No Bromine reading ?

[PH431]

Last week my water turned nasty, green and really smelly.   No idea what caused that to happen.   Instead of trying to fix that with a bunch of chemicals, I emptied the hot tub and started fresh.  I am using the SpaFrog system with minerals and bromine.  Started with #2 on the bromine and have increased each day because I can't get any kind of reading with the strip test.  It is now at #5 since last night and this morning it is still at 0 reading.  What am I doing wrong?  HELP!

[Bonibelle]

I don't exactly know why you arent getting any reading but I would try to shock the tub. I guess that you are using the tub so maybe you need to shock and then adjust your frog. I had a very difficult time getting the spa frog thing right and finally I realized I needed to shock a bit more often than most people. Try that, circulate your water and then test again.
You didn't say how you started up when you refilled, that may give a clue to why you are having a problem.

[Brewman]

Not familiar with the frog thing, but most people using some type of bromine have to add sodium bromide to their startup water.  
I had to add a couple packets to my spa with new water, which gave an immediate bromine reading.
Otherwise it'd take days for the bromine in the floater to register.  

[hottub.pool_boy]

dump the frog!
Why they insist on silver ion and bromine is beyond me.
My 2 cents.

[Waterboy]

You need to put some shock in about every 5 days to reactivate the bromine cartridge.  That's what I do in my spa and it works great.

[PH431]

I added more shock last night after finding a 9 reading again.  Turned the bromine up to #6.  I called the dealer where I purchased this hot tub.  And she was a stumped as I was with what to do.  So she said she would ask someone else there that may be able to help, and will call me tonight.
I checked again this morning before I left and it was still at 0 on the test strip.
I forgot to mention that this is a Spa Frog Inline system and right before the water turned ugly, the bottom of the cartridge holder had brown (rusty) looking stuff dripping from the bottom of it that stained the plastic.  So I'm not sure if that started my water problems or not.

[Waterboy]

Don't know how long your bromine cartridge has been in, but sounds like it may be empty.  Generally you change them out about every 3 weeks.  You should be getting a bromine reading after putting some shock in.

[PH431]

I had put a new bromine cartridge in  after refilling.  The dealer called back last night and suggested that I add more scale and stain remover in the water, which I did last night.  Still have the 0 reading this morning.

[Bonibelle]

Can you take a sample to the dealer? My water got real strange, and the reading on the strips was completely different from the test at the dealer's store. I took Chas' advice and drained and refiilled...no problems since

[hottubdan]

What is the current water quality?

I have seen bad test strips with no dye.  0 readings turn into high readings with new test strips.

[drewstar]

Can you take a sample to the dealer? My water got real strange, and the reading on the strips was completely different from the test at the dealer's store. I took Chas' advice and drained and refiilled...no problems since

That's a good idea Bonnie.

Are the pucks disoving? If so, at  what rate?  This is strange.
How does the water look?

[PH431]

That is a real good idea.  I will take some water to the dealer to test.  On the test strips, everything else is within range of what it should be except for the bromine.

I don't have pucks, it is a inline bromine cartridge so I can't really tell if it is even going into the water.  

The water actually looks fairly good and clear until I turn the jets on.  Then it turns a milky white from the zillion bubbles (which I don't remember having so many before).

[Bonibelle]

If you turn off your pumps, you can remove the cartridge and shake it. You should see bromine coming out. with your pump on low, you can see how the water fills the inline well and swirls around and then distributes the bromine into the tub. If the water has cleared, I would say you must be injecting some bromine. I think the foaming occurs as a result of the organic material that is being broken up by the sanitizer.(Obviously it can also occur due to soap residue or body lotioin etc). It should clear too. Like I said, I had all of that mess too (not green water though) and my bubbly water didn't smell too nice. Drain and refill and get off to a clean start..that is the ticket

[DPS]

It sounds like your bromine cartridge is empty.  I don't know if you have Ozone, or what the size of your tub is, but from my experience I never set the bromine cartridge above 3 or 4.  My spa is about 430 gallons.  Always shock when you add new water, put the cartridges in after the spa has reached your desired temp.  I shock every week and add additional bromine granules when I know the spa has had higher than normal bather load.  The cartridges are the "cruise control" and maintain a proper bromine level (with the system I have, that's 1-2ppm).  The ozone reactivates the bromine during every filtration and clean-up cycle.