njmurvin Posted January 26, 2011 Report Share Posted January 26, 2011 I'm still struggling to keep my bromine levels down. They seem to hover at 10ppm (per K-2106 readings). Ph is perfect. I can only conclude that my floater is releasing too much bromine from the tablets. It's the Life style floater. I have it cranked down to about 1/2 inch opening. I filled the tube with tablets figuring the opening size would regulate the amount of bromine released. Now I wonder if it's more of a surface area issue (i.e. more tabs, more chemical into the water no matter the opening size). I know that the bromine tabs are effective, because after running out for a few days, the bromine readings became zilch. Is it worth trying to reduce the number of tabs in the floater to 2 or 3? Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Certainly worth a try! Actually, it's probably your floater. Many of them just dispense too much bromine no matter what. I would suggest getting a Rainbow Lifeguard 335 bromine dispenser. IMHO, it's the best one made! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njmurvin Posted January 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Certainly worth a try! Actually, it's probably your floater. Many of them just dispense too much bromine no matter what. I would suggest getting a Rainbow Lifeguard 335 bromine dispenser. IMHO, it's the best one made! That looks like the one I have. I'm going to try removing all but 3 tabs and see what happens. Maybe the combination of ozonator, floater and non-use of the spa is causing the excess accumulation of sanitizer. I guess I could unplug the ozonator and see if that has an effect as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footie Posted January 27, 2011 Report Share Posted January 27, 2011 Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Certainly worth a try! Actually, it's probably your floater. Many of them just dispense too much bromine no matter what. I would suggest getting a Rainbow Lifeguard 335 bromine dispenser. IMHO, it's the best one made! That looks like the one I have. I'm going to try removing all but 3 tabs and see what happens. Maybe the combination of ozonator, floater and non-use of the spa is causing the excess accumulation of sanitizer. I guess I could unplug the ozonator and see if that has an effect as well. A good question, how many tablets in a dispenser is the right amounts when used regularly, when used only once a week and when used even less frequently. Hopefully someone with lots of experience can point us newbies in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted January 28, 2011 Report Share Posted January 28, 2011 Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Certainly worth a try! Actually, it's probably your floater. Many of them just dispense too much bromine no matter what. I would suggest getting a Rainbow Lifeguard 335 bromine dispenser. IMHO, it's the best one made! That looks like the one I have. I'm going to try removing all but 3 tabs and see what happens. Maybe the combination of ozonator, floater and non-use of the spa is causing the excess accumulation of sanitizer. I guess I could unplug the ozonator and see if that has an effect as well. IT may look like it but you said you have a lifestyle brand floater. Might look alike but might not work alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theresa Posted January 31, 2011 Report Share Posted January 31, 2011 Yes. that is right.... you do have to use the tub to make the chemicals work. we use a mushroom type floater with pucks.... I find that set at level 7 I do not add bromine. the biggest thing I find is a product called "perfect balance" and "refresh" - if these two products are used religiously after the tub has been used, I have no other issues.... I should say I'm on a 147 ft drilled well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonc Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I'm still struggling to keep my bromine levels down. They seem to hover at 10ppm (per K-2106 readings). Ph is perfect. I can only conclude that my floater is releasing too much bromine from the tablets. It's the Life style floater. I have it cranked down to about 1/2 inch opening. I filled the tube with tablets figuring the opening size would regulate the amount of bromine released. Now I wonder if it's more of a surface area issue (i.e. more tabs, more chemical into the water no matter the opening size). I know that the bromine tabs are effective, because after running out for a few days, the bromine readings became zilch. Is it worth trying to reduce the number of tabs in the floater to 2 or 3? Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Another factor that you might want to adjust is how often your circulation pump turns on. In my Jacuzzi brand hottub, the circulation pump causes the floater to move around. As it moves through the water it dispenses the bromine. When I first started using a bromine floater, I had the pump set to go on 4 X 30min = 2hrs per day. My bromine level was too high (around 15ppm). I now have the circulation pump come on just for one 30min period per day. My bromine level is now around 5-6ppm. If this factor is adjustable on your hottub, I would give it a try. Good luck, - Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
njmurvin Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I'm still struggling to keep my bromine levels down. They seem to hover at 10ppm (per K-2106 readings). Ph is perfect. I can only conclude that my floater is releasing too much bromine from the tablets. It's the Life style floater. I have it cranked down to about 1/2 inch opening. I filled the tube with tablets figuring the opening size would regulate the amount of bromine released. Now I wonder if it's more of a surface area issue (i.e. more tabs, more chemical into the water no matter the opening size). I know that the bromine tabs are effective, because after running out for a few days, the bromine readings became zilch. Is it worth trying to reduce the number of tabs in the floater to 2 or 3? Maybe the real solution is to use the spa more and give the sanitizer something to work on! Another factor that you might want to adjust is how often your circulation pump turns on. In my Jacuzzi brand hottub, the circulation pump causes the floater to move around. As it moves through the water it dispenses the bromine. When I first started using a bromine floater, I had the pump set to go on 4 X 30min = 2hrs per day. My bromine level was too high (around 15ppm). I now have the circulation pump come on just for one 30min period per day. My bromine level is now around 5-6ppm. If this factor is adjustable on your hottub, I would give it a try. Good luck, - Simon I'd love to reduce my filtration time to 30 minutes/day. I was warned by Marquis that less than 4 hours per day of filtering could result in cloudy water. I thought that was excessive as I seem to recall my old (really old) Sundance ran only an hour to two. Do you know the GPM of your circulation pump in filter mode? Also, how many gallons are in your spa? I turn over my water 48 times in 4 hrs. In 30 minutes I would turn it over only 6 times. Even though 1 to 2 times is considered sufficient for a pool, I don't think 6 times would be enough for a hot tub. There's also the question of whether 30 minutes is sufficient for the heater to get it back to my set temperature. Being in SoCal, I probably stand a better chance at that than most. If there is a target number of times to turn over the water in a hot tub, I'd love to know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark SC Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I'm experimenting with my floater tied to fishing line and tethered to a cup holder so it doesn't move much. I'm in the early stages (first week in fact) of adopting bromine, so I can't say whether this is a good strategy, but I figured it would lead to more consistent dispersal. I currently have the floater at 1/2 open and 5 tabs in my 250 gallon spa. With the floater design, any tablets above 4-5 don't matter as they fill the floater above the water line--at least with the floater 1/2 open. If you open your floater while it's in the water, you'll see the effect of it filling with water as it loses buoyancy (assuming yours is a similar design). I'm still in the "trial and error" phase but, so far, the bromine levels have been on the low side so I made need to adjust soon. Then again, I've been using the tub daily so there is a lot of waste. I'll probably shock this weekend if it ever stops raining! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Hot Tub Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 we have found it varies greatly, depending on spa use, brand of bromine and age of water. We use the spa daily and go through about 5 tabs a week in a 500 gallon spa, at first. After the water is about 2 months old we have to put less tabs in. Since Bromine is "re-newable" the older water has quite a reserve built up and the bromine level starts creeping up as the new tablets "shock" and convert the used bromine into good bromine. Overtime, you will learn what your bromine demand is and it will become a bit easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark SC Posted February 8, 2011 Report Share Posted February 8, 2011 update: I'm in week two of using bromine tablets after adding sodium bromide to build a reserve. I started with 5 tablets in the floater (one of the ones with two openings on the bottom) and about 1/3 open. I've had to open it to about 60% to maintain 1-2 ppm bromine without having to add bleach before each soak. I opened further to 70% this morning to try to get to 4. I'm surprised that I need the floater that far open in my 250 gallon tub. It just shows that everyone's experience is different. Most of the posts here are people with the opposite problem of too high bromine levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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