Zirgalmnod Posted May 15, 2010 Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 My HT has been running problem free for almost a year now, it´s an Artesian Dove Canyon with all extras. About a month ago I was changing the water and used a product called "Pipe cleaner" especially made for spas. I carefully followed the labelled instructions. After refilling the tub there was a lot of foam, probably residues from the cleaner, so I immediately drained and refilled letting the pumps run for 30 mins or so bearing Nitros decontamination process in mind. The water now was a bit better but still carried a lot of foam. After a few weeks I did another "double" refill with fresh tap water, but problem remained. A few days ago the water was still foaming on the surface, but now also the water seemed to enclose a lot of micro air bubbles in the water itself, not only on the surface, so I did another "double" refill, this time with Nitros super chlorine chock in between. The water still foams on the surface and has a visible oily film on the surface, although no one has been in the water. Could this still be due to the "Pipe cleaner" or might there be another reason for the film and foam? My water readings are all "in the normal" and I am using tap water. /Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnepr Dave Posted May 15, 2010 Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 It may well be the "Pipe Cleaner". Does it say on the bottle what is in it? When I have a foaming problem, I use a plastic dust pan to scoop the foam off of the top of the water. The foam contains most of the foam causing chemicals. I scoop, with the air turned on, until there's no more foam. That usually takes care of it. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonc Posted May 15, 2010 Report Share Posted May 15, 2010 My HT has been running problem free for almost a year now, it´s an Artesian Dove Canyon with all extras. About a month ago I was changing the water and used a product called "Pipe cleaner" especially made for spas. I carefully followed the labelled instructions. After refilling the tub there was a lot of foam, probably residues from the cleaner, so I immediately drained and refilled letting the pumps run for 30 mins or so bearing Nitros decontamination process in mind. The water now was a bit better but still carried a lot of foam. After a few weeks I did another "double" refill with fresh tap water, but problem remained. A few days ago the water was still foaming on the surface, but now also the water seemed to enclose a lot of micro air bubbles in the water itself, not only on the surface, so I did another "double" refill, this time with Nitros super chlorine chock in between. The water still foams on the surface and has a visible oily film on the surface, although no one has been in the water. Could this still be due to the "Pipe cleaner" or might there be another reason for the film and foam? My water readings are all "in the normal" and I am using tap water. /Z Here are few things that might help. 1. What is your Calcium Hardness (CH)? Harder water foams less. If it's significantly under a 150, you might want to add Calcium. I don't know what a reasonable upper limit is for CH in a tub. Maybe one of the chemistry types on this forum can suggest a max CH value. As CH increases, you have to watch your CSI (likelihood of forming scale/deposits) more closely. 2. When you drain the tub, you might use a wet-vac to get out all the water that collects in the low spots in the tub. In my tub (a Jacuzzi brand) this is many gallons of water. 3. Pull you filters and soak them in clear water and then rinse thoroughly with a sprayer attached to your garden hose. Good luck and let us know how it all turns out. - Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zirgalmnod Posted May 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2010 Thanks for advice. I really do try to empty all "visible" water by hand, using a spunge to empty the spa completely. I also use the drain plug, but probably there is still som old water in pumps and pipes that is impossible to drain, unless you take the HT apart and turn pumps up side down etc. I also flush the spa with open drain plug with fresh tap water to really flush all the bad water out. I will however try to skim the surface water either as suggested or by using a hose and letting the Haevert principle skim the surface. My spa dealer also gave me a few floating devices made of som flossy material and the idea is to let these float freely and absorb the oily film floating on the surface. If I do this after little time I can rinse the floating devices, "Water Lily" I believe they are called. They feel pretty greasy, so maybe they work, but I feel they are not so effective. So I do think hard work is what I need to put into this to get back to where I was before "Pipe cleaner". But if there is an easy way, maybe chemistry way, I would love to get some advice on this. /Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted May 20, 2010 Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 Did you happen to leave your filters in when you run this through the tub? If you did, it will take forever to get it out of the filters. We always suggest to our customers that they use a shop vac after using this and not only get the water from the footwell, but suck out each of the jets too. Then rinse with the hose, putting the hose into each of the jets and shop vc it out again. You may also try a clarifier such as Sea Klear, and after a day or 2 rinse the filters out really well again. Sea Klear also has a PRS sytem that removes particles that are as small as .5 microns, but it is a bit costly, but really works well. (no I am not a sea klear rep, just have had very good luck with their products) As another thought, the pipe cleaner may have pulled some of the oils ect. off the plastics and they are now in the spa water?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonc Posted May 20, 2010 Report Share Posted May 20, 2010 We always suggest to our customers that they use a shop vac after using this and not only get the water from the footwell, but suck out each of the jets too. Then rinse with the hose, putting the hose into each of the jets and shop vc it out again. Hillbilly Hot Tub - I never tried using my shop vac on the jets. Won't it just suck air? I have a Jacuzzi brand tub. All the jets seem to "interconnected". How do you keep the vac from just sucking air through the other jets/openings? I've always wondered how to get out the "old" water at the bottom of the plumbing system. - Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dnepr Dave Posted May 21, 2010 Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 I use my shop vac to get the last of the water out too. The hose on my vacuum fits right over the large jets, I start with the lowest one, but take a drag on all of them. With my 200 gal spa I usually get about five gallons of water out. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_bilton Posted May 21, 2010 Report Share Posted May 21, 2010 I use my shop vac to get the last of the water out too. The hose on my vacuum fits right over the large jets, I start with the lowest one, but take a drag on all of them. With my 200 gal spa I usually get about five gallons of water out. Dave I also use a shop vac when i drain a spa i also open the water controls and vac those as well sometimes i will go as far as opening the pump intake and outlets and do those also and the filter can if you have one of those types watch for air locks when refilling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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