Suggested Chemicals for a Bromide Tub

[rosewoodsteel]

What chemicals would you suggest for a basic kit for a bromide tub.   Also, any particular brand better than another?    Thanks

[Topline Mike]

You need sodium bromide, sodium tablets, and bleach.  I bought mine at Menards.  Hot tub works. com has some good prices on this stuff, leisure time product.  You will also need a floater for your bromide tabs.  I plan an adding borates using boric acid also, for silky smooth water, so I am told. 

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Throw a couple oz. of shock (MPS) in there once week. 

 

[LukeHSS]

Bromine Tablets or Concentrate which ever you prefer. Some sort of oxidizer to activate the bromine in the tub. Spa Shock is what I recommend, once per week. You will need to check the balancers in the spa atleast once a week (P.H., Alkalinity, Calcium Hardness) to maintain a Bromine tub. 

[Topline Mike]

Just to clarify.  You use sodium bromiDe  to create a bromide bank.  Then, you use the brominating tabs to create bromiNe.  The tablets you put in your floater have chlorine in them, which is the oxidizer.  I'm new at this, correct me if I'm wrong. 

[chem geek]

Once you've established a bromide bank, then most any oxidizer will create more bromine from that bromide bank.  The only reason to have bromine tabs is for automatic slow dosing.

[Water Boy]

What everyone else said. But, specifically, sodium bromide, Typically recommend that on every drain and refill when starting back up with the new water. Then you want the MPS shock, and the bromine tabs in the floater. Then of course your pH and Alkalinity adjusters. You can also use a metal and scale control product if your water is pretty hard. That you typically only have to add once a week.

[Topline Mike]

Water boy, "if your water is pretty hard", this means a high Calcium Hardness, correct? 

[Water Boy]

Well, not necessarily, but mainly water high in iron and metals. Chem geek would know more than me, but from my experience, metal and scale control doesn't seem to do much for water high in calcium hardness. It wouldn't hurt any to use though as it could only help IMO.

[chem geek]

If your water is high in Calcium Hardness (CH), not just Total Hardness which isn't relevant since it includes magnesium which generally doesn't scale at usual levels, and if you do not lower the CH on filling by using greensand or an ion exchange system, then using a metal sequestrant specifically designed to prevent scale can help (some metal sequestrants are more focused on binding to iron rather than calcium).

[rosewoodsteel]

Question about using the Taylor kit-
In testing for TA, in the final step it says to add drops until the water turns from green to red.   Mine turned from green to what I would call pink, after 6 drops.    Is this when you stop the test?     I did the test twice and on the first time, I kept adding, but the end result, after many more drops was still pink.

[Topline Mike]

That's what my tests resulted in also, a pink color.  If you watch it close, on your 5th drop, the color almost goes away, and the 6th drop you turn pink.  I would say you are at 50 or 60ppm of TA, assuming you used the 25ml test, not the 10ml test.  The 25ml test is one drop = 10ppm, the 10ml test = one drop for 25ppm.  I find the testing part rather fun, but that's just me. 

[rosewoodsteel]

So, your total count of drops ends as soon as the green turns to pink?

[Topline Mike]

That's the way I see it.  I would go to their website, http://www.taylortechnologies.com/, and under the product info tab, click on "view online demo".  Watch the video there to get a better idea of how all the tests are performed.  You never mentioned your test results? 

[rosewoodsteel]

My results were ok, except for the TA was a bit low if the green to pink point is where you stop counting drops.  The test strips that I used showed that everything was OK...