Got my Taylor 2006 kit - odd chlorine result..

[Gibson00]

OK, so just received it in the mail.  Of course wanted to try it right away.
OK, so I filled the larger tube to the 25ml mark, which I understand means that every drop of 871 will be multipplied by .2.
I put two of the small scoops of the powder in, stayed pink.  Started adding drops of 871.
Um....I'm up to about 72 drops, and the damn thing is just starting to get pale pink.  WTH?

Again, I've only ever used the trichlor spa tabs, once every three days, and I actually haven't even had on in there for the past couple days, instead was just adding a teaspoon of dichlor crystals after using it, was trying to bring the chlorine down a bit from the reading my test strips were giving, which I thought was around 10..

Is my tub over-loaded with chlorine, or am I screwing up the test?  I don't want to keep trying to do it over and over and end up running out of reagents....this kit was pricey to get from the US to Canada....

[chem geek]

It does sound like the FC level may be high.  72 drops would be 14.4 ppm FC.  You can use a 10 ml sample size when you expect higher chlorine levels since each drop is 0.5 ppm FC in that case (for very high chlorine levels you can use a 5 ml sample size where each drop is 1 ppm FC).

Trichlor can dissolve too quickly in hot water so it is certainly possible the chlorine level is too high.  Do you have any other chlorine test kit you can use such as an OTO test that gets more yellow with higher chlorine?  It will start to turn orange or even red if the FC is very high.  A standard DPD test, however, will bleach out at high FC having you think there's no chlorine when there's really way too much.

[Gibson00]

Thanks Chem Geek.  Gonna let it sit for 24 - 48 hours without adding anything, and retest.  I'm wondering if these high chlorine levels would explain why the steam from the tub has been making us cough when running the jets?

Now that I have the kit, I'm tempted to once again start over with a water change.  The water doesn't cost -too- much (we do pay for water in Nova Scotia, not all provinces do..), but has anyone calculated the cost to have the heater running for roughly 7 hours straight to heat 500 gallons from about 55 to 100 degrees?? 

Edit - I've been waiting for the spa guys from Arctic to come over to re-attach a couple of intake covers that came loose, couldn't get the screws back in myself.  They are coming over tomorrow, but have asked that I empty the tub so that they can get to them.  Kind of sucks, waste of water and power, but I guess its an opportunity to once again start over, and maybe do the dichlor to bleach method.  Gonna read up carefully on it tonight, pick up some bleach, etc.

[BullFrogSpasMN]

Thanks Chem Geek.  Gonna let it sit for 24 - 48 hours without adding anything, and retest.  I'm wondering if these high chlorine levels would explain why the steam from the tub has been making us cough when running the jets?

Now that I have the kit, I'm tempted to once again start over with a water change.  The water doesn't cost -too- much (we do pay for water in Nova Scotia, not all provinces do..), but has anyone calculated the cost to have the heater running for roughly 7 hours straight to heat 500 gallons from about 55 to 100 degrees?? 

Edit - I've been waiting for the spa guys from Arctic to come over to re-attach a couple of intake covers that came loose, couldn't get the screws back in myself.  They are coming over tomorrow, but have asked that I empty the tub so that they can get to them.  Kind of sucks, waste of water and power, but I guess its an opportunity to once again start over, and maybe do the dichlor to bleach method.  Gonna read up carefully on it tonight, pick up some bleach, etc.

a 15 ppm chlorine level would def. make me cough, that is a sky high reading for a residential spa, wait for it to come down or dilute it out would be your best option

[amy2421]

Now that I have the kit, I'm tempted to once again start over with a water change.  The water doesn't cost -too- much (we do pay for water in Nova Scotia, not all provinces do..), but has anyone calculated the cost to have the heater running for roughly 7 hours straight to heat 500 gallons from about 55 to 100 degrees?? 

We're in Ontario and pay for our water too. I was dreading getting my first hydro bill since our tub was installed at the end of September. We also had a lot of power tools running in September for our backyard reno. I was pleasantly surprised that my bill was not much higher than usual, including the power tools, heating tub from 58 degrees to 101, maintaining 101 degrees, using the tub with both pumps and heater for about 20 minutes daily, and running circ pump 24/7. AND our hydro rate is the highest in Canada! So I think you'll be OK with a refill and re-heat.

[Gibson00]

Thanks Amy.
Our power rate here is 14.95 cents/kwh.  I checked my previous bills, and then checked my meter reading, and if I am doing the reading and math properly, it looks like the tub cost me a little over $50 to power over the past month, but that included both the original fill and heat, and then a second fill and heat (from about 55F) a couple weeks ago.
We've had a pretty mild November, so I'm sure the bill will be noticeably worse the next few months, but hopefully spring/summer will balance it out.

Cheers