chill123 Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Hi All, Apologies for what must be obvious question. I've had a good hunt around the forum and can't find the answers i am looking for. I moved house recently hand as a result gained both a outdoor swimming pool and a hot tub/spa. So far I do the following to maintain the hot tub: - Drain/clean and refill every 12 weeks (use is light) - Once refilled shock with chlorine granules - If required use acid/alkaline granules (same as i use in the pool) to adjust the pH - Test with test strips every few days to ensure pH/chlorine levels are ok. - Top up chlorine granules most days after use (a couple of teaspoons seems to maintain CH levels) - Was the filter out every week To date i've not experienced any problems. My questions are: 1) Does the above sound about right or am i doing anything drastically wrong? 2) After cleaning/refilling and shocking at the weekend i've tweaked the chlorine and ph levels to be where i want them. However the 'Stabalizer' reading on the test strips is very low. Also there is a bit of a strong chemically smell coming from the tub. Any ideas on how i can increase the stabilizer and get rid of the smell? Many thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorfin Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Part of your posting doesn't make sense to me. I assume you are using dichlor as your sanitizer. You are apparently using test strips that can measure stabilizer, or CYA. If these are both true, then it isn't possible that you really have low stabilizer unless you just refilled. In that case, no big deal - your stabilizer (CYA) will reach the recommended level after a couple of weeks of dichlor use. It also seems like you are using dichlor to shock. As chlorine works, it turns into chloromines or combined chlorine. This is a minimally effective form of chlorine that turns the water into an eye irritant and is usually the culprit for excessive "chlorine smell". To get rid of combined chlorine, you need to shock it. If you shock with chlorine, you will need to add excessive amounts to oxidize the combined chlorine - which in turn will add excessive amounts of CYA. If you do shock with chlorine, it would be better to use common bleach (Clorox) which does not add CYA. For this reason, it is generally preferred to shock with MPS weekly which will oxidize the combined chlorine. And switch to chlorine bleach as your sanitizer (once the CYA base is established). Read the dichlor / bleach method in the pinned topics for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footie Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Get rid of the test strips for a start, they're readings are inaccurate as best and completely wrong at worst. The smell is usually a case of not enough sanitizer, especially with chlorine. Things to do list: 1/ Get a proper test kit, doesn't need to be fancy or that expensive. pH and Clorine test kit, 100ml test tube and set of Cyanuric Acid, Alkalinity and Calcium Hardness tablets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorfin Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 I personally agree Footie regarding using test kit over test strips. I tend to use test strips periodically during the week for spot checking and then have do a more thorough test with the kit on weekends. In comparing kit and strips and I've found the chlorine / bromine indicator to be consistent and easy to read (the others - alkalinity and PH - tend to only be easy to read if you are in the test range). I know there can be bleach out situations but the chlorine indicator is pretty reliable and easy to maintain. If not enough, add some. Too much - wait or add hydrogen peroxide. The other water chemistry items are not as straightforward to the newbie. The question asked was if there was any obvious problem to their regimen. When I talk to other hot tub owners (live, not on this board), I'm amazed at how many don't really have a clue as to what they are doing and why. And so while getting a test kit is clearly good advice, it may not be the right answer for everyone. But using dichlor continuously seems to be a consistent bad practice recommended by many spa dealers. The manufacturers of the dichlor usually promote the dichlor for shocking as well (because they want you to use more). Shocking with dichlor is only a good idea for the first couple of weeks to build CYA. What I've learned is that most people who prefer chlorine approach but are not interested in getting a test kit would benefit by: - Using the dichlor / bleach method - Using MPS weekly to oxidize combined chlorine This won't protect the equipment from ph, alkalinity and hardness issues, but it will generally address the sanitizer issue. Although ph will affect the sanitizer effectiveness, this is not nearly as profound as the impact of too much CYA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footie Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 I personally agree Footie regarding using test kit over test strips. I tend to use test strips periodically during the week for spot checking and then have do a more thorough test with the kit on weekends. In comparing kit and strips and I've found the chlorine / bromine indicator to be consistent and easy to read (the others - alkalinity and PH - tend to only be easy to read if you are in the test range). I know there can be bleach out situations but the chlorine indicator is pretty reliable and easy to maintain. If not enough, add some. Too much - wait or add hydrogen peroxide. The other water chemistry items are not as straightforward to the newbie. Chlorine (FC & TC), TA and PH are probably the most important ones to check on a regular basis and luckily are the easiest to read correctly but only with a proper testing kit. The question asked was if there was any obvious problem to their regimen. When I talk to other hot tub owners (live, not on this board), I'm amazed at how many don't really have a clue as to what they are doing and why. And so while getting a test kit is clearly good advice, it may not be the right answer for everyone. But using dichlor continuously seems to be a consistent bad practice recommended by many spa dealers. The manufacturers of the dichlor usually promote the dichlor for shocking as well (because they want you to use more). Shocking with dichlor is only a good idea for the first couple of weeks to build CYA. What I've learned is that most people who prefer chlorine approach but are not interested in getting a test kit would benefit by: - Using the dichlor / bleach method - Using MPS weekly to oxidize combined chlorine This won't protect the equipment from ph, alkalinity and hardness issues, but it will generally address the sanitizer issue. Although ph will affect the sanitizer effectiveness, this is not nearly as profound as the impact of too much CYA. I chose Bromine simply because in my opinion it's the easier regimen to adhere to. CYA and their effects add confusion to most people so I steered clear and 9 months in I'm very happy with my decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chill123 Posted March 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 thanks for the comments. clarification: yes, i am using dichlor (stabilized chloring granules) to shock and maintain chlorine levels. footie - i actually have one of those kits (i use for the main pool). historically i've only used it to test chlorine and ph but i'll dig it out tonight and see what else it measures and order the relevant tabs... endorfin - so you're saying i should use regular bleach to shock the tub once refilled and then once per week? how much regular bleach (the stuff i use in my toilet?) should i put in? also, what is MPS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endorfin Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Actually what i suggest is that you read the Hot Topics 3 and 4 at the top of this board. Nitro's approach Dichlor / Bleach method in a nut shell Then come back with questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footie Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 thanks for the comments. clarification: yes, i am using dichlor (stabilized chloring granules) to shock and maintain chlorine levels. footie - i actually have one of those kits (i use for the main pool). historically i've only used it to test chlorine and ph but i'll dig it out tonight and see what else it measures and order the relevant tabs... That kit only measures pH and Chlorine as far as I am aware, to measure the others you will need a 100ml plastic testing tube and of course the tablets I mentioned. The relationship between TA, pH and Chlorine is very important, if TA is too low then pH will continue to drop even after you adjust it and if pH is very low then your Chlorine reading will be artificially high. Best advice I can also give is read the Hot Topics listed at the top of this section, very informative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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