Salt water system help

[Rimmit]

So we got a brand new hot tub on Nov 5th.  It is a Hot springs flash.  It has a salt water system but I have been having a heck of a time getting a residual.  No matter how much dichlor or bleach I have added throughout the day, by the next AM it is always zero.

I did the initial fill, balanced the water, used the vanishing act to get the CH to 50ppm which is the recommended level for the salt water system. 
 

I was adding anywhere from 3-6 tbsp of dichlor the first three days until my dealer told me to switch to 3 cups of bleach instead of the 1.5 tbsp of dichlor which I had been adding multiple times a day.

we use the hot tub for a cumulative man hours of anywhere from 6 to 1 hour per day since we have had it.

We put some phosphate remover per dealer recs and after 4 days of using that still no residual despite the system being at max output, and the salt level is optimum.

 

we have dumped the water today and did a refill and are starting from scratch.  We went straight to liquid bleach this time as the dealer is worried about cya lock.  We have since balanced the water (didn’t require anything) and are using the vanishing act now.  Any other thoughts.  Hopefully the dump and refill will reset everything, but the whole reason we got the salt water system was to reduce the maintenance and I am checking the water continuously as the FC is always zero and I am Paranoid we are gonna start growing stuff if we can’t get a residual.

[RDspaguy]

Do you have ozone or uv? Both will burn off chlorine.

Purge with Ahhsome spa cleaner repeatedly until no new gunk comes out. Follow instructions and be sure to wipe up the brownish gunk as it appears on your shell. Drain and refill. You would be shocked at what can grow in the pipes of a spa after wet testing at the factory and then sitting in storage and shipping across country with residual water in there. The resulting bacterial biofilm will eat up chlorine and not be bothered a bit.

@castletonia, anything to add?

[Rimmit]

Thanks. I mentioned the biofilm but the dealer said that is unlikely, but I find that hard to believe, given the stories on here and pics I see.  Think he is just trying to deny a real world problem there.

 

interesting enough, This am after the dump and refill,  I had a chlorine residual finally after 13 days of owning this tub.  Looks like about 3ppm this AM after putting in 3 cups of bleach yesterday, and setting the Salt system to 8/10.  Finally!!  We’ll see what happens today and tomorrow.

[castletonia]

I would definitely think biofilm.  I've had a few random hot tubs that were of similar situation to yours that needed a ton of chlorine at startup.  Now, if you have ozone installed along with the salt system then you  are likely to never have much of a chlorine residual to begin with.  I've also had better luck when my customers refrain from using the hot tub for the first 48 hours after refill because it allows the chlorine you initially add to disinfect and allows the salt system to get ahead of itself vs trying catch up if you use the hot tub on day one

[Rimmit]

We don’t have ozone or UV.  We didn’t use the hot tub in the first 24 hours this time and likely at least 36 hours to give the salt system time to rev up instead of playing catch-up like you said.  We’ll see what happens, but this encouraging after dumping more bleach than I can count.  If it is still a problem I will definitely use the aahhsome despite what the dealer says.

[Stealthfixr]

I also have a new salt water spa, a Caldera Geneva, and my chlorine level is constantly low despite the generator cartridge being less than two months old and plenty of salt in the water. Constantly getting a Freshwater "Low/Inactive Status" warning, and low to no chlorine via test strips. pH is right at 7.35 (yes, I have a meter). After messing with this problem for weeks, I am about to dump and start over. Is this common?