engsheplover Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Quick intro: DH and I purchased a Beachcomber 750 and it arrived last week Wednesday. Last night, we shocked it as per the manufacturer's guidelines on the "water care maintenance procedures" fact sheet. All week, in determining chlorine levels and how much to add, I've not relied directly on the fact sheet, as our usage is not exactly 'typical'. We have four kids, two of whom are teen boys and over the weekend had a couple of the boys' friends over (oily creatures, those teenaged boys!!), as well - all of whom used the tub, for varying amounts of time. We do require the kids to shower prior to tubbing. I tested the water at least twice a day to look at chlorine levels, and overall we required slightly *less* chlorine (Care Free Boost) than the fact sheet suggested each day (!!)which surprised me. I can only guess that that is due to the shower-before-tubbing rule...?? Just an aside, here - it took some real convincing to get the teenaged friends to comply with the shower-before-tub rule...I don't understand how getting into the tub with clean skin is incomprehensible; but it seems OK to them to climb into a tub with six other sweaty, oily bodies - absolutely beyond me...eeeww! So, last night, I open the cover and smell a stronger-than usual chlorine smell (usually it is pretty undetectable), and moderate amounts of bubbles after 15 mins with jets going in tub. Bubbles settled down rapidly once jets turned off, so I'm not too worried...just want to prevent a problem if needed. I remembered from 20 years ago /pool care "that smell" means I should probably shock it..chloramines, I think is/was the cause of the odor? REalize, "Whoops, almost forgot about shocking" in my efforts to stay on top of the sanitizer level! We shock the tub as per "weekly maintenance" on the sheet. Triple the normal amount of Care Free Boost (which is dichlor, as I understand it), added while jets are on, with cover off. Tested 20 mins afterward as directed, level is waaay beyond the test range (small reagent-based kit, only tests Chlorine (0-5 ppm) and pH (7.0-8.0), which is not a big enough chlorine range to make me happy... K-2006 kit to be ordered tonight, as I see that is what most seem to use here.). Instructions say not to cover spa until range drops to 3-5 ppm. What the heck?!?! It's cold up here in Ontario, and leaving the cover off half the night seems a bit wasteful... I did let the jets work for another 30 mins, in an effort to comply with the instructions. Level remained >5 ppm...and it was midnight. Proceeded to next step of the instructions, with some reservations, and added 112 gm CAre-Free (peroxysulfate on label, I'm thinking this is MPS?), as directed. Left cover off, and allowed to circulate another 15 mins. Decided to let well enough alone, close up spa and turn in. And ...resolved to shock in the morning next time!! Today - Got kids off to school, checked levels. pH 7.5 (phew!), Chlor *still* >5. Now I'm wondering if MPS skews results of the test, or if chlorine level is really that high still. Call dealer, who tells me I didn't need to shock it, that now I have too much chemical in the tub. Sigh...I'm only trying to do it "by the book"...and I do think it probably needed shocking, given the smell and the heavy bather load it has experienced this week. So - what is your take on the high levels of chlorine? With all the reading I've done today (hot files on this site, etc), the idea of continuing to use dichlor as a daily additive *and* as a weekly shock does not sound especially good, given the CYA levels, and given the bather load at our house, which is likely to mean I am adding a lot more chemical than the 'average' owner. I am attentive to the details, and don't mind monitoring chemical levels closely, so the dichlor-then-chlorine bleach regimen sounds very manageable. That said, I am wondering if there are floating chlorine pucks/dispensers like the ones used to maintain bromine levels. I'm guessing that might help to at least keep an ongoing level of 3 ppm, with my adding extra chlorine on the days that the kids and their friends use the tub. Or, if a "SpaFrog" in-filter type of thing is a good idea or just a gimmick? Early in our marriage, we did have a hot tub that had ozone and used a bromine dispenser, but it stayed with the house when we moved... and 15 yrs later we finally got another tub . With average bather 'load' of 4-6 people using the spa for 20-40 mins a day, I think we'd better watch the CYA levels or we'll be doing a *lot* of water changes. Looking forward to hearing back from any and all... By the way, I'm having a terrible time trying to post comments/replies or start topics...as noted by others, there seems to be a glitch of some sort, and the 'beta' version of the site won't let me post... Thanks in advance... I'm trying to mesh what I think I remember from many years ago (with a pool) and what I used 15 yrs ago (bromine -spa) and what we've got now...and I'm ending up a bit confused. I like to know how and why all of this chemistry works, and the instructions I've got from the spa manufacturer frustrates me with its generic-ness. Even the chemicals aren't called their real names...for some of them I've had to go online to figure out what they are. Kristy (Sorry, poison control, my kid ate some of this chemical for the spa, what should I do??? Well, it's called "resist"...or maybe it was this one, called "Soft" and it smells like green apples...uh...I don't know what it is...isn't there something in your database??? DUH... GRR!!) 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chem geek Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Answered in this post. Please post your questions in one thread so all responses are consolidated in one place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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