Spa Frog - Please Help

[333president]

Hey Guys,
Can you help me, I am a total newbie.

Last month I bought a Caldera Makena. It comes with the Frog Spa system (tubes that go in a slot).

My sanitizer level is constantly reading at 0.

I have the Bromine cartridge turned up to 6 (highest setting) and it's still reading 0/white on test strip (no pink).

I called the dealer who said I might have junked up my bromine cartridges because I used "Bright and Clear" which she said could cause the bromine to turn to solid instead of pellets. So I replaced the cartridges with a brand new one and it's still reading zero.

What should I do? Can/should I ditch the spa frog and start throwing in chlorine or bromine tabs into the slot where the Spa Frog should go? Or could I be doing something wrong? Does Bright and Clear really kill those cartridges?

Please help. Thanks guys.

[Spoiledrotten]

My bromine levels stay very low most of the time. I have the ozonator and have heard that the bromine levels will be low when using it. I have used MPS shock a tad on the strong side and have noticed that the bromine reading goes up slightly.
I'm pretty new myself, but I'd be tempted to call BS on the Bright and Clear causing trouble with the bromine.

[333president]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I have the ozone too. Maybe that is what's causing the low sanitize level.

Does anyone know if I can throw bromine tabs in the spot where the Frog goes and just take out the Frog since it doesn't seem to be doing anything?

[Spoiledrotten]

Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I have the ozone too. Maybe that is what's causing the low sanitize level.

Does anyone know if I can throw bromine tabs in the spot where the Frog goes and just take out the Frog since it doesn't seem to be doing anything?

Not sure what you mean by "throw bromine tabs in the spot where the Frog goes", but if you mean to throw bromine tabs into the filter compartment or into the spa anywhere and allow it to sit on the shell, I've read here several times that it's not good for your shell to allow the sanitizers to sit against it. I have a larger floater that I use for my bromine tabs, and I also use old yellow bromine canisters to put tablets in. So I have the large floater open wide and the smaller "frog" floater also putting out bromine in a smaller quantity (set on #2). If the bromine starts getting a little high, I adjust accordingly.

Note that bromine builds up over time with no use, unlike chlorine that gasses off. If you set for a higher level of bromine, and you don't use the tub, it will build up in the water and cause possible lung and/or skin irritation.
When I go out of town or skip using the tub for a couple of days, I remove one floater and turn the other way down.

[kporter]

I believe the Makena has a circ pump. I am not sure if the spa frog compartment is tied into the circ pump line though.
It is possible you are only going to get flow through frog compartment with one of the jet pumps running?

[Sam]

Bright and clear is compatible with Bromine as far as I know.  With spa frog, I recommend that you keep granular chlorine on hand to get a quick sanitizer boost when necessary.  If your tub has a high bather load, it is totally feasible that your bromine level can't catch up. 

[Wizard]

Add 2 cups of household bleach to shock the water. Leave the cover open for an hour.

[Spoiledrotten]

Add 2 cups of household bleach to shock the water. Leave the cover open for an hour.

So you can add Clorox to bromine, but can't add chlorine to bromine? Not sure that makes sense to me.

[Sam]

You can add both products to your hot tub water.  You just can't mix them directly together in the same container.

[Flyonthewall]

the makenna does have a circ pump that constantly flows thru the frog chamber.  plunking bromine tabs directly in there would not be a good idea.  i think it would be impossible to keep the dissolve rate in check, and chunks could end up in the shell thru the heater return. 

i heard somewhere recently that ozone depletes bromine.  if this is true it might be part of the problem.