PH Balance products

[Spiderman]

Do they work and what are the pros/cons?

[hottubdan]

Do they work and what are the pros/cons?

If you are talking about products like pH Perfect, that are supposed to maintain pH without having to balance the water, I am told not to use them with smaller circulation pumps.  They will gum up the works, so i have been told.

[Vinny]

My question to you is what problems are you having balancing your PH?

Personally, I'm not a fan of "locking" products. Then again I'm not a fan of a lot of products!

[Spiderman]

My question to you is what problems are you having balancing your PH?

Personally, I'm not a fan of "locking" products. Then again I'm not a fan of a lot of products!

I'm not having any problems, but I do have to up the PH every week or so.  It seems to drop to around 7.0 so I add some to get it back up.  I was browsing around today and saw the PH Balance product from Leisure Time, I think, and was curious about it.  It seems like a good idea, but I'm always a little skeptical.

[tony]

I've never tried one but have heard or read to stay away from them.

[Vinny]

I'm not having any problems, but I do have to up the PH every week or so.  It seems to drop to around 7.0 so I add some to get it back up.  I was browsing around today and saw the PH Balance product from Leisure Time, I think, and was curious about it.  It seems like a good idea, but I'm always a little skeptical.

Do you know your alkalinity? Maybe its too low. What products do you use that has a low PH? When you up the PH what do you up it to?

I tend not to worry about alkalinity but I also know my PH and alkalinity rise and fall together. I use one product - baking soda and it adjusts both to the proper levels. What I have found is that with higher alkalinity PH tends to be locked in, as alkalinity drops PH drifts down.

If you're using PH up, give baking soda a try. I usually wait until the tub is at 7.2 or so add about 4 oz and that'll bring it up to 7.8. I can go about a month or so before the PH drifts down where I have to adjust it. The only low PH item I use is MPS which has a PH of about 4.

[Spiderman]

Do you know your alkalinity? Maybe its too low. What products do you use that has a low PH? When you up the PH what do you up it to?

I tend not to worry about alkalinity but I also know my PH and alkalinity rise and fall together. I use one product - baking soda and it adjusts both to the proper levels. What I have found is that with higher alkalinity PH tends to be locked in, as alkalinity drops PH drifts down.

If you're using PH up, give baking soda a try. I usually wait until the tub is at 7.2 or so add about 4 oz and that'll bring it up to 7.8. I can go about a month or so before the PH drifts down where I have to adjust it. The only low PH item I use is MPS which has a PH of about 4.

I'm using baking soda to up the PH/ALK.  I also use HotSpring's dichlor as my daily sanitizer and weekly shock.  The only other product I use is Rendevous stain and scale.  My ALK always seems to be the bare minimum when I check it, which isn't too often.

[Garyjr]

I am not trying to step on ANY toes, and Vinny, you have ALWAYS provided me and many others with GREAT advise, but I have been using Ph Balance for the past several months, and swear by it.  Unlike many others, I tend to fight high Ph and low Alk, and since I started using Ph Balance, except to get my initial settings right, I never have to balance Ph or Alk.  Before, I was using between 2-3 bottles of Spa Down and about the same amount of Alk up between changes, so the price ($12.95 around here) for Ph balance is a non factor.  I change my water about every 90 days, so I cannot say how much longer the stuff will keep things balanced, but I can attest that it will maintain for at least 3 months.
As for long term effects to the circ pump, I cannot speak, however, my spa tech was fixing a leak for me back in December, and said his parents have used the stuff for years.
I am not promoting, nor do I sell spa products, but I can say the stuff works as advertised.

Jr

PS Vinny, you are still the best...

[wmccall]

My PH isn't that hard to keep in range, but when I tried one of these products, I was alarmed by the amount you have to add.  It was at least a couple of pounds for my 425 gallon tub.  

[Chas]

I have replaced several heaters and many many circ pumps for customers who used these balancers incorrectly.

The label specifies a limited range of hardness, pH and TA. All of the folks who cost themselves all of that money had not read the label and/or had not measured all three of these parameters.

I stopped selling it.

 8-)

[Im-A-Duck]

I have been thinking of using these products also. I have been having issues with my pH and Alk. When I have my pH in line (7.4-7.6) my alk runs around 60. If I add alk up to to get the alk to 100-120 my pH is 8.0+. I then have to add pH down and then my alk goes right back down to where it started...60. Hey Chas, is this normal? Should I worry about the alk if my pH is staying in line? Or should I attempt to use a pH balancer and increase my alk after I have the pH locked. I just changed the water last week and I am having the same issues with my alk.

[Chad]

I have been thinking of using these products also. I have been having issues with my pH and Alk. When I have my pH in line (7.4-7.6) my alk runs around 60. If I add alk up to to get the alk to 100-120 my pH is 8.0+. I then have to add pH down and then my alk goes right back down to where it started...60. Hey Chas, is this normal? Should I worry about the alk if my pH is staying in line? Or should I attempt to use a pH balancer and increase my alk after I have the pH locked. I just changed the water last week and I am having the same issues with my alk.

If your pH remains constant, don't worry about where your alk is.

[Chas]

If your pH remains constant, don't worry about where your alk is.

Agreed.

 8-)

[Garyjr]

Chas,

Question for you.  Is it better for the tub and components  to add 1 bottle of whatever products go into making up PH Balance, or several bottles of Ph Up and/or Down along with Alk adjusters over a 3-4 month period of time?  As I said in an earlier post, I was adding no less than 2-3 full bottles of Spa Down and approximately the same amount of Alk increaser between water changes before discovering Ph Balance.
I am not questioning your knowledge, but it would seem logical that the less product you have to add, the less gunk you have to contend with down the road.

Thanks,
Jr

[Vinny]

Gary,

I would think that if you're following directions and not winging it then adding less is better. I think that some people will have a PH of say 8.4 and think it'll correct this high PH.

Having water that's ready to be easily balanced out of the tap makes me not need it but I probably would try a different approach if I had difficult water.

As far as disagreeing with me ... I really don't know everything, I just act like I do! 8-)

Vinny