Please help! We have only had our 280 gallon hot tub 1 week. We are having trouble balancing the water so we are draining the tub tomorrow and starting over. Our water here is great, but we need help maintaining this tub. We have contacted our dealer. We have been told to shock it at least every other use, and every use if several people have used it at once. Then to cholorinate once a week. We have all the other chemicals - ph up and down, clarifier, ect. Personally I think they are confusing and I have trouble reading the test strips. Husband is color blind so I am on my own there. Does this routine sound right?
Also - rashes are awful. Any suggestions about what to put on them? I am really hoping that I can come up with a simple routine to maintain this hot tub. I am a little afraid to get back in it. I don't want me or my family to get any more rashes. It's such a shame because we were really enjoying this spa. We've wanted one for 10 years and finally have one. It's our Christmas present to each other and I really discouraged. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks

Any of you water chemistry gurus please chime in right away if you have something to help these folks.

HI Joanie,

This problem is more common than you may know. Its caused by bacteria in the water being injected into your pores. Pores that are open and vulnerable in hot water. Sanitizers are used to eliminate bacteria. Chorine and bromine are sanitizers. NON CHLORINE SHOCK>>IS NOT A SANITIZER. if the shock you are using says it is non chlorine..dont use it. I wont go into the chemistry here but trust me.

My favorite sanitizer is Sodium dichlor. "Dichlor" is the common name for this Chorine compound. You dont mention what you are using as your main sanitizer.. is it bromine tablets? If so you can still shock using the dichlor.
Personally I use nothing but dichlor in my hot tub for several reasons. It is complete soluble, it has a "neutral " PH.. this is important for the health of your equipment. The down side is that it's granular and has to be added as needed. In your case probably a couple of times a week. Specially at fill and after each use.

Bromine, on the other hand has a PH of around 2.. this is very acidic and will lower the PH of your water and make it acidic. Dichlor will not.

If you are using city water, you probably need no PH adjustment with a fresh fill. Check the PH of your water that you use to fill the spa with. If it is between 7.2 and 8.0..its fine.

When you drain and refill your water this time. start out with a heavy dose of dichlor to kill any residual bacteria living in the plumbing and filter. a heavy dose would be about a third of a cup.

You may want to consult a physician regarding your rash.

Hopefully with some changes you will be enjoyin your hot tub again soon!

BARB

Barb,
Thank you so much for responding so fast. The chemicals that were given to us with our spa purchase are by "ProTeam". The shock that we were told to use states on the bottle "fast-acting, pH neutral shock removes organic wastes and refreshes water. Contains added clarifiers for sparling clear water". We are supposed to add 2 oz ( half-cap of granules) each use or every other use. I was NOT doing this, - thus the mess we're in. It does not say Dichlor on the bottle, but does say pH neutral. "Zip Chlor" with active ingredient of sodium dichloro-s triazinetrione ?? is what we were told to use weekly. What do you think? Thank you again.

Well, I went into dealer store today and spent almost an hour. Husband spoke with tech guy on phone 45 minutes. Tub was drained and refilled today. I definitely have a better understanding of how to care for our water. But we still got different opinions on how to maintain the water. It is clear that the more you use it and the more people that use it, the more sanitizer is needed to keep the water healthy. Two different people at dealership have given us two different opinions. One said to chlorinate weekly and use Shock every other time. The other said to chlorinate at least twice weekly and more so with more use and shock weekly or as needed if the water looks not so clear. If I understood you correctly Barb, you said that you chlorinate after each use. Given this lovely rash that we have grown accustom to, I am on the side of keeping bacteria at bay. If I was to chlorinate after each use, what would you recommend for a 280 gallon tub and would you increase that amount with additional people? I plan to test weekly with the test strips and I have all of the other necessary chemicals if needed. Thank you.
Joanie

The more people you talk to, the worse it will get.

First, if you can see color, then YOU need to be monitoring the test strips.

You didn't say whether or not you were actually monitoring the chemistry level....

Your rash could be coming from too much stuff being added to the water without considering what's already in there.

Get a handle on your test strips and monitoring first. Go take a reading of ph/alkalinity, and chlorine levels right now and post back what you're able to determine. If you can't figure it out then take a photo of the strip along side the bottle with the color chart.

Post that....

Simply adding stuff to the water without regard to the levels that are present is a recipe for disaster especially with a small tub like this. (Everything Barb has told you requires knowledge of the levels that are present of x,y,z in the water).

Sorry it took so long for me to get back. The Thanksgiving holiday was a busy one at our house. Hubby drained the tub, wiped it out, refilled and chlorinated with extra chlorine. He did what was recommended by the service guy at our dealership. He did this on Friday, water continues to look crystal clear!! We tested with test strips yesterday and it said ph was low and chlorine was extremely high. Knowing we weren't going to get in with the chlorine that high, we did nothing and waited. We figured it would come out high since we could smell the chlorine when we opened the cover. Today everything tested within normal range so we enjoyed it. Hubby and I sat in it approx. 20 minutes then daughter joined and hubby left for about 30 minutes. I put it about a tablespoon of Zip chlor after we were finished for the evening. We're thinking to put in a little chlorine after each use and a good amount at least twice a week if we are not using it. We will monitor every couple days with test strips and as long as it is in balance and looks and smells great, that will be the plan. We will adjust ph and alkalinity if needed. How does this sound? Thanks for everyone's help. This tub seems to need more monitoring than the pool I had as a kid. I understand this with it being hot water and everything, but it caught me a little off guard. Hopefully we can feel more comfortable with the test strips as time goes on and develop a maintenance plan that is easy for us.

Sorry it took so long for me to get back. The Thanksgiving holiday was a busy one at our house. Hubby drained the tub, wiped it out, refilled and chlorinated with extra chlorine. He did what was recommended by the service guy at our dealership. He did this on Friday, water continues to look crystal clear!! We tested with test strips yesterday and it said ph was low and chlorine was extremely high. Knowing we weren't going to get in with the chlorine that high, we did nothing and waited. We figured it would come out high since we could smell the chlorine when we opened the cover. Today everything tested within normal range so we enjoyed it. Hubby and I sat in it approx. 20 minutes then daughter joined and hubby left for about 30 minutes. I put it about a tablespoon of Zip chlor after we were finished for the evening. We're thinking to put in a little chlorine after each use and a good amount at least twice a week if we are not using it. We will monitor every couple days with test strips and as long as it is in balance and looks and smells great, that will be the plan. We will adjust ph and alkalinity if needed. How does this sound? Thanks for everyone's help. This tub seems to need more monitoring than the pool I had as a kid. I understand this with it being hot water and everything, but it caught me a little off guard. Hopefully we can feel more comfortable with the test strips as time goes on and develop a maintenance plan that is easy for us.

We tested with test strips yesterday and it said ph was low and chlorine was extremely high. Knowing we weren't going to get in with the chlorine that high, we did nothing and waited. We figured it would come out high since we could smell the chlorine when we opened the cover. Today everything tested within normal range so we enjoyed it. Hubby and I sat in it approx. 20 minutes then daughter joined and hubby left for about 30 minutes. I put it about a tablespoon of Zip chlor after we were finished for the evening. We're thinking to put in a little chlorine after each use and a good amount at least twice a week if we are not using it. We will monitor every couple days with test strips and as long as it is in balance and looks and smells great, that will be the plan. We will adjust ph and alkalinity if needed. How does this sound? Thanks for everyone's help. This tub seems to need more monitoring than the pool I had as a kid.


Yes, a hot tub does take a little more attention than a pool because the chlorine sanitizer doesn't stay more than a day or so in the much hotter and agitated tub. Unless you use some sort of exotic equipment, you have to test the hot tub nearly every day for chlorine residual and add as appropriate. Also test for pH every day. Most hot tubs see the pH slowly decrease, especially if you use the 'zip chlor' (dichlor) sanitizer so you will need to add 'spa up' (aka baking soda) every three days or so. If you let the pH decrease, you will be more prone to skin rashes and corrosion of your heater element will accelerate. The third thing to do is to add the non-chlorine 'shock' (very inappropirate name) once or twice a week depending on how much the tub is used. I use the GLB Oxybrite which is pretty much the industry standard. The 'shock' is really an oxidizer that will break down the oily stuff in the water and keep your filters from clogging up. The fourth thing to do is to check your filters every week or so to make sure that adequate water is going through them. When they start to clog, you can remove them and hose them off with a garden hose. Eventually, the hosing will not restore their function and you will need to soak them in a bucket with some filter cleaner. I keep a second set of filters and just swap them out every four weeks or so and then let the old set dry out and clean them.

Barb

Can you use Dichlor by ortex when you have been using brominating concentrate?? do i need to empty the tub?? i have some that are pool suply house sold us.

I have been having the same rash and was wondering if using the dichlor a teaspoon when getting out and one teaspoon per 100 gallons once a week to santzy.


Thank you johnnyspa.

boy that sure rings a bell. The last thing a dealer talks about is chemicals and care, that's a surprise left for after the sale and installation. The first few weeks we had our spa I was in it for an hour each and every night the first two months. then it all turned to a nightmare! rashes and chemistry trouble. in hindsight it started cause I tried to save money with chemicals I knew nothing about. for instance going away from bromine cause I ran out of sanitzer and didn't like the smell and using the mentioned "non chlorine shock". " title="Shocked" />

This sounds like a rash from too high chlorine. Start by balencing alkalinity and hardness, then pH. The cholrine, I like to use this combo...Dichlor, Oxy-shock, and Nature 2. Once the first 3 are in line, shock once/week or more if it's used heavily and maintain a residual (1-3 ppm) free chlorine. Nature 2 is good for about 3-4 months...you'll know when you have trouble maintaining alkalinity, hardness, and pH.

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about your experience.

First of all, I'd go see a doctor.

Two options here:

1. Too much sanitiser

If the rash is a result of too much shock/sanitiser then techincally its a chemical burn. For this I'd suggest a steroid cream, though I'm no doctor, so you should get proper medical advice.

2. Insufficient sanitiser (ie bacteria in the spa)

I'd suggest that you google "Hot Tub Folliculitis" for more info to see if your symptoms match.

Sometimes people can be allergic to chlorine or bromine, though in this case its unlikely that the whole family would be allergic.

If you are struggling with the chemistry, you can download guides to this from our website, and I've also written a very basic guide below:

1. Bacteria breed in hot water much faster than cold - a pool at 20deg.C needs 1ppm of chlorine, vs a hot tub at 40deg.C needs 6ppm.

2. So you need to kill the bacteria by adding a sanitiser - preferably bromine or chlorine.

3. However, for the sanitiser to work, the pH must be between 7.2 and 7.6

4. Dead bacteria tend to push the pH upwards, so you'll tend to use pH minus all the time. You shoudn't need to add pH plus unless you are have put too much pH minus in!

5. All the other stuff, such as TA and CH simply affect wether or not the water is corrosive or scale forming, but are more relevent to looking after your spa's heater and other components, rather than the saftey of the occupants.

6. Finally Oxidiser is used to "burn off" any unfilterable waste such as small particles that will fit through the filter's membrane, yet discoulour the water. Alternatively you can add "clarifier", "coagulant" or "flocculant" (all the same thing) which acts like a glue in the water - it makes all the small particles stick together or "coagulate" so that they do get trapped in the filter. This is much less harsh than oxidising.

NOTE: IF YOUR CHLORINE IS VERY HIGH - remeber its a bleach so it can actually bleach the PH reading on your test strips, giving you a misleadingly low pH reading. So theoreticially, your pH could be sky high, as is your chlorine, so you could well have bacteria breeding in the tub.

Hope this helps, feel free to email me if you need any more help.

Good luck!

Ed.