Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: amy2421 on December 17, 2015, 12:18:29 am
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Our local dealer sells Ahhsome (for the same price as online) so they are certainly familiar with the product. I recently suggested that I planned to run a cycle of Ahhsome before our first drain and refill at the end of this month, and he was adamant that I shouldn't use it yet because our tub is too new to need it. (We haven't had any major issues or water problems so I'm not overly concerned that there was germy water sitting in the tub from the factory.) I told him about running it to get out any stuff that might have been in the tub from being new, and he said that it was unnecessary.
Thoughts?
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I say use the Ahh-Some. What have you got to lose? It won't hurt your tub and if you don't get any "gunk" out of the pipes all you've lost is a few dollars you've paid for the Ahh-Some. If on the other hand you do get some gunk out then you are now soaking in a clean tub. And don't be surprised if you do get some gunk out. No matter what your dealer says, it's not unusual for new tubs to have dirt lodged in the pipes.
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I used it and am glad I did. After only a couple months there was quite a bit of film and crap left on the tub sides as I drained it. Make sure you don't add more than they suggest and melt it in 8 ounces of water before you add it to the tub.
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I thought my tub was clean until i used Ahh-some. Oh my, what came out was seriously nasty stuff and just after three months of purchasing the tub. I would have never noticed by just draining and refilling. Now, when i use it before draining, i hardly see any biofilm. It definitely works like magic.
New tubs come with pretty nasty biofilm in the pipes from factory testing. It is nearly impossible for them to be able to drain all the water out. This water could sit in the pipes for months before its sold. Once the owner fills the tub and puts in the proper chemicals, it slowly starts to release that biofilm, so basically you are bathing in contaminated water..
Once you get bubbles that are difficult to get rid of and cloudy water after soaks even though you shock and constantly having to clean the buildup on the walls, you have serious biofilm.
Being new to all this , i began to try to fight everything by shocking, using clarifiers, foam reducers and just plain spending money on things i didn't need.
The best thing i ever did is to use Ahh-some, it took three applications before i didn't see anymore biofilm. Then i refilled and used the appropriate chemicals. I have not had to use the clarifier, foam reducer, scale control ever since. Three months have gone by and the water is always clear, no bubbles and never cloudy and no residue on walls.
I am going to make it a habit to change water every three months, even if the water is clear. By doing this, i know i will have extremely clean water.
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I should point out that my tub was built 3 weeks prior to arrival at my home. It arrived only 6 days after it was wet tested so unlike others, mine had very little dwell time for things to grow. I also started it with a chlorine level of nearly 20 PPM to kill off anything that may have been in there.
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Shocking doesn't really loosen up biofilm. Cause I shocked as well.
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I've had my tub for about 10 months now; I was going to wait a year and run some sort of bio-film cleaner, probably Ahh-Some since I've read many good reviews on it..but maybe I should be doing that every water change?? I do go through a lot of clarifier and defoamer.
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When I was having my issues with my water, some people were telling me to use Ahh-some and replace the water. I struggled for a long time using all kinds of crap to deal with the issue, it really only helped for a day or two before it the problems were back.
After doing the cleaner and refill, not once have I had a problem with the water. It has been so easy to manage my water. Before I was getting very frustrated and thought that my investing in a tub was a bad idea.
So my advice is to use Ahh-some until clear, this may take several times. Clean inside well, refill and see how easy it will be to have perfect water, with less headache and much less money.
No more defamer, clarifier or scale reducing supplies..
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Thanks for the replies & opinions. I've never yet had to use clarifier or defoamer, maybe we have just been lucky. We did learn ahead of time about double-rinsing our bathing suits and not washing them too often, and it is just the two of us so we're not struggling with complications from parties or kids in our hot tub.
We're going to be on "stay-cation" at the end of the month, so I think we'll run a cycle of Ahh-some before draining. As Quickbeam said, it can't hurt. But I don't think we'll run 2-3 cycles... we aren't having any problems so I'm sure one cycle will nab whatever might be lurking. :)
Thanks again
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I think you're doing the smart thing Amy. As for running more than one cycle, no need to do this unless the foam is really dirty. If it is dirty, and you see a brown scum line around the side of the tub, then you will want to do another cycle. Basically, you want to see the foam from the Ahh-Some be pretty clean. If it isn't, then do another cycle.
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I think you're doing the smart thing Amy. As for running more than one cycle, no need to do this unless the foam is really dirty. If it is dirty, and you see a brown scum line around the side of the tub, then you will want to do another cycle. Basically, you want to see the foam from the Ahh-Some be pretty clean. If it isn't, then do another cycle.
^^^^^ This!
The only thing that Ahh-some hurts is the fact that if it wasn't needed you are doing a drain and refill rinse and drain before refilling.
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I should point out that my tub was built 3 weeks prior to arrival at my home. It arrived only 6 days after it was wet tested so unlike others, mine had very little dwell time for things to grow. I also started it with a chlorine level of nearly 20 PPM to kill off anything that may have been in there.
I don't think it will hurt Amy, but necessarily necessary?
Like AV said. Biofilm takes a while to build up, and a new tub.......may or may not have any in it.
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Just to follow up, we did end up using one treatment of Ahhsome with our first drain & refill, and we are VERY glad that we did! I have more details in the thread about our first drain & refill, but just wanted to post this here as well.
So for anyone on the fence like we were about whether or not it is necessary... do it, as Quickbeam said it can't hurt, and you'll probably be very glad that you did!!!
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This is a wonderful forum for hot tub owners. What everyone wants is to have their water maintenance simplified. Over 70% of hot tub owners are concerned and feel that this issue is overwhelming for them. Owning and using your hot tub on a regular basis promotes many positive benefits for the entire family. Water maintenance can be simplified by adopting a regular "purge and drain" program every 4 to 6 months. We need to educate users about biofilm issues that interfere with the normal sanitization and maintenance protocols they are using. Biofilm is essentially the culprit that places onerous demands on various chemical protocols. Get rid of the gunk and slime that is lurking deep within the plumbing infrastructure, balance your water to acceptable parameters, maintain adequate sanitizer, run the hot tub daily for proper filtration and you'll have great results. You'll find that maintenance is quite simple.
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We just recently started carrying "Hot tub Serum" which is made by the same company as Ahh-Some (the rep for Ahh-Some said it's the identical product, just a different name). It works really well!
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I'm a service tech for a dealer in New Jersey and we have been selling Hot Tub Serum for a year now and Wow have we seen some yucky tubs that looked absolutely clear before we put it in. We have done probably 50 to 60 drain and cleans so far and every spa new or old have had something come out. Hot Tub Serum is a stronger version of the same formula that Ahh-some is, we tried both. We have also been using the Serum liquid which stops the recurring build from coming back and man does the water stay clear. The neat thing about Hot Tub serum is the fact that it does a terrific job of cleaning out the spa in 25 minutes. Since every other purge takes about 24 hours we could never have been successful with the service, we would have to go back the next day. With Serum we are all done and refilled in about 2 hours.
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I have very deep personal experience with ahh-some and its sister product, serum water maintenance. If tested a half dozen products claiming to be "purge" or "enzyme purge" cleanse and other actions, to the point where my water bill went up due to the thousands of gallons of water I was throwing away for repeated drains.
the short answer is that yes, ahh-some is the real deal. i was astonished at what the others don't do -- and I'm not making this stuff up. I gave ahh-some the "last crack" and it cleaned up what the others left behind. Here's an example of the garbage that people put into a nice looking container, charge big bucks for it, and convince you of its magic: With my spa contaminated with biofilms (which I discovered later), I cleaned my spa with the Silk Balance cleanser product. it didn't do anything. literally nothing was removed. I then discovered it was nothing more than ordinary grocery store borax in an expensive container. I still use the container to scoop water trapped in the contours of my seats when draining...
After cleansing with the Silk Balance expensive borax, and a couple other products that escape me at the moment, I drained, refilled, and purged with ahh-some. The ahh-some purge removed so much material I about lost my lunch.
So as you can imagine I consider ahh-some (and the sister product, serum water care) to be the only worthy purge products, and I think all of the others are pretty much over priced placebos -- and that includes some recognize names too. and I've got the photos and data to back that up, believe me.
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I have very deep personal experience with ahh-some and its sister product, serum water maintenance. If tested a half dozen products claiming to be "purge" or "enzyme purge" cleanse and other actions, to the point where my water bill went up due to the thousands of gallons of water I was throwing away for repeated drains.
the short answer is that yes, ahh-some is the real deal. i was astonished at what the others don't do -- and I'm not making this stuff up. I gave ahh-some the "last crack" and it cleaned up what the others left behind. Here's an example of the garbage that people put into a nice looking container, charge big bucks for it, and convince you of its magic: With my spa contaminated with biofilms (which I discovered later), I cleaned my spa with the Silk Balance cleanser product. it didn't do anything. literally nothing was removed. I then discovered it was nothing more than ordinary grocery store borax in an expensive container. I still use the container to scoop water trapped in the contours of my seats when draining...
After cleansing with the Silk Balance expensive borax, and a couple other products that escape me at the moment, I drained, refilled, and purged with ahh-some. The ahh-some purge removed so much material I about lost my lunch.
So as you can imagine I consider ahh-some (and the sister product, serum water care) to be the only worthy purge products, and I think all of the others are pretty much over priced placebos -- and that includes some recognize names too. and I've got the photos and data to back that up, believe me.
Did you try Swirl Away?
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I was running out of time and water so I didn't get to that one. I tested the following
Sea klear
Silk balance
Aquafinesse
Natural chemistry
Ahh-some
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I was running out of time and water so I didn't get to that one. I tested the following
Sea klear
Silk balance
Aquafinesse
Natural chemistry
Ahh-some
I find it to be a very strong reliable product. When you use swirl away be prepared to clean a lot of gunk from your tub. There are others also that are designed to clean biofilm from plumbing lines in residential and commercial water supply systems. But they are sold through plumbing supply houses and not hot tub supply stores.
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I've used both swirl away and Serum. Hands down Serum is way stronger than Swirl Away. The two things I like about Serum is that the purge goes fast maybe 20 mins, we can purge and change the water in an hour or so, makes drain and cleans quick. Also Serum has a liquid that you continue with and that continues to clean the spa and keep the biofilm from coming back.
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I have found swirl away to be mediocre at best. Ahh-some is vastly superior, imo. Someone linked a test done by a University in MT awhile ago and it showed most products, including swirl away, to ineffective on bio-film. Ahh-some was far and away the best.
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A trusted local repair guy here who doesn't sell either tells me he thinks Swirl Away does a better job.
I think the OP should try both and make his own judgement.
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A trusted local repair guy here who doesn't sell either tells me he thinks Swirl Away does a better job.
I think the OP should try both and make his own judgement.
I have used both in my hot tub and have found aah-some to work better. I sell both. Problem with aa-some is it's pretty damn expensive
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I've used Ahh Some twice in our tub that was new 6/15, before both water changes. Definitely more crap came out after the 1st use. It's really not that expensive if you get the larger size as you only need a small amount each time.
As a side note it worked really well in a washer that sat a while. Got rid of a mildew smell and lots of gunk after 2 uses.
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I have some Ahh-some left over in a pack from the previous owner of my hot tub. Thinking of running an Ahh-some cycle before we start out new chemical routine.
What I'm wondering is this. When we empty the hot tub after adding Ahh-some, can I just drain the water on to our garden? I can't find a drain anywhere nearby that I could use, so I'm wondering if this is an option? Or is the Ahh-some too toxic to do this?
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Ahh-Some can be drained on the grass, in flower gardens or wherever. You will not harm them.
It is safe. It is very effective. Just be sure to use the dose we recommend. Don't use more. More is NOT better.
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Shocking doesn't really loosen up biofilm. Cause I shocked as well.
This is an important point, and I have found this to be true in my own experience as well. Essentially, what I proved, to my own satisfaction was
1. my spa was delivered with biofilm contaminants. Wet testing at the factory, followed by transportation and storage delays in warm weather....
2. to prove your post right, I personally shocked my spa with 50ppm chlorine for 1 hour, and I STILL measured a high chlorine decay rate. I did not clear this up until I purged
so to emphasize your point the difference between shocking, including the traditional "decon" procedure and purging is that the former will only attenuate bioilms, while the latter will actually remove them