Captain Jim Posted January 27, 2010 Report Share Posted January 27, 2010 Got a new hot tub at our cottage last summer. we used dichlor all summer with no problem. Because we don't go up very often in the winter (every other week) my spa guy recommended a Bromine floater. Worked out fine for a couple of weeks. But the last two times we've gone up I get dry, itchy patches an red bumps on various parts of my body. The itch drives me NUTS. Is this an allergic reaction to the Bromine. What are my options? Thanks for any help you all can give me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted January 28, 2010 Report Share Posted January 28, 2010 Take a look at the chart in this link and see if you can determine if this rash/itch is caused by a chemical reaction or by a bacterial infection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Jim Posted January 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2010 Take a look at the chart in this link and see if you can determine if this rash/itch is caused by a chemical reaction or by a bacterial infection. It seems to fit the chemical rash profile plus I'm a fanatic on keeping the chemicals at the high end of the scale on the test strips so I doubt it could be bacterial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubber McGee Posted January 28, 2010 Report Share Posted January 28, 2010 Got a new hot tub at our cottage last summer. we used dichlor all summer with no problem. Because we don't go up very often in the winter (every other week) my spa guy recommended a Bromine floater. Worked out fine for a couple of weeks. But the last two times we've gone up I get dry, itchy patches an red bumps on various parts of my body. The itch drives me NUTS. Is this an allergic reaction to the Bromine. What are my options? Thanks for any help you all can give me. GOOGLE - Folliculitis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Jim Posted January 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2010 Got a new hot tub at our cottage last summer. we used dichlor all summer with no problem. Because we don't go up very often in the winter (every other week) my spa guy recommended a Bromine floater. Worked out fine for a couple of weeks. But the last two times we've gone up I get dry, itchy patches an red bumps on various parts of my body. The itch drives me NUTS. Is this an allergic reaction to the Bromine. What are my options? Thanks for any help you all can give me. GOOGLE - Folliculitis No it doesn't sound like that. It's larger patches of dry itchy skin (maybe about the size of a dime) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerPete Posted January 28, 2010 Report Share Posted January 28, 2010 Hey Captain, I get the same rash and I know it's not the water because the kids and wife are fine it's only me that gets the rash, and if I don't shower after I get the rash worse. You should try chlorine pucks instead of the Bromine. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey_in_NY Posted January 28, 2010 Report Share Posted January 28, 2010 Is it Hives? I say that because my son get's them when he goes from a hot environment to cold, or vice-versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Jim Posted January 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hey Captain, I get the same rash and I know it's not the water because the kids and wife are fine it's only me that gets the rash, and if I don't shower after I get the rash worse. You should try chlorine pucks instead of the Bromine. Pete What are chlorine pucks...never heard of them. Are they like the bromine tablets that I put in the floater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteelerPete Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Hey Captain, yes they are the same size and shape, but they are dry chlorine. They sell them at the Arctic store if your dealer doesn't have them. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 There's something called Arctic Pure Chlorine Tablets but I can't find an MSDS or see the ingredients to know what is in them. If anyone has any, see what it says for the ingredients. I suspect these are small Trichlor pucks/tabs so would say "trichloro-s-triazinetrione" as the ingredient and might also say something like 90% Available Chlorine. These are very acidic and also increase Cyanuric Acid (CYA), though not as quickly as with Dichlor. For every 10 ppm FC increase from Trichlor, it also increases CYA by 6 ppm (compared to 9 ppm for Dichlor). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantumchromodynamics Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Trichloroisocyanuric Acid tablets, Arctic Pure Chlorine Tablets http://www.swimmingpoolsuppliesuk.com/pdf/...r%20tablets.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Thanks. Yup, that's Trichlor. Must be a very slow-feeding floating feeder for spa temperatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quantumchromodynamics Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 It looks like those tabs are 0.7 ounces (weight) (20 grams). http://www.swimmingpoolsuppliesuk.com/spa_chemicals.asp I wonder why 1,3-Dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin tablets are not sold for spa floating feeder use. 1,3-Dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin is used in some bromine tabs like BCDMH + DCDMH + DCEMH (1-bromo-3-chloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin + 1,3-dichloro-5,5-dimethylhydantoin + 1,3-dichloro-5-ethyl-5-methylhydantoin), (sometimes referred to as Dantobrom), so I wonder why it isn't used without the bromine. It seems like it might be a more viable choice than trichlor for chlorine tabs since they would not contain cyanuric acid. Dantobrom. Dantobrom 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted January 31, 2010 Report Share Posted January 31, 2010 Only the DCDMH doesn't have bromine. With BCDMH or DBDMH these add bromine so you have a bromine spa, not a chlorine one. That is, these latter two tablets are bromine tabs. Any chlorine released from BCDMH would activate the bromide in the bromide bank to chlorine. As for DCDMH which has only chlorine attached to DMH, it is true it doesn't have CYA, but I don't know at what point the buildup of DMH has any similar effect. I don't know why it isn't used in spas (or pools, for that matter). Perhaps it dissolves too quickly -- I don't know. Dantobrom is mostly BCDMH so is a bromine tab. It has some DCDMH (or similar chemical with an ethyl group instead of one of the methyl groups), but it's not only DCDMH. The chlorine that is released would oxidize any bromide to bromine. The tub remains a bromine sanitized tub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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