Nfuego Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 We had a new Spa installed on July 25th... The store we bought the spa from is very reputable and is usually very helpful. Their instructions, along with several people's comments about how easy it is to care for a spa had me a bit lax on water conditioning right off the bat... We used the spa the 25th, 26th, 27th (just my wife and I), then on the 28th we had friends over for some lunch and cold drinks before heading to a baseball game that afternoon. Our friends swim suits quickly filled the hot tub with soap bubbles... We washed the filters that day. The 29th, we had my wife's parents over and the hot tub got used a lot again. We washed the filters again. But, because of my lack of knowledge and instruction, I didn't really mess with the chemicals TOO much for a couple days...the water was a bit cloudy at this point... I came down with Folliculitis after using the hot tub Wednesday night (Aug 1) and then sitting in my swimsuit on our deck and watching a baseball game. I went to the Dr. on Friday, started taking some steroids and antibiotic and am getting better now. In my start up chemical package, I was given: Ph Up Ph Minus Liquid chlorine SeaQuest All Activator Some spray for Foam Bottle of Clear When the water became cloudy, I started TRYING to remedy the problem. I knew the PH was high. I knew the chlorine was LOW. Stabilizer was low. The instructions told me to add 3 oz of chlorine per week, wait 30 minutes and add Activator. I did this in the morning and would come home from work to NO chlorine. I'd do it again. In the morning, no chlorine. I finally got impatient and just started adding 4 or 5 oz of chlorine and activator...no help...I kept it up putting more and more in there until I got the chlorine levels HIGH...this took a couple days. I'm HOPING that this will kill whatever caused my outbreak. They have been high now for about 3 days. My PH was High, so I lowered it...maybe too far...and will adjust again. I have read on here about wiping down all the surfaces with high chlorinated water and will do that. In you folks opinion, is my tub going to be ok to get back into? Should I drain it? I also have a question about the test strips...given the list of chemicals I have at this point, what is my stabilizer? My test strips show that "test", but I have no idea what it is...and the installers said to kind of ignore that one. Also, speaking of the test strips...the oranges and reds of the PH test are baffling to me...maybe I have a orange/red bit of color blindness or something, but I was wondering if anyone here uses and trusts any particular ELECTRONIC tester for the water? I would much rather have a digital readout telling me that my PH is 7.4 rather than hoping that orange felt looks pretty much like the little box on the bottle, when I can't really tell if it looks 7.4 or 8.2!!! If you do like an electronic PH tester, is there one that will test all the chemicals for a hot tub (one that isn't $500)...??? Thank you everyone for providing so much helpful information in this forum. You really go out of your way to help complete strangers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SugarBear Posted August 7, 2007 Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 The test strips are terrible. I had a very hard time reading them. Try this site I bought the Pocket Colorimeter 4A. It is very reliable and when you check it against the strips, you will see why you have problems. The strips seem to say that everything is OK, but when I use the meter, things are way off. Have not had a problem since using it. I'm sure Waterbear or one of the Chemical experts will chime in to give you the correct Chlorine treatment. I use Bromine because it's a weekend home and with it I can get away from daily Chlorine treatments. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nfuego Posted August 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 Just a note...the "Stabilizer" I use must be another bottle of chemical that I have called "Alkalinity Plus"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nfuego Posted August 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2007 The test strips are terrible. I had a very hard time reading them. Try this site I bought the Pocket Colorimeter 4A. It is very reliable and when you check it against the strips, you will see why you have problems. The strips seem to say that everything is OK, but when I use the meter, things are way off. Have not had a problem since using it. I'm sure Waterbear or one of the Chemical experts will chime in to give you the correct Chlorine treatment. I use Bromine because it's a weekend home and with it I can get away from daily Chlorine treatments. Good Luck! Thanks very much SugarBear. I went to that website and was surprised to see the ColorQ PRO 7 Water Analyzer, Complete Kit - was reasonable. I assumed it would be very expensive... Before I jump the gun and purchase this item, has anyone else used the ColorQ Pro 7? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nfuego Posted August 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2007 Just a quick note to all that have viewed this topic. I re-entered the hot tub last night after 4 days of working on the water chemical levels. All is well today. No skin problems. I was amazed how the levels of chlorine dove off after a 30 minute soak. I know now to check the chemicals after using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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