First time with chemicals

[amy2421]

We filled our new Jacuzzi J-470 on Friday night and added the chemicals suggested in the "start up" instructions: 1 tablespoon Jacuzzi® Chlorinating Granules, 4 capfuls of Jacuzzi® Stain & Scale, and 6 caps of Jacuzzi® Ultra Spa Water Conditioner, then ran the jets for 20 minutes before closing the cover.

Last night, we went for our first soak (it was wonderful!) then added 1 tablespoon Jacuzzi® Chlorinating Granules and ran the jets again for 20 minutes before closing the cover.

There is a weekly routine as well, with chemicals in the start up kit, and a "Zorbie" floating thing that we're supposed to tie to the front of the filter cover (we forgot to do that yet.)

Would it be too soon to try out a test strip? Admittedly, I don't even know what I'd be looking for. We are going in sometime this week for "Spa School" with our sales rep to learn the ongoing maintenance routine and bring in a water sample for them to test.

We have the Clear Ray system which is supposed to cut down the amount of chemicals needed.

[chem geek]

A UV system such as Clear Ray does not cut down the amount of chemicals needed.  That's just marketing B.S.  UV does not oxidize bather waste.  It disinfects but so does chlorine.  It's ozone that oxidizes bather waste, but ozone also reacts with chlorine so ozonators only save on chlorine amount when the spa has a heavy bather load so is used every day or two OR if bromine is used (since ozone makes bromine from a bromide bank).

[Tman122]

We filled our new Jacuzzi J-470 on Friday night and added the chemicals suggested in the "start up" instructions: 1 tablespoon Jacuzzi® Chlorinating Granules, 4 capfuls of Jacuzzi® Stain & Scale, and 6 caps of Jacuzzi® Ultra Spa Water Conditioner, then ran the jets for 20 minutes before closing the cover.

Last night, we went for our first soak (it was wonderful!) then added 1 tablespoon Jacuzzi® Chlorinating Granules and ran the jets again for 20 minutes before closing the cover.

There is a weekly routine as well, with chemicals in the start up kit, and a "Zorbie" floating thing that we're supposed to tie to the front of the filter cover (we forgot to do that yet.)

Would it be too soon to try out a test strip? Admittedly, I don't even know what I'd be looking for. We are going in sometime this week for "Spa School" with our sales rep to learn the ongoing maintenance routine and bring in a water sample for them to test.

We have the Clear Ray system which is supposed to cut down the amount of chemicals needed.

Because your using Chlorine to sanitize I would suggest you test your water with the strips you have and get us the readings for PH and Alk. You may not be using enough chlorine, your use will be high. So keep an eye on the water and add extra if it's cloudy at all between soaks.

[wmccall]

Would it be too soon to try out a test strip?

Amy,

To this one point, the biggest rookie mistake is to chase the proper PH reading.    Most chemicals you add to either raise or lower the PH tell you to wait several hours before changing again.   It takes time for those chemicals to disperse and actually change the reading, so you add more when you don't really need it and over correct.  My personal policy is to not check the PH level for 36 to 48 hours after adding anything to adjust it.

[Quickbeam]

Would it be too soon to try out a test strip?

Amy,

To this one point, the biggest rookie mistake is to chase the proper PH reading.    Most chemicals you add to either raise or lower the PH tell you to wait several hours before changing again.   It takes time for those chemicals to disperse and actually change the reading, so you add more when you don't really need it and over correct.  My personal policy is to not check the PH level for 36 to 48 hours after adding anything to adjust it.

Wouldn't that take forever to dial in your TA? Maybe I'm missing something, but in order to lock in your PH, you need to adjust your TA. Get your TA correct, and your PH will be stable. I can have my water balanced, including adding dry acid to lower my TA, within a couple of hours. Admittedly the first couple of times took me longer, but I've never had to wait 36 to 48 hours to get my TA to where it should be.

Your getting all kinds of conflicting advice Amy. But just to tell you what I do, is I take tests for my CH, TA, and PH. My CH is usually pretty good, so what I have to concentrate on is getting my TA correct. Most will tell you to have a TA of somewhere around 80, but this is not correct. It all depends on your particular water. You need to get your TA to where your PH doesn't spike when you turn on your jets. I'll repeat that. When you aerate your tub (turn on the jets), unless your TA is where it should be, your PH will spike up. And when you do aerate your tub, be sure to use not only the jets, but have the air turned on the jets as well. You want them running full tilt. If you have your TA set correctly, your PH will remain stable when you turn on the jets. For my tub, with my water source, I need my TA at 30 in order for the PH to remain stable with jets aerating the tub. Once again the proper TA number will be different for everyone depending on their particular water.

Again, maybe I'm missing something, but this is always how I've balanced my water and it works just fine. If you do some reading I'm pretty sure you'll find this is the correct way to get to your proper PH. Again, in case this is confusing, in order to get the proper PH, you need to get your TA number correct and the proper way to do that is to go through the process of aerating your tub, taking a PH reading, adding a little dry acid, etc., checking your PH number to see if it is still spiking up. When your PH is no longer spiking up with aeration, then you have the proper TA number and your PH should remain solid.

Hope this is of some use to you.

[Quickbeam]

Hi Again Amy,

One thing I forgot to mention is that when I'm aerating the tub, I usually let the jets run for about 20 minutes. After 20 minutes I'll take a PH reading. If the PH has spiked up, I'll add a little more dry acid (sometimes called "PH Down"), once again let the jets run for 20 minutes (remember to have the air on to your jets) and then take another PH reading. Once your PH is stable, you should be good to go. You should probably also take TA readings when you're taking your PH readings, so you know what your proper TA is.

[Tman122]

Would it be too soon to try out a test strip?

Amy,

To this one point, the biggest rookie mistake is to chase the proper PH reading.    Most chemicals you add to either raise or lower the PH tell you to wait several hours before changing again.   It takes time for those chemicals to disperse and actually change the reading, so you add more when you don't really need it and over correct.  My personal policy is to not check the PH level for 36 to 48 hours after adding anything to adjust it.

I tell people one adjustment per 24-36 hrs and only if needed. And only adjust when your Chlorine level is stable at or below 2PPM

And don't panic your water will stay wet, warm and soothing even if your PH and TA are not perfect. But don't forget to sanitize with chlorine. You can over adjust PH and TA but you can't over sanitize.