change from chlorine to bromine

[ramseyh]

I would like to change my tub from chlorine to bromine.  PH of the water here is really high so thought that it would help with that problem, and hoping it won't be as drying to our skin, and easier to keep sanitized.

  Question is:  do I have to change my water first or can I just put the filled floater in the water when my chlorine level drops to zero?  

Another question: Will the bromine have a worse effect on the cover than the chlorine over time?  I don't won't to replace that anytime soon.

Thanks for your input,
Ramsey

[drewstar]

You can switch directly from Dichlor to Bromine without draining. (but not the other way around).

I can't address the other questions, but I'm sure someone here can....

[hottubdan]

You don't have to drain or wait for your chlorine count to drop.

You still want to maintain proper levels of pH.

You need to oxidize (weekly) with MPS or chlorine.

If you allow your bromine levels to get too high it will have an negative impact on pillows and cover.

[ramseyh]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.
Okay.... I have mps and testing strips for bromine, ph, etc . To get started... I just drop in the filled floater?  Somewhere I saw mention of adding granular bromine to get a bromine reserve in the beginning--is that really necessary?  

Ramsey

[Reese]

You don't have to wait for the chlorine to drop, but you do need to establish a bromine reserve, then activate the bromine with chlorine or MPS before relying on the floater.  You may want to look around the rhtubs.com site, and/or the Taylor book if you have one, for articles that explain a bromine system more fully.

Bromine is a lower pH product, and is also more effective at high pH than chlorine, so it may fit your situation well, but as HTDan said, you still need to balance your water.  You want to make sure you have your pH/TA/Hardness in line to prevent scaling or corrosion issues, but you can run at the upper ends of the ranges, instead needing to keep the pH low to maximize sanitizer efficiency.  Be aware that the low pH of the bromine will eventually erode your TA, then pH, so monitor them weekly and adjust as necessary.

Most bromine tabs have a high % of chlorine in them.  The chlorine serves as an "activator", but as it gasses off, it may cause LT damage to the cover and headrests.  One option to limit that is to use the Brilliance brand of bromine tablets, which do not contain chlorine.  You will need to add chlorine or MPS doses separately to activate the bromine, but can do that with the cover off to minimize offgassing damage.

[SugarBear]

I like the bromine system because it does not require daily maintenance like the clorine.  My tub is at a weekend home and bromine has worked great.  As far as the dry skin, you may have a similar problem with the bromine.  We have had the dry skin problem with the bromine and now use moisturizer after each soak which has helped.  Don't know if it is caused by the bromine or just the hot water soak.  As the others have said, you will need to establish a bromine reserve first, which is just adding bromine in a granular form until you have 3-5ppm.  Then add your floater with the tabs and this will keep it at the desired level.  Then once a week you shock with MPS or clorine, depending on use, and keep your ALK and PH in line.  Good luck!