New Hot Tub owner with a few questions

[snaxmuppet]

I got my first hot tub last week. It is a Hotspring Flair with the Freshwater Salt system. It was set up by my local Hotspring supplier and they gave me a rather quick intro to water management before they left and with that, and with reading loads on the internet (including here!) I thought I had a handle on it. But I do have a few questions which I am hoping you might be able to help with...

The Freshwater Salt system is struggling to keep up with my use. It seems that no matter what setting I use (even boost) there is no chlorine at all shown on the strip in the morning. I then dose with the chlorine granules to bring it up to 3ppm but it never gets higher than that even on boost and then the following morning it is back down to near zero. Is the Freshwater Salt system faulty? The water was shocked when first filled to over 10 so I know it started clean. TA is 60-80 and pH is 7.4 so that is all good.

When is the best time to add sanitiser? I have seen a mix of advice... morning, before use, after use etc... 

When is the best time to take a reading? 

I would like to get to the point where I can just set the Freshwater Salt system to a sensible setting to cope with my normal weekly use and then only add chlorine if it is used more than that or with more people... is that even possible if it is used daily for 2 people for 30 mins? At the moment, it is not showing any sign that it is producing chlorine at all tbh.

Have to admit to being rather confused.

[d00nut]

A couple questions.

Where do you live, and have you have an ability to check on Phosphate levels?  Phosphates can have a huge impact on the ability to maintain a consistent chlorine residual.

-or-

Do you have ozone (in that spa, you would have small bubbles constantly coming up from the bottom of the spa from the circ pump.)  A lot of my customers have ozone systems, which allows them to keep the freshwater salt output low (mine is 3, despite having a Grandee and using it nightly.) . However, they won't find a chlorine residual because the ozone eats it up.

[snaxmuppet]

Thanks for your reply.

Don't know about phosphates tbh. I am in Cornwall in the UK. I will look into it though. Thanks.

No ozone on this hot tub

[wmccall]

Welcome to the forum!   While there are many more people with great chemical expertise than me, I do offer a little advice.   We had a rule called, "Chas' law (from a now retired member who frequented here)   A month after you get the tub, dump the water and start over, everyone screws it up at first.     

We use our tub mainly late in the evening, I'll check the sanitizer level in the morning.  But when it comes to PH, I do offer this one piece of advice, after adding something to make the PH go up for down, wait 48 hours to test it again to give your adjustment dosage time to settle down.  A lot of people say wait 24 hours, but I wait 48 to avoid chasing the PH up and down.

[CASpas1]

Hello. I was one of the beta test sites for the Freshwater Salt System. I've had my system running since July 2016. I must say this system works very well! It is about the easiest water care system I've used in my 30 year experience owning hot tubs. BTW: I just drained and refilled my tub after 13 months with the same water!

A couple of tips for new users:

1. Make sure you reduce calcium hardness to 50 ppm - This is very important as the system will not work as well with hard water. Use the Vanishing Act softener. I keep mine at 25 ppm the soft water feels great!

2. The system when first installed will begin to generate chlorine almost immediately, however it will take some time to clean the water. after that it will begin to build a chlorine residual. -If you want to use the spa immediately I suggest shocking with liquid chlorine - sodium hypochlorite which is common household bleach.

3. Boost if you use your spa frequently, then you will need to boost or add supplemental chlorine. Boost will run the system constantly for 24 hours. If for example I soak in the evening and want to come back first thing in the morning to soak again, I will typically need to hit boost upon exiting the tub and then shock in the morning.

4. Set your output level for 7. this will run the system a total of 12 hours a day. You can make fine adjustments depending on your typical weekly use.

5. Test your water - Be sure to use the Freshwater 5-way strips to check your water! Also the system will ask you to confirm that you have tested your water every 10 days. - Hit "Confirm" otherwise the system will assume that no one is home and will begin to step down the output level. This is a built-in safeguard to prevent runaway chlorine generation.

5. Check and adjust your pH the system will tend to increase pH over time so you will need to add pH down periodically