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I can not use less chlorine. I started to use only 1 1/2 PPM chlorine and the tub turned cloudy quickly. I do think my tub stays a little better than without using it. Dosing with 3 PPM seems to be the required amount that my tub needs to kill the bacteria and maintain a clear tub.
Vinny, this seems to be a common misconception. "Using less chlorine" does NOT mean a lower PPM reading in the water, It MEANS that it's supposed to take LESS chlorine to reach the NORMALY DESIRED ppm reading.
... I did (do) notice that there seems to be a surface "scum" (for lack of a better word) that holds some bubbles at times. I am thinking that it comes from the minerals that are used (maybe wouldn't happen with N2 - different formulation). ...The water doesn't feel any different. Not silky as they claim it to be...Maybe the tub is easy to go into high PH. I had a PH of 7.2 and added 2 oz of baking soda and it went to 7.8. I didn't expect it to go that high ... I will still try to keep an open mind as I use this and the other one to see if it makes a bigger difference than I am thinking.
Whynot, if I understand you, you are using the tub daily but only dosing every other day. Just my opinion, but I like to match the sanitizer with the introduction of contaminants, so I'm not a big fan of using the tub without dosing to kill off what is left behind. You may want to consider a smaller dose after each use, instead of 3ppm a few times a week.
Hi Vinny, thanks for the report! I had a couple of thoughts about your observations:1. You can't get by with 1/2 the chlorine, but can you go longer between doses? FWIW, in my tub I can get by with a 2ppm dose with N2 (that is the borderline, 1.5 doesn't cut it), but need 3-5 without. I can also go 3-4 days between doses if not using the tub vs. needing to hit it every other day without. Even with N2, as I get further into the water life, and TDS and CYA build up, I find that I have to increase doses. The difference is I end up at 3 ppm vs 5.2. I wonder if the "scum", feel, and pH effects are related to the formulation. Someone posted once that Frog uses limestone instead of copper to make it compatible with bromine. I wonder if the limestone is intended to offset the pH effects of bromine by adding carbonate, and perhaps makes the water a little "coarser" than N2.3. FYI, my evaluation of the cost/benefit is only slightly different than yours -- that the benefits are marginal, but IMO the ability to go an extra day or two between doses, and the slightly less dichlor use, combined with the slightly better aesthetics and overall ease, make it barely worth the added expense. I think I've posted before that I wouldn't use it at the prices I see posted at most dealers. If there weren't "deals" on eBay, I'd go without it.Whynot, if I understand you, you are using the tub daily but only dosing every other day. Just my opinion, but I like to match the sanitizer with the introduction of contaminants, so I'm not a big fan of using the tub without dosing to kill off what is left behind. You may want to consider a smaller dose after each use, instead of 3ppm a few times a week.