residual amount of Cl for the next day. You will learn to adjust the amount you add to hit the ideal residual PPM. You did not say what kind of chlorine you are using (granules, liquid, etc.) If you are using granules (dichlor), every oz of it will add about 11 ppm of Cl to your tub (assuming it is about 360 gal). It will also add 10 ppm of cyanuric acid (CYA) (stabilizer). Many hot tub dealers will suggest using granules but you will need to change your water often due to build up of CYA. Many members on this site, including me, use the dichlor than bleach method to avoid this. You can learn more about it in a sticky on this forum. Good luck.

Thanks Waterbear...will give it a try on the next cleaning.

Just wondering what people are using to clean hot tub filters. The product I have been using has been discontinued and now looking for something else that is effective and good value. Thanks

Sorry to hear that you are having issues with your new tub. Hopefully the knowledgeable group on this forum can help you out. The first thing we will need is a complete set of test results and the means by which you got them. Include your TA, pH and CH values. If you do not have a good quality liquid test kit, it is recommended that you take your water in to your pool supply store and get a full set of results.

RJJon, Was hoping someone with a better idea would jump in but since you have not had a reply here are my random thoughts on what it could be: Are you using any other products, such as aromatherapy in your hot tub? We ran into a problem with the use of these in the past. Could anything be breaking down in your tub, such as pillows, boosters, gaskets etc. that are blue in colour? Other points: Your shock product does appear to be dichlor, which is suitable for hot tubs except you will run into a problem with cyanuric acid (CYA) build up and you will have to change your water more often, especially with frequent use. Your tablets are trichlor and are not recommended for hot tubs. It also contains CYA but is very acidic and can damage hot tub components... which is why I am thinking item 2 above. You should either stick to dichlor, go with the dichlor then bleach method (for much less frequent water changes) or go to bromine if you like the table/hands off approach. Other than that, I don't have any other ideas. You may want to have your water tested by a pool place since test strips are not overly useful for diagnosing water chemistry problems. Good luck.

Any chance your filtering cycle is not set to standard?

With metal sequestrants you don't need to leave your cover off.

The online pool calculator should be able to calculate how much boric acid you need to get into the range you are looking for. For my 362 gal tub, I add 12 fl oz of boric acid to get me in the 40ppm zone. The general guidance I have found for adding it is to wait until you get your ph where you want it to be, add half of the boric acid and check pH again and then add the remainder if pH was still ok. Not sure about replacement over time, but it stands to reason it would drop with carry out and absent in replacement water. Hard to say unless you have a test for it. The product I use has a nice smell so we add another oz of it every month or two after fill. We change the water on a 4 month cycle.

Dont be too focused on "range chemistry." A stable ph that is between 7.2 and 8 is what you are looking for. If your TA needs to be at 50 ppm to put you into this pH range, then so be it. Just keep you eye on the pH. If you ph is too high, go ahead an lower both TA and pH with acid and then aerate to bring the pH up in the proper range. I keep my TA at 60ppm on the dichlor then bleach method so my pH will not have such a great tendency to rise up past 8.

Free chlorine in your water is dependent how much you add, how long ago it was added and your bather load and other chlorine demands from things such as a dirty filter or biofilm in your hot tub pipes. Wisdom in this forum says that new hot tubs are filthy from the factory and will likely have biofilm in the pipes from leftover water at the factory. You should consider purging your pipes on your first water change. Many of us like ah-some pipe cleaner for this purpose. This will reduce your chlorine demand on your next fill. You should also provide a full set of water test results for us to help you troubleshoot your pH issue. If you do not have a liquid test kit, take your water to a pool store and have them test it for you.

Congrats on the new tub. Your test strips are almost useless for measuring pH, TA and CH. You are going to want to invest in a good liquid test kit, like the Taylor K2006, or take your water to a pool/spa place and have them test it for you. The yellow scum line could be one of two things or a combination of both. I have seen deposits at the water line after using a metal sequestrant (like your de-scaler) but for me they are usually orange (from iron being pulled out of the water). More likely, it is from the bathers themselves and could be any combination of deodorants, body lotions, hair products, etc. Try using a scum bug or similar to lessen this and insist that bathers either have a shower first or don't have this stuff on their bodies when they use the tub. No chlorine means you did not add enough after you got out of the tub. You need to add enough for it to oxidize bather waste and still leave a residual behind. Notionally, you need 5-7 ppm per bather hour of chlorine. Use the the pool calculator to help you determine how much to use depending on the type of chlorine you are using. I would also recommend that you read the stickies at the top of the hot tub water chemistry sub forum on this site. If you are using chlorine granules alone, you will have to change your water often to compensate. Other methods such as the dichlor then bleach method, avoids this. Good luck.