What's happening to my free cholrine?

[ewaba]

Ok my friends, I'm really hoping someone can help me as I'm just about to lose it with my hot tub......  After 5 days away and no use while gone i came home to a cloudy hot tub with an odour.  Now I realize that since we were gone and no daily sanitizer was put in so that can happen.  So on our return, I shocked the tub with a non chlorine shock.  I ensured the alkalinity and ph were within normal limits and added stabalized chlorine granules as per guidelines.  Next day no free chlorine in tub per strips.  We added more stabalized chlorine and that night same thing..... no free chlorine.  It appears that we have total chlorine but no free.  I took a sample in for testing...... Free Chlorine 0, Total Chlorine 0.45, combined chlorines 0.45.  I came home and shocked again, then again put in more stabalized chlorine.  Now after lots of research on internet I heard about the chlorine demand that has to be met.......Do i need to keep adding chlorine till the demand is met?  I'm getting very confused 

What should i do next?  It is winter here in Canada and not a good time to dump water.  I last cleaned and put new water in early November, put new microfilter on and increased my circulation and filtration cycles.  I cleaned the larger cycle this weekend also.  I really want to use my tub but since there is no free chlorine I am hesitant.  Please Help!!!!!   BTW I have a Chelsea Model Sundance Spa. 780 series.

Thanks Barb

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

" I shocked the tub with a non chlorine shock" ... Great. That'll oxidize and dead organics, but wont kill anything.

" I ensured the alkalinity and ph were within normal limits and" ... and what are these "normal limits" that you consider?

"added stabalized chlorine granules as per guidelines" ... Which WERE??

" I came home and shocked again" ... Using WHAT, and HOW MUCH?...and why did you shock?

"Next day no free chlorine in tub per strips" ...dump the strips and get a real test kit.

[ewaba]

Thanks for your input......  Took the plunge and drained the tub today, as it was 3 degrees.  Was having too much trouble with it.  I will take your advise though and get myself a kit.  Any suggestions? 

[Spatech_tuo]

Thanks for your input......  Took the plunge and drained the tub today, as it was 3 degrees.  Was having too much trouble with it.  I will take your advise though and get myself a kit.  Any suggestions?

Fill the tub back up quickly.

[Tman122]

3 Celsius is what? 38 degs. f?

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

37.4   an impossibly temp for water to freeze at.

[Spatech_tuo]

3 Celsius is what? 38 degs. f?

ah Celsius, I missed the part about this being in Canada.

[Tman122]

We go surfing in 38 degree weather.

[ewaba]

It's up and running again.  Perfect water now   Just need recommendation for a good testing kit please......thx.

[sksmoker]

go on ebay and find a taylor k2006 test kit. Find a shipper using USPS and off to the races. With the exchange, it will hurt, but no where near as bad as if you were to buy that kit up here from the company that has the exclusive distribution rights..

See if the same seller sells the 2oz refill bottles for TA and PH. Might as well order it all at once so you don't get caught without refills when you need them (read this happened to me and it isn't fun hunting on ebay when you need it!)

 For FC testing, I just compared my strips against my kit to see how far off the strips are for FC. That way if I want to just check the chlorine I can use a cheapie strip instead of using up that chlorine testing agents. I can buy a pack of cheap strips for about $5-$7 here instead of trying to hunt down the FC reagent refill for the kit. The DPD powder seems to be used up the quickest in my experience.

Oh, if this ever happens again, go buy a bottle of unscented clorox bleach from Walmart. It is in with the cleaning supplies and dish detergent I believe. At least in western canada it is. Pour in a 1/2 a cup to start and check out the FC.. It is the cheapest way I found to shock or supershock the tub when needed. If it keeps getting used up, keep laying in more until it starts to stabilize. I had to do this last time I had cloudy water with an odour. Much cheaper than doing a water change as well. If you want to be crazy or impatient like myself then go ahead and use 1 cup to start out with until the FC starts to stabilize.  I wouldn't recommend tubbing in 15ppm of chlorine, so just be warned but your water should be crystal clear! lol!!

[ewaba]

Thanks SKSmoker   Good to know...

[someguy]

What you really need to do is "purge" your plumbing infrastructure of biofilm and other organic contaminants. All hot tubs and jetted bathtubs need their plumbing chemically scrubbed to eliminate or mitigate the bio-buildup.  Every hot tub contains biofilm.  Brand new hot tubs from the factory have biofilm from being wet-tested and then packaged for dealer delivery leaving water and moisture inside the plumbing.  Reducing biofilm will ameliorate the amount of sanitizer you will be using.  Sanitizers work to get the biofilm out of the inner matrix but are only successful in oxidizing biofilm that is in a "planktonic" state.  Planktonic biofilms are those that have separated from the main buildup inside the vessel plumbing.  Some manufacturers and dealers do not want you to learn about biofilm for fear of losing sales.  Read about biofilm in hot tubs.  Your water maintenance will be much easier and the water quality will be amazing with the plumbing being cleaned.