We recently purchased a Beachcomber 550 Spa. It holds about 400 gal.
We're having trouble getting the water chemistry off the ground. We're using Bromine as a sanitizer and testing using a Deluxe Pool-care OTO drip test kit. The first time we filled the spa we started with Chlorine Leisure Time Kit and followed the directions on the CD provided us with the spa for start-up, and followed the maintenance instructions for shocking, bathing before use, etc... The spa fogged up on the third day so bad that we couldn't see the bottom, and was foaming pretty bad. We shocked it with the oxidizing shock provided. With no improvement the next day. All the levels tested fine, so we added clarify and defoam as recommended. After a couple hours the spa water turned milky white. All levels including alkalinity and calcium still tested fine. So we drained the Spa and started over.
We decided to try Bromine, so we followed the steps in the Bromine for Beginners topic on this forum. After balancing the water, we added the bromide reserve packet as suggested, and put a floater in the spa with a 1" bromine tab. We also added a Nature2 Mineral stick to the filter per suggestions from our local Leslies Pool supply. After several hours of heating, final testing showed low calcium levels and no bromine so we added Leslies Harness Up. Alkalinity went through the roof (260 ppm) so we put in SpaDown (Sodium Bisulfate). As expected Ph fell, so we balanced using Borax. We gave it 30 min to circulate and balance, between each chem add and test. Test showed no bromine, so I added 2 1" Tabs directly to the filter, and one in the bottom of the spa, and we shocked with chlorine bleach 6%. Bromine levels came up to normal, but were back down to 0 within an hour. The spa water turned milky white and that's where it's been since yesterday. Since then we've shocked, and tried adding another dose of bromide reserve with no results.
We can't seem to get this spa off the ground. Any advice or help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!