Miss Noel

I bought the Taylor testing kit for my Bromine spa. I notice that it advises you use certain chems to adjust levels. Where do you get these chems? There are a lot of fancy names on spa supply web sites, but I don't know what chemicals are in them. I know the baking soda trick for TA, I am fine with my bromine and bromine tablets, and I am good on shock. What I am really looking for is Muriatic Acid. I am having a heck of a time keeping my PH down. Thanks for any assistance! P.S. ... totally wishing Chem Geek were still about.

Hey everyone. I figured I'd come add to this thread since I am having trouble keeping my bromine levels up, too. My bromine tablets (1") container says they are the following: = 1-bromo-3chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (60.0%) = 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (27.4%) = 1,3-dichloro-5-ethyl-5-methylhydantoin (10.6%) = "Other Ingredients" (2.0%) My shock container says it's the following: = Potassium Peroxymonosulfate Is this MPS that everyone keeps talking about? How do you know if your bromine tablets are doing their job? A lot of the chemical talk is going over my head, but I am trying to digest it all. My tub is 450 gallons. I am supposed to shock with 2 oz. a week with the above. To keep my levels up I have to shock with another 2 oz. every time we use it (me and the hubby every other night for a half hour to an hour). My concern is, is this bad for the water? Is it unhealthy? I just replaced all of my water due to other issues (see my other frustrating thread), and I am worried I am going to screw it up again. My filters are clean. TA and PH look good. Hardness is in a good range, too. The tub is covered all day. I just tried opening up my floater more. Could this be the issue? Will the floater help keep my bromine levels up? That's what I thought it was for.

Awesome, thank you. That was exactly what I was looking for. I really appreciate all of the great feedback I've received here. I've been able to compile some great notes, and have purchased better equipment for my spa care. Thanks everyone!

**EDIT: Duplicate Post**

No, no ~hah~ I think you misunderstood me. I know my test kit will tell me when the level is correct, I meant in what interval do you add uintil it is correct? Say I added an ounce at a time until it was right, well is that too much to add at a time? Is the baking soda really strong? Should I only add a tablespoon at a time until it is correct, instead? But no worries. I guess I can figure it out through trial and error. Thanks again.

How much baking soda do you add at a time while trying to raise the TA? An ounce? A tablespoon? Wow, didn't know runing the jets and bubbles could raise PH! Cool. Good to know, thanks! Already ordered. Tanks for the tip!

Oh, I'll have to take a look at that floater. Not too happy with mine. Thanks for the link! Ok, so 2oz is ok to shock with 1 time a week then? Do I still need to use a tablespoon of it after I am in it or does a once a week shock do the trick? Thanks for the tip about the clarifier. I always wonder if ya truly need everything a line of products sells.

Thank you both so much. I appreciate the feedback. I drained last night and am cleaning and polishing right now. I will fill this afternoon. Woodsy, I am actually not adding chlorine. There is a part of my test strip that is called "free chlorine" that reads off the charts even though I am not adding any chlorine products. Tony, I was adding so much of the Activate shock because the jug says to add 4oz. per 250 gal. I have a 450 gal. tub so I just used 6 oz. I will lower the amunt and see what happens. Thanks so much! My bromine tablet floater doesn't have any release settings, and I was just tryong to keep it full. I guess I can play with filling it halfway and replacing a couple tablets every couple days and see what happenes. I think I now what one of my issues is. I have been surfing the net on spa care and browsing these forums, and I think I was adding too many chems at the same time (which is a no-no I guess?). Plus, I was closing the lid right after shocking. It is so cold here that I was just running out, doing my maintenance as fast as possible, and running back in. I think I need to slow down and take more care with how I add chems and leave the lid off for a bit when I do.

Any help would be appreciated...

Crud... Ok so after writing this post I went out to look at the tub. I opened the top and had to back away sputtering and caughing the fumes were so bad. I turned on the light (it's night) and the water is yellow.....

First let me say how happy I am to have found this forum!!! Second, I realize already from reading here that I need a better testing system (will look into the Taylor K-2106). What I am using: Aquacheck 7 way test strips for testing, and the GLB Rendezvous Bromine system for my relatively new Gulf Coast Spa LX 11000 (450 G). I am going to give as much info as possible to try and get to the root of my issue. When I fill up, I am using 2, 2oz Broma-Start pouches (sodium bromide), Protect Plus (the mineral element protector),Spa Increase (to raise PH), Alkalinity Up ( to raise alkalinity), Liquid Calcium Hardness Up (we have a water softener) ... and Brominating Tablets to a floater: = 1-bromo-3chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (60.0%) = 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin (27.4%) = 1,3-dichloro-5-ethyl-5-methylhydantoin (10.6%) = "Other Ingredients" (2.0%) My levels look darn good when she starts up! I add brominating tablets to the filler every other day or so, shock once a week with 6oz. of "Activate" (potassium peroxymonosulfate), use 2oz. of the Protect Plus once a week, use 2oz. of Spa Clarifier (not exactly sure what's in it, but it says it clears cloudy water and improves filter efficiency) once a week, and use 1oz. Natural Clear (enzyme action scum remover) once a week. I also clean the filters once a month. So after about 6-8 weeks, my levels start to go all wonky. I can't seem to every get my calcium up very high. The test strip generally reads "100 - low." My total Bromine reads "10 - ok." My free chlorine reads "20 - very high." PH is low; Color isn't even in the strip. Alkalinity is the same. I can't seem to get them up. Then Cyanuric Acid (whatever that is) reads "0 - low." The other day after shocking (about an hour or so), we got into the tub and when the jets started a really heavy chemical odor came up and stung our eyes. We had to get out. Our skin was itchy and splotchy for a day. I was so frustrated, I went out to the closest place ... Wal-Mart ... ~cringes~ and bought a Ph/Chlorine/Bromine water test kit. The PH was super low (light yellow) and the Bromine was RED when all the little windows are shades of yellow! That can't be good, right??? Now, we've only had the tub about 6 months. When we first got it we used an enzyme system, but it didn't work well and the water was gross. So after about 2 months, we drained it, cleaned it, and started a bromine system. About 2 months in we started having balancing issues. I just drained it, cleaned it again, and restarted, switching bromine systems in the hope I would find something that worked. I follow all of the directions. I try to keep the levels right. What do you do if you have too much bromine? How do you know how many bromine tablets to use (cause the bottles never say!)? What in the heck is "free chlorine" and why is mine so high? Is it dangerous? Is this the chemical odor we have? Is it ok if I treat my spa with multiple chemicals a day or do I need to spread them out? I am panicking here... Our tub is new, and like all tubs, was expensive. I am afraid I am doing something wrong and am going to ruin it. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated!!!! ~ Noel