Grandee With Ace System - Maintenance Best Practices

[passos]

Been following this board for a long time before took the plunge on my first hot tub. Went with a Grandee with the Ace system and have it running for about 1 week. Have taken 3 dips in it so far in some snowy icy NJ weather, and kids love it.

Trying to get a handle on best practices for regular maintenance. Sounds like from my dealer and the paperwork, its as much an art as a science. Part of the reason for going with ACE was to minimize maintenance as much as possible.

My initial setup was simply adding salt and turning the system on after basic strip water testing.

After 48 hours, everything was in normal ranges on the strips and we are set. However, after doing all the reading on these boards, it sounds much more complicated than just simply checking that the levels remain in that range and changing the water every so often.

Can anyone outline for me what general steps make sense? Should I be adding anything other than salt when I start it up?

Thanks.

[PoolSpaGuy30]

Been following this board for a long time before took the plunge on my first hot tub. Went with a Grandee with the Ace system and have it running for about 1 week. Have taken 3 dips in it so far in some snowy icy NJ weather, and kids love it.

Trying to get a handle on best practices for regular maintenance. Sounds like from my dealer and the paperwork, its as much an art as a science. Part of the reason for going with ACE was to minimize maintenance as much as possible.

My initial setup was simply adding salt and turning the system on after basic strip water testing.

After 48 hours, everything was in normal ranges on the strips and we are set. However, after doing all the reading on these boards, it sounds much more complicated than just simply checking that the levels remain in that range and changing the water every so often.

Can anyone outline for me what general steps make sense? Should I be adding anything other than salt when I start it up?

Thanks.

before salt is added you must make sure you calcium is within the recommended range of 25-100ppm, you pH and Total Alkalinity should also be properly balanced pH range is 7.2-7.8 and Alkalinity should be kept in the 70-90 range. The best way to test is using a Taylor chlorine test kit K-2006, much more accurate than test strips allowing you to perfect your water. Once the water is balanced and up to temperature (100+) you can add your salt, giving it 24 hours to stabilize, from that point on it is smooth sailing, the ACE keeps chlorine levels right around 2.5-4ppm (this is the range mine tests at everyday) if you have a period of extreme heavy use you can supplement with a little chlorine, and test your pH and Alk. once a week and that's it...for instructions on how to balance CH, TA, and pH see this thread Nitro's water care by user 'nitro' scroll down and read the first section entitled "Water Balance" although your CH range will be lower than what he recommends and that is because you have the salt system, other than that its a wonderful little breakdown that is laid out in a much easier to understand fashion than I could come up with, he between nitro, water bear, and chem geek they each have great detailed posts on how to adjust each parameter (CH, pH, TA) using mostly "pH down" or dry acid...good luck, any other questions fire away...btw enjoy the tub you made a great choice

[hd2000]

PoolSpaGuy is right. Get your water chemestry right first, then no problems and there is little little maintenance later. Get the total alkalinity, ph and calcium hardness correct and the rest is easy. The suggestion to get the Taylor kit is also a good one. It is much better and more accurate than strips ever will be and it makes your tub maintenance easier as you get familiar with what needs to be done. By the way, the ACE system is great. I love mine.

[ScottWilliamson]

Been following this board for a long time before took the plunge on my first hot tub. Went with a Grandee with the Ace system and have it running for about 1 week. Have taken 3 dips in it so far in some snowy icy NJ weather, and kids love it.

Trying to get a handle on best practices for regular maintenance. Sounds like from my dealer and the paperwork, its as much an art as a science. Part of the reason for going with ACE was to minimize maintenance as much as possible.

My initial setup was simply adding salt and turning the system on after basic strip water testing.

After 48 hours, everything was in normal ranges on the strips and we are set. However, after doing all the reading on these boards, it sounds much more complicated than just simply checking that the levels remain in that range and changing the water every so often.

Can anyone outline for me what general steps make sense? Should I be adding anything other than salt when I start it up?

Thanks.

When you first get your spa, it will feel like you are spending hours trying to get it right. It did with me. Once I read more on this forum, I found some posts which helped. Once I finally got it down and established a routine, it really takes no more than 15 minutes a week to maintain. The first week after a refill will take a little more. But once the numbers (CH, ALK, PH, etc..) are dialed in, you wont be spending that much time maintaining it.

Get the Taylor kit. Worth the money. I do use strips, but I uses those to spot check in between my weekly checks with the Taylor kit. Verify the strips against the Taylor kit.. there are some POS strips out there.

[Theojt]

I went through the same consternation when I got my tub (its the same as yours). The ACE system really does a good job and even reminds you when its time for monthly maintenance. And get the Taylor kit, you won't be sorry.

As others have stated - you will ultimately have way less work and issues if you spend the time after (re) filling to get the chemistry right. Each time I fill my tub, I record the Taylor results, the amount of chemicals I added and then the results of the follow up testing to assure the chemistry is right. By doing this work and recording all results, I now have a really good handle on what I need to do. I fill the tub, measure it with Taylor kit (it doesn't really vary much from fill to fill), estimate how much chemical(s) I need to add (based on my collected data and test results) and then I just dump them in and do a cursory follow up check (usually 24 hours). While this was an initial PITA, it means I now spend less time maintaining and more time enjoying the tub. I probably spend 20 minutes every two weeks and a bit more right after filling it.

Other comments:

- I would note that while the ACE has a "boost" function, I don't find that as useful since it is slow to react (like 24 hours). I just go with some non-chlorine shock immediately before or immediately after a peak use (party).

- Get yourself a sump pump/pool cover pump (submersible). It takes me about 1hr 15 mins to fill the tub and about 1 hour 20/25 minutes to drain it this way - faster than gravity drain.

- Use ACT to remove Calcium Hardness

- I get all the chemistry into the proper ranges, and only then do I add the salt and start the ACE system

Enjoy your new tub!

Been following this board for a long time before took the plunge on my first hot tub. Went with a Grandee with the Ace system and have it running for about 1 week. Have taken 3 dips in it so far in some snowy icy NJ weather, and kids love it.

Trying to get a handle on best practices for regular maintenance. Sounds like from my dealer and the paperwork, its as much an art as a science. Part of the reason for going with ACE was to minimize maintenance as much as possible.

My initial setup was simply adding salt and turning the system on after basic strip water testing.

After 48 hours, everything was in normal ranges on the strips and we are set. However, after doing all the reading on these boards, it sounds much more complicated than just simply checking that the levels remain in that range and changing the water every so often.

Can anyone outline for me what general steps make sense? Should I be adding anything other than salt when I start it up?

Thanks.

When you first get your spa, it will feel like you are spending hours trying to get it right. It did with me. Once I read more on this forum, I found some posts which helped. Once I finally got it down and established a routine, it really takes no more than 15 minutes a week to maintain. The first week after a refill will take a little more. But once the numbers (CH, ALK, PH, etc..) are dialed in, you wont be spending that much time maintaining it.

Get the Taylor kit. Worth the money. I do use strips, but I uses those to spot check in between my weekly checks with the Taylor kit. Verify the strips against the Taylor kit.. there are some POS strips out there.

[passos]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the insights. Was really hoping that I could get away with just the test strips but sounds like everyone feels strongly that the Taylor kit is worth the effort. I would likely keep trying strips but just realized that I'd been using the strips wrong, have had high PH all week which is likely why my Ace system is producing no ozone at all. Thought the purple was a little too purple on the strip but it looked in the range...

Anyway, I'm a relatively light user - most likely will never be more than a couple of adults and kids using it for 15-30 minutes at a time, 3x per week max. Maybe an occasional day every other month where more adults will use it for a few hours during a holiday party.

I saw a few of you mention shock, calcium stuff, etc. Was really hoping to not use any chemicals at all except for salt. Looks like (at least according to the strips), I'm OK on calcium hardness. And hoping I'm low enough on usage that shock won't be an issue.

[PoolSpaGuy30]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the insights. Was really hoping that I could get away with just the test strips but sounds like everyone feels strongly that the Taylor kit is worth the effort. I would likely keep trying strips but just realized that I'd been using the strips wrong, have had high PH all week which is likely why my Ace system is producing no ozone at all. Thought the purple was a little too purple on the strip but it looked in the range...

Anyway, I'm a relatively light user - most likely will never be more than a couple of adults and kids using it for 15-30 minutes at a time, 3x per week max. Maybe an occasional day every other month where more adults will use it for a few hours during a holiday party.

I saw a few of you mention shock, calcium stuff, etc. Was really hoping to not use any chemicals at all except for salt. Looks like (at least according to the strips), I'm OK on calcium hardness. And hoping I'm low enough on usage that shock won't be an issue.

if your usage is what is listed above you may never need to supplement with shock or chlorine...however you will need to add chemicals to balance your water, there is absolutely no way around this, and yes the best way to test and balance your water is with a Taylor K2006 test kit, it is worth the money especially with the ACE because it is CRUCIAL your water is balanced before adding salt

[passos]

OK guys, once again appreciate all the feedback but think I have basically messed everything up at this point and am considering draining the tub and starting from scratch.

Still using strips until I pick up the better testing kit.

Had thought I was in the right range but now realize my color reading is way off. Can't get the PH down even after adding multiple doses of the PH down product from Hot Springs that came with the tub. Its generally at about 7.6-8.0. I think this is why I get no reading at all on Chlorine, because if I understand it right, Ace won't produce it until PH is right.

I also noticed that the Alkalinity which I thought was in the OK range is probable closer to 40, so just added some baking soda, a few tablespoons. Think I read someplace that too low Alkalinity will prevent PH from dropping, so hoping that helps.

At this point, I have no idea what the levels will be after this latest addition of PH down and baking soda.

Am I better off just draining the tub at this point and starting over? Isn't it odd that I've now added about 6 tables spoons of PH down and cant get the PH down?

Any help is appreciated.

[hd2000]

6 Tbl of PH down isn't a lot in your tub. My Ph in my well water is extreamly high along with very high alkalinity and I add about a cup and a half of PH down to get mine right when I refill. Once you get the balance right, you probably won't have to add more than a couple more tablespoons of PH down between refills. If you have very high levels to start as I did, don't try adding it all at once. Maybe a cup every day or so, then recheck before adding more. Once you start getting within a reasonable level, you can add less each time till you get it right. Try not to overcorrect. Since you've already added some PH down, just keep on adding more till you get it right. Keep track of how much of everything you add so the next time you refill, you don't have to do so much guessing. If it takes 15 tablespoons to get it right this time, when you refill, add maybe 12 or so, test, then see how close you are. After a refill or 2, you will know exactly how much of to add to get your water close. The original PH, alkalinity, and everything else in my water fluctuates a little from refill to refill, so thats why I'm saying to get conservatively close, then fine tune. That's the way I've been doing it for years, and my spa is always crystal clear. You can also take a water sample to most dealers and they should be able to tell you approximately how much of each chemical you should need to add to balance it given your tub size. In my area, all the dealers will do it for free.

[passos]

HD2000 - that really makes me feel better. I've been adding 2 Teaspoons (not even Tablespoons) at a time. So far up to about 12 Teaspoons. Had been worried that I was overdoing it. Hearing that you have added cups, or are talking about 15 tablespoons makes me think that is definitely the issue. Only concern now is that I'm adjusting over the course of a number of days, rather than trying to get it right in one afternoon - Northeast weather is killing us with snow and ice right now. Today, checked and looks like I finally have alkalinity right, and that PH was a little high but not as high as it was and finally starting to get some chlorine from ACE.

Should I be worried that the ACE system is getting burned out at all at this point given its been working for 2 weeks now with low PH (with a couple of Boosts pressed)?

[PoolSpaGuy30]

HD2000 - that really makes me feel better. I've been adding 2 Teaspoons (not even Tablespoons) at a time. So far up to about 12 Teaspoons. Had been worried that I was overdoing it. Hearing that you have added cups, or are talking about 15 tablespoons makes me think that is definitely the issue. Only concern now is that I'm adjusting over the course of a number of days, rather than trying to get it right in one afternoon - Northeast weather is killing us with snow and ice right now. Today, checked and looks like I finally have alkalinity right, and that PH was a little high but not as high as it was and finally starting to get some chlorine from ACE.

Should I be worried that the ACE system is getting burned out at all at this point given its been working for 2 weeks now with low PH (with a couple of Boosts pressed)?

I would not worry about "burn out" but if your calcium and alk. was high for an extended period it probably wouldn't hurt to clean your cell (using dilluted pH down/dry acid) and my advice is always to supplement with chlorine instead of using the "boost" feature...this will save some wear & tear on your cell, of course now that the ACE seems to be producing chlorine you should be fine and not need to supplement unless you have a day of extreme use.

[hd2000]

HD2000 - that really makes me feel better. I've been adding 2 Teaspoons (not even Tablespoons) at a time. So far up to about 12 Teaspoons. Had been worried that I was overdoing it. Hearing that you have added cups, or are talking about 15 tablespoons makes me think that is definitely the issue. Only concern now is that I'm adjusting over the course of a number of days, rather than trying to get it right in one afternoon - Northeast weather is killing us with snow and ice right now. Today, checked and looks like I finally have alkalinity right, and that PH was a little high but not as high as it was and finally starting to get some chlorine from ACE.

Should I be worried that the ACE system is getting burned out at all at this point given its been working for 2 weeks now with low PH (with a couple of Boosts pressed)?

I wouldn't worry to much about the ACE cell at this point. It's not like you have been abusing it for months on end or something like that. PoolSpaGuy is offering a good suggestion to possibly clean the cell. Did your dealer give you all the ACE system literature that explains the procedures? Water chemestry seems really daunting when you first get a spa, but soon, you will be comfortable in what you are doing to your water and you won't give the maintenece a second thought. At this point, my only other suggestion is to keep some sort of record of what you add, how much, and when. Also it's helpful to keep a record of all your testing results. At least it's helpful for me. I've got a simple spreadsheet where I have a column to record the date, test results for each individual test, and a comments cell where I record what I added or did. For example I'll record all my test results, then may make a comment that I cleaned or changed the filters, or added a teaspoon of PH down, or maybe added a couple gallons of water, or whatever else I may have done. It helps me keep tabs on everything and helps me to know what to add when I make a water change. For me anyway, it also helps me to "remember" the last time I cleaned the filters or changed the water or cleaned the ACE cell or cleaned the cover, and things like that that you really don't do all the time. I don't really know if others do that, but it helps me out a lot and it only takes a minute to do.

[dark rider]

I just want to reiterate the advice that has been given. Water balance is key with any chemical regime, weather ACE or manually dosing with dichlor/bleach or bromine. You shouldn't get too worried about the cell. The high alkalinity and pH would be a concern if you had high calcium, but it doesn't sound like calcium was a problem. As Poolspaguy30 suggested, clean the cell by soaking in a dilluted solution of pH down (electrical breakers turned off) and if there are deposits, I think the cell is supposed to bubble as the pH down dissolves them. Personally, I didn't see any bubbles when I cleaned my cell, but I did it for the prescribed time anyway just as a routine precaution. Otherwise, it sounds like you're seeing chlorine production, so the cell is working. Keep the water balanced, and enjoy it!

[bassfisher]

I also just bought a Grandee with the Ace system and must have something wrong because I get no chlorine no matter how many times I press the boost feature. The only thing I see that I might have done wrong was add the salt before I used the vanishing act. I have usage of 2 adults for about 15-30 minutes a night. I have been using regular chlorine to get it up to 3ppm before every soak and then the next day I check the chlorine it is back to zero. I went 3 days without using it and boosting it and no chlorine shows up on the strip. Hardness measures at 50PPm and TA 80PPM using test kit. Salt is in the middle of the green level. I was out of the PH indicator but my strips measure 7.4. I am going to buy a whole new test kit and go from there first.

[PoolSpaGuy30]

I also just bought a Grandee with the Ace system and must have something wrong because I get no chlorine no matter how many times I press the boost feature. The only thing I see that I might have done wrong was add the salt before I used the vanishing act. I have usage of 2 adults for about 15-30 minutes a night. I have been using regular chlorine to get it up to 3ppm before every soak and then the next day I check the chlorine it is back to zero. I went 3 days without using it and boosting it and no chlorine shows up on the strip. Hardness measures at 50PPm and TA 80PPM using test kit. Salt is in the middle of the green level. I was out of the PH indicator but my strips measure 7.4. I am going to buy a whole new test kit and go from there first.

water should be balanced according to your ACE instructions and up to temperature(100+ degrees) before any salt is added...getting your calcium withing the recommended range of 25-100ppm is most important, if your filling with standard tap water most likely you will need 1 or 2 vanishing act bags...if your house is setup so that you can fill with soft water than you may be within range or can add calcium booster to bring it up. The best way to test your water is with a Taylor K-2006 drop test kit.

[bassfisher]

I also just bought a Grandee with the Ace system and must have something wrong because I get no chlorine no matter how many times I press the boost feature. The only thing I see that I might have done wrong was add the salt before I used the vanishing act. I have usage of 2 adults for about 15-30 minutes a night. I have been using regular chlorine to get it up to 3ppm before every soak and then the next day I check the chlorine it is back to zero. I went 3 days without using it and boosting it and no chlorine shows up on the strip. Hardness measures at 50PPm and TA 80PPM using test kit. Salt is in the middle of the green level. I was out of the PH indicator but my strips measure 7.4. I am going to buy a whole new test kit and go from there first.

water should be balanced according to your ACE instructions and up to temperature(100+ degrees) before any salt is added...getting your calcium withing the recommended range of 25-100ppm is most important, if your filling with standard tap water most likely you will need 1 or 2 vanishing act bags...if your house is setup so that you can fill with soft water than you may be within range or can add calcium booster to bring it up. The best way to test your water is with a Taylor K-2006 drop test kit.

My Taylor kit shows the hardness right at 5 drops 50ppm and the alk at 80ppm. Exactly on target with the ACE instructions. I will go buy some PH indicator and verify the strip reading. The dealer told me to add salt and then do the vanishing act when we initially filled it. The vanishing act brought down the hardness from 150PPM to 50PPM. It ran about 2 days with the ACE on before using the vanishing act. Should I just drain the tub and start over or do you have other advice. Never had this much trouble with my saltwater pool.

[PoolSpaGuy30]

I also just bought a Grandee with the Ace system and must have something wrong because I get no chlorine no matter how many times I press the boost feature. The only thing I see that I might have done wrong was add the salt before I used the vanishing act. I have usage of 2 adults for about 15-30 minutes a night. I have been using regular chlorine to get it up to 3ppm before every soak and then the next day I check the chlorine it is back to zero. I went 3 days without using it and boosting it and no chlorine shows up on the strip. Hardness measures at 50PPm and TA 80PPM using test kit. Salt is in the middle of the green level. I was out of the PH indicator but my strips measure 7.4. I am going to buy a whole new test kit and go from there first.

water should be balanced according to your ACE instructions and up to temperature(100+ degrees) before any salt is added...getting your calcium withing the recommended range of 25-100ppm is most important, if your filling with standard tap water most likely you will need 1 or 2 vanishing act bags...if your house is setup so that you can fill with soft water than you may be within range or can add calcium booster to bring it up. The best way to test your water is with a Taylor K-2006 drop test kit.

My Taylor kit shows the hardness right at 5 drops 50ppm and the alk at 80ppm. Exactly on target with the ACE instructions. I will go buy some PH indicator and verify the strip reading. The dealer told me to add salt and then do the vanishing act when we initially filled it. The vanishing act brought down the hardness from 150PPM to 50PPM. It ran about 2 days with the ACE on before using the vanishing act. Should I just drain the tub and start over or do you have other advice. Never had this much trouble with my saltwater pool.

have you tried cleaning your cell at all? I would assume since you didn't mention anything that you don't have a "low salt/clean cell" error message but am curious if you tried to clean the cell using pH down/dry acid/etc.

[GrandeeKevin]

I have a Grandee with ACE and am having the same issue that the systems seems to never produce enuogh chlorine. Hvae had it for 1 month. The dealer came earlier this week and confirmed that everything was connected properly and that the ACE was making the bubbles it was suppossed to. I am concerned it is just not producing enough. They said the water was cloudy and that the system needed time to clear everything up. I did not use the tub for 5 days and ran the ACE at usage level 5. The water looked very clear but chlorine was only 0.5PPM We used it last night but only after I manually added more chlorine.

The salt was in the green range but a little low. Based on a call with the dealer, I have added more to get the salt into the upper green range.

Did your ACE system ever hold the cholrine at the right level? Did you have to clean the cell?

[OCMike]

I have a Grandee with ACE and am having the same issue that the systems seems to never produce enuogh chlorine. Hvae had it for 1 month. The dealer came earlier this week and confirmed that everything was connected properly and that the ACE was making the bubbles it was suppossed to. I am concerned it is just not producing enough. They said the water was cloudy and that the system needed time to clear everything up. I did not use the tub for 5 days and ran the ACE at usage level 5. The water looked very clear but chlorine was only 0.5PPM We used it last night but only after I manually added more chlorine.

The salt was in the green range but a little low. Based on a call with the dealer, I have added more to get the salt into the upper green range.

Did your ACE system ever hold the cholrine at the right level? Did you have to clean the cell?

I have had an Aria since April of 2010. Initially the Ace system performed well, but then performance fell off. The cell was replaced in January under warranty and the new cell is performing no better. I have no bypassed the dealer and am trying to talk to the right technical person at Watkins to try and shed some light on this problem.

I have all of the settings maxed (spa size and usage level including hitting boost) but that doesn't seem to make a difference. I love the spa other than the issues with the ACE system. I'm going to order the Taylor K-2006 to dial the hardness into the ideal range and see if that helps as the sample I tested in our lab at my office was down around 10ppm.

[dark rider]

Are those of you who are getting low FC readings with ACE maintaining any CYA in the water by initially adding dichlor? If not, the non-stabilized chlorine will read low when you do an FC test, but is actually much stronger than stabilized chlorine. That's why they don't recommend bleach alone with the dichlor/bleach method. It's also likely the reason that the poster above saw the spa clear up with only a reading of .5 ppm FC. Non-stabilized chlorine also dissipates much faster than stabilized chlorine, so that's why you're seeing a 0 reading the next day after use. I recommend running 15-20 ppm of CYA with ACE, as it should stabilize your readings in the 3-5 ppm FC range, and your FC will drop less between uses. I use my Grandee with ACE pretty much nightly. My wife joins me for the first 30 mins, and I normally soak for 45mins - 1 hour. With tub size on 8 and usage set at 4, the FC tests right at 3 ppm when I get in each night. No need to shock unless your CC gets up to 1 ppm or more, which it shouldn't with regular usage. The only time I manually add chlorine is if I'm having people over (bleach) or if my CYA has dropped (dichlor). It takes a long time for the CYA level to naturally drop though. My CYA test only really registers a drop after about 45 days.

[passos]

OK - back for another round starting from a fresh tank. I started this thread 4 months ago when I picked up a new Grandee with the ACE system. I've had water chemistry problems since the beginning, I can never get the Hot Springs strips or some other strips from the local pool place to ever register any chlorine. At first I thought it was a PH issue from my reading the strips wrong and when upping the amount of PH Down (from teaspoons to about half a cup), I recall getting a modest purple reading on one strip once. However even after boosting, setting it as high as 4, etc., I've never been able to get much of a reading on chlorine. My spa dealer has really been less than helpful insisting the system seems to be working fine.

I've been using the tub about once or twice every 2 weeks or so for about an hour, however, because I constantly bring a sample of the water to the local pool store (and their check indicates chlorine of 3 and other readings all fine). This is even though I can't see a thing on the strips. I have never had a problem with cloudy or smelly water. Had some extra bubbling at times but nothing really surprising.

So I finally broke down and paid the $50 for the taylor kit which should come next week. I emptied and refilled the tub yesterday. Went with 1/2 the recommended salt (3 cups instead of 6) as per the directions the ACE system came with after stabilizing the PH and alkalinity with 1/2 cup PH down and 1/2 cup of baking soda. Strips seemed to say all good including hardness (never been a problem), so now 24 hours later, did a check and of course, not a color change at all to indicate chlorine.

I assume I will get the Taylor kit by next week and hope it will solve everything. At a minimum, it will confirm that the other levels are right, and I will have to insist that the dealer does something to fix the ACE system. More likely it will help me fine tune my levels, and get the ACE system working.

I'm hoping that the prior poster is right that the strips won't pick up chlorine of some type that is actually there, as I can't figure out any other explanation why everything would appear to be functioning properly, with a pool store confirming chlorine being present, but strips showing nothing at all.

If necessary, I'll use some extra chlorine (can I just use Clorox or some other bleach?), but I got the ACE system to avoid that.

I know everyone knocks the strips, however I was hoping it was an easy solution. Guess it just won't work for me. Any suggestions at all would really be appreciated as this has been a frustrating experience.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

Are you just sticking the strip in the water for a few seconds and removing it to check or are you letting it sit in the water for many minutes?

[passos]

Are you just sticking the strip in the water for a few seconds and removing it to check or are you letting it sit in the water for many minutes?

Just a quick dip and swirl.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

Are you just sticking the strip in the water for a few seconds and removing it to check or are you letting it sit in the water for many minutes?

Just a quick dip and swirl.

Skip the swirl.

[passos]

Back again and just can't get this right.

Have had the taylor for a month now, getting PH at about 7.6, alkalinity of about 100 and hardness of about 80. Every two weeks or so I use PH down to drop the PH back to 7.4 and it drifts up.

Every 2-3 weeks, my Chlorine is down to 0. This is with usage set at 4, and spa size at 8. Salt seems fine.

I know my calcium is at the upper range, just slightly above. Any thoughts on whether that is the reason? Was hoping to avoid having to buy the calcium dropping bag unless I was positive its the problem.

I typically need to manually add chlorine once a month to get it to 5, and then it gradually drops down to 0.

I've tried dropping usage to 2 because we only use it about once a week for an hour, with no difference. I've also had the temperature at 85-90 given its summer, with no real difference as to when I've had it at 100.

Any suggestions?