Wonkhester

Hello again. now i have had my problems getting to grips with water chemistry but for the last year everything has been good. Just two days ago i cleaned out the spa, changed the water and fixed the water. Everything was great but today i found small particles of what appears to be graphite in the spa bottom. It could be metal but doesnt feel sharp when i fish the small particles up. They sort of melt in my hand and have a greyish black colouring. What can it be? i am worried something is about to break. The pump and everything works fine, doesnt sound funny. The filters are pretty black after only two days. Any ideas? I have a gecko salt brominator system and a UV cleaning system.

Hello again! I have a spa which uses salt brominator for disinfection. Have had issues balancing chemistry before but for the last 6 months everything has been pretty stable. However, yesterday i got a dangerously high reading on the automatic in clear brominator, but the actual level according to the tablets and the blue connect were very low. There is a oxidizor fitted to the system aswell. Just wondering if anyone has any tips what i could test. I am guessing it's a mechanical issue and not a chemical issue, but i can't find any information about faulty inclear readings. Help! PH 7,4 Brom 2,0 TA 100

Can you recommend a good purge product that is ok with bromine?

Hi again. Thanks for the link. I have been in contact again with spa marvel and they said that i shouldn't combine spa marvel with a salt brominator system! I have been following all the advice given by waterbear and have acheived a perfect water balance when measured. The only issue is that bacteria is invisible and when my rash has gone i would like to know 100% that i have removed the problem before i bathe again. As the water has been "Shocked" to 12ppm with bromine i was hoping this is sufficient, but i have no way to measure the effectiveness of my treatment.

One last question ...... I have boosted the brom to over 10ppm now. Is there some sort of test i can do to see if there is any bacteria left or is it just a case of keeping it at that level for a specific period, or maybe it has an immediate effect? Don't want to make the same mistake again!

Ok, thanks again. I had a check up at the skin doctor and they didnt think it was a bacteria problem.... however we had a group of friends over this weekend and then without checking the levels, i got in and bathed yesterday..... i now know that the brom levels had dropped significantly between saturday and sunday, as low as 1,8.... now i am covered in a rash! I guess that was a rookie error and a costly one to my body! Now to boost brom over 10! 🙂

Been reading up on the in clear system and they say that i shouldn't shock the water with clorine based products. Is there any way i can analyse the water for bacteria to see if the brominator is taking good enough care of the water quality?

Ok, thanks again. I guess the most important question is, now that i have a better set of figures, how can i get rid of any nasties in the water now without damaging any part of the system? Do i just leave it to the brominator to kill bacteria or do i have to shock the water or something? Never done this before as i dont know what effect it would have on the brominator or oxygenator. Can you recommend a process that can safely kill any possible bacteria that may have been generated already? :-)

I have increased the brom concentration now which is running at 5,8. Strangely the ph jumped up to 8. I added a little ph - and after like 3 hours it was up to 8 again.... should i keep adding ph - till it goes in to the right range and stays there or is there something else that i should look at?

Another thing i am curious about is that when i change the water and use the tub with fresh water, everything seems good, but after a few baths i notice that there are more and more micro bubbles when the pumps are running. This maybe is normal, i dont know. It does clear up after a minute or so when the cycle finishes, but i dont think it was like this when i bought it. Can the small bubbles be a symptom of something?

According to my ORP reader everything between 650 - 750 is good. The brom reading was from a stick and aquatest digital reader. The levels according to these are between 2 - 4 ppm.... that is incorrect ? I filled the spa with a little fresh water and now the alkaline level is 80. What should i aim for with PH? I have an appointment booked for next week to get a check up. However in the meantime is i have nasties in the water and want to wipe them out quick and easy, whats the best method?? What can i use that is not going to damage the salt bominator or the oxegynator?

Hello again, thanks for the detailed reply! I have limited knowledge on spas so every little bit of info helps! My spa salesman here told me that i should fill the spa, fix the lime stabilizer, ph, alkaline levels first. Then fill the brom salt and and wait. Nothing else needed. Am i missing a process? Here are all the values i have.... PH 7,2 Alkaline 100, Brom 2,2 Total hardness 150. temp 37,5 I have a device called Blue connect which keeps track of the values. That has two other values that i am not really sure what they relate to! ORP 722mv Conductivity 2361uS. I have an electronic tester that works with strips too, just as a back up to the blue connect. The inclear system has its own meter built in and this is smack bang in the middle of the green bar. It has even UV cleaning system as standard too. The salesmen told me i bought a fully automatic system. Don't know if that is true but sounded good! When i spoke to spa marvel, they told me that their product made the readings higher for brom/clorine, therefore lower levels of salt/brom were needed to maintain the correct mix. Guess that was just bs then.

I would like to continue this tread with a similar problem. I have a spa with an in clear salt system that converts to bromine. When we bought the spa six months ago, we were in it 24/7 and had no problems. After about 3 months my wife developed a rash that was very itchy. I however had none. Changed the water, all the levels were right, same problem. She took a month break and tried again, then it was better, but came again shortly after with regular bathing. Changed the water again, and tested without salt one time. No problems. Added salt and got the right bromine levels, same rash came back again. Now i was considering changing to clorine because even last week i started to get irritation aswell. I have ordered a product called spa marvel which apparently reduces the level of clorine / bromine needed. My first question is has anyone else experience from spa marvel and how it works? I am concerned if i change from salt to clorine that i will damage the inclear system but cant find any information on it. Does anyone have the inclear system and also has problems with bromine rashes? Should i use some kind of shock treatment to clean the system again? I have no experience of shock treatments so if someone can explain what this actually does i would be grateful too! 🙂