DubyaB Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hi all. I have been reading the forum for a few months now and have picked up some great information, thanks! I have had my hot tub for 5 months running on bromine, but want to switch to chlorine. I have read up on Nitro/Chem Geeks Dichlor then bleach method and I am going to go with that but have a few questions. 1. Do I need to remove every drop of water when draining the spa for the switch? 2. Should I decontaminate the spa and use a swirl away (pipe clean) product? 3. Im going to add the borates but can't find gentle spa in Canada. Any sources? 4. If I have to order gentle spa online how much should I get at once? 5. Is Dichlor the same from all suppliers? Recomendations? Thanks a lot for the help! Warren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hello, and welocome to the forum. 1. Do I need to remove every drop of water when draining the spa for the switch? Yes 2. Should I decontaminate the spa and use a swirl away (pipe clean) product? No need to decon. unless you suspect you haven't been keeping up with sanitation i.e. you have a bug in the tub. Although it can't hurt. Swirl Away would be a good idea though. 3. Im going to add the borates but can't find gentle spa in Canada. Any sources? You can use Borax (aka 20 Mule Team) and Acid. 4. If I have to order gentle spa online how much should I get at once? Get it in bulk for pools, it should last you for years. 5. Is Dichlor the same from all suppliers? Recomendations? Should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantumchromodynamics Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 1) You should remove as much as possible. It would be best to drain, clean the filters, refill, run for a few minutes and then drain and refill again. 2) You can decontaminate following Nitro's procedure if you feel that it is necessary. If you think that you have any sort of bacteria built up, then you should decontaminate. 3) You can use regular Borax to add borates, or you can buy boric acid from an online source, such as chemistrystore.com. They have good prices, but minimum orders and shipping and handling charges add extra costs. The boric acid has only a slight effect on the pH, whereas the Borax increases the pH and you have to use acid to lower the pH. I think that the boric acid is a better and easier way to go, but the Borax way is not hard at all. 4) Make sure the dichlor is all dichlor (99 to 100 %). Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione 99% Available Chlorine 56% Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 1) You should remove as much as possible. It would be best to drain, clean the filters, refill, run for a few minutes and then drain and refill again. 2) You can decontaminate following Nitro's procedure if you feel that it is necessary. If you think that you have any sort of bacteria built up, then you should decontaminate. 3) You can use regular Borax to add borates, or you can buy boric acid from an online source, such as chemistrystore.com. They have good prices, but minimum orders and shipping and handling charges add extra costs. The boric acid has only a slight effect on the pH, whereas the Borax increases the pH and you have to use acid to lower the pH. I think that the boric acid is a better and easier way to go, but the Borax way is not hard at all. 4) Make sure the dichlor is all dichlor (99 to 100 %). Sodium Dichloro-S-Triazinetrione 99% Available Chlorine 56% Is there an echo in here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantumchromodynamics Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Is there an echo in here? Yeah, I was writing my post while you posted. I saw that it was mostly the same as yours, but I decided to post it anyway. It can't hurt to give a second opinion, even if it is the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitro Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Is there an echo in here? Yeah, I was writing my post while you posted. I saw that it was mostly the same as yours, but I decided to post it anyway. It can't hurt to give a second opinion, even if it is the same. Great minds think alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubyaB Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Ok thanks folks. I shall let you know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldparr Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 I use dichlor than bleach method for a while. A month ago I had a trip. I put a floater with bromine for a week and when a returned I just kept adding bleach as usual. What harm can it cause to me or my tub? --oldparr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 No harm. Basically, you just have a bromine spa and your chlorine additions reactivate the bromine (some may oxidize some bather waste). Since the floater was in for only a week, it's possible for the bromine to get used up outgassing, though that's hard to say. For sure, at the next water change you'll be back to a chlorine spa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantumchromodynamics Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 Since bromine does not combine with cyanuric acid, you should treat the chemistry the same as chlorine without cyanuric acid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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