For a little bit of fun, lots of information and sharing with others in the world of spa chemistry & equipment maintenance, you have to experience the informative world of the "SPABABES"! Now it is not the website you might think it is... it is a bulletin board where other spa owners/users share problems, dillemna's & most important fix-it solutions to most problems. I try to frequent it as much as I can and lend my two-cents, whenever possible. Go there & check it out. www.spababes.com |
For lots more info & answers to your more specific questions, I invite you to give me a call directly at (503) 829-3496, (503) 824-4988 or fax to (503)829-3496. E-mail works good too, at poolandspamedic@molalla.net |
CHEMISTRY PROBLEMS: My spa water has a bad odor, or bluntly stated, IT STINKS! What is wrong? Chances are that you are a normal Human Being! We tend to lack in routine maintenance procedures. Sheesh, just look at all the different companies that provide services that almost anybody can do, but we don't so we hire someone else to care for our pools, spas, yards, clean our homes, wash our cars, change our oil, even walk our dogs! Oh well I think I'm off on a tangent. Your spa water is probably out of sanitizer & needs some added. Also, when in that state you will need to shock! But without actually knowing the spa chemistry readings it is hard to inform properly. Shocking the water in most cases will remove the odor. My spa has a bad odor, I checked the chemistry & all appears to be fine. Please Help! Just as stated above, shocking the water (with a non-chlorine type of shock) will in most cases correct the problem. What may be happening is that contaminants are increasing above the desired levels. You may be checking your sanitizer levels & finding that you are at "ideal", (more common if Chlorine is your choice of sanitizer), but in actuallity the chloramines are building up & producing the odor. Shocking the water with the prescribed dosage, as printed on the label of the product you are using, will remove the contaminant & the water should be odor free, soon. I am having a very difficult time getting my pH to stay where it should be, the color seems to be always purple, I keep adding spa down stuff but to no avail. What am I doing wrong? Is your Total Alkalinity where it is supposed to be? This is Very Important! If your TA is not balanced then your pH will be very difficult to stabilize. Total Alkalinity should be somewhere between 80ppm and 120 ppm. Some may even say as high as 150 ppm. No, I don't check Total alkalinity. My test kit only does chlorine & pH. And besides, I thought that there was no difference between pH & Alkalinity. So, explain. Okay. First of all trash the kit you are using & don't ever go back to K-mart (or whereever) to get your spa supplies. Because that is where these type of kits come from. I hope that you did not get that kit at a spa supply store, if you did they should have explained the need for an alkalinity test. as you were buying the economy kit. Use Test Strips, they are economical, and easy to use. Plus, you have the ability to test for sanitizer, pH & alkalinity! And with some kits, even Calcium Hardness can be tested as well. Alkalinity is a buffer. The more balanced your water is the more stable the pH will be. Total alkalinity "IS" the balance of water. If this is very high, the pH will "bounce" it appear that pH is down at a proper level, but the next day It is high again. Continue to add a product that lowers the ph and the alkalinity will continue to be lowered. BUT YOU NEED TO TEST FIRST!!! If alkalinity is high continue as described above. If alkalinity is lower than 80 ppm, then add a product to raise alkalinity. How important is the level of my Calcium Hardness? Very! Especially if you have soft water in your area. Which brings me to a reminder: "NEVER FILL YOUR SPA WITH A HOSE BIB CONNECTED TO YOUR WATER SOFTENER" Okay back to the question. Calcium Hardness in a spa needs to be at least at 200-250 ppm at the low end. 500 ppm at the high end. If lower, raise to the minimum level. If higher, Normally the procedure is to empty & refill. The water is probably 90 days old, give or take. If the Calcium Level is too low the water is too corosive and will eat up anything metallic, which means $$$ shelled out in repairs. If too high, then you will begin to scale up the internals of your plumbing & equipment. And you will begin to feel a "Sandpaper like" texture to the spa surface. That is why it is an important water chemstry element to keep in check! Why can't I use the water softener? We want the soft, silky feeling when we use our tub. Because as I stated above, water needs to be atleast 200-250 ppm. Softened water will be closer to 0 ppm. As described, soft water is too corrosive to your investment. Then if your pH or alkalinity should drop as well then you have a double whammy. Most often times you will need to harden your water at fill up by using a product that raises the Calcium Hardness. Our spa seems to always be murky, not clear. But our sanitizer level is right where it should be. We use it every day, is that the problem? No, but it does have something to do with it. Your spas filtration system was designed to filter out as much impurities as possible. But unfortunately most filters do not filter down small enough to get the miniscule - microscopic particles that are floating in the water. Multiply those particles by thousands & you have cloudy water! I suggest that you use a clarifier in your normal routine maintenance, like Sea-Klear. Why? And what is a clarifier? As I mentioned water gets cloudy because there are millions of small microscopic particles floating around in the water having a grand old time. Just like in an amusement park. The pump is "moving" them around the spa they get "sucked" into a skimmer, "pushed or pulled " through the filter because they are too small to get trapped, and then "shot" back into the spa, only to do it all over again. Doesn't that sound like an amusement park? Seriously though, these particles are just too tiny to get trapped by the filter and they just "pass" right through it. With a clarifier, the thousands of little dirts get joined together and make hundreds of bigger dirts. Now they can get trapped in the filter and the water begins to clear & get a "Polished" look. |
Normal & frequent questions asked, are sometimes the easiest to answer. Remember: " The Stupidest question, is the one never asked" Hot Tub Problems: My Spa is cold, what's up with that? Most often times, the problem is related to a water flow restriction. If water does not flow freely, a built in safety switch, Pressure or Flow, will not close the circuit of electricity which relays a message to the heater stating "it is safe to heat, water is flowing freely" What does that mean? It means that your filter is probably dirty. That is the most common problem with spa usage, filters get dirty, flow reduces, Flow or pressure switch can't close due to low water pressure or low water flow. Hence, your heater won't come on to heat spa water. What else can cause a flow restriction? 1) Low water level in the tub. Your water level may be below skimmer & is sucking air. Air will not close the switches mentioned above. 2) Obstruction of debris in the pump. The pump impeller may be plugged with hair, lint, leaves, paper, bandages/band-aids, plastic candy wrappers, scum balls, or even toys. (I once removed an article of women's lingerie). These obstructions will not allow free water movement. 3) Closed valves, before or after the equipment. Obvious reason, no need for further explanation. How could all those things get in my pump? If you remove your filter for cleaning & the pump is on during the removal, Voila any debris that was in the filters well, just got sucked into the pump! Make sure pump is off, or power to spa is off, when removing the filter for routine cleaning! Note - the above describes a suction system, where the filter is before the pump. If your spa has a pressure side filter the above does not pertain to you. BUT, you may have a skimmer that has a strainer basket! If so, then ensure that the basket is always in place otherwise your pump will suck up all those things mentioned earlier. Any other reasons my spa could get cold, or not heat at all? Yup, many! But I am only going to give obvious reasons here. If one of these comments don't help you out, you will need to call a qualified spa technician to diagnose & repair your "beloved" hot tub. Anyway, continuing. Check to see if your Hi-limit has tripped. This is another safety switch installed into your spas control system. If any of the reasons you read above did occur, your spas hi-limit switch may be tripped! This switch is normally RED in color & it may even be labeled. It looks like a pencil head eraser. You may not even know you have reset the switch when pushing it, as it has very little movement, but you may feel or even hear a click. It may also be covered by a black rubber boot. I did have to reset the hi-limit, but none of the above applied, why? Then in all probability your Hi-limit switch did what it was supposed to do, trip if the water overheats. Your thermostat may be bad. On Some occasions the water may overheat, trip the limit switch, and deactivate the heater. All the while, unbeknownst to you, and cooling down. You may have never known the water overheated. Watch and monitor your spa a little more frequently until problem is discovered. My water is not as hot as it should be, why can't I get to 104 degrees? I would guess that your thermostat is bad. If you have a digital system, you may have a bad temperature sensor. If your temperature of the spa will only get to a very warm, but not hot state, chances are the thermostat or temp sensor is relaying the message to the heater to turn off - we have attained the desired temperature of the user. Another thought might be that your not running enough time on the timer. Turn up the time alotted to run approx another hour or so. I think my thermostat or temp sensor is fine. I checked the timer & turned it up an extra hour. When I checked it later to see if my water was hotter, it wasn't, but I noticed the timer still said 4:30, it is now 7:20, bad timer? I would say that you have just diagnosed & isolated your warm water problem. Your timer is moving some of the time and not all of the time. Once it stops working completely, you will have cold water all the time. Replace the timer, but make sure you get the exact voltage of the time clocks motor. If you have a 110 volt timer, don't get a 220, and vice versa. My pump does not come on by itself like it used to, but I can get the pump to come on when I push the button. Is this a serious problem? No, it is probably the same answer given to the previous question. Your timer which comes on at your preset times is probably no longer turning with the time of day, so therefore the "on" pins never reach the trigger point to trip on. Now for those of you who say your tub is always on & you can't turn it off with the air button, you may have the same problem. But this time your clock has stopped during an "on" cycle. Since it no longer turns with the time of day, the "off" pins never reach the trigger point to trip it off. That is interesting that you mentioned the problem about the pump that won't turn off by pressing the air button. I know that my clock is working because I can tell time with it & it is right on the money. But I can't turn my pump to jets mode when I push the button. Do you have a fix for that? I think I do! Look underneath the spa shell where the buttons are installed on the spa shell. What you are looking for is a disconnected air tubing line. Check both at the air button & at the air sensor switch. Also check the entire length of the tubing. I have seen the tubing chewed up by critters. If everything looks ok, then you may have a bad button or bad air switch. Is there a way to confirm this? Or a way to distingquish which is bad? Yes, disconnect the tubing from the bottom of the air button. Then produce a puff of air into the tubing, you can use another button if your spa has one such as a lite or air blower, & if the pump turns off or on then your button is bad. If you do not have another button available, you can blow into the tubing. A quick & hard blow into the tube should trigger the air switch. If you still don't get the pump to respond, call a service technician. If you want to continue on your own, then replace the air switch. But realize that this may be an arbitrary replacement that may not fix the problem. My spa pump is running in jet mode all the time, & I can't get the air blower to come on. Can you help? You may have a burned out air blower motor. By the way you worded your question I am assuming that you have a 4-funtion air switch/sequencer. If so, your air switch may be bad. Your problem may also be the same as the previous two questions/answers. Bad air tubing or bad air button. Check to see if your air switch can be switched to the next sequence with the methods described above. Is there a way to confirm if the switch is bad, if my tubing & button is fine? I am sorry but, no. Your spa could have an air switch, or an air receiving sensor, or a 4-function stepper. Each one is a different style of switch or relay. If you have a sensor then it triggers a relay, a 2-part system for switching. The air sensor for pumps is "momentary" not latching. Don't get these confused if you attempt to change an air sensor switch! Either way get the services of a qualified service technician in your area. I have noticed that my jet pump is running all the time. We are not using it much lately so I thought nothing of it. But today when I went to get in, the water was so HOT it was almost boiling!! What the heck happened? First of all, COOL THE WATER DOWN WITH COLD WATER. REMOVE THE COVER & TURN THE AIR BLOWER ON! If possible. You may have the problem mentioned above & can't get the switch to go to the next mode. Why did this happen? Well with your pump running on high speed continuously, the pump creates friction/kinetic energy while it pushes water through the system. With this happening continually the water continues to generate heat. The funny thing is that the heating system may be working just fine! The heater may have turned off at 104 degrees. Since the pump did not turn off the friction thing continued to happen. Is there not a safety switch installed to prevent this? Yes. It is called a Hi-limit switch. That will not trip, until water reaches 120 degrees. So, your water may have been close to that where it was about to trip. If the water was hotter than that, then I would say that your hi-limit failed to operate due to it too has gone bad. Some spas have hi-limit switches that de-activate the complete spa, to include the pumps & air blower, but not the light in some cases. Other spa's have hi-limit switches that only de-activate the heater. If that is the case with this kind of problem, then the tripping of the hi-limit will not stop the run-away heat problem, because of the reasons described in the previous answer. Call a service technician to check this out. A simple re-wire could remedy the situation. My light bulb burned out. Do I have to empty the spa to replace it? No. In most cases. The majority of portable spas & some shells installed in a deck, have a dry niche. That means that the light bulb is accessible from the back side of the spa shell & not from inside the spa. Remove the wood panels in the area of the light & look for the back of the light fixture. If you see two small diameter wires approx 16 - 18 guage, you can change the light from the back. If you find a metallic canister with a cord similiar to an extension cord, then the bulb must be changed from the inside of the spa & yes, the spa should be emptied for that. What kind of bulb do I use & can I get one anywhere? Are they a special type of bulb especially for spas? If you have a bulb that needs to be replaced from the inside of the spa, your options number in 3. One style is a regular screw base 120 volt (preferrably 130 volt rating) 100 watt. The 2nd option is a halogen bulb that has a screw base. It is much smaller than a regular screw base. The 3rd option is a halogen bulb with a push & twist base. Very similiar to an bulb used in automotive tail lights, but they're not halogen. Because they are halogen bulbs that might be in your spa, do not touch the glass portion of the bulb when installing them. Use the foam wrapper that it comes wrapped in to install it. Why you might ask? Because the oily residue on your fingers (and there is ) will get on the glass bulb & when it comes on the intense heat will blow the new bulb rather quickly. If your spa has any of these style bulbs take the old bulb and Gasket to get them both exactly replaced. And if your bulb is the style that can be replaced from the outside of the tub, then a low voltage bulb similiar to "Malibu Outdoor Lights" in a 9-12 watt style, is what you are looking for. |
The Pool & Spa Medic |
Maintenance and Repair |
(503) 824-4988 * (503) 819-3196 * (503) 824-6988 fax |
damedic@colton.com |
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CHEMISTRY PROBLEMS: My spa water has a bad odor, or bluntly stated, IT STINKS! What is wrong? Chances are that you are a normal Human Being! We tend to lack in routine maintenance procedures. Sheesh, just look at all the different companies that provide services that almost anybody can do, but we don't so we hire someone else to care for our pools, spas, yards, clean our homes, wash our cars, change our oil, even walk our dogs! Oh well I think I'm off on a tangent. Your spa water is probably out of sanitizer & needs some added. Also, when in that state you will need to shock! But without actually knowing the spa chemistry readings it is hard to inform properly. Shocking the water in most cases will remove the odor. My spa has a bad odor, I checked the chemistry & all appears to be fine. Please Help! Just as stated above, shocking the water (with a non-chlorine type of shock) will in most cases correct the problem. What may be happening is that contaminants are increasing above the desired levels. You may be checking your sanitizer levels & finding that you are at "ideal", (more common if Chlorine is your choice of sanitizer), but in actuallity the chloramines are building up & producing the odor. Shocking the water with the prescribed dosage, as printed on the label of the product you are using, will remove the contaminant & the water should be odor free, soon. I am having a very difficult time getting my pH to stay where it should be, the color seems to be always purple, I keep adding spa down stuff but to no avail. What am I doing wrong? Is your Total Alkalinity where it is supposed to be? This is Very Important! If your TA is not balanced then your pH will be very difficult to stabilize. Total Alkalinity should be somewhere between 80ppm and 120 ppm. Some may even say as high as 150 ppm. No, I don't check Total alkalinity. My test kit only does chlorine & pH. And besides, I thought that there was no difference between pH & Alkalinity. So, explain. Okay. First of all trash the kit you are using & don't ever go back to K-mart (or whereever) to get your spa supplies. Because that is where these type of kits come from. I hope that you did not get that kit at a spa supply store, if you did they should have explained the need for an alkalinity test. as you were buying the economy kit. Use Test Strips, they are economical, and easy to use. Plus, you have the ability to test for sanitizer, pH & alkalinity! And with some kits, even Calcium Hardness can be tested as well. Alkalinity is a buffer. The more balanced your water is the more stable the pH will be. Total alkalinity "IS" the balance of water. If this is very high, the pH will "bounce" it appear that pH is down at a proper level, but the next day It is high again. Continue to add a product that lowers the ph and the alkalinity will continue to be lowered. BUT YOU NEED TO TEST FIRST!!! If alkalinity is high continue as described above. If alkalinity is lower than 80 ppm, then add a product to raise alkalinity. How important is the level of my Calcium Hardness? Very! Especially if you have soft water in your area. Which brings me to a reminder: "NEVER FILL YOUR SPA WITH A HOSE BIB CONNECTED TO YOUR WATER SOFTENER" Okay back to the question. Calcium Hardness in a spa needs to be at least at 200-250 ppm at the low end. 500 ppm at the high end. If lower, raise to the minimum level. If higher, Normally the procedure is to empty & refill. The water is probably 90 days old, give or take. If the Calcium Level is too low the water is too corosive and will eat up anything metallic, which means $$$ shelled out in repairs. If too high, then you will begin to scale up the internals of your plumbing & equipment. And you will begin to feel a "Sandpaper like" texture to the spa surface. That is why it is an important water chemstry element to keep in check! Why can't I use the water softener? We want the soft, silky feeling when we use our tub. Because as I stated above, water needs to be atleast 200-250 ppm. Softened water will be closer to 0 ppm. As described, soft water is too corrosive to your investment. Then if your pH or alkalinity should drop as well then you have a double whammy. Most often times you will need to harden your water at fill up by using a product that raises the Calcium Hardness. Our spa seems to always be murky, not clear. But our sanitizer level is right where it should be. We use it every day, is that the problem? No, but it does have something to do with it. Your spas filtration system was designed to filter out as much impurities as possible. But unfortunately most filters do not filter down small enough to get the miniscule - microscopic particles that are floating in the water. Multiply those particles by thousands & you have cloudy water! I suggest that you use a clarifier in your normal routine maintenance, like Sea-Klear. Why? And what is a clarifier? As I mentioned water gets cloudy because there are millions of small microscopic particles floating around in the water having a grand old time. Just like in an amusement park. The pump is "moving" them around the spa they get "sucked" into a skimmer, "pushed or pulled " through the filter because they are too small to get trapped, and then "shot" back into the spa, only to do it all over again. Doesn't that sound like an amusement park? Seriously though, these particles are just too tiny to get trapped by the filter and they just "pass" right through it. With a clarifier, the thousands of little dirts get joined together and make hundreds of bigger dirts. Now they can get trapped in the filter and the water begins to clear & get a "Polished" look. |
For lots more info & answers to your more specific questions, I invite you to give me a call directly at (503) 829-3496, (503) 824-4988 or fax to (503)829-3496. E-mail works good too, at poolandspamedic@molalla.net |
An added bonus... |
For a little bit of fun, lots of information and sharing with others in the world of spa chemistry & equipment maintenance, you have to experience the informative world of the "SPABABES"! Now it is not the website you might think it is... it is a bulletin board where other spa owners/users share problems, dillemna's & most important fix-it solutions to most problems. I try to frequent it as much as I can and lend my two-cents, whenever possible. Go there & check it out. www.spababes.com |
