curls Posted September 30, 2011 Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 I have read Waterbear's "Bromine for Beginners" post and have got what I need to do the water balancing and chemistry using that knowledge. However, I have some questions I'm hoping someone can help us with: 1. Once we initially set up the tub, balance the water, add the sodium bromide, and shock... do we need to leave the cover OFF until the bromine levels drop below 10ppm? The reason I ask is that I was planning to fill the tub with 102*F water straight from our tankless water heater, as heating with natural gas is MUCH cheaper than with electricity. I'd hate to have the majority of the heat escape while the shock is working its magic, but I'd also hate to destroy our new hot tub cover! 2. How often to shock? Weekly? After each use? We have a 290 gallon tub (Freeflow Passport). Initially I can see us using the tub for 1 person-hour per day (probably 2 ppl @ 20-30 minutes/day @ the same time). Higher usage when friends come over to see the new toy. 3. How MUCH bleach to shock in step 2 above? Same as the initial fill, or, less? 4. Cover off, or cover on, after Step 3? 5. Would using a non-chlorine shock (MPS-based) still require leaving the cover off? In Ottawa, Ontario, it will be getting COLD this winter and I'd hate to have to leave the cover off for any more time than is required to soak in the hot tub. The heat loss will be significant!. Thanks for answering any or all of the questions, it's greatly appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc5.4 Posted October 2, 2011 Report Share Posted October 2, 2011 Cover off when shocking always. Shock it weekly and after each soak. I think weekly you would be OK at 2oz per 100 gallons. After each soak with only 1-2 people,you should be OK with about 1/2oz.or a little less. After a while you will get a feel for the shock demand with the number of people using it. The non-chlorine shock doesn't work for me, my wife hates the Bromine smell and it is less of a chemical smell shocking with bleach. Just my opinion, everybody has a formula that works for the spa they have. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted October 3, 2011 Report Share Posted October 3, 2011 Cover off when shocking always. Shock it weekly and after each soak. I think weekly you would be OK at 2oz per 100 gallons. After each soak with only 1-2 people,you should be OK with about 1/2oz.or a little less. After a while you will get a feel for the shock demand with the number of people using it. The non-chlorine shock doesn't work for me, my wife hates the Bromine smell and it is less of a chemical smell shocking with bleach. Just my opinion, everybody has a formula that works for the spa they have. Good luck! Good advice! The idea of shocking is to add enough oxidizer to raise the bromine above 10 ppm. 2 oz bleach per 100 gallons is a good starting point. If the bromine is going very high then use a bit less next time. As far as keeping the cover off, one of the tings you are achieving with shocking is causing volitile oxidation byproducts to 'gas off' and this won't happen if the tub is covered. It does not matter WHAT you use to oxidize the sodium bromide in the water into bromine sanitizer. MPS, chlorine, and ozone all convert it into hypobromous acid, your sanitizer and if the levels are above 10 ppm you are at shock level and need to leave the cover off until the level drops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted October 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thanks folks. We are using 6% household bleach as our shock / oxidizer. Last night my wife and two small kids were in the hot tub (290 gallon) for about 10 minutes but we didn't put in any bleach afterwards as we had to run to a dinner function. I checked the bromine last night around 11pm and it was low (1-2ppm range). yes, we are using guess-strips and yes a K-2106 is on order!!. I would guess that it's normal for the bromine levels to be low after using the tub but not shocking it with 1 TBSP bleach? My wife and I then used the tub last night at midnight for about 20-25 minutes and I put in 1.5 TBSP of 6% bleach afterwards. I didn't get to check the levels this morning but will check after work. Are we on the right track? I also will FULLY balance the water in about a week once the K-2106 kit arrives. That should help keep things a little more consistent too shouldn't it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted October 4, 2011 Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 Thanks folks. We are using 6% household bleach as our shock / oxidizer. Last night my wife and two small kids were in the hot tub (290 gallon) for about 10 minutes but we didn't put in any bleach afterwards as we had to run to a dinner function. I checked the bromine last night around 11pm and it was low (1-2ppm range). yes, we are using guess-strips and yes a K-2106 is on order!!. I would guess that it's normal for the bromine levels to be low after using the tub but not shocking it with 1 TBSP bleach? My wife and I then used the tub last night at midnight for about 20-25 minutes and I put in 1.5 TBSP of 6% bleach afterwards. I didn't get to check the levels this morning but will check after work. Are we on the right track? I also will FULLY balance the water in about a week once the K-2106 kit arrives. That should help keep things a little more consistent too shouldn't it... It is normal for sanitizer to be consumed while using the tub. However, if you have your bromine tabs in a floater you do not need to add bleach after soaking to bring the bromine level back up (assuming you started the tub with sodium bromide). Using only sodium bromine and bleach (or another oxidizer) is called 2 step bromine and it is a lot of work. If you cannot get your bromine levels stable by adjusting the floater then you might need to shock since that indiactes that something is 'growing' in the water and consuming the bromine. Instead of strips you should use a two way OTO/pH tester (very inexpensive) until the taylor kit arrives. OTO is a lot more reliable than strips for testing bromine levels. IF it is yellow to bright yellow you are good. If it is pale yellow bromine is low, if it iis colorless there is no bromine present, if it is dark yellow, orange, brown, or reddish your bromine is too high to WAY too high! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted October 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 We are using bromine tabs in the floater. I filled it up (5 tabs if I remember correctly) and have it set to about 4-4.5 according to the directions. It says 3.5-4 for our size of tub but since it was a bit low yesterday I opened it up a tad to 4-4.5ish. I'll monitor it tonight and re-adjust accordingly. Noted about the post-soak bleach. We'll stick with "shocking sundays" from here on out and not use an oxidizer throughout the week. Thanks a LOT for the information, it's greatly appreciated!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted October 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2011 btw, we started with 3/4 (maybe 7/8ths) of a package of the sodium bromide (99% strength granular stuff). Then shocked/activated with 3/4c 6% bleach as per your instructions in the main Bromine For Beginners thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted October 5, 2011 Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 We are using bromine tabs in the floater. I filled it up (5 tabs if I remember correctly) and have it set to about 4-4.5 according to the directions. It says 3.5-4 for our size of tub but since it was a bit low yesterday I opened it up a tad to 4-4.5ish. I'll monitor it tonight and re-adjust accordingly. Noted about the post-soak bleach. We'll stick with "shocking sundays" from here on out and not use an oxidizer throughout the week. Thanks a LOT for the information, it's greatly appreciated!!! Reread step 4 of the 'bromine for beginners' thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curls Posted October 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thanks - re-read step 4. Makes sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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