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How to start a @ease tub properly? New spa owner


S2k4Str

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PoolSpaForum chemistry gurus .... My new Caldera Geneva arrives tomorrow. It comes with the @ease chlorine system. And, frankly, I'm terrified.

Everyone - absolutely everyone - is looking forward to using this tub (myself included). But pool chemistry has me seriously concerned because 1) I'm a n00b at it and 2) It is so easy to get it so wrong. I don't want to get sick, and I don't want anyone else getting sick.

Background: The tub was a floor model, but it will be cleaned/sanitized by the dealer before delivery. (It was apparently only filled for a few weeks and used 2-3 times, if I take the dealer at their word). It sounds like that's actually a good thing, as we'd have needed to do a clean/rise anyways. 

I've been feverishly reading about the dichlor-then-bleach method, which is, I think, the right method to use (and seems compatible with the @ease system....) It seems like the Frog company supplies a startup kit (dichlor) that's SUPPOSED to get you to around 1ppm FC, which may not be enough for me to calculate my CD? (And will get me a baseline CYA level, I think?)

I'm going according to this: 

The Taylor K-2006 test kit is on the way and will be here Thursday - just in time for my first daily test!

I'm sure the spa company will have their own, VERY strong opinions on how to balance the water chemistry. (They've already claimed you can shock once a week and that's enough). I have my doubts. We plan on using this a few times a week (2 of us) and there will also be heavy bather loads at some points soon (our friends and family are eager to use the heck out of this tub). I'm thinking I may need to have some MPS on hand to help the ol' chlorine out.

Pool chemistry gurus ... can you help a gal out? Chemistry was not my thing, but I AM good at being diligent. I will measure, and adjust, and drain and try again until I get this right.

I could use some help in understanding what I should do to set up the tub, and then going forward, to manage the @ease system properly. It will be dispensing chlorine, but I'm not sure of what variety, and how that figures into the equation :blink:. ( I can't figure out if it's trichlor, dichlor, or something else entirely.)

If I have the basics down, we'll need to do the following when we fill the tub (and to manage it):

  1. Adjust TA/ph. Make note of calcium (not sure what to do if calcium is high?)
  2. Use the frog startup kit to shock the ~410 gal spa. Measure FC. It seems like it will probably be somewhere between 1 to 5ppm or so (I've seen some folks claiming the higher end of that number), I don't think this packet of shock is very strong.... and I'm not sure if that's a concern.
  3. Wait 24 hours. (Obviously do not use spa since FC will be high). Measure FC again. Calculate CD as baseline. Adjust cartridge up if FC low, down if FC high.
  4. Start using tub.
  5. Keep measuring FC and adjusting cartridge up or down accordingly. 
  6. This is where it's important to know what the chemistry of the @ease chlorine is and whether it affects CYA - if it does not affect CYA, I should use dichlor after soaks until hitting target CYA value. If it does affect CYA, this could be complicated, because over time it will be hard to manage the FC level and I'll be forced to change the water. Once the CYA has hit the target level (~30 ppm CYA), we switch to unscented 6% bleach shock after bathing. Otherwise we use dichlor until we reach that level.
  7. Add MPS for high bather loads.

Can anyone tell me if I'm on the right path here?

 

 

 

Edited by S2k4Str
Revisiting ppm numbers
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It sounds like you're on the right track. Do yourself a big favor, purge it with Aah-some first. This will help prevent headaches in the upcoming months and provide assurance that it's clean.

You will need to test your chlorine one to two times a day initially until you get your process dialed in. You can use a simple OTO chlorine test (saves time) for most of your testing and use the more extensive chlorine test occasionally or if you are having problems.

Adjust your AK first following the instructions at the link below:

https://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/19149-lowering-total-alkalinity/

You can skip borates for now.

You want your AK between 50 and 80 and PH between 7.4 and 7.8

To be honest I would skip the @ease thing and measure the chlorine yourself. The mineral part of those things doesn't really do anything in my experience so all your getting is a very expensive disposable chlorine dispenser. It uses dichlor but there's no way to know how much is being added so you'll never be able to calculate your CYA level. See if they'll give you some Dichlor of similar value instead.

Use the pool calc link below to calculate how much dichlor to add to get your CYA up. This will probably take a few weeks. You can also use the tool to figure out how much acid to add for PH and AK adjustments as well. It also gives good guidelines for proper levels and tools for calculating all adjustments to your chemistry. After the CYA is around 30 to 40 switch to bleach.

https://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

No need for MPS. It will mess with your PH levels (acidic).

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what I found out, use a little bromide    A friend from Florida...I'm in the Northeast...he told me that chlorine only really works up to about 102 degrees......after that Bromide takes over.  When I first started mine. I went by the dealers instructions...it was cloudy almost all the time.....now that I'm adding bromide,,,,not much...just a few tablets in a floating device,,,added maybe once a week....my water is crystal clear.....something that I would love to have friends over to...

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Ack! arobbert, I should've taken your advice and done a Aah-some purge first! I'm in high CC land!

Decided to at least try the dealer's recommended approach - once. If my CYA levels got too high, no big - I was planning on a drain/refill anyways.

Filled the spa up, adjusted TA/ph. Everything went smoothly.

Started at (right after fill):

  • TA: 40
  • Ph: 6.8
  • Calcium: 450?

After adjustment and before dichlor/cartridges:

  • TA: 80
  • Ph: 7.2
  • Calcium: 250

 That's only with test strips, mind you. Threw in the @ease dichlor starter packet and the cartridges. Let that come up to temp.

Ran a test strip through this morning. It said everything was good, and chlorine was on the low-good side. (The @ease strips are totally binary - either your chlorine is "good" or it's not. I didn't like that at all)

Got my Taylor K2006 test kit today and started with chlorine, since I didn't have numbers on that. I was shocked! (Pun intended). Here is what it said compared to the test strips:

  • FC: 3.5ppm
  • CC: 3.5ppm (! - whoa!)

My combined chlorine was supah high! 

After doing some research, it seems like that could have been an effect from having put in the dichlor starter and leaving the cover on all night? I admit I was in a bit of a panic, and I did something probably inadvisable - I threw in the MPS they gave me. And I put in what is probably too much - I put in their recommended amount, which is 4 TBSP.

I let that run, and here are my retest results:

  • FC: 8.5ppm
  • CC: 2.5ppm
  • PH: 7.7-7.8 (using the Taylor test kit, not strips!)
  • TA = 90ppm (using Taylor, not strips)

I understand MPS will show as CC potentially on the readings. Would it possibly show as *FC* though? 

I really want to use my tub, but do I need to let that FC and CC level come down? If so, how do I do that properly?

Halp!:(

 

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It's 410 gallons. After we used it for about 2 hrs, (2 of us), the FC was at 6, but the CC had climbed to 4(!!!!). I'm going to retest in the morning. Methinks there's some biofilm in that thar tub! Ahhsome arrives tomorrow. I'm prepared to purge alllll weekend if I need to, to get this tub *actually* set up right.

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