First time drain and refill, switching from bromine to chlorine

[dandee]

Hi all--Have had the tub for about 3 months, started with bromine.  My wife doesn't care for the bromine so I will be switching to chlorine and see how it works out.  Will be using Vermonter method.  Have not had any problems with bromine but she doesn't like the lingering smell.  Seems pretty straight forward but have several questions.
1-Is there anything I need to do other than drain and refill(have to bring water in, mine is so bad)
2-Will I be able to keep the water straight with test strips or do I need a test kit?
3-Should I use dichlor only or use the other shock occasionally?
4-My water stayed clear but has had an effervescence for several months I could never figure out
5-Other than standard clean what about the filters?

Thanks much- any other info would also be appreciated- Dan

[Vinny]

1) Nope! May want to run a hose in the tub just to dilute the bromine even further but probably don't have to. Just a FYI bromine converts chlorine to bromine but we are talking very small quantities of bromine left after the drain.

2) A lot of people use test strips, make sure you have chlorine test strips, but test kits really are the way to go IMO.

3) You can use dichlor only but a mixture of non chlorine shock and dichlor is great for a quick shock. Just make sure you hit the tub with a shock level of Dichlor once every few weeks. Some people will use bleach as chlorine as well ... IMO get used to the chlorine routine before going this route.

4) Dichlor shouldn't do this unless you're using carbonated water! 

5) Cleaning is fine, by the time you rinse out the filter all traces of bromine will be gone,

Hi all--Have had the tub for about 3 months, started with bromine.  My wife doesn't care for the bromine so I will be switching to chlorine and see how it works out.  Will be using Vermonter method.  Have not had any problems with bromine but she doesn't like the lingering smell.  Seems pretty straight forward but have several questions.
1-Is there anything I need to do other than drain and refill(have to bring water in, mine is so bad)
2-Will I be able to keep the water straight with test strips or do I need a test kit?
3-Should I use dichlor only or use the other shock occasionally?
4-My water stayed clear but has had an effervescence for several months I could never figure out
5-Other than standard clean what about the filters?

Thanks much- any other info would also be appreciated- Dan

[paulsimmons]

1-Is there anything I need to do other than drain and refill(have to bring water in, mine is so bad)

I would recommend draining and re-filling when switching main sanitizers.

2-Will I be able to keep the water straight with test strips or do I need a test kit-

Either kit should work fine for your purpose- you are just looking to make sure your chlorine is in a good range, you don’t need to know the exact level for a residential application.  I use these super simple chemical test strips to keep an eye on mine.

3-Should I use dichlor only or use the other shock occasionally

I would recommend using an oxidizer shock after use and/or every two weeks.

4-My water stayed clear but has had an effervescence for several months I could never figure out-

I’m guessing the effervescence is from an ozone generator which changes O2 gas into O3 to help sanitize the spa.

5-Other than standard clean what about the filters?

Soak cartridge(s) every couple of weeks or after heavy spa use in a TSP solution or a dry cartridge filter cleaner. Thanks much- any other info would also be appreciated- Dan