Need help with Bromine levels

[brhino]

Hi everyone,

I've got a new hot tub that I've been trying to get the water parameters right in and unfortunately the dealer hasn't been super helpful so I'm turning to the internet to help.

The tub uses bromine tablets for sanitation. We added the recommended 3 tablets to the designated compartment immediately upon filling it up, but measured no bromine in the water for days afterward.  We added a powdered sodium bromide product and still measured no bromine.  At that point I started doing some research online and found that we were supposed to have applied the shock to the hot tub (our instructions were to shock the tub once a week, but not necessarily immediately upon setting it up). So I added the recommended dosage of shock and shortly thereafter started reading very high bromine levels - almost too high.  However, within 48 hours I was no longer reading any bromine.  The tablets in the compartment have noticeably dissolved a bit but are still partially intact.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here and would appreciate some guidance.  I can provide additional details as needed but didn't want to clutter up my question with a bunch of irrelevant information.

Thanks!

[bradleyabell]

Are your PH+Alk levels where they should be?

[brhino]

Yes, pH and Alk are good.

In during further research, if I understand correctly the bromine tablets and powder add bromine to the water, but it won't show up in the readings unless activated by the shock.  Once activated it will sanitize and consume waste compounds and in doing so deactivate and no longer be measured.  I've seen reference to people adding shock to the tub every time they're done using it, not just once a week.  I think given how much we've been using it initially, one shock treatment per week may not be enough to maintain measurable bromine levels.

Would love someone more knowledgeable to confirm if I'm on the right track or not.

[macmanjpc]

Hey brhino,

I'm having the exact same issue. New hot tub three weeks ago and started up using only the built in bromine Frog system after I got the PH and ALK in the right zone. Nothing showed on Bromine for days so I started freaking out. Took a water sample to the spa store and thy confirmed my water chemistry was fine but was showing zero bromine. They gave me a powdered sodium bromide the same as you, added 2 tbsp and then shocked the following morning. Took in another water sample and they were able to read a low level of bromine. Three weeks later I still don't show any bromine in my tub I have the bromine frog set to #6 (maximum), I add 1 tbsp of non-chlorine shock every evening after use and 1 tbsp of Spalife EZ Brom Brominating Granules once per week. If I test strip an hour ofter either of those applications I'll show bromine. If I test 12 hours later... nothing. I'm kinda lost too. I have to trust that the water is clean. There's really nothing else I can do as far as I can tell. What bothers me is my water is almost always a clear pale green. A couple times it was clear bluish but will always turn pale green again after shocking. I've added a Metal Out product (we're on ground water from a municipal water tower with high copper and iron content (however, after treatment the spa store water analysis shows zero metals). My filter was solid orange after the first couple days (which I thoroughly cleaned). Spa store says as the long as the water isn't cloudy I'm good. Not really sure what else I could do.