Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Tatooed_Lady on January 11, 2007, 12:55:16 pm
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I'm a bit confused...I'd read on this forum that ozone has a sweet smell, and it's been said that it smells something like fresh watermelon...I've got the '06 Grandee with ozone, and I've never smelled anything CLOSE to a fresh, sweet smell...I asked the fill-in sales people at the dealer I bought my tub from, and they looked at each other, then at me and said it's more of a 'funky' smell.....now THAT I have smelled, and I know it's not chlorine or bromine. Especially when first opening the cover, I get that face-full of steamy funk. I've checked sanitizer levels, which were fine, and even shocked because I thought it must be time for it....Even after washing the tri-x filters in the dishwasher and refilling with fresh water, it's still not a sweet smell.....is it possible that the translation of what it smells like is in the nostril of the beholder?
The sales guy said he's been in the business the past 15 years, so I assume he knows FAR more than me, in this... :-?
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Remember the smell that old laser printers and copiers made? That's ozone. I can smell ozone right when I lift the cover on my tub.
Watermelon???
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You can also smell ozone right after a very big thunderstorm. That fresh smell that you get is the ozone. It does not last long. If you are getting a foul smell when you open the cover, I would check your water!
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I've also heard a few folks compare it to watermelon ( A fresh, light somewhat sweet smell). But personaly don't think it smells that way. It is light, and I think slighty antiseptic hint to it. I don't find it offensive in the least, but have never thought "ohh watermellons".
Really wanna smell it? I went to a home show and there was a whole aisle dedicated to several vendors selling air purifiers using O3. :)
When I first open my tub cover I can smell it.
Which on a side note is part of my "check before getting in" is Smell.
Smell, look, feel the water. (Clean, fresh, clear, light.) Run the jets notice clarity, opaicity, bubbles, -turn the jets off- time how long to clear.
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I have the same thoughts on the smell as Drew.
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.....Smell, look, feel the water. (Clean, fresh, clear, light.) Run the jets notice clarity, opaicity, bubbles, -turn the jets off- time how long to clear.
"Atomic batteries to power."
check
"Turbines to speed!"
;D
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"Atomic batteries to power."
check
"Turbines to speed!"
;D
Exactly. And being a complete Batman nut, I have in the past said that too myself....which reminds me of a question I've been meaning to pick a few brains around here about, I have a switch that I'd like to use to open a panel. I've been playing with the idea for a while on how to do this and wonder if the motors that some spas use for pop up speakers (they are motors right?) would work?
Here's the switch:
(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/GodlikeMoron/shakespeare_bust.jpg)
I'd like to have it slide up a panel or picture.
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The pop up speakers I saw seemed to be on more of a spring and gear system.
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The pop up speakers I saw seemed to be on more of a spring and gear system.
well that's no good. :P
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The pop speakers on my Optima are spring powered. Push down and they pop up.
But I don't think rigging up little electric motors would be all that hard. While you're at it, put on a motor to open the cover, turn on the lights, power up the stereo, and activate the jets. That would be really cool controlled by the bat cave head.
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I want it to slide open a panel on my bar. And yea, an electric motor sounds obvious, but it's far from my forte' and I haven't a clue as were to begin.
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That would be a challenge, no doubt. Unless you are friends with Adam Savage or Jamie Heineman, or others in the Mythbusters crew. Your project sounds right up their alley. Unfortunately, I'd not really know how to proceed either.
Would you want that Star Trek elevator door opening sound too?
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Star trek sound? Come on! That's just silly...or is it? Hmmmmmm. ;) some one just reminded me that there's a company that hides flat screen TVs behing artwork that automaticly roll up...I'm thinking I may have this solved...well I need to build the built-in bar first. ;)
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Absolutely smells like watermelons to me....
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Tat, If you've never washed the under side of your cover with a chlorine wash, it's time. Top sides of spa too. Maybe do it a second time in a day or two. Then check for the smell. If you put your nose right over where the bubbles come up there should be some ozone smell. If not, get 'em to check the ozone.
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Yep, it smells like fresh watermelon to me. TL, take a light whiff of the bubbles when you're in the tub. You should be able to smell something.
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Exactly. And being a complete Batman nut, I have in the past said that too myself....which reminds me of a question I've been meaning to pick a few brains around here about, I have a switch that I'd like to use to open a panel. I've been playing with the idea for a while on how to do this and wonder if the motors that some spas use for pop up speakers (they are motors right?) would work?
Here's the switch:
(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j61/GodlikeMoron/shakespeare_bust.jpg)
I'd like to have it slide up a panel or picture.
Hey Drew,
Riddle me this...
Who's the Joker who posts Penquin pictures and jumps in his hot tub to avoid Mr. Freeze?
;D ;D ;D
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Tat, If you've never washed the under side of your cover with a chlorine wash, it's time. Top sides of spa too. Maybe do it a second time in a day or two. Then check for the smell. If you put your nose right over where the bubbles come up there should be some ozone smell. If not, get 'em to check the ozone.
I haven't done a chlorine wash on the cover, but last night during our soak I DID sniff the bubbles (but NOT the ones hubby made all on his own :o ) and could smell that "funky" smell, and I sniffered by one of the corners (away from bubbles) and I smelled the sanitizer-y smell....sooooo.....I'm guessing that the 'funky' smell is the ozone, since that's where I smelled it 'at the source'. I'm still balancing out the TA and pH, but that shouldn't make a difference in the smell, should it??
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Hi TTL!
In another post I had tried to describe a method to "capture" the bubbles coming from the ozonator pump train so that you can then "smell" the collected gas to determine if ozone was present. It involved a glass jar or tumbler, inverted, held over the bubbles until the gas displaced the water, covering the opening and raising the container to the surface, putting it right-side up again and then smelling (quickly) the gas.
That works, but I wanted to mention another approach that you and others might find easier. Obtain a small-diameter tube that is long enough to go from a perhaps a half-foot above the water in your tub down to the "ozone" bubbles that are coming from the bottom of your tub. This can be as simple as a 1/2" piece of copper piping or PVC. It can be larger than 1/2", but that may cause some problems. Using the pipe, place one end over a spot the bubbles are emerging and raise the pipe to the vertical position. Your goal is to get enough bubbles to rise within the pipe so that the air in the pipe that is above your water level gets replaced by the gas of the bubbles. Depending on how many bubbles you are getting, this may take a while - or it may not work at all. But if you hold the pipe in place and give it a minute or so and then start smelling the end of the pipe, sooner or later you should smell something other than "air" - if you do, then it pretty much has to be ozone (regardless of whether it smells funky, like watermelons, clean, etc. - those are all sort of subjective descriptions that may not apply for all "smellers").
The key is that you need to wait long enough so that the air in the pipe / tube (above the water level) is pretty much displaced by the bubbles from your ozonator.
Best,
Vermonter
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Hi TTL!
In another post I had tried to describe a method to "capture" the bubbles coming from the ozonator pump train so that you can then "smell" the collected gas to determine if ozone was present. It involved a glass jar or tumbler, inverted, held over the bubbles until the gas displaced the water, covering the opening and raising the container to the surface, putting it right-side up again and then smelling (quickly) the gas.
That works, but I wanted to mention another approach that you and others might find easier. Obtain a small-diameter tube that is long enough to go from a perhaps a half-foot above the water in your tub down to the "ozone" bubbles that are coming from the bottom of your tub. This can be as simple as a 1/2" piece of copper piping or PVC. It can be larger than 1/2", but that may cause some problems. Using the pipe, place one end over a spot the bubbles are emerging and raise the pipe to the vertical position. Your goal is to get enough bubbles to rise within the pipe so that the air in the pipe that is above your water level gets replaced by the gas of the bubbles. Depending on how many bubbles you are getting, this may take a while - or it may not work at all. But if you hold the pipe in place and give it a minute or so and then start smelling the end of the pipe, sooner or later you should smell something other than "air" - if you do, then it pretty much has to be ozone (regardless of whether it smells funky, like watermelons, clean, etc. - those are all sort of subjective descriptions that may not apply for all "smellers").
The key is that you need to wait long enough so that the air in the pipe / tube (above the water level) is pretty much displaced by the bubbles from your ozonator.
Best,
Vermonter
Take a funnel, attatch a length of hose to it's spout, invert the funnel over the O3 port, and the run the hose/tub up to smell for ozone. similair to the sniffer funnels you see dangling from the bumber of Gas Co vans.
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Take a funnel, attatch a length of hose to it's spout, invert the funnel over the O3 port, and the run the hose/tub up to smell for ozone. similair to the sniffer funnels you see dangling from the bumber of Gas Co vans.
Perfect! I like it. Thanks, drewstar!
Vermonter
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actually would it really work? wouldnt the hose just fill with water being pushed by the circ pump?
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I have heard people describe the smell from "fresh" to "sickly sweet". I think it all depends on how your "sniffer" interperets it. I have an ozone air purifier, with controlable ozone. When it is set to low, it smells fine; when I have the setting up to high, it makes me gag. Natural ozone is nature's oxidizer formed by lighting (in thunderstorms) adding an extra electron to an Oxygen molecule. However in man-made-situations and too high of a concentration, it is a pollutant, potentially deadly, and smells foul.
Neo
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drewstar,
I had the same thought and true, it might be a problem, but the water flow should follow the path of least resistance. So, if you offset the funnel slightly, the bulk of the water flow should take the path of least resistance and go around (bypass) the funnel but enough of the bubbles should still go up so that you get the concentrating effect you are going after.
This is a bit interesting from another standpoint. Several years ago I wanted to confirm or refute allegations that HS heaters put out water that had temperatures above regulation based levels. Claims were being made by one individual that the water was much above what spec's allowed.
In that case I used a 4 " diameter section of PVC pipe and a NBS (National Bureau of Standards) calibrated thermometer probe and tried to do what you are concerned about - namely capture all the flow from the recirc pump (which carries all the water from the HS heater), let it come to equilibrium and then monitor the temperature to confirm steady-state.
I forget the exact measurement, but as I recall, the temperature was about 120'F - and was within the regulatory level being cited by the individual as being significantly exceeded by HS heaters.
The relevance of this to the present situation is that I found it was critical to position the pipe completely over the drain / heater return fitting. If I didn't, then the temperature would drop a few tenths of a degree due to my capturing some of the regular tub water vs. the water coming directly from the heater. This makes me think that the problem you mention can probably be avoided - but I don't know. If you try it, please report back. I'll definitely try it myself sometime in the not too distant future.
Best,
Vermonter
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Well, if you wanted to take some time to build a o3 sniffer and collector, use an inverted funnel attatched to some piping. On the other other end, would rigging of some sort of "seperator" work? I'm thinking on making a bend in the pipe that allows the water to drain off, but allow the o3 to rise off above it and into a collection chamber? This could be something as simple as 90 degree 'T" or collection to bowl /chamber with a slow bottom drain.
or pehaps something like a mix between what brewers use to watch the outgas/fermentation from a vat, (Breman help me out here...) or perhaps a diverter valve similliar to the those found at the end of a snorkel?
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Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but in brewing beer the fermenter needs to be vented to allow the CO2 that is created by fermentation to escape.
This is typically done by an airlock- the airlock lets CO2 escape out into the atmosphere, but will not allow anything to flow into the fermenter.
The CO2 that escapes is just vented into the atmosphere- it's not captured. Which is a little ironic since CO2 needs to be added back at some point to give the beer it's carbonation.
Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but that's how it works in brewing.
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Well, if you wanted to take some time to build a o3 sniffer and collector, use an inverted funnel attatched to some piping. On the other other end, would rigging of some sort of "seperator" work? I'm thinking on making a bend in the pipe that allows the water to drain off, but allow the o3 to rise off above it and into a collection chamber? This could be something as simple as 90 degree 'T" or collection to bowl /chamber with a slow bottom drain.
or pehaps something like a mix between what brewers use to watch the outgas/fermentation from a vat, (Breman help me out here...) or perhaps a diverter valve similliar to the those found at the end of a snorkel?
I'm guessing you may have built a bong or two back in the day? ;D
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I'm guessing you may have built a bong or two back in the day? ;D
No sir, officer.
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:o all I can say to this thread at this point is "wow"...I didn't think it'd get this much interest, but I'm glad it has! I didn't do the funneled tube to the exit point to the sniffer test, just cupped my hand slightly over the point that the bubbles hit the top of the water, took a whiff, and went from there....guess as technical as I CAN be, that was more of a "wing it" style.
So, if I'm reading the last post by neo correctly....a funky odor could mean that there's too MUCH ozone being produced?