Switched from Baqua - Now confused

[TimC]

 Well, I finally got fed up with the Baqua cloudyness and smell and made the switch on refill on our Vanguard this week.

Switching to Chlorine system.

My Dealer suggested and I went with the following

-FRESHWATER Silver Ion Cart.
-SpaGuard Stain and Scale
-SpaGuard Sanitizer (97% dichlor-s-triazinetrione)
-SpaGuard Enhanced Shock (58.2% dichlor-s-triazinetrione)
-Didn't say when to add stain and scale, guessing weekly (or should I only add when problems start)

Dealer said to
-put in the Silcer Ion Cart.
-Super chlorinate and balance chems.
-Add 1 tbs every soak
-and throw in the Enhanced Shock every week

But reading some posts and various websites there is talk about MPS with the FreshWater Silver Ion Cart.

Is the process the dealer suggested OK or did I miss something.  

Also the test strips read very low (0 range) on the free Chlorine, but this seems to be correct if you are supposed to keep it at .5 and not in the 1-3 range suggested without the Silver Ion Cart.

Thanks for any suggestions or reassurance that the program makes sense.

[Chas]

That's a good program, with the one suggestion that you should test the chlorine the morning after you add it, and it should then be .5 to 1 ppm. That indicates that it was higher within a few hours of adding, did it's job, and you still had a readable amount of chlorine left.

The shock once per week is good at helping keep the water fresh and keeping the Siver Ion Cart. alive and well for the full four months.

But if once or twice a month works for the MPS, that's good too.

[Michigander]

Baqua experience.  Can you describe the problems you had with the Baqua Spa products and why you are switching?  You said the smell and cloudiness.  Our dealer said you don't get the strong smell like you do with Chlorine or Bromine.  They further suggested that the maintenance level was lower with Baqua than it is for Chlorine and Bromine.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Is the General consensus just use chlorine?

[Vinny]

I have a friend who uses Baqua in their pool and spa and love it. Don't seem to have any problems with it. I suggested they try chlorine in their spa and they are happy with Baqua - maybe it has something to do with the water makeup coming out of the tap?

I use chlorine for the pool and will use chlorine in the spa - it does a good job, it's cheap and for me (at least in the pool) it's not too big a deal to maintain.

[lynnette]

   We switched from Baqua about 3 months ago to Fresh Water also. We are using all the same products.  Our water has been great, no foam and finally clear water.  I just purchased the stain and scale control was told to put it in every 3-4 weeks by my HotSprings dealer.  We also use both SpaGuard shocks.  I put the Enhanced Shock about every 5-6 days.  I use 1 1/2 oz of the regular shock per use.  We have a Tiger River Caspian 330 gallons.  When you use the Enhanced Shock make sure you put it in after your out of the tub and let it run about 10 minutes, I was told by my dealer to do this.  I did not do this one time put it in right before we got out and I got a rash. (It is gone now) I beleive it was from the chlorine in the Enhanced Shock.  We are glad we made the switch. Good Luck.  Lynnette

[tony]

SpaGuard enhanced shock is a combination of dichlor, MPS, clarifier and pH buffer.  I agree that the progam your dealer suggested is a good one.

[TimC]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Baqu worked great for the first couple months of Tub ownership.  Then it seemed that we couldn't keep the water clear.  Two water changes last time to get rid of cloudy water and chose not to go through that again as the water was getting cloudy.  The water tested fine at the dealer.  Perfect Alk, PH, Metals, Sanitizer,...  But it was still cloudy.

Baqua alwyas had a kinda sticky sweet smell to it to me and as the water got cloudier I felt the smell kept getting worse.  You would get out and towel off and you could smell it still on your skin.

Now maybe it is that I associate clean water with Chlorinated water, but I feel clean when I get out now with the chlorine system.

The Baqua program was a little less maint.  You didn't have to add anything on a per use basis.  Peroxide once a week and the Bauqua sanatizer once a week or as needed.

How do you all add your chlorine per use.  Do you have a convenient way to measure or is it a dash of this and a pinch of that?  

[Vinny]

Go to Doc's site and go to the FAQ in his forum. Look for the info from Northman and Vermonter on chlorine use.

His site is rhtubs.com

[TimC]

Thanls Vinny

Great Info over on Doc's site.

[JTJ23BA]

The program they suggested is just fine.  Add the the Stain and Scale once a week at least 4 hours after Enhanced shock.   As far as Baqua products go, whether in the pool or inthe spa, people either love it or hate it.  Just find what works best for you and stick with it.