Zirgalmnod Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Hi there I have been using active oxygen after every soak and adding 30-60 ml of "Spa chlorine" (dichlor?) once a week. This seems to have done a reasonably good job up until now, where water tends to get a bit foamy and misty. I have a strong feeling that chlorine would be a better sanitizer, and I am considering switching to chlorine. The main reason for not using chlorine all the time is that my dealer told me that I should remove pillows when adding chlorine and leaving the cover off for 30-45 minutes after adding chlorine to avoid deterioration. It would be a pain to do this if I were to switch to chlorine after every soak. It´s cold enough outside right now in northern Europe without having to mess around with pillows and stuff. So the question is really, is there a good reason for removing pillows and leaving the cover off for 30-45 mins? /Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dietitian Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Hi there I have been using active oxygen after every soak and adding 30-60 ml of "Spa chlorine" (dichlor?) once a week. This seems to have done a reasonably good job up until now, where water tends to get a bit foamy and misty. I have a strong feeling that chlorine would be a better sanitizer, and I am considering switching to chlorine. The main reason for not using chlorine all the time is that my dealer told me that I should remove pillows when adding chlorine and leaving the cover off for 30-45 minutes after adding chlorine to avoid deterioration. It would be a pain to do this if I were to switch to chlorine after every soak. It´s cold enough outside right now in northern Europe without having to mess around with pillows and stuff. So the question is really, is there a good reason for removing pillows and leaving the cover off for 30-45 mins? /Z If you have a chlorine buffer in the spa (CYA, Cyanuric Acid, "Stabilizer") the active chlorine will be much lower, and will not impact the cover, pillows, or bathers as harshly as unstabilized chlorine. Recommended levels are ~30ppm CYA and ~4ppm free chlorine. At his level in a spa, the amount of "active" chlorine will be approx 5*FC/CYA, or 5*4=20 divided by 30 = 0.67ppm free "active" chlorine. CYA is effectively holding 3.33ppm chlorine in "reserve" by binding to it, and as the chlorine is reduced by bather waste/sunlight the CYA releases more active chlorine to fill the void, keeping the effective chlorine level at 0.67ppm until the entire 3.33ppm reserve is used up. Your pool store will likely tell you that using CYA in a spa isn't needed because it rarely sees sunlight, but the store is also likely unaware of the CYA/Chlorine relationship, first extensively studied in 1974. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Great advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zirgalmnod Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Great advice. Rite, really helpful... Put like this: Those of you who use chlorine in any form, do you remove pillows and leave cover off after adding chlorine / bleech? /Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantumchromodynamics Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I have a strong feeling that chlorine would be a better sanitizer, and I am considering switching to chlorine. The main reason for not using chlorine all the time is that my dealer told me that I should remove pillows when adding chlorine and leaving the cover off for 30-45 minutes after adding chlorine to avoid deterioration. It would be a pain to do this if I were to switch to chlorine after every soak. I'm not sure I understand what method of disinfection you use. What is the product that you are using that you are referring to as "Active Oxygen"? What else do you use? Bromine? Nature2? To answer your question: No, you do not need to remove your pillows or leave your top open if you maintain a 30 ppm level of cyanuric acid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zirgalmnod Posted February 23, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I'm not sure I understand what method of disinfection you use. What is the product that you are using that you are referring to as "Active Oxygen"? What else do you use? Bromine? Nature2? To answer your question: No, you do not need to remove your pillows or leave your top open if you maintain a 30 ppm level of cyanuric acid. I guess my method "Active oxygen" is lost in translation (swedish to english). Should work as an oxidizer but not disinfection, hence the chlorine that I add once a week (so far). I guess I will take the advice not to remove pillows. There are always replacements to buy.... /Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dietitian Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 I'm not sure I understand what method of disinfection you use. What is the product that you are using that you are referring to as "Active Oxygen"? What else do you use? Bromine? Nature2? To answer your question: No, you do not need to remove your pillows or leave your top open if you maintain a 30 ppm level of cyanuric acid. I guess my method "Active oxygen" is lost in translation (swedish to english). Should work as an oxidizer but not disinfection, hence the chlorine that I add once a week (so far). I guess I will take the advice not to remove pillows. There are always replacements to buy.... /Z Perhaps you are referring to hydrogen peroxide as "active oxygen?" H2O2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timDIDit Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 Great advice. Rite, really helpful... Put like this: Those of you who use chlorine in any form, do you remove pillows and leave cover off after adding chlorine / bleech? /Z I leave everything in, HOWEVER, I "only" get about 3-1/2 or 4 years out of a set of pillows and cover. They get pretty "shrivelly" as time goes on. Hot Spring charges a fortune for pillows, but I still feel it's not outrageous to replace them every so often. Tim/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 I'm not sure I understand what method of disinfection you use. What is the product that you are using that you are referring to as "Active Oxygen"? What else do you use? Bromine? Nature2? To answer your question: No, you do not need to remove your pillows or leave your top open if you maintain a 30 ppm level of cyanuric acid. I guess my method "Active oxygen" is lost in translation (swedish to english). Should work as an oxidizer but not disinfection, hence the chlorine that I add once a week (so far). I guess I will take the advice not to remove pillows. There are always replacements to buy.... /Z Perhaps you are referring to hydrogen peroxide as "active oxygen?" H2O2? I bet he means MPS, since it lists the active oxegen on the bottle. Any kind of oxidizer is going to damage pillows and covers overtime. The big culprits are ozone, and people who use to much oxidizer, or as mentioned, bleach without cya. Low ph also plays a huge role. Covers should be let open after shocking for a bit with any sanitizer you use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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