Chemical Question

[Hoff70]

Hi All-

New to the world of hot tubs and just got my tub delivered last week. Trying to get a handle on chemicals. My tub is less than 400 gallons... is it common to have to add at least 1tb of chlorine after each use? Do you just do this routinely always? My pH is a little high so I'm getting some pH decreaser and my alkalinity is pretty close to spot on. Chlorine is the only thing that seems to be consistently low.

I've also got a cleansing solution that I put roughly 4-8oz into the tub once per week to breakdown sunscreen and other stuff.

Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks!

[Hoff70]

As a follow up... I noticed that my dealer gave me the following product:

SpaGuard Enhanced Shock which is 58% dichlor. Seems to be doing a good job but needs to be used after each use.

I noticed the same company makes a similar chlorinating concentrate but that is 99% dichlor. I was thinking... should I continue using the 58% stuff daily (1tb or so depending on use...) and then shock weekly with the 99% stuff? Isn't the goal to not totally run out of chlorine after a few uses?

Currently after 2-3 uses by the whole family when I test there is 0 ppm chlorine in the tub.

Thanks again...

[Gomboman]

I would start here. This information was helpful when I started out.

https://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,24518.msg216024.html#msg216024

[Hoff70]

I would start here. This information was helpful when I started out.

https://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,24518.msg216024.html#msg216024

Thanks Gomboman... that was helpful! One thing that I'm still trying to get from the shock stuff... if I dose 7x my daily dose, I assume I have to wait for the chlorine to come back down to normal levels before anyone can use the tub, correct?

Also, let's say my daily dose is 1tb/daily. If the tub gets heavy use do I just add more dichlor based on measurements in addition to my 1 tb/daily? It seems that is correct?

[bud16415]

It seems that everyone evolves into a maintenance program that suits them best. Before we bought our tub I asked around work if anyone had a tub. I found out about a half dozen people had hot tubs and they all loved their tubs and recommended I get one. They also each had a totally different method of taking care of them. Some very scientific some seat of the pants.

I followed what the dealer suggested first and about went crazy with problems. I talked more with people at work and joined here and started reading and a few other sites.

What I learned and what works for us, is first be clean when you get in the tub. I know some peoples tubs are social setting and ours is also from time to time. Our tub gets use in the evenings with the two of us the most. We 100% shower before we get in and almost never wear swimsuits. If you are swimsuit people don’t wash them in soap and if you do double rinse them. How dirty will a swimsuit get in sanitized water anyway. All those body products and sun blocks come off in hot water and its not 40,000 gallons of cool water like a pool its 400 gallons of hot water perfect for growing stuff. You also sweat a lot in a tub I have read a quart per hour or something like that.

When we have guests and swimsuits and I’m sure some body lotions and stuff I treat double or triple after we are done. There is that much impact.

Everything you add to the water over the 3,4 or even 6 months between water changes starts to add up in the water and as these build the water starts to lose its sparkle and becomes more wonky in maintaining. So the less you put in the longer the water lasts. The less chemicals you use is based on the less stuff they have to clean out of the tub.

I basically do this and as I said you may find a different path. I drain my tub rinse it out and drain that then I take my shop vac and blow air into the jets getting more water out of others and drain that. when I’m happy I got most of the old water out I get in the tub with a micro fiber rag and a spray bottle of vinegar and wipe it down good until the shell is slick and smooth like new. I fill it up and add 1 table spoon of the 99% dichlor to 350-400 gallons of water. I put the cleaned filter back in and fire up the tub. When the tub gets to temp I add 7 pounds of pool salt. I don’t have a chlorine generator I just like the feel of the salt in the water and also think it helps the water chemistry. I check ph and adjust if needed. I roughly add 1 tablespoon of dichlor per day for normal usage and try and add it right after our evening soak. It will read near zero when we get in and that’s a good thing. if we have friends over or the tub is used more like a weekend I will add 2 tbs if we don’t use the tub for a day I will sometimes skip the dichlor for a day. I watch the stabalizer level as it grows as dichlor has stabilizer in it and sunlight removes it. as hot tubs don’t get much sunlight it goes up. A little is good too much is bad. When my stabilizer reaches 30-50 ppm I stop using dichlor and switch to household bleach. Clorox. 1/3 cup is the same chlorine as 1tbs of dichlor I think. With adding water I watch the stabilizer and if it hits 30ppm I switch back to dichlor. 

Every one to two weeks I shock with non-chlorine shock. It is an oxidizer and you wait a few hours and can go in the tub.

Every two to three weeks I pull the filter and clean it with nothing but a jet setting on my hose that I have plumbed to be both hot and cold water outside. I use pure hot and my tank is set 140-150 so its pretty hot. Cold water on a filter is like cold water in a pan of bacon grease the hot water melts the gunk and flushes it away. I don’t use soaks or cleaners just hot water and my 1 year filter is going on 5 years old and looks like new.

Also ever two to three weeks I  take a micro cloth and go over the inside of the tub. you will feel some sticky spots and if you keep after it they come off easy.

I can easily get 6 months out of my water and in the very cold winter months here if it looks like I might be getting close to needing new water I just drain the tub half way and refill it and that buys me a couple months time. Normally I try and do a fill in the fall so I don’t have to worry. The tub gets used more in the winter and is also set much hotter and that kind of gets factored in.

It’s a long post but thought I would sum up my low cost way I do it.     

[Gomboman]

If you shock with Dichlor you should wait until your free chlorine values drop close to zero. It usually takes a day or so for my spa to recover. If you don't want to wait you can shock with MPS which is a non-chlorine shock. Are you measuring your free chlorine with a Taylor test kit or test strips. The Taylor test kit is much more accurate until you build up your routine.

Your daily chlorine demand of 1 Tablespoon of Dichlor per day is pretty high. Mine is around a 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon so I can shock with around 1-2 Tablespoons of Dichlor for a 450 gallon spa. Your mileage may vary. Good luck..... 

I would start here. This information was helpful when I started out.

https://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,24518.msg216024.html#msg216024

Thanks Gomboman... that was helpful! One thing that I'm still trying to get from the shock stuff... if I dose 7x my daily dose, I assume I have to wait for the chlorine to come back down to normal levels before anyone can use the tub, correct?

Also, let's say my daily dose is 1tb/daily. If the tub gets heavy use do I just add more dichlor based on measurements in addition to my 1 tb/daily? It seems that is correct?

[bud16415]

It’s nice getting into a near zero ppm tub, but I don’t think it is necessary. Take a test strip with you next time you go to a public pool or hot tub and you will say Holy Shock Level Batman. It might not be the best for you or your swimsuit but it is also not a must to be zero.

As you said YMMV and that is true. When we first got our tub my goal as most peoples goal was to keep the tub sanitized but at the lowest levels possible. It is a daunting task and requires constant testing and adjusting to keep that very low perfect situation. Maybe the best way to do it would be with a salt gen system and very consistent usage patterns. For most people and with new tubs the usage is wildly up and down and if I was to error I found I would rather error slightly high. Not that I’m recommending going in after super shocking with chlorine. MPS/non-chlorine shock I think makes the best option for normal shocking and I leave the high chlorine shocks for if I find the tub really needing the help. Like after a party weekend of heavy use.     

[Hoff70]

Thanks guys...

I called my local dealer and got straightened out I think. I never actually received dichlor or bromine with my tub... only the 58% dichlor SpaGuard Oxidizer shock mentioned earlier. After speaking with my dealer they recommended the following:

Daily: 1/2 tsp dichlor per 100 gallons - my tub is 360 so I do 3.5 tsp

After use: depending on amount of people and time used - 1 tsp - 1+ tb of the SpaGuard Oxidizer shock

Weekly shock: Roughly 3 tb of the SpaGuard Oxidizer shock

I started this process today. Using test strips I tested the water and I was at 0ppm chlorine and 8.0+ pH. I added 1 tsp pH decreaser and ran my jets for a cycle. Then added my daily chlorine dose and ran my jets for a cycle again. I then tested and my chlorine was 3ppm, pH 7.6-8ish, alkalinity right on.

So... I think that's going to be my daily routine!

Does this seem reasonable?

[bud16415]

3 tsp = 1 tbs.  If I remember correctly and I use one tablespoon roughly per day for my 350-400 gallon tub. So that sounds about right.

The SpaGaurd Oxidizing Shock is 3 or 4 things in one. You are getting more dichlor along with non chlorine shock and some ph stuff also. I personally would keep it simple and have the individual items and add what I wanted for likely less money.

Just use your normal 1 tbs of dichlor a day or a little more if you have a gang in and once a week a cap full of non chlorine shock. If your ph goes off correct it with up or down.

Again if you are careful and clean about what gets in your tub you will need less. If you don’t use your tub at all you will need less. So keep in mind all these things are to counteract what goes into the tub. When you do your test strip think back to the day before and how it was used. After a doing this a few years I hardly have to test you will learn your tub and just know.

The only thing the dealer didn’t talk about is the stabilizer that’s in the dichlor. It keeps building and when it gets to high it makes your chlorine work slower. In an open air swimming pool sunlight takes it down. Covered hot tub not so much. So in a month from now your stabalizer will be 100ppm say you will start noticing your dichlor not being as efficient as it was when you first filled.