Baking Soda vs Soda Ash

[Brewman]

 Doesn't seem I did too much harm with Bicarb so far.  

If you put a lot of Baking Soda in your spa, remember not to put any vinegar in there.  If you want to see why, take a small glass and mix the two.  Then imagining that happening in your spa.  

[tanstaafl2]

 If you put a lot of Baking Soda in your spa, remember not to put any vinegar in there.  If you want to see why, take a small glass and mix the two.  Then imagining that happening in your spa.  
 

Ah yes, Mr Wizard strikes again. Been there, done that!  

[tanstaafl2]

Try this thread.
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=wtb-hottub;action=display;num=1140625398;start=10

Thanks, another interesting thread. I guess my biggest problem is I don't have a lot of confidence in the test strips. Hard to say exactly where the colors I get fall on the scale.

Wish I had a machine that I could pour a little water end and get a precise readout of the various characteristics. Not likely to happen though.
 

[tony]

Wish I had a machine that I could pour a little water end and get a precise readout of the various characteristics. Not likely to happen though.
  

Taylor Test Kit.

[tanstaafl2]

Tested my tap water as well as the tub today just out of curiosity.

pH seems to be about the same at around 6.8-7.0 at best for both despite my use of 1 TBS of baking soda yesterday morning. The TA was very low for the tap water but about 120 for the tub which seems to be about where it was before the baking soda, maybe just slightly darker than before.

No chlorine reading in either after using a single tsp of dichlor last night. And the CA still seems to be reading low in both (The strip calls this one "stabilizer" and I am just guessing it measures CA.

Probably try to refrain from messing with it for a few days while the service tech comes out to evaluate the error message I keep getting for "power board communication".  Dealer suspects the secondary control pad on the opposite side of the tub.

Hasn't seemed to affect spa function so far but disconcerting none the less.