Hot Tub Maintenance With Ecosmarte System Questions

[sramnato]

hi

i would really like some help on how to maintain my hot tub.

just purchased a new home with the hot tub its an outside 6 person tub.

unfortunately every pool/spa store that i go to tells me something different and recommend their products.

so after $100++ of chems i still dont have a desired outcome.

im going to try to give as much information as possible.

the tub has a ecosmarte chlorine free system which is all set up

with the oxidize and ionize options.

now the chemicals that i have

ph down

ph up

mineral magnet

liquid calcium balancer

brominating tabs and floater

scum bug

i filled the water and added chemicals now for 3 days.

i used the aqua check to test the water.

i am currently using a bromine floater, my bromine level is low.

i added liquid shock right after the initial fill 2 bottle cap fulls.

my ph level is at the normal rate 7.0.

now to my understanding the ecosmarte system should be chemical free is that correct?

my water is very clear. but i have just noticed some build up on the edges of the spa where the water line is.

can someone please tell me what chemicals i need.

or the ones that i have that i dont need.

thanks a lot in advance.

[apradman]

hi

i would really like some help on how to maintain my hot tub.

just purchased a new home with the hot tub its an outside 6 person tub.

unfortunately every pool/spa store that i go to tells me something different and recommend their products.

so after $100++ of chems i still dont have a desired outcome.

im going to try to give as much information as possible.

the tub has a ecosmarte chlorine free system which is all set up

with the oxidize and ionize options.

now the chemicals that i have

ph down

ph up

mineral magnet

liquid calcium balancer

brominating tabs and floater

scum bug

i filled the water and added chemicals now for 3 days.

i used the aqua check to test the water.

i am currently using a bromine floater, my bromine level is low.

i added liquid shock right after the initial fill 2 bottle cap fulls.

my ph level is at the normal rate 7.0.

now to my understanding the ecosmarte system should be chemical free is that correct?

my water is very clear. but i have just noticed some build up on the edges of the spa where the water line is.

can someone please tell me what chemicals i need.

or the ones that i have that i dont need.

thanks a lot in advance.

Had my ecosmarte pulled out because it never worked, If you talk to the company at 1800ionswim they will tell you no chemicals are required. After 1 month and 4 tub fills I had it removed and am happy with the spa frog system.

[DonR6702]

The buildup at the water line is probably saponified oils from bather load, body lotions, etc. What are your hardness and alkalinity levels? Getting them and the pH balanced (hardness around 150 - 200 ppm, alkalinity around 100 ppm, pH around 7.4) will fix that problem. Your low pH is part of the problem, and if your alkalinity and hardness are low too, which is very likely given your low pH, that accounts for the buildup.

The EcoSmarte system is similar to the Nature 2 and Spa Frog systems in that it uses metal ions (copper in this case) as a santizer. It is different in that it generates oxygen to help with breakdown of organics, and in that they advise it is not necessary to use any additional sanitizer. I think that advice is questionable. It looks like you are using bromine (on the advice of someone?) which is fine, but you need to get that free bromine concentration up to an effective level or you are courting trouble. You can't use chlorine with the EcoSmarte system, so adding more liquid shock and perhaps adjusting the bromine floater if it's adjustable are in order.

The idea that you can operate a spa successfully without adding any chemicals is pretty shaky IMHO. If you don't get your hardness, alkalinity and pH up you will have other problems down the road in addition to the waterline buildup. Anyway, the EcoSmarte system DOES add chemicals to the water - copper and oxygen, and perhaps carbon dioxide if you have the optional "Automatic CO2 Non-Chemical Feed". They just choose not to call those chemicals they add "chemicals". You should not be concerned about adding calcium and bicarbonate to get the water balanced - think of them as minerals, which they are.

If the Mineral Magnet actually works it would be doing the wrong thing for your water (softening it), unless the water is already too hard (again, not likely due to your low pH). There is however a lot of debate over whether they do anything at all to the water. I am of the opinion that they probably don't.

Don