New experiment I'm trying

[giraffeattheoasis]

I've had a friend that used to be in the hot tub business helping us out a bit with our larger-scale sale events.  He used to own his own dealership and now just does consulting work and trading in his spare time.  He turned me onto a new method of treating the spa that he used to use all the time.

It's similar to the Vermonter idea of soaking without any free chlorine in the spa, but it utilizes Lithium Hypochlorite and N2 rather than Dichlor, MPS, and N2.

You use a super-chlorination dose at the start-up (depending on your source water you may need to lower your pH- as Lithium feeds in at about 10) and just use a small dose every time you get out of the spa.  Since it is an unstabilized chlorine, the next time you get in there won't be any residual.  I've started using this on my floor spas and have had pretty good success thus far, though the few tubs I didn't drain before starting in still hold residual for quite awhile.

Thoughts?

 

[drewstar]

How is the cost?  from what i read, it's a very  exspensive and  does it require any neaturlizers?

From this site: http://tps.com.au/pools/chlorine.htm

Here is what they say about  Lithium Hypochlorite


Keep in mind this is from a pool's site, not a spa.   Maybe Vermonter could ring in and help out?

Lithium Hypochlorite

Lithium hypochlorite (chemical formula LiOCl) is produced by bubbling chlorine gas through a solution of lithium, sodium and potassium sulphates. It is supplied as a free-flowing powder that provides 35 percent available chlorine.

Lithium hypochlorite is:-
bullet      calcium free (it does not harden the water).
bullet      it is dust free and non-flammable.
bullet      has a long shelf life (it will lose only 0.1 percent of its available chlorine level per month), it dissolves rapidly without clouding.
bullet      can be used directly in vinyl liner pools. It dissolves very rapidly.
bullet      It can be used for regular and superchlorination.
bullet      Lithium-hypo is the most expensive.

Because it dissolves so rapidly, it cannot be used in a dry-chlorine feeder. It can be pre-dissolved and dispensed in a liquid feeder.

One kg of lithium hypochlorite provides about 350g of available chlorine.

90kg of lithium-hypo produces 30kg of available chlorine.

Cyanuric acid must be added separately to keep the chlorine in the pool from being degraded by sunlight.

And here is what they say about Dichlor:

Sodium Dichlor

Sodium dichlor (sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione, chemical formula NaCl2C3N3O3) is the only popular type of chlorine that does not require the addition of either a neutralizing chemical or Cyanuric acid.

Sodium dichlor is produced by adding soda ash and Cyanuric acid to a solution of trichlor. When dried the result is a granule that may provide 56 percent or 62 percent available chlorine, depending on the method of manufacture. The 56-percent formulation is by far the most readily available of the two.

Sodium dichlor is fast dissolving, will not cloud the water and has a long shelf life. It can be used for regular and for superchlorination. Because it is fast dissolving, it cannot be used in a dry chemical feeder. It should not be pre-dissolved and dispensed in a liquid chlorinator.

Sodium dichlor can cause a build-up of Cyanuric acid in the pool water. It is 57% stabilizer (Cyanuric acid) by weight. Cyanuric acid levels should be more frequently checked. Partial drain and refill the pool is required if the Cyanuric acid level exceeds 100 ppM. One kg of sodium dichlor contains slightly more than 560gms of available chlorine and 570 g of stabilizer.

Sodium dichlor is the second most expensive per kg of available chlorine but it does not have any "hidden costs" associated with it.

Sodium Dichlor has a pH close to 7 (neutral) and so does not require any neutralizing chemicals to be added to the water. It already contains Cyanuric acid saving on this cost also.

One kg of sodium dichlor provides 560 g of available chlorine.

 

[giraffeattheoasis]

I've always preferred Lithium to Calcium for superchlorination in a pool, but since it doesn't have as much available chlorine it takes more to do it.  However, the Lithium is a lot more active.  Many times we've found that even though it only treats 60% of the volume of Cal Hypo, it still will only take the same amount of weight in cases of combined chlorine.

I've always disliked using sodium dichlor because over time the Cyanuric acid adds up and it becomes nearly impossible to break chloramines.  With the lithium you wouldn't need to add MPS because it shocks and oxidizes, and I think that it's a lot more feasible in a "chlorine-free" application.  Calcium Hypochlorite would also theoretically work but since it is calcium-based you'd risk ruining your equipment in the heat.

 

[tony]

You still need to reach breakpoint chlorination if you intend to shock with lithium.  All chlorines oxidize as well as sanitize.  The upside of lithium is no CYA.  The downside is high pH, low percentage of chlorine and of course the high cost.  You will be adding greatly to TDS because, if I remember correctly, lithium is 35 percent chlorine and 65 percent other stuff.

 

[Gomboman]

giraffeattheoasis,

This sounds like Gary Keegan's routine. I know he used to run all his demo spas with this method at the store. All his employees also swore by this routine.

I followed this method in the past and it actually worked very well. When I was a rookie I posted about this method but most folks here didn't think it was cost effective since you have to add more product to net the same chlorine residual. I sure would like to hear Vermonter's response

Gary's a great guy. Tell him that his customers miss him back in So Cal.

 

[hottub.pool_boy]

High pH product, no? Curious. Haven't used it in our spas. We'll have to dig deeper.

 

[giraffeattheoasis]

giraffeattheoasis,

This sounds like Gary Keegan's routine. I know he used to run all his demo spas with this method at the store. All his employees also swore by this routine.

I followed this method in the past and it actually worked very well. When I was a rookie I posted about this method but most folks here didn't think it was cost effective since you have to add more product to net the same chlorine residual. I sure would like to hear Vermonter's response

Gary's a great guy. Tell him that his customers miss him back in So Cal.

He was just here a couple weeks ago, so I decided to go ahead and try his experiment.  So far so good on the one tub I'm using it on.  We had some misordered Lithium Hypo bottles that we're never going to sell, so I figured I'd go ahead and give it a whirl.  I told him you said hi.

 

[Gomboman]

giraffeattheoasis,

Maybe you can get Gary to post here. His perspective on using Lithium Hypochlorite was very convincing. I'm sure he tried every method and settled on Lithium for a reason.