Stain & Scale Control

[Nitlion15]

I have hard water and seem to have problems when I add makeup water to my spa.  It has stained my jets a brown color.  I have read on the forum about using Metal out or Metal Gone.  My dealer told me that Spa Essentials Stain & Scale Control does the same thing.  Advised to add 3/4 or a bottle into a 300 gallon spa.

Does that sound like it makes sense???

[tonyp]

I have hard water but no staining.  I use 2oz. of Stain and Scale every week.  I was told not to add it within 24 hours of shocking.

[Brookenstein]

I have hard water but no staining.  I use 2oz. of Stain and Scale every week.  I was told not to add it within 24 hours of shocking.

Uh... anyone else hear that?  I've been doing my weekly shock of MPS and the Stain/Scale within minutes of each other.  

[Nitlion15]

The spa dealer did tell me not to shock until at least 24 hours after using the stain and scale control.  Said it would negate the effect.

Is it o.k. to use in such a high dose.  They recommended 3/4 of a bottle for the 300 gallon tube as an initial treatment.

[st18901]

I have hard water too, but I only add the stain and scale control once - when I add water.

Wouldn't one shot take care of the stain and scale issue? Why do you have to continue adding it?

[Nitlion15]

st18901,

Your response sounds logical.  How much stain and scale control do you add when you add water?  I assume you are talking about make up water and not a full dump and refill.

[st18901]

A teaspoon or so when I top  up the spa. I haven't had to refill too much either... generally only after a party situation, like our New Year's bash, which caused a massive drop in the water due to spillage.

according to my test strips, my water hardness is still very very high. However, the water is crystal clear, and I don't have any deposits building up anywhere, so I believe I'm in pretty good shape.

[Gomboman]

Brook, is your water hard where you live?  My calcium level is around 200 so I don't need to add Stain/Scale very often.

Uh... anyone else hear that?  I've been doing my weekly shock of MPS and the Stain/Scale within minutes of each other.  

[Brookenstein]

Gombo,

I've never tested the water because we know its high.  I haven't noticed anything with the hot tub, but my dishwasher which is only 2 weeks old already has a build up on the heating element.

[stressed-out-teach]

I was told to shock weekly and add 2oz of Stain and Scale 4 hours later.  I have a 400 gallon tub.

[Bigbender]

I'm on well water and use a half bottle of Metal Gone at fill-up. The last fill was my best duration yet - 6 months and the water was still clear when I changed it for winter. I think adding 2 oz. of stain and scale remover each time I topped the water off really helped because I had never used it before that tubfull. For maintenance, we add a tablespoon of dichlor after use. To shock, I alternate dichlor and enhanced shock weekly and add a capful of clarifier while it's running. A little ph up once in a while and that's it.

[Nitlion15]

Bigbender,

I am on well water also.  Do you get any staining on the jets or does the Metal Gone take care of all of it?  It appears I may need to "shock" the metal out with a heavy doese of Metal Gone or Stain & Scale Control.

[Brewman]

Do those Omni filter's that you can buy at most Home Depot type of stores have the capability to filter out some of this stuff?  I know they have different filter cartridges available, and it would be really easy to hook one up on your garden hose without slowing down the flow of water.  

[Nitlion15]

Brewman,

That's a great thought.  Thanks.  I will stop off at the local Home Depot and look for a filter.  I think they make them that take out metals, kind of like those filters you can put on the faucet for drinking water purity.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I'd rather filter it out than keep adding chemicals.

[tony]

I use Metal Gon at start up...full bottle as instructed.  It is a sequestering agent for water high in iron and/or maganese, etc.

I use 2 oz Spa Defender weekly which is a stain and scale product more for protecting pumps and heaters against scale buildup from calcium, etc.

I try to add water to the spa weekly, especially during winter when evaporation is greatest in order to avoid staining because of adding too much water at one time.  I had a problem once with staining on jets before I knew better, but the stains disappeared at the next drain and fill when I added Metal Gon again.