Can't keep sanitizer levels up

[sjde]

We have a bromine spa and have been using a floater with bromine tabs but it seems like it does no good. Should we still expect to add a little dichlor or MPS to bring the bromine reading to normal sanitizing levels (3-5 ppm) after each use, even with a floater? I guess I expected that was the purpose of the floater--to have the bromine levels bounce back, so you don't have to add a shock each time. Yet even with one use , our reading will go to 0 or 1-2 and I've waited overnight to see if the floater would bring it back up and it didn't.

[bud16415]

That is the same problem I had with bromine, and I was adding some dichlor after each use. I figured if I was tinkering all the time anyway why not just switch the tub to dichlor and be done with it.

If you use your tub daily or even every other day when you get out treat it and then by the next night you want to see just a trace left. You are soaking in a very low chlorine level tub and then treating afterwards. You begin to learn about how much to use based on how many people and how long even swimsuits or not play a part.

I use dichlor until the stabilizer hits between 30-50 ppm and then I switch to household bleach. I have found rough 1/3 cup of bleach = 1 tablespoon of dichlor. With adding water and such if I see the stabilizer drop below the set number I switch back for a few days.

Not only did I find this method the simplest its also the cheapest.   

[sjde]

The problem is, this is at a vacation rental and I'm not close by, I'm 75 miles away. If it was at my home, having a chlorine tub and adding a bit of dichlor daily wouldn't be a problem.  But there,  I thought the floater would help keep sanitizer levels up. Since it isn't, I do leave pre-measured doses of dichlor for them to add each day (many don't) but that's not ideal.
At the end of a stay our cleaner does balance the pH and alkalinity and she'll shock with both a little bit of dichlor and MPS to get the bromine reading in the correct range.

[bud16415]

You could switch to @ease in a frog floater. Or better yet switch to salt. The Saltron-mini is a nice little unit but it requires you to leave instructions for your guests to remove the unit from the tub and put it back when done.

If you would have said it sits alone and is a rental that changed the request for information a lot. Rental units bring in a whole different set of variables. And variable they are. If you go to any public hot tub they have the chlorine level off the charts and even then they are changing water very often. You got swimsuits first off that are not rinsed free of soap. You have people getting in without bathing first. Sun block and body lotions and deodorant, heavy usage with kids getting in and out, drinks getting spilled in the tub, and the list goes on.   

[sjde]

I just learned about the SmartChlor system today and the convenience and piece of mind may be worth the extra expense. To change a spa over from bromine to chlorine requires a refill, correct? And then we have to start monitoring the CYA too.

We just changed water yesterday and replaced the ozonater so maybe that'll help.