Bromine Issue

[bradleyabell]

Thanks for all he helpful info bud. Would you let me know how much of each chemical you use on a regular basis? 

[bud16415]

Thanks for all he helpful info bud. Would you let me know how much of each chemical you use on a regular basis?

Well our tub is a Caldera Geneva and it holds around 400 gallons of water and has an ozone system for all that is worth. The inline feeder runs and I have an empty cartridge in the one space and I still have a mineral cartridge in the other not sure if that does much also but I have them so I’m using them. On a normal day with two of us showered and bathing au natural the water temp 101-103 and spending an hour or so in the tub I would add one tablespoon of dichlor after our soak. If the next day the level is low below 1ppm I might add a smidge more. If it is 2 or 3 ppm I would add a smidge less. If we don’t go in at all I might add nothing or just a teaspoon of dichlor. Once the stabilizer reaches something like 50ppm I switch from dichlor to regular unscented bleach Clorox or similar. Buy it at Wal-Mart in the cleaning section. I have a small cup that came with laundry products I found is just about equal to one tablespoon of dichlor the cup is about 1.5” dia and 2” deep. I will have to measure it to see how many tablespoons are in it. Keeping the stabilizer lower helps the chlorine work slower but not to slow. Stabilizer is added to dichlor, not needed as much in hot tubs as pools as it is broken down in pools with sunlight. Tubs see little sunlight as they are covered. A little helps but if you use just dichlor it gets too high and the chlorine doesn’t work correctly.

The above is what I put together in really basic terms from reading up on others using this method.

The method works great unless you are going to be gone for 2 weeks to a month. For one week I have found all you have to do is shock it with dichlor rather than the non chlorine oxidizer. And your number will be pretty high like 10-15 ppm but will hold you over at least a week or more, plus when I leave the tub for a week or more I turn the temp down to 95F.

If I’m going for more than a week I put in an @easy canister. They work better than bromine IMO but are rather pricey compared to bleach. Being as how I’m frugal I pop open the canister and put the @ease granules in another container. The full cartridge is good for a month so if I’m going for 2 weeks I put half of it in and snap the top back on saving the other half for the next vacation. If you didn’t want to mess with that just use a full one and let it run out when you get home.

The @ease is 100% compatible with dichlor but it acts more like bromine in how it builds a bank and then releases back into the water. People that use it seem to like it, I have only used it for short spans as a bridge sanitizer for the dichlor/ bleach.

I’m very happy with this method for the last couple years but I’m strongly considering switching to salt next spring and using a chlorine generator product called a saltron mini. I have a friend that has one and I love the soft feel of his water and how it slowly manufactures chlorine without having to give it any thought. The reason I would switch though is the feeling of the salt water. If I do switch over I will start a thread on that subject.             

[bradleyabell]

What do you use to measure the level of stabilizer?  I have multiple brands of test strips and none of them measure that. 

Also - Last night for example, I went out to the tub and took a test strip sample...Everything was in line, except for 0 readout of bromine/chlorine.  I added 1 tablespoon BEFORE we got in and let jets run for 15min and re-tested and it came out to 3PPM.  There were 3 of us in the tub for maybe 20 minutes.  The issue I seem to have is that I know tonight when I go test the tub, the chemicals will once again read 0...I'm not sure how you are able to keep a readout of chemical through to the next day.

[bud16415]

What do you use to measure the level of stabilizer?  I have multiple brands of test strips and none of them measure that. 

Also - Last night for example, I went out to the tub and took a test strip sample...Everything was in line, except for 0 readout of bromine/chlorine.  I added 1 tablespoon BEFORE we got in and let jets run for 15min and re-tested and it came out to 3PPM.  There were 3 of us in the tub for maybe 20 minutes.  The issue I seem to have is that I know tonight when I go test the tub, the chemicals will once again read 0...I'm not sure how you are able to keep a readout of chemical through to the next day.

I have been using Clorox 6 way pool & spa test strips, they seem to be quite accurate and are one of the cheaper brands I have found and are sold in the big retailer. The last row at the bottom is stabilizer.

 I wouldn’t have added the (not sure what you added) before the soak but waited until we were done. I’m assuming you are running a bromine tub but are adding dichlor as a supplement or something like that??

Ideally for me when I go out to soak the next day the chlorine level will be to almost zero in your case it was zero and that would tell me you just need to add a little more the night before. Every usage adds in a different amount of contamination along with the water temp and overall chemistry the rate the chlorine will be used up will vary. I think the most common problem and the one I made when I first started was trying to keep the tub low and perfect at 2 ppm and in doing so I was running short. You said after you dosed it you brought it up to 3 ppm maybe in doing it after you get out and adding a bit more and getting to 5 or 6 ppm will leave you that little residual for the next day.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find most public pools and spas are much higher than you would think. IMO 5ppm is still a pretty low number.   

[bradleyabell]

What do you use to measure the level of stabilizer?  I have multiple brands of test strips and none of them measure that. 

Also - Last night for example, I went out to the tub and took a test strip sample...Everything was in line, except for 0 readout of bromine/chlorine.  I added 1 tablespoon BEFORE we got in and let jets run for 15min and re-tested and it came out to 3PPM.  There were 3 of us in the tub for maybe 20 minutes.  The issue I seem to have is that I know tonight when I go test the tub, the chemicals will once again read 0...I'm not sure how you are able to keep a readout of chemical through to the next day.

I have been using Clorox 6 way pool & spa test strips, they seem to be quite accurate and are one of the cheaper brands I have found and are sold in the big retailer. The last row at the bottom is stabilizer.

 I wouldn’t have added the (not sure what you added) before the soak but waited until we were done. I’m assuming you are running a bromine tub but are adding dichlor as a supplement or something like that??

Ideally for me when I go out to soak the next day the chlorine level will be to almost zero in your case it was zero and that would tell me you just need to add a little more the night before. Every usage adds in a different amount of contamination along with the water temp and overall chemistry the rate the chlorine will be used up will vary. I think the most common problem and the one I made when I first started was trying to keep the tub low and perfect at 2 ppm and in doing so I was running short. You said after you dosed it you brought it up to 3 ppm maybe in doing it after you get out and adding a bit more and getting to 5 or 6 ppm will leave you that little residual for the next day.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find most public pools and spas are much higher than you would think. IMO 5ppm is still a pretty low number.   

Yes, I am using a bromine floater and have been adding dichlor to get a readout.  I'm thinking I may be better off to just eliminate the bromine and go strictly dichlor + MPS...Thoughts?

[bud16415]

What do you use to measure the level of stabilizer?  I have multiple brands of test strips and none of them measure that. 

Also - Last night for example, I went out to the tub and took a test strip sample...Everything was in line, except for 0 readout of bromine/chlorine.  I added 1 tablespoon BEFORE we got in and let jets run for 15min and re-tested and it came out to 3PPM.  There were 3 of us in the tub for maybe 20 minutes.  The issue I seem to have is that I know tonight when I go test the tub, the chemicals will once again read 0...I'm not sure how you are able to keep a readout of chemical through to the next day.

I have been using Clorox 6 way pool & spa test strips, they seem to be quite accurate and are one of the cheaper brands I have found and are sold in the big retailer. The last row at the bottom is stabilizer.

 I wouldn’t have added the (not sure what you added) before the soak but waited until we were done. I’m assuming you are running a bromine tub but are adding dichlor as a supplement or something like that??

Ideally for me when I go out to soak the next day the chlorine level will be to almost zero in your case it was zero and that would tell me you just need to add a little more the night before. Every usage adds in a different amount of contamination along with the water temp and overall chemistry the rate the chlorine will be used up will vary. I think the most common problem and the one I made when I first started was trying to keep the tub low and perfect at 2 ppm and in doing so I was running short. You said after you dosed it you brought it up to 3 ppm maybe in doing it after you get out and adding a bit more and getting to 5 or 6 ppm will leave you that little residual for the next day.

I wouldn’t be surprised to find most public pools and spas are much higher than you would think. IMO 5ppm is still a pretty low number.   

Yes, I am using a bromine floater and have been adding dichlor to get a readout.  I'm thinking I may be better off to just eliminate the bromine and go strictly dichlor + MPS...Thoughts?

Well as I have said that is the way I went after bromine and then I went from dichlor+MPS to dichlor/bleach+MPS and that is where I’m at now. When you add dichlor to bromine the dichlor is converted to bromine is how I understand it. To truly switch to a chlorine tub it requires getting all the bromine out. That means drain and flush with blowing all the water you can out of the piping. You can switch a chlorine tub to bromine at any time just by switching the sanitizer to bromine. You can’t do that in reverse if going from bromine to chlorine.

Where bromine seemed to require a lot of anticipation chlorine / dichlor seems to be very much cause and effect.     

[bradleyabell]

Just went it and shocked it with MPS and got a nice 3 readout for bromine. Hoping this sticks around for a few days. I did notice the water got very cloudy though. Any idea why?  Ph and alkaline are both in line.

[bud16415]

Don’t really have any idea on the cloudy water. I know mine used to do the same thing when using bromine after shocking sometimes. You will get a bounce in chlorine after the shock as with bromine the free chlorine returns to the bank after you shock I’m told. 

[Tman122]

I was taught you weren't supposed to mix chlorine and bromine? One or the other. Shock a bromine tub with MPS and shock a chlorine tub with MPS or dichlor.

[hottubdan]

You can shock a bromine tub with dichlor.  You just cannot mix chlorine and bromine tablets in the same floater.

[Sam]

You can shock a bromine tub with dichlor.  You just cannot mix chlorine and bromine tablets in the same floater.

This is correct.  It's fine to mix them in a body of water.  It's bad to mix the concentrated chemicals in the same container dry or with very little water.  At least, that's how I learned it years ago.

[bradleyabell]

So now that I'm FINALLY getting a good bromine readout...I should just be able to shock it once a week with MPS and that's it?  Or will it require more frequent adding of chemicals to maintain the active level of bromine in the tub?  If so, please explain.

[bud16415]

So now that I'm FINALLY getting a good bromine readout...I should just be able to shock it once a week with MPS and that's it?  Or will it require more frequent adding of chemicals to maintain the active level of bromine in the tub?  If so, please explain.

No one can answer that question for you. Right now you have hopefully established a constant dispensing rate of bromine. If your usage of the tub is equally as constant you may well go along with needing few tweaks.

There are so many things that can change that. If you have some friends over and they show up with swimsuits that didn’t get rinsed well or if they used some kind of body lotion or if in the spring the pollen is heavy and it blows into the tub, etc. any of these things and 1000 more can add demand to increase sanitizer.

I also found that with a feeder or a floater as the bromine in the feeder becomes less say in the case of a one month canister the rate dispensed lessens.

All this is why we check it from time to time in my case about 3 times a week now and tweak as required. That was part of my plan actually. I figured if I had to tweak it anyway I might as well just dispense it. The place I bought it from and also the company that made it want you to believe you go out once a month and pop in a cartridge and you are done. I haven’t found that to be true. The only way I could see this working is if the system tested the water and then adjusted the chemicals accordingly.

With time you will get to where it is second nature and it will seem so simple to keep your tub in line. I know at first it seems like you have to be a chemist to know what is going on.