Leisure Time Defender vs Brilliance metal and stain control

[buba]

I have a full bottle of each, one left over from my old spa, one came with the start up chems with the new spa. Both products are for scale control and both say to use about an ounce very week in my application. Are there advantages to one product vs the other?

I am think of alternating between the two products every other week unless there is a compelling reason not too.

The start-up chems supplied with the new spa are all Brilliance brand, thus I am on the Chlorine free Bromine granular system for now.

Thanks in advance

[Topline Mike]

If I were you, I would clean your toilets with both of those products.  They are not needed for your spa if your water is balanced and you are using the correct amount of sanitizer. 

 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Unless....you have dissolved metals and/or minerals in your source water.

[civicfire99]

I agree with Topline Mike...no need for them unless your source water is saturated with metals.  I've never used such products in my last 5 years of spa ownership, and I've never seen scale or metal stains on any part of my tub or hardware, including heater element. 

[buba]

According the the county the primary inorganic contaminates in the drinking water are Copper at 89 ppb, Lead at 3.9 ppb and Iron 0.1mg/L which are all below the maximum limits. I did get a light rust colored ring in my old tub before using the LT Metal Gon/Defender products so I am inclined to continue with something to control deposits, just no sure what that something should be. I am interested in keeping the dosage as low as possible, thus I am thinking of cutting back the recommended weekly 1oz dose to every other week and seeing if the ring reappears. 

I also have a sample bottle of SeaKlear Spa Natural Clarifier that claims to eliminate oil, scum, and excess metals. Technically I have three bottles of 'Stuff' that make similar claims about controlling metals. Is one better than the others or should I clean my toilets with all of them and get something else to control stains?

[Topline Mike]

I'm on well water and there is a crap load of rust in the water.  My filters catch most of this within the first day of a refill.  Hose off the filters at least twice in the first two days, and it's gone. 

I don't know how a product can eliminate the oils and scrum in the tub.  It probably just breaks it down and the oils and scum end up in your filter.  Then you will need a cleaner like TSP to clean your filter/filters. 

Here's a picture of my filter during cleaning. 

[buba]

Thanks for the information.

Just to close this topic out for future reference, I did get the ingredient information from Lonza (Parent company for both the Brilliance and Leisure Time brands) on the following products:

Leisure Time Defender:
GLYCINE, N- (2-BIS(CARBOXMETHYL)AMINO)ETHYL)-N-2-HYDROXYETHYL)-, Trisodium Salt 139-89-9
Citric Acid 77-92-9
Trisodium nitrilotriacetate 5064-31-3

Leisure Time Metal Gon:
1-Hydroxyethane 1,1diphosphonic Acid   2809-21-4

Brilliance Metal and Stain Control:
1-Hydroxyethane 1,1diphosphonic Acid   2809-21-4


Thus as of August 2014 Brilliance Metal and Stain Control appears to contain the same ingredient as Leisure Time Metal Gon. Same parent company, same ingredients but two completely different recommended dosages    With Metal Gon your suppose to pour 16 oz into the spa at fill and follow it up with weekly doses of Defender. With Brilliance they recommend 1.5 oz for every 150gal of water at fill and a weekly follow up of the same Brilliance product at the same dose rate as the initial fill. 

On the other hand Leisure Time Defender is a concoction of stuff. I understand citric acids role but do not understand the benefits of the other two ingredients in the Defender product.