Jump to content

Vince22

Members
  • Posts

    33
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Vince22's Achievements

Junior Member

Junior Member (2/5)

0

Reputation

  1. That starter pack of sodium bromide does nothing by itself. Add a couple of ounces of Clorox bleach or some MPS. This will convert the sodium bromide to bromine (active sanitizer). It does, however, convert back to bromide when it sanitizes, so you'll have to add MPS or bleach regularly. I used to use the bromine pucks, but I found that except for keeping a low, stable level of sanitizer in the water, I still had to add clorox regularly to keep up with bather load. I've recently stopped using the pucks altogether. Now, it's just a little splash of clorox each day plus a little extra when I have guests.
  2. Hi, I was using the bromine 2-step method for a while and decided to add tabs into the mix to make maintenance a bit easier. From what I know, bromide is converted to bromine by bleach and then converts back to bromide when sanitizing. Some of the bromine doesn't convert back to bromide so everyone once in a while some more bromide has to be added. Using the 3-step approach with tabs, do I still have to add bromide every once in a while, or do the tabs introduce new bromide? Thanks, Vince
  3. Should the TA and PH at rest (no aeration) be set to optimal levels? Or should one aim to get optimal PH level only once the aeration is on. I mean this as an ongoing thing. The reason I ask is that it's all fine and dandy to set the TA and PH at rest so that PH is optimal only when the jets are going (I presume for bather skin comfort), but what about the other 23 hours per day when the jets aren't on? Since the saturation index affects the components of the tub, wouldn't those 23 hours be the most important (to protect the tub) and just have a non-optimum (high) PH when bathing with the jets on?
  4. I had the same line of goo for the first couple of fills on my tub. I used Swirl Away and now I don't get it anymore. I believe that it was due to leftover gunk from manufacturing and wet test.
  5. I don't know if adding borates (e.g. boric acid) will have any noticable effect on dry skin. There are some potential benefits. According to wiseGEEK "Boric acid also has a number of medicinal uses. It works as a mild antiseptic, and it can be effective in the treatment of some skin conditions such as acne and mild rashes. Boric acid also works on yeast and fungal infections, and, in a diluted form, it can be used as an eyewash.". Yup - vet prescribed a mild boric acid eye-wash for my dog's bacterial infection. The pharmacy sells it at an analgesic and antiseptic for minor cuts and burns.
  6. Hi all, I couldn't find borax anywhere, so I went in search of boric acid instead. Turns out that pretty much every pharmacy carries it as analgesic and antiseptic (ask for it at the counter). Comes in a 125gm container in powder form. I had to buy 4 to get 50ppm in my 450gallon tub. At $5/container, it ended up costing $20. Anyways, just a FYI in case someone out there is searching.
  7. It's often called Step 2, or activate, or energize. Anything that sounds like it would turn on something else. I've gotten it at Home Depot and Club Piscine here in Ottawa.
  8. I honestly don't think anyone means to bully you into anything. You have a spa with a mold problem, and the people giving you advice don't. Also, they don't stand to make any money off you. I'd say that adds just a touch more objectivity than your spa dealer n'est pas?
  9. Thank you. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to provide your calculations. I do use a bromide starter packet when I fill the tub.
  10. I just read in another post that manufacturers don't recommend bleach as a sanitizer because it can damage the tub. I believe it was Chem Geek (might be wrong) who said that with CYA, the bleach effect on the tub is reduced. But what about people using bromine with bleach as the activator? I wouldn't have CYA in my tub, so does that mean that I'm damaging my tub? Thanks for the help.
  11. Go to the pool store and buy "liquid chlorine". You can tell her that it's made specifically for water treatment. Or....you could ask her just how much research she's done on the topic--how many books, articles, posts has she read. When she looks sheepish and answers "none", tell her that until she does, you're the resident expert and she can fly a kite. Worked for me. Now she leaves the spa maintenance to me, enjoys the money we're saving on chemicals, and has a great time using the tub. No fuss, no muss.
  12. My Viking Heritage II has a heater/pump scheme called Economy Mode. This means that the spa only heats to the preset temperature when the filter cycle runs which is either 2,4,6,8, or 12 hours every twelver hours (2 cycles per day up to 24hrs continuous). Is there a problem with the temperature cycling up and down? CSI changes with temperature, but even that only goes from 0.03 at my current levels (102f) to -0.12 at 84f. I'm thinking that winter's not a great time to try it since any savings I get from the heater not being on for 6 hours will be lost when the spa needs to heat on full for an hour or two. Although, I might be overestimating the temperature drop over 6 hours.
  13. I also enjoy my spa. No doubt about it. That's ok, though. I didn't think I'd get any unbiased answers on this one.
  14. Would I be correct that where ever you found this information, someone was SELLING something so that this wouldn't be the case? I think this is a very valid question. In fact, I there was another post a week or two ago about why showering after the tub. We're immersing ourselves in a liquid with a mixture of potentially harmful chemicals and gases. Is there potention for long term damange like skin or lung cancer? I've had my tub for a about 6 months now (bromine, ozonator, floater), and although I enjoy it immensely, the thought nags. I have no scientific background so I will wait for someone with more objective scientific knowledge to weigh in. Chem Geek? Any thought on halogens, ozone, silver, and the other chemicals/elements in the quantities we'd be encountering in the tub?
×
×
  • Create New...