Gosia

Thanks guys, I held off the water change and cleared things up with some spa clear blue guck... Now I will find the Sodium Bromide online following your Canadian research. Thanks again

I need to change my water and was wondering if someone could review my plan before I get in over my head. I have been using bromine and my water maintenance worked fine for 3months. Now I just cant clear the water up (all my levels are fine) so I imagine it is just organic build up and timeto change the water. It is winter here and minus 5 celcius outside so this wont be fun. I plan to drain the tub - but do I flush the system with a good shock first? Ill wipe down the tub too - are there any suggestions for a chemical to clean with? On refill I will follow the bromine steps pinned inthis forum. Only hiccup is that I dont have the bromine to add at the start - only bromine tabs. Is there another way to make the bromine bank using thetabs? Finally are there any concerns with the temperature outside and the exposed tub (Im obviously going to work fast and not leave it overnight to freeze - but was wondering if antone out there had any cautions for me that I migh not be aware of). Thanks in advance!

I'm far from big box stores as well. I was wondering where you purchased your test kit and filters. I was thinking of having more filters on hand and wondered if they had to be from the same manufacturer or not. I have a hydropool serenity. I'm trying the 3 step bromine too (and had enough iron in my river and well water to need the prevent 2). I'm one month in and love the help from chemgeek and the rest of the voices on this forum.

In a strange way I'm enjoying the chemistry of this. Thanks!

Everything looks good today alkalinity and ph- balanced, good bromine level... What moves ph and alkalinity down? Is it as simple as dichlor being an acid? My spa shock chemical label says it does not affect ph - is it a different type of chlorine?

I'm sure we both thought that was it - i was going to rely on dichlor then bleach - but surprise, today my bromine was off the charts. We had guests yesterday so I shocked the spa ( with spa boss spa shock - no chemical label but dealer said it was chlorine). This must have oxidized too much bromide? My ph (6.5) and alkalinity (40ppm) were both low too (yes still no test kit - this is all strip talk) - so I now have the cover off, have taken outthe tab dispenser and have added ph raising product and alkalinity raising product and am waiting. In hindsight I think I should have done alkalinity first - but hope it all balances. So if it does and I'm seeing decent bromine levels, do I put the pucks back in and just oxidize with bleach if my daily bromine levels are low? And shock weekly or after heavy user load?

This helps, thanks. I will stay the course and use dichlor for now (I've had the bromine p ucks in for a week only so maybe I'm not into bromine yet). Maybe until I get through more of my container and then switch to bleach to save money. Is the dose after bathing one to two teaspoons in general or per person?

Thanks. I found those posts and they are starting to make sense (i must sound simple minded! But its a learning process with a lot of mixed messages from different sources). We use our spa daily (2-4 people per day). I never added the bromine at fill up - only the dichlor. I will need to find a supplier of that since MY dealer doesn't seem to use it. I think my dealer thought dichlor once as a shock and then the bromine tabs would work. He told me to check weekly ( I couldn't do with a clear conscience so I noticed the Low reading for bromine and kept dealing with it by adding the dichlor to sanitize). Do you mean that bromine smells whereas chlorine doesn't? I'm tempted to transition to just dichlor then bleach ( who knows, maybe it will help my sons exczema). But like the idea of slow release pucks as a backup method too if we are away. At the risk of sounding lazy, but really more curious about my dealers competence- if I stay the course and daily add dichlor and open up my bromi e dispenser - will I eventually have a bromine system - or do I still need to hunt down the bromine to add as a bank. Final question - what is an oxidizer? Is dichlor?

Im taking sanitizing seriously, and am concerned that my dealer hasn't helped me get things right. I've been told to add dichlor or spa shock as a weekly shock or after a heavy use, but was set up with a bromine tab dispenser otherwise. My dealer helpe balance my water and was off saying I was fine for a week. I keep checking my water (with strips for now - I KNOW - I will buy a kit soon but Live in he middle of nowhere in Canada and hear things take time). My unease started when my test strips showed balanced ph and ta but no bromine? So I'm adding dichlor a tablespoon. How do I get the bromine tabs to work?

An update: we figured it out - a loose connection. Must have jiggled loose during transport. It would have been nice to not have to deal with this (a few good hours of trial and error) before we had a chance to even use the tub.

Our new hydropool serenity 5000 was looking fine - did the pump prime and moved all the jets worked etc. On to it's heating up stage when it jus stopped - the pump doesn't work at all. Is this an air lock? Electric? The dealer didn't even give us a manual. Looked it up online bu the gate valve to release an air lock shown is not on our model. Wondering what to do next. Even considering "returning it" based on poor dealer support. But this seems ridiculous with such a big purchase. Any advice out there?