Foam with a pink hue after using Ahhsome

[wayner]

I have a Jacuzzi J-345 spa that is about 16 years old. I bought some Ahhsome a while ago but never got around to using it until now. I put in the Ahhsome and ran the spa for about 45 minutes. There was green scummy foam, but not as much as I expected given the tub has not been purged and has been used consistently for 16 years. I drained, wiped down, hosed down, tried to get all of the water out of my jets.

I refilled and added some salt as I am using a drape over SWCG for sanitizing my spa. When I turned on the jets to dissolve the salt the tub was foaming a lot and the foam had a pink hue. Is this normal?

I know some people talk about doing multiple drains and rinses, but that is using a lot of water, is it not?

 

[wayner]

@Ahhsomeguy - any advice? I followed the directions closely from your Youtube video.

edit - I should add that I also used the Ahhsome filter cleaner product which is a pink gel. I rinsed the filters as well as I could, but perhaps that is the source of the pink?

 

[Newdude]

There is probably a bunch more gunk to get. When it's really bad, it takes one or two cycles just to loosen the gunk. I forget exactly now, but I did about 10 consecutive purges on mine which was 5 years old. I wasn't just doing it to do it, crud just kept coming out. I dumped and started fresh, twice along the way. That part was extra, but my water wad basically free and the hot tub water was nasty. Lol.

But yeah. Subsequent purges use the original water with a half dose. Continue until it runs clear.

Hang tight for Ahhhsome guy too.

 

[wayner]

Did you purge, refill and immediately purge again? Or did you give it a few days and have the tub heat up? Seems like a lot of water and energy being expended to clean it out. 10 purges on my tub would be about 3360 gallons of water or 12,700L of water. Plus energy to heat it if you will have the water heated up.
Mine had never been purged, but my tub has been clear and foam free, even without the purging.

 

[Ahhsomeguy]

Hello wayner: It is fairly normal for some residual foam to occur after a purge. I do recommend that you add a one additional LEVEL TEASPOON of AhhSome Blue purge gel,to the filled hot tub. Run the jets for 10 more minutes. Wipe as much sticky stuff that maybe accumulating on the acrylic at the waterline. Let the tub set filled with power off for 10-12 hours, ok if you do it for 24 hours as well. Rinse the filters with garden hose.
Run the jets for 5 minutes. Drain the tub while rinsing and wiping any stickies. Refill, replace filter(s):in compartment, add the salt after the water get warmer. You should not get pinkish foam from Ahh-Some.
Have you always used salt for sanitization? Have you ever used BacquaSpa? If you still get some foaming I would simply run the tub and the situation should clear in a day or so. I congratulate you for your water maintenance skill for so many years. I do think this will solve your issue. Please let me know how you are doing in 3 or 4 days.

 

[Newdude]

Did you purge, refill and immediately purge again?

I only drained twice. Plus when it was over. So purges 4, 7 and 10 (?) were drains. Again, this step was extra, it was for me. Lol.

I ran out of time somewhere in the middle and it sat overnight like Ahhsomeguy suggested above.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Did you shop vac as much of the water out of the plumbing as possible? The Ahhsome product is a very powerful surfactant and if you don’t get it all out, it will continue to release and foam. People will often do a full “rinse run” to get as much of it out as possible before doing a final fill and restart. Yes, it does use a lot of water but, last time I checked, Canada was not likely to run out any time soon

 

[wayner]

Did you shop vac as much of the water out of the plumbing as possible? The Ahhsome product is a very powerful surfactant and if you don’t get it all out, it will continue to release and foam. People will often do a full “rinse run” to get as much of it out as possible before doing a final fill and restart. Yes, it does use a lot of water but, last time I checked, Canada was not likely to run out any time soon

Yes, I did use a shop vac to vacuum water out of the jets where possible. I also tried the trick to briefly turn on the pumps when the water was below the jets.

True, Canada isn't going to run out of water, and I am very close to Lake Ontario, but I do have a water meter so it isn't free and I try not to waste resources. Water in Toronto is about $4.3/m^3 so filling the tub is only about $6, but still!

 

[wayner]

Hello wayner: It is fairly normal for some residual foam to occur after a purge. I do recommend that you add a one additional LEVEL TEASPOON of AhhSome Blue purge gel,to the filled hot tub. Run the jets for 10 more minutes. Wipe as much sticky stuff that maybe accumulating on the acrylic at the waterline. Let the tub set filled with power off for 10-12 hours, ok if you do it for 24 hours as well. Rinse the filters with garden hose.
Run the jets for 5 minutes. Drain the tub while rinsing and wiping any stickies. Refill, replace filter(s):in compartment, add the salt after the water get warmer. You should not get pinkish foam from Ahh-Some.
Have you always used salt for sanitization? Have you ever used BacquaSpa? If you still get some foaming I would simply run the tub and the situation should clear in a day or so. I congratulate you for your water maintenance skill for so many years. I do think this will solve your issue. Please let me know how you are doing in 3 or 4 days.

I started using a SWCG about 4 years ago. I used to use Bromine. The tub has been drained and refilled about 12 times since then as I drain about three times per year. The tub doesn't get a huge amount of use, typically two bathers twice per week for 15 minutes at a time. I have never used BacquaSpa

Since I went to salt my water is clearer and seems to foam less - until now. I have a Controlomatic Smarter Spa. I far prefer the salt system to bromine. I have also had salt in my pool since the pool was built. IMO salt in a pool is a no brainer, so why not also use it in your spa?

 

[Mdragger88]

As mentioned the subsequent purges use the same water & a 1/2 dose or a little less for each one - so no big water waste. It’s already hot & should contain adequate sanitizer.
Basically its —> add the Ahhsome and run the jets - clean/wipe the gunk as it comes so nothing hardens on the shell (i scoop the funky foam with a skim net), when the foam dies down add a 1/2 dose & repeat however many rounds it takes.
Next time you give it a go do that until nothing further is released & the foam comes out clean. Then drain, rinse & refill.
I fill through my filter compartment so the water runs through all my jets. Initially, I fill a little past the footwell then drain that out to rid myself of the bulk of any remaining ahhsome from the plumbing before then filling all the way.

 

[wayner]

Let the tub set filled with power off for 10-12 hours, ok if you do it for 24 hours as well.

I live in Toronto. It is -1 Celsius right now. Might not be wise to power down the tub for 24 hours. I guess you don't have that issue as much in Vero Beach, FL!

 

[Ahhsomeguy]

Fortunately, we do not have freezing issues in South Florida. One additional thing you can do that may help is to do intermittent stops and starts. Turn the jets on for 10 seconds, shut off, wait 2 minutes, turn jets on. Do this 5-10 times. You may get a release of more gunk. I fully understand the temperature issue where you live.

 

[Newdude]

I live in Toronto. It is -1 Celsius right now. Might not be wise to power down the tub for 24 hours

Your covered and insulated hot tub is more or less a Thermos. It would take days below freezing to cool enough, even after a refill with 55 degree hose water. As it cools, the heat transfer below would keep any of the exposed plumbing from freezing early.

You could also turn on an old school light bulb in the open area(s) underneath to keep it above freezing. And/or plan in out for one of the nights like -1 C which hovers near freezing instead of the -15 C night, for further insurance.

 

[wayner]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I haven't had a chance to do additional purges and to drain the tub. But the issue seems to have gone away by itself over the last week. There is no longer a pink hue to the foam. And the foam is less than 10% what it was a week ago. So I may not bother to do another purge for 3-4 months when it is the normal time to empty and refill. I generally avoid emptying the tub during the depths of winter, so a day in March when it starts to warm up will likely be when I have a chance to do that. At that time I will do multiple purges over a few days.

 

[Mdragger88]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I haven't had a chance to do additional purges and to drain the tub. But the issue seems to have gone away by itself over the last week. There is no longer a pink hue to the foam. And the foam is less than 10% what it was a week ago. So I may not bother to do another purge for 3-4 months when it is the normal time to empty and refill. I generally avoid emptying the tub during the depths of winter, so a day in March when it starts to warm up will likely be when I have a chance to do that. At that time I will do multiple purges over a few days.

Glad it has resolved itself
I normally always do at least 2 purges (with the same water) back to back in the same day even if the first one comes out relatively pristine.
I let it sit & soak a little bit after the foam dies down from the first one and then add a 1/2 dose or a little less and go again.

 

[wayner]

I did my next drain and refill. This time I did a purge with the full ahhsome dose of 2 tsp. Four hours later I did a second dose with 1 tsp. I left the tub overnight and did another purge with 1/2 tsp about 9 hours later. Then I drained, making sure I used my shop vac on every jet. I filled up the foot well, turned on the jets, although nothing really came out, but I did hear some water circulating. I drained completely the small amount of water, including vaccuming from the jets. After refilling and using the tub there is no foam, unlike the last time. But I did not use the filter cleaner this time.

 

[Ahhsomeguy]

You performed a very complete purge.