orellius

Yes I was aware thanks. Actually have that wrong in my timeline. I adjusted the PH in the morning when the sanitizer was reading low and it’s been a consistent 7.7 since then. My ColorQ and OTO have warnings about that.

@waterbear Well. Good things appear to be happening. Admittedly I used a bit more chlorine than suggested (200ml), you know, go big or go home right? I got some colors on the range I was looking for with the OTO test, and circulated the water for several hours with the lid open until it dropped to around 10 ppm, adjusted my PH (which had climbed to 8.6 with the jets going), got it back to 7.7. Closed the lid and let it sit overnight. The following day I had 1.0 BR on tests, I boosted it to 3.0 with a bit of SHC, put in the floater again, and the following morning (yesterday) it was still at 3.0. Me and wife used the tub for 15 min, and I did not put anything in it afterward. Opened the floater one more notch, and this morning it was at 4.0. Fantastic! The floater seems to be wider than I'd think it should be, it's half way open. But I'll take it. Recall, previous to the nuking, I had it fully extended and still no BR after 24 hours. So having it half open and maintaining a reserve is great. I'll keep an eye on it, hopefully now I can just shock it with SHC once a week and the floater keeps it in line. I'll probably try to close it a bit and get it around 2-3ppm instead. I am now getting consistent readings across test strips, my Lamotte ColorQ, and what the OTO reads (with the shitty color scale I can still approximate it). Many, many thanks! I will definitely be buying Ahh-Some and doing that before draining, in a couple months.

was messing with my tub earlier and this happened 😀

and...I'm home, tested with the OTO, pretty much zero. The slightest faintest yellow, like not even really. It's basically clear.

Sorry one more. I’m actually leVing work early to go and try to shock this thing so I can try and get it back down before bed time and not leave it open all night. So if you had any tips on the test would be great. Not sure how to know if I’m getting 30ppm. I’m guessing I’d probably need like 2 cups to get up there. Or more. again I’m using Aquarius SHC. 10%

@waterbear(not sure if I need to keep doing that, ha). Yes it makes sense that it is a Pentair one, and I already saw a post you did, this morning, you may have posted years ago, telling someone the Pentair one was best, and it looked like mine so I assumed I had one! Felt good to have one thing right. And the same store sells rebranded (as Beachcomber) Pentair OTO test kits, thats the one I got the other day. So it makes sense, Beachcomber is in bed with Pentair. I'm wanting to return it actually, the yellow scale on the left is all the same, there is literally no visible difference in all the colors. I have excellent vision and I'm not color blind, and I got 2 others to look and they can't see a difference. So I just think it's a piece of sh!t. Yellow, the same shade of yellow, and some more yellow of the same shade... And my area of expertise is commercial grade surveying drones and laser scanning. I teach courses on it. I pay it back every day! Oh and I got fixed so if my wife is pregnant I have bigger problems than water chemistry. I guess it's time for a super shock. Just not sure how to measure it properly when the scale on that tester is such ass. Might have to go find another one. Is testing with this kit what you wanted to give me directions on? Just a guess, but a diluted sample of some sort, and multiplying the results? Edit: you wrote: You could try adding an hour to each cycle to see if that helps. Also, you are spreading them out every 6 hours? I used to run a 4 hour cycle every 8 hours when I had stand alone tubs with bromine. See what works best but give it at least a week before you change settings. I don't have control over that, I can just set the D (duration) and F (frequency). It must split them up evenly over a 24 hour period

@waterbear Again thanks for the continued support. I need to email you a beer gift certificate or something for all the help (can be arranged!). I am in kind of a panic situation now. Panicking that I will have to dump the tub again after only like 6 weeks. It's frickin cold up here, and the $200 water truck thing, not ideal! I'll try to keep it short, but that's not easy, and am still hoping this is not a biofilm issue. Firstly, they are using a tester that looks like this (pictured), I can't find the brand, and couldn't see the name from my angle when I was there. It uses these discs (in the photo). It's probably irrelevant, as I may just have water issues. Ok so I did already open the floater that day of course. I have the floater shown below, Beachcomber one. I opened it to about 2 slots showing, which was about what I had to open it to with the chlorine pucks this summer. I also boosted the chlorine and read I believe 3.0 BR. Wednesday morning it tested at about 0.5 BR again. I opened the floater some more, boosted it with SHC chlorine (50-75 ml, I forget, reading was about 4 BR). 10-12 hours later after work, I tested 0.5 BR. WTF. I tested similar results with that OTO test you recommended. I then opened the floater a bit more, boosted it a bit with chlorine so it made a reading and left it overnight. Forget what the actual reading was. Wednesday morning it read around 0.5 BR again opened the floater even more. I put in a little more chlorine to boost it, and tested half hour later, on both tests got about 4.0 BR, great! After work Wednesday (yesterday), 0-0.5 BR again. I opened it a couple more slots (seemed crazy how much I opened it to), and boosted again, a little higher this time, I read 8.0 BR on both tests. I then used the tub last night for 15 min a couple hours later, just me, cause hey I wanted to see what it was like to sit in bromine, lol. That was the only use, nobody has gone in it since I added the bromine on Monday night. This morning it was 0.5 again. WTF again. I did not boost with chlorine this morning, but I did open the damn floater ALL THE WAY. It is completely full of pucks, and fully extended. It seems crazy, but what is the alternative? I needed to let it sit all day so I can test tonight, and see SOME KIND OF RESULT. With all my previous floater openings, nothing was happening. Will be interesting to see when I get home. One thing I noticed is the Ultra Start from Beachcomber label says 125ml to start and get the reserve (per 1000L, which is my tub size so pretty hard to screw that up), then it says add 30 ml weekly. The guides I see on these forums do not mention a weekly dose, it's more of a set and forget thing, upon filling with water. So is there an issue with the level of reserve they recommend to start with, and I need more? Do I need to do a much higher shock with the chlorine? again my initial one only read about 9.0 after the bromine reserve was put in, and chlorine added. The circulation is on a 3 hour, 4 times a day setup as recommended by the people who sold it to us. Every time I open the lid, the floater is freely moving about and not stuck at the suction/filter intake. Our tub has a microchip inside of it so the heater can go past 104. It's a 5 degree mod chip of sorts, installed at factory. So it really goes up to 109F. We have it set to 101, which is 106, confirmed with digital thermometers. 106 Because it's cold up here, and we want it hotter as we only go in 15 min at a time. Hoping temperature is not affecting it. Apparently the chip is a Canada thing, everyone gets it on these RotoSpas.

@waterbear Sorry I should add that last night I actually did 40ml chlorine almost exactly as you suggested I did some calculations and came to that before you even posted it, it only measured BR 4.0, that’s how I ended up putting some more in until I got it to 9. I stopped at 9 because it was late and it was pretty close to 10. and the only things I’ve been adding to my water since this fill just over 5 weeks ago, is dichlor to get to CYA30. SHC pool chlorine. TA decreaser a few doses (liquid form). Calcium at initial fill. And a few jugs of RO water to top it up when it gets low. I believe that’s about it. Oh and the water stinks now. Not sure how to describe the smell. It’s pretty pungent after opening the lid even when BR read zero this morning.

hello @waterbear would you mind reviewing this report? Got my water tested at the store just for fun today. So last night I had actually put in the Ultra Start. Exactly 125ml as the bottle suggested for 1000L tub. PH was 7.5. TA was 90. Then I shocked with 10.3% pool chlorine. About 90 ml total i believe (edit: over a couple doses, see following post). And I had the bromine reading as about 9.0 when I went to bed. Checked in my ColorQ and test strips. this morning I tested again and bromine was 0.28 I think (they read 0.3 at the store). Firstly. Why? I guess I had hoped it would stay active until the morning. I put the floater in with the bromine pucks but I did not open it, I guess I wanted to see if it would stay high and didn’t want to risk having it super high overnight with the floater open. I will open it when I get home today, and shock with a little chlorine to 4+ ppm. the pool store analysis is attached. They tested and said TDS is over 1500. They want me to drain the pool. I’m like, I just filled it 1.5 months ago. They thought that was weird it was so high and had no explanation. It specifically states that it’s “1500 over initial levels”. I asked what that means, as I did NOT get the water tested there when I filled it fresh (Halloween day). So what initial levels are they comparing to that they know it went 1500 over? She had no idea what I was talking about. She offered to test tap water as a comparison. but actually didn’t, and she said it would not be zero but would be some lower number than 1500. I’m like "ok so I’m 1500 over what exactly?" she did not know. should I really worry about their TDS report? Reading on these forums in other threads about TDS, I'm guessing this is a non-issue and just the store telling me what a machine says they also tested bromine to be the same levels I did. PH and ALK and CH are similar to what my machine and strips showed. I picked up the OTO test kit for $20. Will try next test session later today. But at this time it seems my strips and ColorQ match their test machine. I’d just have to go back and do another test with a higher bromine reading in the water to confirm it reads the same. based on their TDS reading. Do I have a major problem that is causing the chlorine (previously) and now Bromine to not last overnight? Or is this drop overnight expected, and I should just have opened the damn floater and stop experimenting?... Biofilm? I asked two of them at the store and they had no clue what biofilm was. She also wrote a phosphates value of 2655 on the sheet. I asked her what that meant and she had no idea, literally. She just said it isn’t in the standard report, so she writes it on. She had no clue if it’s high, low, what the range should be, or any info at all when I asked her about it. This was post edited a few times...

Thanks again! Working on this now. I actually did (anticipating what you would say) pick up the Ultra Start and pucks yesterday. They actually had the OTO Pentair test kits, I believe I saw, at this store yesterday. I'll get that, and I'm also going to get a water sample in to them to test, and I'll use the same water sample and test with my ColorQ 2X, and the Pentair test, and my test strips. Will be interesting. I know that I'll be able to use other chemicals and pucks from say my local/closer to home Canadian Tire, but I'm going to this leisure store, which sells games and Beachcomber tubs, because they test my water free and I can use that as a verification. Once I am fully confident in my water skillz, hopefully by summer, I'll not need them anymore. Honestly the lady there is really dumb, and any time I ask her anything she just doesn't have a clue, and basically only knows how to run the machine. I asked yesterday if they know if it automatically deals with MPS interference, if they had an additive for that, she had no clue what MPS was, just pointed me to their 2 step chemicals and said use that. I said that's just MPS, I already have some from Canadian Tire and don't want to use it anymore, nor theirs. She said theirs is different and I can't use other stuff. I argued, it's the same. The ingredients are literally that, MPS. So I just disregard anything they say, it's been like that for months whenever I go there. So I just give them water samples and wait for the report. Once a month.

Sorry one more comment, my final what I am looking at then is: 3-part Beachcomber Ultra Start to create the reserve Add floater (already have) with Bromo Discs do NOT get their MPS to activate, instead use pool chlorine I already have. Just confirming then, this would be a daily, or a weekly thing

In your other post you said "swimming poo water". Jut having fun. May not have been those specific videos, was just searching on YouTube. It was more like some people by their pools showing how to use it. Ok so I can ditch MPS and therefore remove the issue of MPS interference. I wasn't suggesting I'd want to keep using it for any reason, I guess I hoped it wasn't going to affect the DPD test the same way with bromine, but now I have that answer! I'll still look into your kit suggestion, I just can't buy it right now with Christmas and I just bought a Starlink satellite dish last week! May finally have decent rural internet! The problem I am having is locating a source. I can find the kits, but not the refills very easily, and not that specific reagent mentioned earlier for dealing with the MPS issue, so I was scouring the Canadian interwebs for a while the other night and was feeling like I'd be in the same situation I am now, where reagents are hard to come by. It was a major struggle to get the re-agent refills for the LaMotte kit, and it seems to be similar with the Taylors, at least in Canada, so I'll keep digging. Sorry not meaning to argue on the kit suggestion, appreciate the advice it just seems like a struggle here to get these things. Like Canada is a 3rd world country or something. Back to the water, I already have 2 gallons of that Aquarius 10% SHC pool chlorine I can use. I have no issue with disposing of my MPS, I don't have much left. I just didnt want to buy a Beachcomber bromine system if it had MPS and that was still a not-recommended thing, which you confirmed. IF I went to a 3-part system, so I had the ease of the floater and pucks, then I'd be using a small amount of the SHC to shock, instead of MPS, this would be a weekly thing? Or a daily thing? Sorry if it's just a bit confusing, trying to get around MPS and now that pool chlorine is back in the mix instead, just a tad confusing. If I can get this system down where I can leave for 5 days during the week, and come back and shock it on Saturday, add some SHC to shock, that would be ideal. I mean it's not a deal-breaker for the wife to have to add a specific amount of chlorine during the week if required, but I can't have her doing digital or complex testing when I'm gone, she said she wants nothing to do with that.

I mentioned you because you started helping me first and have been helpful so far! And you have a lot of posts, so you must know something. ha

if it helps, I should add that it's only 2 of us. Nobody else will ever be in the tub, we use it 3-4 times a week, 15-30 min. No parties, no high bather load. I guess I an hoping the TDS would climb slower due to this.

@waterbear @RDspaguy Hey Again, Hoping I can get some more of advice from you two, hopefully regardless of if you hate products like these? 🙂 Based on what I wrote above, being that I travel a lot and I need the water the be as maintenance free as I can get, for the wife, within reason (weekly, weekend maintenance is what I'd hope for, not daily)... I realize you both are likely very against this stuff, but my wife has more family in her ear that are talking about Beachcomber stuff again. So we are considering this, or something similar from Canadian Tire for ease of access where we live. Just trying to educate myself and not buy something I don't need or can't use. And to hopefully keep using my ColorQ test kit without MPS interference. But I am fearing that bromine testing is interfered the same way (the test kit uses the same 2 DPD reagents for the bromine test, you just press the button on BR instead of TC...) Again it's not me wanting these, just someone telling us to look into them. I can be persuaded into something else, I just need it to be easier maintenance during Monday to Friday when I travel. I'm liking stuff I read online about the pros/cons between bromine and chlorine systems. 1. Beachcomber Bromo Discs and/or Bromo Blast (or similar other brand product) using this, or some similar/local Canadian Tire bromine discs or granules, do you know if using these, along with non-chlorine shock, I'd still have the exact same DPD test interference? The Bromo Blast label says 52.7% Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione, so this has the same stabilizer found in chlorine granules, so I still have to worry about CYA? Except that their Care Free Boost has 100% sodium dichlor, not 52%. Not sure if I am thinking about this correct. The Bromo Discs label does not, so then that is different product and my concerns would then be TDS due to constantly dissolving tablets? They basically say it's one or the other, or even a combination of both. If I have to drain the water every 3-4 months due to TDS, then I guess that is what I have to do, to make the water easier to maintain 2. Beachcomber Ultra (2-part) - Ultra Start, Ultra Shock (or similar) Would this be considered a "salt water" system? https://www.beachcomber.ab.ca/salt-systems - I'm asking because the tub manual does not recommend salt water systems, so then I can discount this product completely They also use "ultra shock" - which is MPS I believe Really hard to find any good info on these products - not sure if this is a "full salt water system" type thing, or if it's just "salty" and not quite, so is safe to use - not surer how else to explain my question, lol I guess I can't tell the difference, they both (discs/blast, and Ultra) say they are bromine systems. I'm just concerned with the MPS interference with bromine readings, and the fact that my tub says don't use salt water

So after all this I am seriously thinking on switching to bromine. With all I am reading on the apparent ease of maintenance. I'm still reading on that topic and havent made a decision but I believe it's an easy switch and doesn't require new water, and more forgiving on the Ph, less often adding stuff like chlorine. I believe with so far what I'm reading that you'd still use MPS, but that wouldnt affect the tests (??), and my Lamotte machine will test for bromine, so I can keep my test kit. I REALLY did not like what I saw in the videos I watched on the Taylor kit on YouTube, the test method is a bit much, I could see myself constantly replacing reagents with the amount of drops I see them using, lol. That's not a knock on the system at all, it's to each his own for sure. I'm just hoping to keep mine. I really need this water to be EASY as I travel a lot and I need it easy for the wife when I'm gone. I'm guessing then I'll have to deal with more TDS

sorry if there is a misunderstanding (to prompt the sigh), but I am not questioning or doubting anything you are saying as invalid. I am merely asking questions, trying to save my investment into this ColorQ tester and reagents. I fully appreciate the input and will likely be purchasing a Taylor kit as well. For the record, and this is just for fun, but I bought the ColorQ 2X Pro 7 model and it cost me $283 CAD all in! I can get the K-2006 on Amazon for $180. Not that it matters, but at the time I didn't know there would be issues with certain tests (how could I really know, I was so new to water testing). I know I looked at them both at the time, and somehow ended up with the LaMotte. I'm sure pricing and such is different per dealer and country, but it definitely was not the cheap $100 version, if I compare it to the one you are saying I need and the price I can get them both for. I also realize you are likely talking about the quality of the sensor, not the actual unit/model. Either way, the Taylor is definitely cheaper where I would go get it. Granted, it may not be the same quality, as suggested. Anyway I havent convinced the wife to let me call the water truck and drain the water yet, I may order the kit and confirm the difference in readings (again, not that I doubt it, I just want to see it). Knowing myself I'll probably keep both kits for several weeks and run 2 tests at a time. I'll also get some Ahh-Some so I have it and wait for a good time to swap the water.

and I just did a test right now, I got 0.25. Blanked it, tested again, 0.5, then again 0.8. I waited a few minutes and it went dark red and tested at 13+

So you think the test water sample being clear (which it is when I say it reads zero), is only clear because of the method they use for testing, and the FC may actually be higher? Does this hold true for the Lamotte strips as well? They both read the same thing. What I noticed is if I test immediately, it is zero (0.25-0.5), but if I wait like 30 seconds it starts to turn pink. I could "blank" the test again with a clean sample, then test the same sample that is now pink, and it reads higher chlorine. The test kit says test immediately, so that's what I do. I actually had read somewhere months ago something relating to what you are describing, and Lamottte offers a "MPS-OUT" tab specifically for this, but I am unsure if this works with my specific test kit, and it was literally impossible to find online in Canada, and US dealers I could find didn't ship to Canada. Not sure why I didnt pin that as the issue now because I recall reading about it, but **** I hope I can sell this kit to someone locally, or my wife is going to **** on me. lol I realize you don't know my water, but you are basically suggesting it may not be a biofilm issue? If I can get away with using this water for a couple months, that money buys me a new test kit. Then I can Ahh-some the water and drain it in the early spring as intended. Edit: forgot to mention, the test kit since I got it, and I believe in the manual, says it's good for 10 FC. And anything I test below 10 FC reads normally (so it seems), anything above 10 always reads like (13+, 12+, etc, with a frown face icon), so it clearly can't read above 10FC. Is it perhaps a different model you are thinking of that is limited to 5FC? And if I ditch the MPS completely, in say a week will it start reading normally and I can keep my kit? I just ordered some new re-agents as I was running low, another potential waste of money. Bah!

Any harm in using a floater with trichlor pucks for a couple months to keep a residual in the tub, letting the CYA increase obviously, but buying us some time before we do a water switch and clean the tub out? Seems like a bandaid fix, but we aren't getting sick, no rashes or itches, water seems clean. I actually already have a floater and pucks, was given to us by a family member. We used it a bit with our last water, but eventually took it out. Man I really don't want to dump this water due to the whole water truck dilemma. What are the chances that I may have to do Ahh-some twice? I read that on their website it could be the case, depending. Meaning I use it, then drain it, the water truck guy comes, fills it, I use Ahh-some again right then with cold water, and I probably have to pay him to wait around while we deal with that and drain it again. The alternative is hope you don't need it twice, but if you do, I'm swapping the water again in a month. Man I wish I had clean tap water. Frickin country living.

It just has an apple scent, I was just being silly. It does not have an ozone generator. Thanks for the response but I'm confused as to why I'm reading a lot of info here about trying to keep a chlorine residual (say 2.0), and that chlorine demand is important and should be 50% or lower. Mine is 100%, is it not? and that is bad, correct? But you are saying it's ok? I'm worried about it going to zero, and causing problems as the guides indicate it will. thanks for the input.

Hello, Sorry long post not sure how to write this shorter. Looking for a bit of help. We bought a 1000L RotoSpa (Canadian one) in the summer. This is our 2nd fill. On this fill I tried to switch to the dichlor/bleach method because through suggestions of others, we were previously on the Beachcomber CareFree system on the first water fill, and our CYA of course went way up and eventually we drained the tub after just 2 months after fighting PH/Alk issues. We are on an acreage and cannot use our well water, which is on the extreme level of stink from H2S. So we have potable town water trucked in, which is $200 a pop. So we want to make the water last 6 months if possible. Yes I know and have read on these forums that Beachcomber **** is not recommended, that is why we are getting on the bleach method. It was recommended to us prior to me knowing of these forums. As you will see below I am still using some of their products because I have them, but am not using the Boost/dichlor stuff, and am willing to drop all the other **** too if needed. I am using a Lamotte ColorQ 2X system for testing, and some Lamotte test strips as a backup/reference. For chlorine I am using Aquarius SHC pool chlorine (10.3%). It seems to take about 200ml of this to get it from 0 to 10 FC. I am hoping that seems about normal (1000L tub)? Anyway, I am having a problem with chlorine demand, it keeps dropping to zero after I raise it up top 10. FYI, when I say zero in this post, it's more like 0.25-0.5 FC. pretty much zero. The water was fine for a few weeks after the fill. We got it filled on Halloween. I used my existing CareFree Boost to for the 1st week or so to get the CYA up to 30, which it is still at. Then I switched to the SHC. My initial chlorine demand tests were around 50%. Seems like it should have been much less with new water, but I didnt know better so I just went with it and kept monitoring the water daily, adding the chlorine as we needed it. I was maintaining, without really any additives, PH of 7.6-7.8, TA was 80 a couple weeks ago, but is now around 100. CH = 160. I don't seem to have any issues keeping the water chemistry in line, far easier than it was with my first fill, but I understand my TA should be around 80, so I am working on getting that back down today. Here's the kicker (I assume). I had continued to use the CareFree (not the boost, the 4-in-1). I already had 2 small bottles of it and thought it was ok to keep using with this new chlorine method. I was more after the only some parts of it (water balance/clarity, foam/scum prevention, etc). But it has MPS in it also, which I figured was harmless after doing some reading (perhaps I am wrong?). Since the tub fill, I've been adding the recommended weekly dose. I've also been using weekly (as recommended on the bottle) Beachcomber Soft, which I understand is borate salts, and some apples... Now the problem is over the last 1-2 weeks I found the chlorine would be zero, after bumping it up to 10 FC 24 hours prior. So I re-read the threads, and found to do 10 FC again, so I did, again it was zero. I did this I think 3-4 days and got the same result. So I followed the other advice, shock with MPS. I had just done the weekly 4-in-1 CareFree (which has MPS) on this past Saturday. It was Tuesday when I tried the "shock with MPS" option, and instead of CareFree, I used the 1000L recommended dose of this other stuff, Aquarius (Canadian Tire) non-chlorine spa shock, which I believe is basically the same as CareFree. That night I used SHC again and put it back to 10 FC, the next day it was zero, I added 10 FC again, and today it's zero. Now what? So frustrating, I thought I had this water figured, for a few weeks then it went to ****. I REALLY do not want to drain the water again due to the cost of the water truck, and the weather/cold. Any suggestions, besides ditch the Beachcomber crap? I don't want to just shock it again with MPS if it won't help. And I don't want to keep bumping it to 10 FC if that also isn't helping get the CD back in line. Do I need to go higher than 10 FC? I was doing some further reading here and finding that MPS will throw off the FC readings. Does anyone know what this really means? Like it might read zero when it actually isn't? I get the same readings from the liquid re-agent test as I do the test strip. I really appreciate any help, thanks in advance. Sorry if some of this stuff is n00bish, I am new to it you know...lol. This water chemistry bugs the crap out of me because it seems to simple, and I have an engineering background, and it makes me feel stupid now. Haha.

Thanks for the reply, this is 10.8% SHC.

Quick quiestion. For the Dichlor/bleach method, I am just starting this in a 6 month old RotoSpa tub. Fresh water put in on the weekend. Is this type of chlorine recommended at all? It's for pools, but all the local Clorox I can find, just says "concentrated" but no chlorine content info (no %). I'm guessing it's good if not better, but higher concentrate so use less? Cheers https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/aquarius-liquid-chlorine-5-l-0813327p.html#srp