walleye Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 Can someone please give a over all method / rule for shocking hot tubs? Maybe a pinned thread on the subject? Currently I have a Sundance Altamar and use the 3 step bromine method. I normally try to keep the bromine at 2-5 ppm. If it gets a heavy bather load it will dip to .5 -1 ppm and I add 6% bleach to bump it back to 4-5ppm. I use the pool calculator site and it seems spot on for how much to add. I also keep 1-2 Bromine tabs in the compartment at all times. It seems to work OK, but I often wonder about how high to raise the Bromine level while shocking. Last night my bromine got to 1 ppm and I decided to shock it as it has been a couple weeks. I added approximately 8 ounces of 6% bleach to get to about 16 PPM. After about 13 hours it is at 13.5 ppm. I have not been adding anything else to the tub. I have Borates at about 35-40 PPM, TA is 60, PH has been decent at 7.6 -7.8 range. Is this a good method for shocking? Is it too high or too low at 16 PPM? Is bleach OK to keep using in this method? How often as maintenance should I do it? Thanks, just trying to get a handle on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 you want to shock to over 10 ppm, 16 ppm is fine but, as you see, it takes a while for the level to drop under 10 ppm. You are leaving the tub uncovered when you shock, right? The purpose of shocking is to get rid of waste matter in the water by oxidizing it and to lower bromamines (they are effective santizers but can have an odor). Depending on tub usage shocking once every week or two should be sufficient. As far as the bromine being low after heavy use, that is normal. Your floater should bring the level back up by the next day. If ti des not then add a small amount of bleach to do so by reactivating some of the bromide reserve back into bromine sanitizer. Do not try and apply chlorine rules to bromine, they don't work. Does your tub have a special compartment for bromne tabs? If so can you adjust it? If not I would still invest in an adjustable floater. My recommendation is the Pentair (Rainbow/Lifeguard) #335 floater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye Posted June 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 you want to shock to over 10 ppm, 16 ppm is fine but, as you see, it takes a while for the level to drop under 10 ppm. You are leaving the tub uncovered when you shock, right? I add the Bleach then circulate for about an hour with cover off. I then close the cover. Should I leave open longer? The purpose of shocking is to get rid of waste matter in the water by oxidizing it and to lower bromamines (they are effective santizers but can have an odor). Depending on tub usage shocking once every week or two should be sufficient. As far as the bromine being low after heavy use, that is normal. Your floater should bring the level back up by the next day. If it does not then add a small amount of bleach to do so by reactivating some of the bromide reserve back into bromine sanitizer. Do not try and apply chlorine rules to bromine, they don't work. So adding bleach via calculations on pool calculator not a good idea? Seems to be spot on as far as ppm goes. Example if I am at 1 and want to get to 5ppm, it works out by the calculations of how much to add. I only do this when needing to raise 1or 2 ppm, or when shocking as stated above. Does your tub have a special compartment for bromine tabs? It has a non adjustable compartment in the floating slide where the water goes through (over) en-route to the filter. If so can you adjust it? No If not I would still invest in an adjustable floater. My recommendation is the Pentair (Rainbow/Lifeguard) #335 floater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 An adjustable floater is an absolute must for 3 step bromine. I doubt you can maintain steady BR level without one. If you have a high usage, (which I do) then addition of bleach to counter bather demand is quite normal. I often add about 3-4 oz after a long soak (2 adults x 40+ Mins.) My floater is set to maintain a steady 3.5ppm Br, but after a long soak that reserve can be used up. The addition of bleach is only to deal with instant demand, not to regulate baseline level. That's what the adjustable floater is for. By the next day everything should be back to normal 3.5ppm. As for shocking, yes you do need to keep the cover off and aerate until the level comes down. Bromine hot tubs seem to be the opposite of chlorine pools.. I shock the tub every other Sunday morning (with the cover off) then let the sunlight bring the bromine level down. The pool gets shocked on Sunday night to avoid the sunlight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted June 12, 2012 Report Share Posted June 12, 2012 you want to shock to over 10 ppm, 16 ppm is fine but, as you see, it takes a while for the level to drop under 10 ppm. You are leaving the tub uncovered when you shock, right? I add the Bleach then circulate for about an hour with cover off. I then close the cover. Should I leave open longer? Leave it open until the bromine level is below 10 ppm, This allows volatile disinfection byproducts to gas off and if you do the during the day the sun will lower the bromine level fairly fast. The purpose of shocking is to get rid of waste matter in the water by oxidizing it and to lower bromamines (they are effective santizers but can have an odor). Depending on tub usage shocking once every week or two should be sufficient. As far as the bromine being low after heavy use, that is normal. Your floater should bring the level back up by the next day. If it does not then add a small amount of bleach to do so by reactivating some of the bromide reserve back into bromine sanitizer. Do not try and apply chlorine rules to bromine, they don't work. So adding bleach via calculations on pool calculator not a good idea? Seems to be spot on as far as ppm goes. Example if I am at 1 and want to get to 5ppm, it works out by the calculations of how much to add. I only do this when needing to raise 1or 2 ppm, or when shocking as stated above. The pool calculator is not designed for a bromine spa It has limited usefullness for you. If 8 oz of bleach is shocking to 16 ppm then try 5 or 6 oz next time if it takes too long for the bromne to drop (but there is nothing wrong with shocking to 16 ppm) BTW, how soon after adding the bleach are you testing? I would wait about 15 to 20 minutes with the jets running to make sure everything is mixed well and you are not testing a 'high concentration' area that did not mix yet. Does your tub have a special compartment for bromine tabs? It has a non adjustable compartment in the floating slide where the water goes through (over) en-route to the filter. If so can you adjust it? No If not I would still invest in an adjustable floater. My recommendation is the Pentair (Rainbow/Lifeguard) #335 floater. An adjustable floater is an absolute must for 3 step bromine. I doubt you can maintain steady BR level without one. Very True! If you have a high usage, (which I do) then addition of bleach to counter bather demand is quite normal. I often add about 3-4 oz after a long soak (2 adults x 40+ Mins.) My floater is set to maintain a steady 3.5ppm Br, but after a long soak that reserve can be used up. The addition of bleach is only to deal with instant demand, not to regulate baseline level. That's what the adjustable floater is for. By the next day everything should be back to normal 3.5ppm. Once again, right on the money! As for shocking, yes you do need to keep the cover off and aerate until the level comes down. Yep! Bromine hot tubs seem to be the opposite of chlorine pools.. I shock the tub every other Sunday morning (with the cover off) then let the sunlight bring the bromine level down. The pool gets shocked on Sunday night to avoid the sunlight. Good Point to remember! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleye Posted June 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks guys. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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