I'm done experimenting on my water!

[ndabunka]

Vinny - I didn't have time to read the other responses to your original post but did want to throw something out there for you to think about....You do NOT need to add chemicals to your tub every other day!  UNLESS you use it every other day.  In fact, on e of the best methods is adding chemical ONLY when they are needed and then the ONLY thing you really need to add is chlorine. about 3 teaspoons for a typical 400gallons tub AFTER each soak.  That way, the water is free of ANY chemicals when you get into it each time.  You will find yourself using your tub less and less as time goes by.  When it's only used once a week, you can also add chemicals just once a week.

[Vinny]

Vinny - I didn't have time to read the other responses to your original post but did want to throw something out there for you to think about....You do NOT need to add chemicals to your tub every other day!  UNLESS you use it every other day.  In fact, on e of the best methods is adding chemical ONLY when they are needed and then the ONLY thing you really need to add is chlorine. about 3 teaspoons for a typical 400gallons tub AFTER each soak.  That way, the water is free of ANY chemicals when you get into it each time.  You will find yourself using your tub less and less as time goes by.  When it's only used once a week, you can also add chemicals just once a week.

The only problem I have is my water goes cloudy after 2 days. This is why I add dichlor every other day.

[Zep]

I have to agree....

Almost everyone in the industry seems to have an "aw shucks there's nothing to it" attitude.....but for many of us it is a pain in the ass and frustrating.

My brother's way of handling it is he dumps his water once a month....he has a sump pump that has a huge width hose and he can get his dumped very quickly. He has a float with chlorine/bromine tabs he keeps in the tub in between water changes. He does not have alot of tub traffic, no kids, ect... and it seems to work for him.

Being color blind I can't read the freaking water tester shade charts. I was constantly dealing with foam, cloudy water, water not smelling right, ect.... I just finally said "the hell with this chemistry class and frustration".....so I asked a pool/spa guy that was maintaining my neighbors pool/spa here in Dallas to come by and clean, vacuum, test and chemical balance my hot tub once a week while he is two houses down doing my neighbors.

Yeah it costs...($18 a week)....but it's well worth it to me to never have to buy any chemicals and never have to worry about all the BS like foam, smelly water, grit at the bottom, ect......I just jump in and it always perfect.  

[tanstaafl2]

Vinny - I didn't have time to read the other responses to your original post but did want to throw something out there for you to think about....You do NOT need to add chemicals to your tub every other day!  UNLESS you use it every other day.  In fact, on e of the best methods is adding chemical ONLY when they are needed and then the ONLY thing you really need to add is chlorine. about 3 teaspoons for a typical 400gallons tub AFTER each soak.  That way, the water is free of ANY chemicals when you get into it each time.  You will find yourself using your tub less and less as time goes by.  When it's only used once a week, you can also add chemicals just once a week.

I have been using my tub fairly infrequently over the summer and only now as it begins to get a little cooler in the evening am I increasing my use again. I have 24 hr ozone and N2 and on several occasions this summer went two weeks at a time without using the tub or adding any chemicals. I would shock every two weeks with dichlor but other than that I added nothing. Water has remained crystal clear and so far no foam or other problems. Had a similar experience when I was away from home on vacation for 17 days and that was after 3 months of the same water and when it was getting more frequent use than it has of late. Tub is only 6 months old but so far the ozone doesn't seem to have affected the cover. I do take the pillows out when the tub is not in use but otherwise I find I have to do little maintenance. I am told that the water in my area is pretty good out of the tap so that probably helps but so far taking care of the water has been pretty easy.

I certainly don't know how much the ozone and N2 help if any but I plan to keep using them both for the forseeable future!

[ndabunka]

Vinny - I didn't have time to read the other responses to your original post but did want to throw something out there for you to think about....You do NOT need to add chemicals to your tub every other day!  UNLESS you use it every other day.  In fact, on e of the best methods is adding chemical ONLY when they are needed and then the ONLY thing you really need to add is chlorine. about 3 teaspoons for a typical 400gallons tub AFTER each soak.  That way, the water is free of ANY chemicals when you get into it each time.  You will find yourself using your tub less and less as time goes by.  When it's only used once a week, you can also add chemicals just once a week.

The only problem I have is my water goes cloudy after 2 days. This is why I add dichlor every other day.

Hmm, I've never had any cloudiness issues.  my water is clear as a bell for a long term 7-10 days, no problems (If I wanted to let it go like that).  But the turth is that I "know" when the water needs treating even if it is perfectly clear.  I wonder what is causing yours to cloud?

[Vinny]

Vinny - I didn't have time to read the other responses to your original post but did want to throw something out there for you to think about....You do NOT need to add chemicals to your tub every other day!  UNLESS you use it every other day.  In fact, on e of the best methods is adding chemical ONLY when they are needed and then the ONLY thing you really need to add is chlorine. about 3 teaspoons for a typical 400gallons tub AFTER each soak.  That way, the water is free of ANY chemicals when you get into it each time.  You will find yourself using your tub less and less as time goes by.  When it's only used once a week, you can also add chemicals just once a week.

The only problem I have is my water goes cloudy after 2 days. This is why I add dichlor every other day.

Hmm, I've never had any cloudiness issues.  my water is clear as a bell for a long term 7-10 days, no problems (If I wanted to let it go like that).  But the turth is that I "know" when the water needs treating even if it is perfectly clear.  I wonder what is causing yours to cloud?

Being on Doc's site when Vermonter posted there often I remember him saying something to the effect of adding dichlor every other day (actually every day for a really sanitized tub) to keep the tub biologically safe.

When I first got the tub there was a period of time that due to the construction of my deck around it, I couldn't get to it for a few days. I opened the cover to find my tub NASTY ... YUCK!!!!! The tub was maybe a few weeks old at the time.

I have gone 4 days with clear water this past Aug when I went on vacation but I shocked the tub with 11 PPM dichlor and had the ozone running 24/7. I don't want to shock to 10 PPM every time I use the tub.

My thinking so far is: my water makeup is different and causing the cloudy water; the surrounding environment is putting bacteria in the water either during the line clean out cycle (I have air injected when the pumps come on) or as the wind blows; my ozonator isn't that powerful and it doesn't contribute anything and it doesn't pay to use a N2 cartridge since it doesn't actually kill bacteria but helps the other sanitizers in killing the bacteria.

I doubt that my filter isn't working since it does clean up the tub once it gets cloudy, my return jet is shooting out bubbles and my flo sensor isn't coming on ... I believe the sensor is working as I had an air lock once and it came on.

Reading how you all get a lot of time between doses makes me go HMMM too!

[sledjunkie]

I wonder if it's you?

Anything you put on your body that would get into your tub?

Any cologne?
Lotion?
Deodorant?

do you wear deodorant? just kidding..

Seriously that would drive me nuts. I would have to get to the bottom of that.

City water or well water?

[sledjunkie]

on that note...

Are you adding enough chlorine after each soak?
Up you dosage and see...

[Vinny]

It could be me!

As far as wearing anything on my body, I do wear deodorant but that's it. Nothing in my hair or body. I am a basic man. I will say I don't shower before going into the tub unless I became really sweaty during the day.

My belief is that if I have to shower before using the tub ... screw that!!! That's what chlorine is for! And I'm sure others don't shower either.

I started using 3 PPM when I first got the tub and I had the same results as I do with 1.5 PPM. I am upping it back to 3 PPM after soaking just to see if it makes a difference but based on my previous experience, probably not.

I have been using the same suit for months and only use it for pool and spa so I know there ain't no suds in them. Speaking of suds, I do get foam whenever my wife or my son's friends go into the tub since their wearing washed suits.

But that brings me to believing that it's not detergent or body lotion since when my tub does get stuff in it even a lot of chlorine doesn't stop it from clouding up and foaming. If I use 1.5 PPM every other day then my tub stays clear! I truely believe it's bacteria ... and I do shock the tub occasionally with 6 or more PPM of chlorine and just recently when I went on vacation I hit the tub with about 11 PPM.

On a side note there was a period of about 3 weeks to a month that my tub developed chlorine lock. I could put in 3 PPM and it would last for days and my tub stayed clear!

I could let it drive me nuts but I need to go with the flow. I usually open up the tub as I let the dog out in the morning and add a teaspoon to the water and run the pumps. I just thought I could prolong the mornings that I needed to do it!

[martyz4]

nobody here has mentioned Baqua. have any of you any opinions about it? we were advised to try it first with our new spa so we did. we have no comparisons to know the difference between it and the others.

any feedback on baqua? thanks.

[Vinny]

It could be me!

As far as wearing anything on my body, I do wear deodorant but that's it. Nothing in my hair or body. I am a basic man. I will say I don't shower before going into the tub unless I became really sweaty during the day.

My belief is that if I have to shower before using the tub ... screw that!!! That's what chlorine is for! And I'm sure others don't shower either.

I started using 3 PPM when I first got the tub and I had the same results as I do with 1.5 PPM. I am upping it back to 3 PPM after soaking just to see if it makes a difference but based on my previous experience, probably not.

I have been using the same suit for months and only use it for pool and spa so I know there ain't no suds in them. Speaking of suds, I do get foam whenever my wife or my son's friends go into the tub since their wearing washed suits.

But that brings me to believing that it's not detergent or body lotion since when my tub does get stuff in it even a lot of chlorine doesn't stop it from clouding up and foaming. If I use 1.5 PPM every other day then my tub stays clear! I truely believe it's bacteria ... and I do shock the tub occasionally with 6 or more PPM of chlorine and just recently when I went on vacation I hit the tub with about 11 PPM.

On a side note there was a period of about 3 weeks to a month that my tub developed chlorine lock. I could put in 3 PPM and it would last for days and my tub stayed clear!

I could let it drive me nuts but I need to go with the flow. I usually open up the tub as I let the dog out in the morning and add a teaspoon to the water and run the pumps. I just thought I could prolong the mornings that I needed to do it!

Just came in from a soak and I realized that when I only use 1.5 PPm chlorine I still have a residue the next morning and sometimes that night ... so I will assume I have killed all the bacteria!

[Vinny]

nobody here has mentioned Baqua. have any of you any opinions about it? we were advised to try it first with our new spa so we did. we have no comparisons to know the difference between it and the others.

any feedback on baqua? thanks.

I have friends who used it but from what I've read it's a fussy product. AND EXPENSIVE!!!

If you like it stick with it but most people use bromine or chlorine (dichlor). Their easy to use and very inexpensive. You can buy a 5 lb jug of dichlor for about $30.00 and it will last you almost a year.

[gturn]

It could be me!

As far as wearing anything on my body, I do wear deodorant but that's it. Nothing in my hair or body. I am a basic man. I will say I don't shower before going into the tub unless I became really sweaty during the day.

My belief is that if I have to shower before using the tub ... screw that!!! That's what chlorine is for! And I'm sure others don't shower either.

I started using 3 PPM when I first got the tub and I had the same results as I do with 1.5 PPM. I am upping it back to 3 PPM after soaking just to see if it makes a difference but based on my previous experience, probably not.

I have been using the same suit for months and only use it for pool and spa so I know there ain't no suds in them. Speaking of suds, I do get foam whenever my wife or my son's friends go into the tub since their wearing washed suits.

But that brings me to believing that it's not detergent or body lotion since when my tub does get stuff in it even a lot of chlorine doesn't stop it from clouding up and foaming. If I use 1.5 PPM every other day then my tub stays clear! I truely believe it's bacteria ... and I do shock the tub occasionally with 6 or more PPM of chlorine and just recently when I went on vacation I hit the tub with about 11 PPM.

On a side note there was a period of about 3 weeks to a month that my tub developed chlorine lock. I could put in 3 PPM and it would last for days and my tub stayed clear!

I could let it drive me nuts but I need to go with the flow. I usually open up the tub as I let the dog out in the morning and add a teaspoon to the water and run the pumps. I just thought I could prolong the mornings that I needed to do it!

Have you checked your calcium, my spa chemical supplier told me that one of the most important levels to adjust when you do a new water fill is the calcium, low calcium can cause all kinds of problems.  Just a thought.