System Flush - Swirl Away - Spa Purge ? ? ?

[rin-spa-aic]

I've been maintaining a spa for over 20 years and have never once used these products.

There has just never been a problem that a super chlorinate, drain, and refill operation could not solve.
Maybe occasionally throw a new filter in the mix.

I've seen reference to these products a number of times since joining the forum and I'm about to do the quarterly drain/refill on tub at the house, and thought maybe to throw one of these into the mix.

Since I didn't see any type of definitive or recent dedicated thread, I wanted to pose these questions feel out the wtbht community for specific experiences using these products.

• Is the consensus that these type of products are recommended as part routine maintenance?
• What is your experience with these products?
• Is one more highly recommended over another?
• Is there any potential negative to using these types of products?

Thanks in advance for any feedback you want to provide.

[Tman122]

The first time I used one was strictly experimental. It was Swirl Away. After that I did it once a year because lots of slim was removed from my pipes and floating on the water. I have used several different brands. Can't really tell you which is the best they all seem to work.

[TdiDave]

Not that I have a lot of experience, but I used the SeaKlear Spa-System-Flush on my relatively new tub on my water change and get a nice layer of scum that come from some place. Always had nice clean water before the flush and after.

[chem geek]

On another spa forum, Spa System Flush was found to usually be more effective than Swirl Away.  One could use Spa System Flush after Swirl Away and get more grease out of the plumbing, but not vice versa.  There's also Ahh-Some Water Cleanser where there are Montana State University reports at least with regard to biofilm reduction.

Superchlorination works reasonable well when there is not a lot of material, but for a new spa that may have biofilms from leftover water in the pipes after wet testing or have grease/oils, these products can dislodge them (via strong surfactants and ADBAC) faster than chlorine can break them down.

[rin-spa-aic]

. . .There's also Ahh-Some Water Cleanser  . . .

Interesting. The town where it says its made is nearby, gonna ask around and see if anyone knows the guy.

[rin-spa-aic]

Update. My buddies didn't know the guy, but I went ahead and purchased the Ahh-some anyway.

The Ahh-some didn't appear to ship in time to make it for this weekend's quarterly cleaning, so I put in another order for SeaKlear Spa System Flush.

Friday night I added half a bottle of SeaKlear Spa System Flush and ran the tub full cycle (both pumps high, air blower) three times before going to bed.
The Spa System Flush turned the water a light aquamarine color but did not foam excessively. At one point I saw about a 4" patch of brown bubbles forming and that was it.  No build up of slime around the water line.
I was a little surprised after seeing some of the results on-line, but feeling confident as my water has been clear since the tub was purchased and has been relatively well maintained chemically.

I couldn't get to the tub until Saturday afternoon.  I had just pulled the drain plug and was about to leave the house when the DW mentioned there was a package outside.
The Ahh-some had arrived.
So I put the cap back on the drain and added the prescribed amount of Ahh-some and turned the tub back on high.  After about 10 minutes the tub was foaming, mostly white foam and I could still see the chunks of "gel" bobbing around in the tub.
By the end of 20 minutes a light green slime with some yellow and beige tones was starting to build up around the perimeter.
The Ahh-Some also appeared to give the water and effervescence, fizzing unlike the SeaKlear.

I ran it one more time and left it overnight.

First thing in the morning I went to work on the tub. Overall there was not much slime, it built up in the corners and head rest areas mostly. I would say maybe 30% of the perimeter had slime build up with maybe <10% of the perimeter having heavy slime.
The slime wiped off easily with a wet cloth.

I drained the tub, rinsed and wiped the residue, and suctioned the remaining water off the bottom before wiping with towels, and then filled it back up.

Last night the tub was back up and functioning and I went in for a soak. I noticed that there was still a slick feel around some areas of the perimeter of the tub although there was no visible slime (at night).
This morning I went and checked it out and saw a couple of small patches of yellowish residue, which I wiped off.
Just now I watched the Ahh-Some video and the guy mentions filling and draining two times after the treatment.  I'm not sure I want to have an extra separate rinse cycle added to my regimen, but next time I will certainly take more care after the draining to rinse out all the lines with the hose and blow them before refilling.


Conclusion:
Inconclusive as to the effectiveness of either product based on the fact I double stacked them (used SeaKlear then AhhSome in immediate succession.)
I'd like to believe the spa was in good shape and that's why I didn't get much out.
Next time I'll try the AhhSome first and see what the results are.
Extra care must be taken in rinsing after these products are used.


Originally I had it in my head that these products might be voodoo magic that just combined with your spa chemicals to foam and form a slime. After getting almost no residue build up with the SeaKlear I think that probably isn't the case.

[mandtra]

I tried the Leisure time jet clean , and it didn't seem to do anything , but cause a lot of trouble after the refill with foaming , and i did try to rinse , and rinse and  more rinse