A Little Chem. Help Please

[Duck Man]

After each use of my tub of course I have to add dichlor, but also my pH reads 8 or above so I have to add pH down and in turn I have to add TA up because of the chemical I am adding to lower my pH. I run my CH around 180-200. Is there anything I can do to lower the chemical usage? Is this normal for the pH to shoot up after each use? After I do threatment my water stays pretty much dead on until the next time I use it.

I am wondering about a pH lock but you cannot use it if CH is 150 ot above. If you drop your CH to use this doesn't it increase your chances of scale or deposits on the heating element?

[Roger]

After each use of my tub of course I have to add dichlor, but also my pH reads 8 or above so I have to add pH down and in turn I have to add TA up because of the chemical I am adding to lower my pH. I run my CH around 180-200. Is there anything I can do to lower the chemical usage? Is this normal for the pH to shoot up after each use? After I do threatment my water stays pretty much dead on until the next time I use it.

I am wondering about a pH lock but you cannot use it if CH is 150 ot above. If you drop your CH to use this doesn't it increase your chances of scale or deposits on the heating element?

What are you using to get your PH readings? How much dichlor are you adding after every use?

[spababe]

After each use of my tub of course I have to add dichlor, but also my pH reads 8 or above so I have to add pH down and in turn I have to add TA up because of the chemical I am adding to lower my pH. I run my CH around 180-200. Is there anything I can do to lower the chemical usage? Is this normal for the pH to shoot up after each use? After I do threatment my water stays pretty much dead on until the next time I use it.

I am wondering about a pH lock but you cannot use it if CH is 150 ot above. If you drop your CH to use this doesn't it increase your chances of scale or deposits on the heating element?

You won't get much help on this forum, Duck Man, because they only want to sell their spas. I notice you have only had one reply so far, and no advice whatsoever! Sorry I can't help you, but my new spa came with 3mths free supply of chemicals, which is Aquafinesse. So far it is proving faultless. No testing of the water ph or anything. It is kind to the skin and your tub and equipment. No, I am not an agent for this product, I have no interest in the selling of the product at all. I only use it....one cupful in the tub each week that's all you need to do. I suggest you give it a try for 3mths.....actually I have worked out that mine will last nearer 5mths. as it depends on the capacity of the tub. Mine is 1150 uk litres. I think your wife and family will like the softness and gentleness of the water.

[Julian Thompson]

Hi again!

As you know I'm absolutley in the same position as you 'spababe' in respect of being a new owner, but I can see already that you really do need to test PH on a very regular basis.

Just putting in a predetermined amount of the same thing is not good enough because you don't know what status the water is at when you are adding that chemical.

Hopefully someone more knowledgable than us will come along and make comment on this subject.

In the meantime in the absence of that happening please take my (also novice!) advice just in case I'm right and get some testing strips!

All the best,

Julian

[Roger]

Hi again!

As you know I'm absolutley in the same position as you 'spababe' in respect of being a new owner, but I can see already that you really do need to test PH on a very regular basis.

Just putting in a predetermined amount of the same thing is not good enough because you don't know what status the water is at when you are adding that chemical.

Hopefully someone more knowledgable than us will come along and make comment on this subject.

In the meantime in the absence of that happening please take my (also novice!) advice just in case I'm right and get some testing strips!

All the best,

Julian

I'm asking what method he is using because different test methods give us different results. One bottle of strips will tell you PH 8.0 while a different bottle will tell you 7.8 Then you buy a re-agent test kit and it says 7.6 which is exceptable and I would not adjust this. Also the amount of dichlor added after use can affect the PH after you add it. Dichlor in itself is a great sanitizer but does effect PH although in my findings it usualy brings it down. That's why knowing what method of testing is being used is important. Knowing what kind of dichlor is being used is also important and the quantity.

And for spababe, yes, test your water. The cost of some strips will be worth the piece of mind Hich PH will cause scaling on your heater element which will make it less effiecient. Low PH will have you soaking in acidic water and this is also not good.

[Julian Thompson]

...Thanks Roger - that clarifies it well about the PH.

[Duck Man]

I use a re-agent test kit for my testing and after use my pH is always above 8.0.

Is using pH stabalizer an effective way of handling this? I am worried that if I drop the CH below the recommended ppm to use the pH stabalizer it could have adverse affects.

[waterbear]

I use a re-agent test kit for my testing and after use my pH is always above 8.0.

Is using pH stabalizer an effective way of handling this? I am worried that if I drop the CH below the recommended ppm to use the pH stabalizer it could have adverse affects.

IF you pH is reading high right after adding the dichlor then it is possible that the chlorine is causing interference with the pH test. The reagent used to test pH is phenol red which tests a pH range of 6.8 to 8.2. In the presence of high chlorine levels it is converted to chlorophenol red which will give exactly the same color results for a ph of 4.8 to 6.6. If you are adding enough dichlor to raise your free chlorine in the nieghborhood of 10 ppm or higher you are likely to get this interferance with the pH test. The test might indicate that your pH is 8.0 or above but in reality it is much lower. If the phenol red has been converted to chloropheno red then all you really know about the pH is that it is somewhere above 6.8! Cheap test kits are more likely to have this problem. I recommend kits by Taylor Technologies because they include a chlorine neutralizer in their pH indicator which helps eliminate this problem.Try testing your pH and adjusting it before you add the dichlor and make sure your free chlorine reading is not high when you test the pH. This is a commen problem. There are various interferances that can give you inaccurate test results and most of the inexpensive test kits really don't doucment them. Compared to what your hot tub cost investing about $50-$60 in a GOOD test kit is really not a big investment. Test strips really don't have the precision needed for water balancing and the cheap kits just don't work that well. NEver try and test your pH ater shocking because it just won't work.

Hope this helps