Trixie wants to know...

[Tatooed_Lady]

I'd think that if there was a significant amount of oils and such in the water to make the shell slippery, then I'd think you're water clarity would be off, or at the very least see some oil slicks or rainbowing on the water surface? It could just be a well waxed shell, or the factory finish.

Drewstar, you are a genious!!!!

That makes sense...possibly Trixie didn't get the shell as clean as it should have been prior to the initial filling?  That would explain why the problem is just in the nooks and crannies!  
Keeping the water's PH balance, chlorine levels, and everything else on that frickin' test strip has been a piece of cake!!
Thanks so much!

wow....Trixie's got slippery waxy buildup in her nooks and crannies!!   Normally I recommend a topical cream for issues like that, but uh...  

[Bama]

I'd think that if there was a significant amount of oils and such in the water to make the shell slippery, then I'd think you're water clarity would be off, or at the very least see some oil slicks or rainbowing on the water surface? It could just be a well waxed shell, or the factory finish.

Drewstar, you are a genious!!!!

That makes sense...possibly Trixie didn't get the shell as clean as it should have been prior to the initial filling?  That would explain why the problem is just in the nooks and crannies!  
Keeping the water's PH balance, chlorine levels, and everything else on that frickin' test strip has been a piece of cake!!
Thanks so much!

wow....Trixie's got slippery waxy buildup in her nooks and crannies!!   Normally I recommend a topical cream for issues like that, but uh...  

Tattoo Lady,
Yes you are right!  My mama taught me not to play with children who had slimy nooks and crannies!    

[anne]

Yep, naturally blonde hair will defintely turn green.

And the best incubation temp for a lot of bacteria is about room teperature up to a little over 100. That is why tubs get gross without sanitation and you should not leave your leftovers out of the fridge.

[Bama]

Is it from Trixie's romance?

What chems are you using?  Slimy doesn't usually happen.

Do you keep all the jets on when shocking or dosing with dichlor? Do you leave all the jets on if your tub clears it's lines?

Vinny, are you my long lost cousin from New Jersy???

Trixie pours 2 capfuls of Dichlor into a *Spiderman net, then she turns on all the jets and dips the net in and out of the water, (like dunking a tea bag) until all the dichlor has dissolved.  The jets are left on for about 10 minutes. The last step is to dip a test strip in for testing.

I'm about a foot taller than the movie version but I am Italian ... and I'm actually from NY originally too!

2 capfulls may not be enough with the use of 3-4 times a day, you have a big tub. Do you know what that equals to in teaspoons/tablespoons?

Yo, Vinny.......how ya doin'?
One capful equals one tablespoon.  I suppose that would have been nice to know earlier, huh?

[Bama]

Yep, naturally blonde hair will defintely turn green.

And the best incubation temp for a lot of bacteria is about room teperature up to a little over 100. That is why tubs get gross without sanitation and you should not leave your leftovers out of the fridge.

Anne,

Maybe, you are on to something with this water temp thing...  Our weather is very mild, so I don't especially enjoy the water  hotter than 98 degrees.   But, if I understand you correctly, under 100 degrees is not a good thing.  What do you mean without sanitation?  Isn't dichlor sanitizing the tub?  Should I be doing something differently if I'm to keep my water temp down?

OR, were you saying I should keep my left overs in the spa?  

[Bama]

I said earlier in this post that my test strip indicated all was in balance.  Well, it was until today.
  Today, my test strip reading indicated that all was well except for, "very high alkalinity".  
So, is this bad?  Should I risk lowering the PH to get the alkalinity lowered?
Or, is there a product that lowers alkalinity only?
Maybe, this is contributing to the film in the nooks and crannies?

[svspa]

bama,

I think anne was just making the point that hot tubs are prime breeding grounds for bacteria. Dichlor is your, uhhh trixie's, sanitizer and it sounds like you are doing the right things. No special routine for under 100 degrees. 2 tablespoons sounds like a lot of dichlor but as vinny pointed out you have a big tub and a lot of use. As long as you are monitoring your free chlorine (FC) level you should be good sanitizer wise.

You should definitely get your alk under control. I am not sure what you need to lower alk only, I know you can use sodium bisulfate (Spa Down) to lower both alk and ph and then raise ph only with soda ash.

You can check out the various chemicals at Doc's site:

[link]http://www.rhtubs.com/store/phbalanc.htm[/link]

I didn't see anywhere that you mentioned your shock routine. You could do a dichlor or MPS shock whichever you are using, that should put to bed any questions about normal people borne organics. I think that was suggested before.

If this all fails and the slime still bugs you a water change and shell cleaning might be in order.

And never put left overs in the tub, leave them on the counter and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of dichlor over them daily, they'll keep forever.

Steve

[anne]

What he said.  

[rick_in_cleveland]

My capful is 2 teaspoons....A tablespoon is 3 teaspoons.....Check your own capful for the right amount

[Bonibelle]

Just wondering if the slimy feeling could be from the high alkalinity? :-/

[anne]

Just wondering if the slimy feeling could be from the high alkalinity? :-/

I sort of wondered that too, but I think it would have to be pretty high.

[Bama]

Problem of high alkalinity and slime are under control!
What I did...
I bought a nylon scrub mit at K-mart, I scrubbed the nooks and cranies,  shocked the water, and then added a bit of fresh water.  That cleaned the tub and brought down the alkalinity, as well.  All readings are in line now.
Thanks so much to all of you for your help!