Sundance Arrived, Start-Up Chemicals

[cremevette]

Shipping day came on Saturday, and for anyone in the Pittsburgh area looking to transport a spa, I couldn't recommend Wickstone Spa & Sandblasting enough! Shawn and his electrician moved the spa, put it in place on my deck, and did the electrical quickly and efficiently.

I followed the Sundance manual start-up pretty much to a tee, and inherited a bunch of chemicals. My memory is foggy. I left the slow-dissolving bromine floater in for a few hours, tested, and removed it. Is the floater designed to stay in full time? Also, I checked for pH, hardness, and alkalinity. The hardness is fine, the pH is high, and alkalinity is high. I put pH down in the tub, according to the directions, and it barely budged. I guess keep adding until it comes in line, right?

With the levels out of whack, is it still okay to use the tub? It would be nice to give the tub a test soak!

[gman]

<br />Shipping day came on Saturday, and for anyone in the Pittsburgh area looking to transport a spa, I couldn't recommend Wickstone Spa & Sandblasting enough! Shawn and his electrician moved the spa, put it in place on my deck, and did the electrical quickly and efficiently. <br /><br />I followed the Sundance manual start-up pretty much to a tee, and inherited a bunch of chemicals. My memory is foggy. I left the slow-dissolving bromine floater in for a few hours, tested, and removed it. Is the floater designed to stay in full time? Also, I checked for pH, hardness, and alkalinity. The hardness is fine, the pH is high, and alkalinity is high. I put pH down in the tub, according to the directions, and it barely budged. I guess keep adding until it comes in line, right?<br /><br />With the levels out of whack, is it still okay to use the tub? It would be nice to give the tub a test soak! <img src='http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br />

<br /><br /><br />

Cremevette,

Congratulations on your new tub. I know you're anxious to begin enjoying your new tub and my recommendations below may seem like a burden (they will delay your first soak a bit). But, if you can control your urge to jump in the tub (I know it's tough) and postpone your first soak until you've followed the recommendations below, you will minimize future demands of time and money and you will enjoy many more soaks in a tub that is safe and sanitized.

Even though this is a new tub, before you use your tub, I recommend you "Decontaminate" your tub to remove a) residual manufacturing solvents (which usually show up as a scum line on your tub) and any bio-films that have formed in the residual water left in the tub from the manufacturer's quality control/water testing protocols.

You'll find the information to decontaminate your tub here <http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=19115>

Once you've decontaminated your tub, you need to re-fill your tub and balance your water chemistry. BTW, I recommend you use a pre-filter when filling your tub for use. This pre-filter attaches to your hose and removes minerals in your water supply source.

Read (or re-read) "Bromine for Beginners" <http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30249> and "Lowering Total Alkalinity" <http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showforum=13>.

All these articles are in the Hot Tub Water Chemistry subsection of this forum. They will tell you what chemicals you need and what you need to do. Follow the instructions provided and you'll get your water chemistry balanced and establish a Bromine reserve.

Please note that the advise in these articles may contradict some of the information you may have received from your dealer. Nevertheless, I would follow the advise in these articles. You'll be pleased with the results if you do.

Once you've properly done all of the above, you and your tub will be ready for a good soak.

Enjoy your new tub. Happy tubbing!

gman

[cremevette]

Thanks, Gman! I actually had second thoughts about getting in and started reading the Water Chemistry section. I realized it was a big NO NO to get in there! I took a water sample to a pool/spa shop and the TA levels were astronomical. I followed their directions, took in another sample this a.m. and it's about 90% there. That was close enough to get in. Ahhhhh!!!!! It's wonderful! I can't believe the difference in tubs in the last twenty years. And I'm also glad I didn't get a lounge. This model - 2006 Sundance Bahia - has seats that slope nicely, and the foot jets are perfect. I found myself nearly lounging anyway. I feel like a million bucks, which is how I remember years ago feeling after I'd get out. Tonight I'm going in after dark. Can't wait!

The pool/spa shop will test whenever I take in a sample, no charge. So I'm going to take in a sample in a week and make sure I'm doing things correctly. It really does seem pretty simple, though!

[gman]

<br />Thanks, Gman! I actually had second thoughts about getting in and started reading the Water Chemistry section. I realized it was a big NO NO to get in there! I took a water sample to a pool/spa shop and the TA levels were astronomical. I followed their directions, took in another sample this a.m. and it's about 90% there. That was close enough to get in. Ahhhhh!!!!! It's wonderful! I can't believe the difference in tubs in the last twenty years. And I'm also glad I didn't get a lounge. This model - 2006 Sundance Bahia - has seats that slope nicely, and the foot jets are perfect. I found myself nearly lounging anyway. I feel like a million bucks, which is how I remember years ago feeling after I'd get out. Tonight I'm going in after dark. Can't wait! <br /><br />The pool/spa shop will test whenever I take in a sample, no charge. So I'm going to take in a sample in a week and make sure I'm doing things correctly. It really does seem pretty simple, though!<br />

<br /><br /><br />

I'm certainly glad your tub is making you feel like a million bucks. And it's nice that your local dealer will test your water for you at no charge. Nevertheless, I recommend you invest in a drop test kit so you can be sure to feel like a million bucks for many moons.

A good drop test kit is probably the most important tool you can own for your hot tub. It's a relatively small investment compared to the cost of the tub and it will save you time and money. When bromine is your sanitizer, the drop test kit routinely recommended is the Taylor K-2106. Once you learn how to use the kit (and there are tutorials online at Taylor Technologies website to help you with this), you'll find it will take you all of 10 minutes, if that, to test your water. I'm sure this is far less troublesome and time consuming than driving your water samples to the local dealer and waiting for the results. FYI, Amato Industries routinely sells this kit at a lower price than generally offered elsewhere. Their delivery times are sometimes slow, however.

You'll find the drop test kit particularly useful during your first couple of weeks of tub use. Because you're using Bromine and a Bromine Floater, you'll want/need to monitor your water chemistry regularly (daily) so you learn your Bromine demand based upon your use pattern. The information gathered from your daily tests during these initial weeks will tell you whether you need to shock and/or close or open your Bromine Floater so you do not have too much or too little bromine in your water, thereby maintaining a safe level of bromine for your average use pattern. With this information, you'll also get a good sense of how you need to adjust your water chemistry when your use pattern changes, i.e., more or less use or more or less bather load.

Now go take a soak. 8^) Enjoy.

gman

[Even Further]

Congrats on the new tub!

Consider Spa Depot for Chems via online, they ship pretty quick and pricing is good.

I've used Amazon for replacement filters and saved a good amount vs. other sites and stores.

[cremevette]

HAHAH, I'm about to go get in the tub right now. Will take your advice on the test kit. Today I'm going to use the strip. I backed off the bromine yesterday to see how the ozone handles things. I know I still need to keep a good level in there, though. The one thing I'm not crazy about is my lungs getting a bit tight from inhaling the bromine fumes. I had to hit the inhaler the last two nights to breathe comfortably and go to sleep. Anyone else know of this problem?

[gman]

<br />HAHAH, I'm about to go get in the tub right now. Will take your advice on the test kit. Today I'm going to use the strip. I backed off the bromine yesterday to see how the ozone handles things. I know I still need to keep a good level in there, though. The one thing I'm not crazy about is my lungs getting a bit tight from inhaling the bromine fumes. I had to hit the inhaler the last two nights to breathe comfortably and go to sleep. Anyone else know of this problem?<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Sorry to hear about your reaction to the bromine. I haven't experienced your problem, but my guess is that your bromine levels may be too high. You're testing your bromine levels with test strips, which are notoriously unreliable. Consequently, your actual bromine level could be significantly different than what your test strips indicate.

I know you're concerned about maintaining a safe bromine level...but you may want to try one or both of the following: 1) before your next soak, open the cover of your tub and wait about 20 minutes before you jump in, and/or 2) close your Bromine Floater a notch to lower the amount of bromine entering through the floater.

Getting the Bromine Floater adjusted properly is just a trial and error process. Unfortunately, until you get your drop test kit, you really won't know with precision your level of bromine.

Good luck. I hope you feel better.

gman

[cremevette]

The water was checked at the pool shop yesterday, and the levels were right on. I did back off the floater to one opening and I'm not wheezing since I came in. The test strip still shows okay levels. I think until I get the test kit, I'll have the pool guy check it. It only takes a minute and I'm going past every day.

Also, the water hardness is right on, but I know there's stuff to put in there to make the water silky smooth. Is that stuff any good or not?

[gman]

<br />The water was checked at the pool shop yesterday, and the levels were right on. I did back off the floater to one opening and I'm not wheezing since I came in. The test strip still shows okay levels. I think until I get the test kit, I'll have the pool guy check it. It only takes a minute and I'm going past every day.<br /><br />Also, the water hardness is right on, but I know there's stuff to put in there to make the water silky smooth. Is that stuff any good or not?<br />

<br /><br /><br />

If you add borates to your water (50ppm), two things occur...1) the borates help stabilize your pH (particularly in a Bromine spa since the tabs in the floater are somewhat acidic) and 2) your water will "feel" softer/silkier. Borates can be purchased from your local store (20 Mule Team Borax). However, because it is base, it will raise your pH, so you will need to add some acid to keep your water balanced. Alternatively, Pro Team has a product called Gentle Spa, which is borates. The advantage with Pro Team Gentle Spa is it has additives to keep it pH neutral. So, once your tub's water is balanced, you don't have worry that your numbers will change when you add borates via Gentle Spa. It's a little more expensive than 20 Mule Team Borax, but it's easy to use and it's not that much more costly (IMO).

gman