To go O'Natural or not ?

[BuckeyeFan]

Hey all. So I am still battling my water balance.  I'm getting frustrated.  My OCD  is getting the better of me. LoL... so with that.... I'm still hoping there is something out there that's better than bromine or chlorine.   I was on Leisure Time web site. And I seen a product that  they  call LeisrureTime FREE.
  Any thoughts on that product ? It has really good results on Amazon and ebay.

[Tman122]

I started out micromanaging my water also. Once you learn what balances your water and how to keep it balanced. What is the right sanitation for you. it will be easy. Don't get to carried away with products that promise high and end up delivering low. Some baking soda and granular chlorine and maybe some non chlorine shock, you should be good to go. A lot of people have good luck with a little granular chlorine and regular old household bleach for sanitation.

[gourmatt]

Don't get discouraged!  I'm also one of those OCD test people.  At least I was when I first got my spa (about 4 months ago), now I'm a little more relaxed.  The best advice that I learned from this site is to get a better test kit.  The strips are nearly worthless.  Especially for testing pH.  If you can spring for it, get a complete Taylor Test Kit.  The one that I use is the K-2006, but I think it is just for Chlorine, but there is probably a comparable one for Bromine.  They're not cheap but they've helped me out immensely since I know I am getting accurate pH, TA, calcium hardness, and chlorine readings.  That alone has helped me "stabilize" my routine and not swing wildly from one extreme to the next.  If that one is out of your price range, get the K-1000 which will give you bromine and pH.  They're only $5 on Amazon.

Another thing that helped me, given that I was over-treating the first month that I owned the spa, was to drain the water and start over.  With the new test kit in hand and starting with fresh water, I was able to get things under control much quicker and easier the second time.  Yes, it is a pain and costs a lot to start over (metal gon, calcium booster, etc), but it might be just what you need.

Good luck!

[BuckeyeFan]

Thank you gourmatt. I feel like I might have to do just that.  Starting over with fresh water and a better testing method.

 I was out of town for the past few days. But before I left I took out my filters and cleaned them, put in the chemicals that was due to be put in and tested everything the next day. My hardness was in the ok range. Bromine was in the ideal range. The tsa and ph were in the ok range. I then poured a bottle of ph ballance in per my dealers advice to lock in the ph and tsa. 
  Before I left I went over the maintenance with my husband. All he had to do was put in scale preventor and non-chlor shock on Monday.   And on Wednesday put in spa perfect.   And test the water balance.   Well, come Wednesday he tells me we are out of test strips. I tell him to stop and pick up some on Thursday after work. Thursday night I get home and he tells me the water is murky and foams really bad with the jets are on.  He saids he did the maintenance thint to the letter and he only used the spa one time while I was gone. I tested the water and the bromine was low as low can be and the tsa was high as high could be and the ph , well I'm not sure, I know it was high because it was pink in color but it also had a reddish tent to it.  UG !!! So here we go again.