Clearray Hot Tub Help Needed ???????????

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Hi
The water looks ok - clear - never smelly - apart from the chlorine!
They are going to empty it next week and start again (for the second time).  The engineer has his own hot tub but not clear ray.  He seems very knowledgeable. 
The model is J335.
You could put 50 ml of chlorine in the tub and a few hours later would not get a reading (even if nobody had been in the tub)?
Yes I agree about the ph/alkalinity reducing because of it.  We are using Jacuzzi Alkalinity increaser and Ph increaser.
Thanks

  Other than a smell of chlorine it sounds fine, pick up a talyor test kit and get rid of the strips, then see what kind of readings you are getting.    Enjoy the spa and quit worrying about it.  You are making this harder than it needs to be.    Shock the spa really good, then start using it, wait a day or so before adding anything then  add 1 tblspn of chlorine after use shock once a week, watch your ph/alk.     You should be able to sit in the spa and not smell any chlorine if you do it right.  Good luck to you!   

[wmccall]

To add to what Jim says, I suspect whatever the issue is , its a tie between the water itself and your test strips.  I don't think this is related to any particular brand of tub and UV system.

[Jacuzzi_Kirra]

I have a 2012 J-480.  I've had some of the same problems, but I don't feel that the spa is not working right.  It's just a very large spa that I have filled to the top, estimated 550 gallons or more.

I keep the water temperature between 104 and 106.  Mostly it's just being used by one person, sometimes two if my wife joins me. 

Here's how I've been maintaining the water. 

Nature2 Mineral Sanitizer

Leisure Time Spa 56 Chlorinating Granules (1 oz) every 3 days.  Most of the time after 24 hours my test strips indicate 0 ppm for chlorine.  Jacuzzi clearray states that you should maintain at 1 ppm for chlorine.  Very rarely do I need to add 2 oz to bring the readings up on my test strip (Leisure Time) to 1 to 3 ppm.

Nature 2 Cense (3 oz) every time i use the spa (daily most of the time) or at-least every 3 days if non-used. 

Today, after 3 months of ownership and with the water always indicating the Calcium Hardness ppm were 50 or less (on city water in Northern CA), I used one entire bottle of Leisure Time Calcium Booster to raise the CH to around 250 ppm.  I think i will add another 1/2 bottle (32 fl oz bottle) tomorrow to raise the level more.  Hopefully this will get rid of the very small amount of water line ring that I had before I started using the Bright and Clear and Defender as described below last month. 

Every Weekend on my 3rd day maintenance schedule (hopefully that makes sense), I add Chlorinating Granules (1 oz), 2 oz of Leisure Time Bright and Clear, 2 oz of Leisure Time Defender and my water consistently stays crystal clear (for a few hours after adding all of those items, it will remain cloudy as the chemicals work).

Every once in a while I have to add Leisure Time Spa Up and/or Alkalinity Increaser to maintain the recommended ideal range.

So is this more chemicals then I thought I would have to use with the Clearray - Yes.  Does my water stay sanitized, clear, and not smell of chemicals - absolutely.  Bottom line, it's a lot less work than my 15 year old hot tub that I had before, and I don't get the "chlorine or bromine smell and water marks drying on my skin."

I had researched the Clearray system online prior to my purchase.  It seemed more like a good idea, than a scientifically engineered tested water sanitizer, mainly because the volume of water that is exposed to the UV light, is not exposed long enough to properly kill the bacteria, as in regards to what government requirements are for potable water sanitization.  Jacuzzi claims it will naturalize the bacteria vs killing that bacteria, thus that's why you are still required to use a sanitizer such as chlorine in low dosage amounts.  My belief is it allows for a lower dosage than without it, and it's still more efficient that other gimmicks that have been marketed in the past 10 years.