Bromine Tablets

[Supermasterpig]

Its time for me to buy some bromine tablets, when I recieved my tub I was given a 1.65lb tub of tablets. This was by hth spa, it has a bunch of active ingredients I mention this becuase I am looking online for tablets *generally cheaper* and want to know if all bromine tablets are the same. Thank you for the help.

[chem geek]

You need to check the ingredients. There are basically two types of bromine tabs assuming you get ones that are fairly pure of one type or the other:

BCDMH -- 1-bromo-3-chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin

DBDMH -- 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin

The BCDMH is more common and contains both bromine and chlorine while DBDMH contains only bromine. When chlorine is present, it converts bromide to bromine so you need to initially add some sodium bromide to the water if you want primarily a bromine tub.

[Supermasterpig]

Thank you Chem geek, I was able to buy 4lbs of bromine tablets online for the same price of 1 1/2 lbs in store.

[Jwolf]

You need to check the ingredients. There are basically two types of bromine tabs assuming you get ones that are fairly pure of one type or the other:

BCDMH -- 1-bromo-3-chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin

DBDMH -- 1,3-dibromo-5,5-dimethylhydantoin

The BCDMH is more common and contains both bromine and chlorine while DBDMH contains only bromine. When chlorine is present, it converts bromide to bromine so you need to initially add some sodium bromide to the water if you want primarily a bromine tub.

I have been researching bromine because i think we will do 3 step bromine in our new tub, but i have a question:

If we purchase dbdmh tablets (leisure time) i understand they have no chlorine with them. Does this mean they are not effective without adding something like bleach everyday even just for background levels? We will be using sodium bromide to establish a reserve. Thanks

[chem geek]

The DBDMH tablets are effective because they are producing bromine. Bromine is an effective disinfectant, though not as good an oxidizer as chlorine. This means that you may need to supplement oxidation in your spa by either using a non-chlorine shock (MPS) or shocking with chlorine, perhaps once a week or as needed to keep the water clear. However, if you use the spa, then the tablets are unlikely to provide enough bromine unless you use it regularly and have the feeder turned way up. If you only use the tub once or twice a week, then you set the feeder rate for a background level in between soaks and after your soak you would add chlorine to oxidize your bather waste (it both directly oxidizes some of it and creates bromine with what's left over).

[Jwolf]

The DBDMH tablets are effective because they are producing bromine. Bromine is an effective disinfectant, though not as good an oxidizer as chlorine. This means that you may need to supplement oxidation in your spa by either using a non-chlorine shock (MPS) or shocking with chlorine, perhaps once a week or as needed to keep the water clear. However, if you use the spa, then the tablets are unlikely to provide enough bromine unless you use it regularly and have the feeder turned way up. If you only use the tub once or twice a week, then you set the feeder rate for a background level in between soaks and after your soak you would add chlorine to oxidize your bather waste (it both directly oxidizes some of it and creates bromine with what's left over).

Ok great thank you! I think we will go the bromine route and have the feeder turned up pretty high as we will probably use it every day, and shock with MPS each week