Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: wmccall on August 28, 2008, 11:20:22 am
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As part of my moderator duties, I like to try and stay informed, so when I buy chemicals, I usually buy them from the different stores here in town and occasionally online. Well, I recently went to the HS dealer because my PH was a little high and I purchased som PH down, and it was the same brand as the dichlor I usually buy. The bottle looks the same,but its a different color, which is plainly visible, in daylight :'(.
Then when I needed Dichlor I stopped into the Sundance store and they had switched brands so I couldn't find it. The very cute young lady working the register told me they didn't sell dichlor. When I asked for Chlorine instead she gave me a bottle of Robarb's Chlorine Sanitizer (I think that is the brand) I resisted showing her the contents listing and left. That bottle is beige.
Well, it appears after our nightly soak for the past 5 nights I have been adding PH down instead of Dichlor after wards. Took 4 days for the water to go cloudy. :(
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As part of my moderator duties, I like to try and stay informed, so when I buy chemicals, I usually buy them from the different stores here in town and occasionally online. Well, I recently went to the HS dealer because my PH was a little high and I purchased som PH down, and it was the same brand as the dichlor I usually buy. The bottle looks the same,but its a different color, which is plainly visible, in daylight :'(.
Then when I needed Dichlor I stopped into the Sundance store and they had switched brands so I couldn't find it. The very cute young lady working the register told me they didn't sell dichlor. When I asked for Chlorine instead she gave me a bottle of Robarb's Chlorine Sanitizer (I think that is the brand) I resisted showing her the contents listing and left. That bottle is beige.
Well, it appears after our nightly soak for the past 5 nights I have been adding PH down instead of Dichlor after wards. Took 4 days for the water to go cloudy. :(
Yeah that's what happened with me...I mixed up my Rogaine and Viagra.
Now you know why I'm so hard headed and so hairy!! ;D ;) 8-)
I would just drain it and start over.
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Many years ago Leisure Time updated the look of their bottles - Spa up and Spa down looked exactly alike. It took a year or more before they realized how many people were mixing up the products, sometimes with expensive results.
They simply began to print the Down label in red, and left the Up label in blue. Problem solved.
But - just a couple of years ago they again updated the line with the gray bottles and color-coded caps. The balance products all have yellow caps. And once again, the two products are easy to mistake for each other.
So don't feel too bad Bill, it has happened to plenty of us. I have done similar things, and lots of my customers have as well. Here is Up next to Down - the pictures are different sizes but the bottles are identical.
(http://www.spaandpooldepot.com/images/lt-spa-up-2lb.jpg) (http://www.spaandpooldepot.com/images/lt-spa-down-2.5lb.jpg)
8-)
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I would just drain it and start over.
That is what I did, opened the drain last night and then got up at 6am this morning, had it filled by 7 and off to work by 7:30. Should be back to 102 for the soak tonight.
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So don't feel too bad Bill, it has happened to plenty of us. I have done similar things, and lots of my customers have as well. Here is Up next to Down - the pictures are different sizes but the bottles are identical.
(http://www.spaandpooldepot.com/images/lt-spa-up-2lb.jpg) (http://www.spaandpooldepot.com/images/lt-spa-down-2.5lb.jpg)
8-)
Thats the stuff, the Dichlor has a red cap, but it low light when we soak, I didn't notice what I had. I moved the PH down to a different shelf since I rarely need it.
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I use MPS with every soak and in order not to have to handle it each time, I fill plastic film canisters with my premeasured amount. This I can handle in daylight! If anyone wants to soak, they simply grab one out of a basket by the door.
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Labeling is definately a problem across the board. My poor dog had an abrasion on her eye. The vet prescribed an ointment which I faithfully applied for weeks..The abrasion became an ulcer and eventually required almost $1000.00 of surgery..which didn't work. :o :(
I decided that something had to be critically wrong and searched the internet for an answer. The eye ointment comes in two different formulations..one with cortisone, one without. The one with cortisone will prevent healing and actually cause corneal ulcers. :-/So, you probably guessed that for weeks and weeks I applied the ointment that just made things worse. >:( :(
My first appointment for this issue was in early March, it wasn't until June that the eye finally healed. The labeling on the tubs appears so similar that you would have to read the fine print to differentiate the tubes. The only obvious difference is the shade of color in one stripe on the tubes. Needless to say I was very upset...but mainly with a manufacturer who ignores the obvious. >:( >:(..labeling is a critical element to everything...
And Bill, what I do for my spa chems is to label the top cap using a sharpie, that way I only look at the label once..to assure the cap is correctly labeled! I unknowingly bought spa shock for my tub instead of enhanced shock. Spaguard labels them identically...you have to read the small print on the front label to tell the difference. My technician noticed the difference..I never would have. (and actually I don't even know the difference but he says I should be using the enhanced!) If this didn't happen to me..I would be saying it's a "guy thing"..kind of like how guys don't read the instructions ;) ;D
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Boni...Sorry to hear about your dog's eye. That would be very frustrating! Glad to hear his eye finally healed.
I do the same with my spa chemicals...label the lid with a Sharpie. It's just too easy to mix them up.
Since you brought it up, does anyone know the difference between spa shock and enhanced shock?? I'm not even sure which one I'm using....
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We had a gal in one of our other stores who sold Leisure time PH balance and calcium booster on a regular basis and told the customer to add entire btls of each ::) Shes no longer with us I killed her. :-X
Anybody here know what happens when you do that???
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We had a gal in one of our other stores who sold Leisure time PH balance and calcium booster on a regular basis and told the customer to add entire btls of each ::) Shes no longer with us I killed her. :-X
Anybody here know what happens when you do that???
Is that when you get the dreaded sandpaper finish on the shell?
I lived through that. I was sick with fear that I had destroyed my tub. :P
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Is that when you get the dreaded sandpaper finish on the shell?
I lived through that. I was sick with fear that I had destroyed my tub. :P
Close! but no cigar.
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I will guess.....it causes major amounts(piles) of scale which clog the filter and make a general mess in the plumbing and jets along with piles of it floating around the tub.....
I label in black marker for all our customers what each chemical is and how much to use on the bottle if they want me to. It seems to work well for them.
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I will guess.....it causes major amounts(piles) of scale which clog the filter and make a general mess in the plumbing and jets along with piles of it floating around the tub.....
I label in black marker for all our customers what each chemical is and how much to use on the bottle if they want me to. It seems to work well for them.
We have a winner!!
It basically turns the water into a lovely milky white color and clogs the filters with a white gummy like substance that is a major pain in the arse.
I started getting calls (being I am the service mngr) from people in that area of that store. Couldn't figure out why it was happening all of a sudden so much. Then I looked at the sales history of that store and bingo.
We had to refund quite a few customers for the chems they bought. I was not a happy camper,either way she is no longer with us. We have lots of training chem wise for our sales people but she was more into the patio end than spas and thought she was being helpfull. :D
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Shes no longer with us I killed her. :-X
Anybody here know what happens when you do that???
You get sent up the river if you get caught!!!