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peanutbuttery goo in my spa


Guest Rhonda

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Hope someone can help me. I am having an ugly problem in my hot tub. Although I maintain the chemsitry quite well, I have some goo that is on the sides of my hot tub at the water line. The stuff looks like and has the consistency of peanut butter, and it is very sticky, like glue. I had the water tested - I found I needed to increase the calcium and reduce the PH, which I have done, but this stuff persists. I am starting to hate the hot tub! Can anyone help? I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.

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Guest Jennifer

That goo is just scum...that comes from hair gels, lotins and body oils from bathers. Go to your local store and look for what is called a "scum ball." Its a little foam ball that floats in the spa and collects all that scum. After a few months you just replace it.

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That is the one downside to SoftSoak. This is a relatively easy problem to fix. What happens is when the sanitizer level is high, and the ph is high, the sanitizer will wind up sticking the particles it clumps together on the wall instead of in the filter like it should. How do you fix it? Keep your pH down. It will be sort of challenging, considering that the sanitizer has a tendency to make the pH rise, but if you are religious about it you will wind up without that nasty goo.

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I too use Soft Soak and I also get the goo peanutbuttery goo in my spa. I am still trying to combat the high sanitizer and high ph daily...I test it daily and at times I think I have it under control and then the ph gets high again. I think with Soft Soak that is it's only downfall.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I just switched to soft soak and also have the REALLY sticky yellow stuff on the side of the spa...my concern is whether or not I am inhaling that junk into my lungs...is that gunk really harmless?

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  • 2 months later...

I just switched to soft soak and also have the REALLY sticky yellow stuff on the side of the spa...my concern is whether or not I am inhaling that junk into my lungs...is that gunk really harmless?

Just use a natural enzyme and wipe it off with a cloth. Use a scum ball or bug to leave in the spa to pick up that residual. Not harmful

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  • 13 years later...

Am having the same issue with the peanutbuttery residue forming on the water level on the side of the hot tub as well as the side cushions.  Have never had that problem with a spa that we have at home but only this one at a chalet we have.  It is a brand new hot tub. Could it also be the composition of the water that the water utility is using ?  Put in clorine tablets and it still did not help.  What would be involved in going to an all clorine type system ?  Surely there has to be some remedy for this problem for this has already ruined the cushions and is a major pain when we arrive and want to use the hot tub. Any suggestions ?

Edited by The Watchman
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You have bio-contaminants in your plumbing and jet infrastructure.  Just do a high quality “purge” and it should subside.

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  • 8 months later...

I am having the same issue, bromine system which I monitor weekly and keep pH levels normal, although I don't quite trust my TruTest handheld unit.  Crazy thing is, we haven't used the hot tub much and it formed.  How does it do bio-film if there are no bios getting in it? Do I need to drain the entire tub?  Appreciate the feedback and want to follow this thread. 

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  • 6 months later...

I have the same problem (which I never had before in over 10 yrs) with an orange resin or rosin type consistency buildup around my hot tub. I am using the Baquasil system. 

Never saw this issue before. It took hydrochloric acid Baqua cleaner and a scrub pad to get it off. Destroyed three scrubpads. PH is balanced but the Sanitizer doesn't show up on the test strip even though I have put two to three cups of it in the tub. One day the water was perfectly clear and this appears. I have cleaned the filters too, with no avail.

 

I am now draining it to start over.

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7 hours ago, Ray4dan said:

Never saw this issue before.

Then you have been very lucky. It's often called "baquagoo" and it's a side effect of how biguinide sanitizes. It's also the reason that filters need to be changed more often in a biguinide system vs chlorine or bromine. The stuff usually get caught in the filter and clogs it up. The other problems that plague biguinide are white water mold and pink slime, both bacterial, that occur when the microbes that produced them develop an immunity the the biocide, which will happen sooner or later, even with water changes.

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