WhitePeg

Chem Geek, thanks for the info! I called DampRid and asked their tech support about the product (#FG30). He confirmed that it pretty much is pure Calcium Chloride and it has trace amounts of Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride. According to my research both of those are relatively harmless. So, I'm off to put some in my spa!! Thanks again!

Questor, FWIW my spa has the inline frog cartridges. One mineral and one bromine. I wasn't gonna pay constantly for them. So I carefully popped the top off of the green bromine cart and put 4 bromine tablets in it. When they dissolve after about 1-2 weeks I pop the top off again and put 4 more tablets in. Works like a charm!

My CH level is at 30ppm. I want to raise it with Calcium Chloride. I am not in snow country so we don't have the de-icer products locally. So I found Damp Rid. Which appears to be just Anhydrous Calcium Chloride. According to the MSDS on their website (damprid dot com) it appears to be useable. There is also a little bit of Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride (1-5%) of both. Does this sound reasonable? I see there is skin irritation listed as one of the toxicities but I think that is direct contact with the full strength product. If you think it might be useable, how do I add to my 450 Gallon Spa? Should it be mixed in a bucket of water first? Thanks in advance!

Ok, I called Taylor. They checked how I was doing the test. They said I was doing it correctly. They also checked the date codes on the product which shows they are new. They recommended that I use 12.5ml of tap water and 12.5ml of spa water and perform the test again. It still shows around 37.5ppm of Bromine. They also recommended I go to a pool store to have it tested. I guess that's what I will have to do next. Still open to any suggestions from forum members here. Will post back when I have any results.

chem geek - Thanks for the suggestions. I think there must be something wrong with one of the DPD agents. They all look fine. Drops well, etc. The OTO test was only light yellow and not red or orange. So someone's lying. Just glad to know I'm not crazy. I will contact Taylor tomorrow. This kit is brand new bought from Amazon last week. Will post back my results for others to benefit. Thanks for the sanity check.

Enigma - Pardon my intrusion but doesn't your spa use the frog carts of Bromine? If so, there is a difference between the Chlorine and Bromine procedures. I have the Marquis Epic (about 4 months) and I'm still learning here too. There is a great "pinned" post about the 3 step Bromine startup procedure by Waterbear here... http://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=30249

New guy here. I've be reading the forums feverishly for a few weeks now. I just got my new Taylor K-2106 Water Testing kit! I was so anxious to try it. I filled a water bottle with my Spa Water and began my testing. Here's what I found: pH = 7.2 TA = 50 ppm Bromine = 37.5 (what?!) I did the test both ways. First the 25ml sample. Never turned clear. Then I washed the vials and tried again. Water turned pink and I began my drop and swirl. Drop, swirl, drop swirl. 35 drops later I bailed out. Tried the 10ml test. Drop, swirl, drop, swirl. 30 drops later it finally turned clear! 30 x 1.25 = 37.50. I immediately went to my 4 month old spa and pulled the bromine frog cartridge. Terrified I had set it wrong. I set the cartridge to the side and turned on the jets to get this (seemingly) high level of Bromine out. Then I got to thinking. Isn't that a bit off the charts? I went back to my cheapo, store bought drop tester. The Bromine vial showed almost no Bromine (looked like less than 1ppm). So I added some clorox bleach (4 oz). And the cheapo test perked right up to a bright yellow (probably 8ppm). Then I thought, perhaps when you have a low amount of Bromine in the Spa, the Taylor test is inaccurate. So I did both tests on the Taylor again. This time I could not get it to turn clear EVER. So I went and pulled out my test strips to see what they would say. They said about 6ppm. Now I am more than half depleted of the R-0872 titrating reagent. Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong? I followed the instructions TO THE T! Re-read and tried again. Researched and tried again. Always the same bad results. I either have a super brominated tub or things are really ok. Not getting in until I get this thing solved. Any help is MUCH appreciated! Data: Marquis Epic Spa, 450 Gallons, Bromine always, Mineral cartridge installed, water changed 1 month ago. Borate at 40ppm.