Bromine float vs. Chlorine

[stuart]

I wore down by the top of the second page reading these posts so I might be a bit redundant here in saying this but.....

Tri-Chlor contains cynaric acid to stabilize it in sunlight and prevent dissapation. Cynaric acid can be caustic at higher temps which makes it a bad sanitizer in a spa!

HotSpring originally excluded Bromine as a sanitizer because they used to have a problem with the large light lens and pillows reacting poorly to it but have since changed materials and allow it.

I have preferred Chlorine for years until the new frog system came out with a stabilized bromine fed constant where you don't have the spikes. I'm using frog now and love it. It does take some time to get used to how you set it if you follow their directions but here is a simple rule of thumb;

If you have 1-2 people using the spa on a consistent basis set your frog cartridges and your filter cycles to 2. If you have 4 people using it on a consistent basis set all of the above to 3 or 4 and so on.

My only problem with the frog was the fact that you could not tell when to change it but the new Marquis have a cycle reminder to let you know!

[txwillie]

Marquis does have a "CL" indicator on the LCD that comes on every 30 days as a reminder to change the bromine cartridge and clean the filters, but I've found that my bromine cartridges are spent in about 3 weeks. (I set them on 2). It is also pretty easy to miss the "CL" indicator, because if you just open the cover and turn on the jets w/o looking at the LCD, the "CL" gets reset.

Next Q: What about the Spa Frog mineral cartridge? Marquis and King Technology say it lasts 3-4 months. There was a post a few days or weeks ago about N2 being ineffective after a water change since most of the minerals go out on the lawn with the old water. Is the Frog Mineral cartridge the same way? I have yet to go more than 10 weeks on a fill. Gonna drain and fill here in just a bit. Water looks great when you open the cover, perfectly clean and clear, but turn on the jets and in a few minutes it looks like milk (that is an exaggeration, but it does get quite cloudy) Turn off the jets and it is clear again in about a minute or so. Wmmcall says this is called turbidity and is cause by high TDS. So the question is, with the Spa Frog, if you change the water at say 2 months, is the mineral cartridge still good, or does it need to be changed out then as well? They are pretty expensive (seems like they are about $30 each, but I've not bought one in a while, since I stocked up when I bought the spa).

And last, how does the Bromine in the Spa Frog compare to Brilliance?

woohoo, get to try out the new sump pump!


Thanks for your help,

txwillie

[stuart]

What do you have your filter cycles and smart clean set to?

When you drain and refill do you remove your cartridges?

Both of these things will directly affect how long the bromine lasts.

Your mineral cartridge should be good for 3-4 months but you have to remember that it also goes with volume. 1 ounce of silver can purify 10,000 gallons of water without introduction of bather waste so it goes down with use.

I don't know that I would drain every 2 months....Add a month to that and you will cut back on your maintenance products throughout the year.

I honestly have never used Brilliance but can tell you that the sanitation system you use is a personal preference. I have people that love Soft Soak and people that refuse to use it. Same thing with Bromine and Chlorine.

I doesn't hurt to try a couple of different ones through the year and decide then what works best for your usage and lifestyle.

[txwillie]

I use the tub almost every day. 45 min average, but longer on the weekends. Have it set at the factory defaults which is two 2 hour filter cycles per day plus a 1 hour cycle that starts 30 minutes after the jet pumps shut down.

The one thing that bothers me is how cloudy the water gets when the jet pumps are on. It is really just millions of tiny bubbles entrained in the water (think alka-seltzer) that dissipate once the pumps shut down. It does not do this when the water is new, starts doing this in a few weeks and only gets worse. I've tried clarifiers, but they don't make the water any more clear and they seem to cause foam. I've also tried the "I'm not putting anything in here but bromine and shock" approach. AKA  the "let's not make soup" method.

Is this normal, or do I have a problem? Am I just too OCD about it? Going to get the water tested later today for TDS and then decide whether to drain or not. What is the limit on TDS?

Thanks again.

txwillie

[stuart]

Without testing your water I can't tell you why your having the aeration however it's not due to the frog.

It certainly won't hurt you.

[J._McD]

I use the tub almost every day. 45 min average, but longer on the weekends. Have it set at the factory defaults which is two 2 hour filter cycles per day plus a 1 hour cycle that starts 30 minutes after the jet pumps shut down.

The one thing that bothers me is how cloudy the water gets when the jet pumps are on. It is really just millions of tiny bubbles entrained in the water (think alka-seltzer) that dissipate once the pumps shut down. It does not do this when the water is new, starts doing this in a few weeks and only gets worse. I've tried clarifiers, but they don't make the water any more clear and they seem to cause foam. I've also tried the "I'm not putting anything in here but bromine and shock" approach. AKA  the "let's not make soup" method.

Is this normal, or do I have a problem? Am I just too OCD about it? Going to get the water tested later today for TDS and then decide whether to drain or not. What is the limit on TDS?

Thanks again.

txwillie

In a single word, Effervescence, to give off gas in small bubbles, often producing foam and a hissing sound, such as carbonated water.

Check your alkalinity and pH, leave your cover off and areate your water, turn the blower on and let it run for 20 minutes.

[JJ]

Forgive my ignorance, but where does the floater go?  Does is just bump around in the tub, or do you put it in the filter housing?

[HotTubMan]

Tri-Chlor contains cynaric acid to stabilize it in sunlight and prevent dissapation. Cynaric acid can be caustic at higher temps which makes it a bad sanitizer in a spa!

Am I missing something here?

TriChlor & Bromine pucks contain cyraunic acid.

Dichlor and Bromine Concentrate (whatever form of powder) contain cyraunic acid.

Perhaps it is the pH of the pucks (3/4) not the cyraunic acid that the manufacturers are concerned with....