DesertDorkus

Hi, I hope I'm not abusing your knowledge with my constant questions but here goes... I have a vacation rental which has a hot tub. It uses Ozone and the frog@ease dichlor/mineral sanitation system. As you can imagine, keeping a solid pH balance can be a challenge and the sanitizer always worries me. I charge $80 if I come to find a noticeably damaged tub from not bathing first. That works about 60% of the time and it's really obvious when people showered beforehand. Granted, I check on the tub after two uses but I'm always worried. I have seen some properties that have users dump a non-chlorine oxidizer into the tub after every use. Would you advise this? I usually refill the tub after two weeks so I don't think CYA content would get unreasonably high but I could easily be wrong. Finally, I have been looking into automatic pH feeder systems. The one from Hannah instruments seems to work with its own buffer and pH solution. Would that be a better solution than shocking the tub after every use?

I really, really wish that I could use the three step bromine but I was 1000 times more clueless when I purchased my tub than I am now (that is scary) but the problem with the inline frog cartridge tubs is that you can't use a floater. It has a very open filter chamber and the floater gets caught in it over and over again. Ugh.

I've always had a suspicion that the Ah-Some hot tub filter cleaner I use doesn't really fully remove all the oils. To add, it seems like no matter what I do, I can't get rid of the residue left over even if I spray it like crazy, soak it in water, and spray it again. I'm taking an online course from the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance and regarding cleaning cartridge filters it reads the following, "The element should be soaked in a commercial filter-cleaning product." OK, I think I've done that. "It is important to review label directions since often two filter cleaners are needed. One removes oils and greases and another may remove scale deposits. The order in which the cleaners are used may affect how the cleaners perform. Often grease cleaners must be used before acid cleaners. Failure to do so may result in the acid causing the oil materials to set into the cartridge media." Ah ha! So, it seems like I'm missing a step. Should I be using an oil/grease cleaner like Ah-Some or Power Soak Filter Cleaner and then use something like Acid Magic (https://www.spadepot.com/Spa-Acid-Magic-Muriatic-Acid-Replacement-P855)? The text goes on to read, "After a thorough rinsing, any minerals can be removed with a light acid wash." What? Wait. Is it telling me that I should use an oil/grease cleaner, rinse thoroughly, and then use something like Acid Magic or is it telling me that I should use an oil/grease cleaner, use something like Acid Magic directly after, and then use what it refers to as a "light acid wash" which they don't define? It would seem to me that the proper way would be to use an oil/grease cleaner, rinse thoroughly, and then use something like Acid Magic, and then rinse thoroughly again. Sorry if my questions sound really stupid.

Thank you! I ordered the Taylor.

Please bear with me as I'm new to learning all of my horrible errors with my hot tub. After learning about all of the problems a dichlor system creates as well as the benefits of bromine, I want to switch my tub over to bromine. It uses the frog@ease inline cartridge system and uses ozone as well (at least that's what I was briefly told). It's my understanding that the cartridge will not create a bromide reserve until some time later. But I could be wrong. Can anyone provide me some guidance on this? I've gone over the pinned bromine threads repeatedly but I'm still afraid that I will do something wrong.

Thanks so much. You're the best!

Waterbear, Hi, I saw your suggestion for the Taylor Test Kit which looks to be a colorimetric block comparator. I believe I had read that you feel this is possibly a better option than a photometer as those tests have certain limitations (sorry I'm paraphrasing here so please correct me if need be). However, I can't help but want the photometer tests because I would love to have an on the dot reading. Am I being naive? Are there any photometric test kits you would recommend or do you recommend the colorimetric block comparator by Taylor over any of the photometers? I would love to get a portable one but maybe You have an opinion on that. If so, I'd love to hear it.

So, are you saying that the TA should be on the lower end and the PH in the middle or are you saying the TA and PH should be right in the middle for lessening PH rise?