I have tub maintenance fright!!!!

[ORANGEPEEL]

Bama:
Still fairly new, about 3 months now.
My approach has been don't try to micro manage your chemical readings to get to the exact levels. Start low and work to get into the proper range, once there just try to keep within the range.
Trying to be perfect will use up alot of chemicals and could get you frustrated.
Using Dichlor and found it isn't very hard at all to keep everthing in range.
Still have great water after 3 months.
Enjoy

[Bama]

Don't soak in battery acid and you'll be OK!

Seriously, there is a newbie learning curve but it really isn't difficult.

Use either  bromine or dichlor (which is chlorine for the tub) and everything will be fine.

You need to know what's coming out of the tap to know where you want to go. Once you know that it's a simple matter of adding chems to bring a certain level up or down. If calcium is too high you need to add a chemical to keep it from depositing  on the tub.

Stuff will happen to the tub - see my post on good water gone bad - but you'll gain experience and be able to handle it. Just remember that PH, alkalinity (you may or may not have to adjust this) and calcium have a range and the sanitizer needs to be enough to kill bacteria.

It may be fustrating in the beginning but it does get easier.

Adjust PH up with either soda ash or baking soda - baking soda will adjust alkalinity too. Adjust both down with PH minus.

Thanks,  I will look up your previous post.  I like the idea of using baking soda to adjust alkalinity.  
I assume I will get a kit to test my tap water, or do I need to purchase one separately?

[Bama]

I've only been up & running a little over a week, but I'm finding maintaining the water is much easier than I thought (thanks to the people here pointing me toward the Vermonter dichlor method).  So far, it has been easier than maintaining a 55 gal aquarium - add a little of this & little of that while filling (1/2 bottle metal gone, 1 pkg spa up, & 1 oz defender) & then 1.5 tbsp dichlor (spa 56).  Then 2 tsp dichlor after each use (has been daily so far).  Readings all come out where they should.  Used 2.5 tbsp to shock after neighbors came over the other night.  So far, so good  

I bought the Leisure Time "Complete Spa Care Startup Kit (chlorine) for about $40.  It has everything you need to get up & running & maintain things for a while.  It even comes with an instructional DVD for water maintenance.  The only thing I found was that their recommended amounts of what to add seemed a little higher than needed so I backed off - can always add more later if needed so why put in a bunch of stuff on day one, right?

ok, I'll try and relax a bit.  It's just that this tub is so big, I shutter to think that I would have to dump the water and start over needlessly for a lack of knowledge.
 I have heard, "Vermonters Dichlor" before.  Is that a brand name or a method?  I'm telling ya, I am starting at zero here!  LOL
thanks so much

[Bama]

I'm the one who posted about "hating tub maintenance" and I hate to think that I scared anyone off. I have more pH problems than most due to my water source, so you may never experience the same issues. And I only said i "hated" it because I was so frustrated that my tub was not playing by the rules- I am a bit of a control freak, so if I add acid, the pH better drop, dammit. I still love my tub, love the relaxation it brings me, and I look at tub chemisty as a chess game that I want to win in as few moves as possible. It can be fun. You'll see what seems to be a high proportion of people here having problems and seeking help because this is where we get great advice! I dont bother to post about how satisfied I am when my water is perfectly balanced.......maybe I should.......

Anne,  your post has helped me to know that I have many unanswered questions.
So, thank you for pointing this out to me.  I'm thankful for your input and everyone who is responding to my posts.

[Bama]

Thanks to all of you for your wisdom!  I feel better now!
I now know to test my tap water, find a Vermonter something or other and dump the tub after about 3 weeks.  
I get the impression that dichlor is best to use, and to keep baking soda handy!

I have put the fear aside and have resumed my excitement.  
I can hardly wait for my tub to arrive!!!!

Thanks once again to all of you for your help!  You guys are so nice and helpful!
Bama

[anne]

You are welcome! This is a great place for us to share experiences and ideas.

That vermonter thing- check out  ftp://http://www.rhtubs.com/bbs/FAQ.htm

Here are a few jewels of wisdom I copied from posts here a while back. Sorry, dont remember who to credit, but this helped me a lot. This is not new info, but I always like to understand the "why" behind things:

Always adjust TA then pH.
Bicarbonate will raise TA more than pH.
Ash will raise pH more than it will TA.

So, if you have low TA and good pH, use bicarbonate.
If you have low pH and good TA, use ash.
And if you have low TA and low pH, use bicarbonate.


Sodium bicarbonate (sodium bicarb, bicarb or baking soda) has a pH of 8.3 and contributes bicarbonate to total alkalinity. Because the spa water pH is close to the pH of the bicarb, it will have a greater effect on TA than pH. So if you want to raise just the alkalinity with a small rise in pH, use bicarb. 1 lb of bicarb added to 10,000 gallons of water will increase TA by 7.15 ppm and increase pH by about .1 to .2 unit.
 
Sodium carbonate (soda ash) has a pH of 13.0 and contributes carbonate to total alkalinity. Because it has a high pH, soda ash will raise both pH and total alkalinity. 1 lb of soda ash added to 10,000 gallons of water will increase TA by 11.33 ppm and will increase the pH by about 1.0 unit.
      

[johnnieg]

i give my clinets a product called ezspa ,the start up kit has everything they need and seems to work real good