Caldera freshwater salt hot tub is not making Chlorine/high Salt warning

[joe f]

Hello!
I have been trying to find answers online and found this forum.
My Hot tub is 3 weeks old, All the water test show PH, Alk., perfect, but shows zero for either Chlorine, and gauge on control panel shows going into red zone.
I have shocked it several times, only to come out next day and test strips show no Chlorine again. I have run boost 3 days in a row and still shows no chlorine...
Tech came out and said everything shows to be working, but does not know why its not working correctly.
I sure could use some advice or help with this..... thank you in advance, Joe

[d00nut]

The salt system won't function at all (can't turn on) if it's in the red.

There are only two things that can cause it to go in the red.  Too much salt, or to much metal in the water.  (The latter is unlikely if you are on city water.)  Your water is essentially too conductive.

Generally, the only solution is to drain out part of the water and refill with fresh water.  After that, everything should work fine.

[joe f]

I used the filter attachment on hose at fill up and bag for 24 hours at startup.
Salt level on gauge was in green but over 3 weeks it’s climbed into red, I changed out the cell unit as I have extras, I guess a 25% drain will be next step... thank you for your input!!! Joe

[joe f]

I will say that even when salt gauge was in green, test strips always showed white, only time I could get purple was right after I added granule chlorine and that only lasted about 12 hours then back to white on strips, been that way since it’s been running

[castletonia]

I would have your dealer test for phosphates.  High phosphates can fight with chlorine and result in your chlorine being used up rapidly.  I would also discontinue the use of granular chlorine and instead use liquid chlorine (liquid pool shock or regular bleach).

What was your salt system output set for?  Which Caldera model do you have?

[joe f]

Phosphate is only thing I have not checked.
Added liquid bleach yesterday for first time, only started using granulas when I figured out(learning curve) that system was not working correctly, and watched gauge creep up through yellow into red area. We have Seychelles model.
Thank you for taking time to help me!!Joe

[joe f]

Was set up on 3 but it’s on 8 now after another 24 hour boost....

[castletonia]

The 3 setting was way to low.  I can get away with it on my showroom since my display model spas get little use, but I would expect you to be between 6-8 depending on usage.  Salt systems do take time to produce chlorine, so it may not happen overnight, might take 2-3 days.

[ratchett]

I'm going with the non salt system on my Highlife Jetsetter, but I did talk to my dealer a lot this new system (trying to figure out how much better it is than the original ACE system). 

My dealer mentioned they include a gallon of bleach with every new salt tub they sell because a new tub does take quite a bit of chlorine to get the system going initially and that's the easiest way to do it. Once things have balanced out the salt system can keep things maintained, but getting things "going" initially can be challenging with these Freshwater salt systems. 

[joe f]

Thank you all for replies!!!!
My dealer has been working very well with me, and it sounds like we have a game plan.
Going to use liquid bleach tonight after we use it, and work on catching the system up by watching it and adding more as needed to get system up and running good, I will post back in a couple days with hopefully good news!
Again, thank you for all the input!!!! Joe