Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: cappykat on November 07, 2005, 08:16:18 pm
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Let's see, we've had our spa a week and our water has been clear and clean. That is until today. On Friday night 4 of us used the spa. We covered it up and checked it today to do our first weekly chemical routine.
Oh wow....cloudy, yukky water! I figured I might as well try to do the chemicals, so I used the test strip and the PH was between 7.8-8.4 and the alkalinity was high (180).
I cleaned the filters, put in 2 lbs. of PH down according to directions, and 3 ozs. of shock according to directions. Now my readings are:
Hardness: 250
Bromine: 10 (within limits)
PH: ??? very yellow not even within the color ranges
Alkalinity: Very low
So, now what do I do? Oh, and about 3 ozs. of clarifier.
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So, now what do I do? Oh, and about 3 ozs. of clarifier.
Now you leave it alone and let the filter clean it up, the only thing I would advise you to do in the future is, after a heavy bather use, add a dose of shock and run the jets for 10 minutes.
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wait....did I misread or was that 2lbs of ph down....I think you need to add some di chlor....outside of the ph
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Get your ph and alk back to within range, shock the water and in the future, just shock it before you get that many people into the water. You'll be fine.
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Thanks, Guzz.
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Mendo...no, you didn't misread--2lbs of PH Down. That's what the instructions said for a PH reading of 8.0-8.4.
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Dichlor?? I'm not using that--we are using bromine.
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try a product called ezspa i been using it for over 3 years with shock.
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I'm confused??You should shock before you get people in the spa?
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You pH is waaaay low. 2lbs is a lot of pH down. What told you to put that much in out of curiousity? Some more experienced folks should weigh in, but I think after that, I'd get that water out of there asap and refill it. Your TDS is going to be high after that anyway. Rather than waste a bunch of alkalinity or pH up. Punt.
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Cappycat,
Wow! 2 lbs of PH- is far too much, for a 500 gallon or less spa. Typical increments are usually 2 oz, not punds. It could take almost 2 lbs of PH+ to get it back up. I'm sure your test strip color for the PH Test is Yellow, as low as it goes. When adjusting water, add 2 oz at a time and retest, till your ph and alkalinity is in range. A 2lb container will usually last about 3 months. Start adding PH+ with small dosages and see how it goes. Let the filter do its job . If it is really bad and the levels are that low, you could dump the water and start frresh.Always check your water chemistry "prior" to shocking, as chlorine shock can raise ph levels slightly. Goodluck. Dave.
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Cappycat,
Wow! 2 lbs of PH- is far too much, for a 500 gallon or less spa. Typical increments are usually 2 oz, not punds. It could take almost 2 lbs of PH+ to get it back up.
Dave is right it should have been 2 oz not pounds....I would also as it was mentioned suggest draining and refilling....remember when correcting your water it is always in small dozes not in gallons or pounds ....
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OMG!!! I am an idiot!! You shall write that on the board 50 times!! Geez Louise, I went and got the pH down so I could type the directions...and what should I see in the bright of day???
Dosage Required per 10,000 gal
No, it wasn't in red but somehow I totally missed that!!! Gee, you think that might be my problem :-[ :-/
I'm going to drain the water and start over. I'm not going to do another thing until my husband gets home. He can take over and fix my mess...LOL!
Hey, at least I've provided humor for the day for everyone reading this! ;D
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I'm going to drain the water and start over. I'm not going to do another thing until my husband gets home. He can take over and fix my mess...LOL!
Hey, at least I've provided humor for the day for everyone reading this! ;D
cappykat,
Think of it as an opportunity to try out some of the interesting suggestions in this new thread: popular way of draining spa (http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=wtb-hottub;action=display;num=1131418506) ;D ;D
Phil
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2lbs, where the heck do you get 2 lbs to begin with! I don't keep that much on hand.
I can't really comment on your water balance as I do not use bromine. But the one problem I had when I first got my tub was try to micro manage the chems. Just relax and double check the instructions on the bottles and its better to add a little of what is required and then let the chems do their job for at least a couple of hours before you recheck or even till the next day.
But with adding 2 lbs I would say drain and refill your TDS will be through the roof!
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Thanks, Phil. I copied it and sent it to my husband at work.
Our water had been so clean and clear. So after you have several people in the spa you should shock it? How much shock?
We've been doing our weekly maintenance on Saturday, so if we have people over and use it on Friday, do we shock it afterwards and then again on Saturday as part of our routine?
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I concur. Drain and fill. With pH that low, the sooner the better. When I adjust pH, whether up or down, I add at most a tblspn at a time and check.
BTW, adding dichlor to a bromine spa is a great way to clear cloudy water. Also good for heavy bather load.
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The pH down that we got from the dealer in our start-up chems is a 3lb bottle. It was the instructions on the bottle that got me into trouble...that and the fact that I didn't notice dosage required per 10,000 gallons :-[
Stl-rex said to get the water emptied ASAP. Can it wait until husband gets home tonight?
Oh, what is TDS?
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Cat,
Sorry to hear about your water problems. :( The only problems I've had is with alk and pH. Kinda hard to keep 'em balanced. When I first got my Epic, I was using some MPS when we got out. After reading many threads on this board and talking a dealer, I decided to try some di-chlor. Now, I use 1 tsp. per bather AFTER we're done. Leave the jets on and cover off until the jets turn off (15-20 min.). I find it hard to read those test strips. I take a sample to the dealer once a week. Whenever I've had to add anything it's been in 1/2 or 1/4 cup. You might want to program an extra filter cycle. Call your dealer and see what he/she thinks. Along with the factory settings, I have a 2 hour cycle in the late morning and late night. I figure I run the pool filter 12+ hrs per day (yeah, I know it's more water), so some more fliter time for the spa can't hurt (other than my electric bill! :D). Good luck and keep us posted!
drprwnap 8)
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Personally, if you are doing maintenance on Saturday, I wouldn't waste the chems on Friday night. You're going to super sanitize/oxidize the tub on Saturday anyway. We do chems on Sunday. I don't care for how the water feels the day we do the chems so if we have folks over on a Saturday, I don't want that chemical feel in the tub. It's feel harsher/harder/more drying, probably due to the high Bromine I guess. Monday it feels great again, very silky, but not slimy as the bromine levels have dropped back to maintenance level.
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Don't feel to bad. I screwed up a bit too. I was using a liquid test kit. It was telling me I was acidic. I kept adding pH up and it was going nowhere. When I dipped a test strip - DOH! Too high. Something was interfering with the indicator solution. Had to bring it back down. I bought a pH meter off ebay that day. I hate deciphering the minor color variations of both the strips and liquid. It's too "light" dependent. Even at these temps, the pH variation due to temperatue is limited if you are close to neutral. I'll take a 7.6 reading on a pH meter as good enough. I've played with turning the jets on to move the water around, swirling it, taking water out and testing it and they all yield roughly the same number so now I just dip swirl and read. $30 with shipping.
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Cappykat,
sorry to hear that you will be tubless for a bit. You folks got your tub just a day before we did and I would be bummed if I had to empty the beast already and go without spatopia for a while.
Hopefully you will be back in action soon. Don't be embarrassed by this "oops" as i think the chemicals are a learning experience. As a newbie I am always checking and rechecking chem levels (will go through all my test strips by next week if I keep up this pace), but I am sure that once we get used to the chems, we will throw a bit in and forget about it. Most likely, in a year from now we will be forgetting to put in chemicals.
Hopefullyy we can both take nickers advice and not micro-manage our spas...throw in litte amounts and let the filter and chems do the work.
hope it all works out!
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...We've been doing our weekly maintenance on Saturday, so if we have people over and use it on Friday, do we shock it afterwards and then again on Saturday as part of our routine?
I've been using bromine. too. I use a bromine shock, not that it matters. If I had people over Friday night, I would add a couple of ounces of shock later that evening and for Saturday, just the normal maintenance.
Phil
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If it were me, I'd be adding "ph up" to get out of the severely acidic range that you must be in now (protect the tub!!) and drain as soon as the ph is close to neutral (neutral being a ph of 7)...neutralizing to protect wherever it is you are draining to (I drain into my sink). This will likely take a number of doses. If you know how to do this, I wouldn't wait for your husband, and once drained, I'd fill asap and balance ph. I'm not sure, but it might even take a fill and flush (that sure wouldn't hurt if you've got the time).
BTW... TDS is "total dissolved solids"
Good luck!
Steve