mikensam

I'm not sure how can it be off the chart? I've been very careful to measure and weigh everything.. I tested again before typing this and its still low on the total bromine and free chlorine chart, if its bleaching out, shouldnt it briefly go through all the colours in the gradient and then bleach off the chart? I think I'm at the point of buying the expensive tester and if i cant get it right with that cutting my losses, a pool table would look nice in its place anyway haha I can get this reagent which tests for Total Hardness, could it be used/adapted for Calcium Hardness? https://www.happyhottubs.co.uk/hot-tub-chemicals/hottub-swimming-pool-testing/pool-lab-total-hardness-reagent-1-2

Thanks for the advice re the tester, i can readily get the tablets for all the tests except the calcium hardness ones, they only seem to be available in australia 🙄 Is the calcium hardness a really important part of testing as im not testing for it now with strips but I do know we live in a very hard water area so...? I shocked the tub this morning going by the above so used 15g of chlorine granules (1 teaspoon apparently around 4.18g) The readings looked good immediately afterwards, the Total Bromine was around 9, Free Chlorine about 3, and pH/TA were a little high so I added another 25g of pH down. Just tested again a couple of hours later and took photos this time, the TA and pH high and the Bromine/free chlorine have considerably reduced. What would you suggest I do next?

if you dont mind, could you also give me your thoughts on this please? https://www.happyhottubs.co.uk/pool-lab-1-0-photometer-electronic-water-tester Its kind of the closest thing i can find to the taylor testing equipment that offers an option for all of the tests recommended. Thank you again

For the 3 step process please, I added 45g (for a 315 gallon tub) of sodium bromide earlier but was waiting on your reply to make sure i use the correct amount of chlorine to properly shock.

So i can use the ClearWater stuff which is good news as that's almost a full tub. do the dosages on the side still apply as we're using it in bromine system and not a purely chlorine one, how much should I be using? here is the back of the label for the Acti-Spa stuff Thank you again for your help

Thank you for the reply, makes absolute sense why i would want to keep the hot tub cold to balance the water, i think that might be the source of my problem too, I couldn't seem to get the TA down initially going by the amount recommended on the back of the bottle for the water in the tub I have but I have since read that if you have a poor water source and especially hard water (which I have both) TA can be so high that it can sometimes take oz's and oz's of acid, (im using Ph down as i already had it) to get the reading in range. I have just doubled the initial amount of Ph down I used and 150g in total in a 315 gallon tub so far is making a bit of a difference on the my strips but I think I may require more. (I cant get a taylor kit in the uk). Re the 2nd paragraph, so i can use the standard choline granules I already have (photo attached) to oxidize the sodium bromide?

Complete newbie here trying to follow the first post in this thread to have my spa use bromine as I'm having real trouble keeping it in balance using chlorine. All other places I have seen always say heat up the spa before balancing the water, is there a reason you say not to please as I have just brought it up to temperature before I was going to start following the instructions, does this change anything? Also for the shock it says you can use chlorine, do you mean a chlorine based shock or actual chlorine granules because I thought the latter was a complete no no? Thanks for your help and possibly subsequent patience lol Regards Mike