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Bromine tabs dissolved in 2 hours


PolarisRich

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I'm a little angry right now because my wife and my skin feel like it's on fire right now.  

I've had a hot tub for a few years now and I've never come across this problem before. I've been using the small bromine tablets in a floater for the past year and it's always taken 3-5 days for the pucks to totally dissolve. I keep my tub at a constant temperature of 99°.

I ran out of tablets about 3-4 weeks ago so I went to my local spa store and bought whatever brand that they were carrying at the time.  So everything was fine with the dissolving time of the new tablets (3-5 days) until today. I tested the bromine, pH and alkalinity levels and everything was OK except the bromine level was down around  2 ppm. So I opened the floating dispenser and there was still a piece of the last tablet about the size of a tictac in the bottom. I added 2 new tablets to the dispenser from the same bucket that I've been using and tossed it back in the hot tub around 6pm. The wife and I went for dinner and when we got home around 8pm we decided to hop in the hot tub. I took the dispenser out of the tub and put it aside and we jumped in for an hour long soak. I never thought about checked the bromine levels because I checked them 2 hours before and I didn't notice the dispenser was empty except for that same tictac size piece that was in there from before. 

The wife and I did notice a slight smell coming from the water but never really gave it much thought. 

When we got out of the hot tub to close it up for the night I picked up the bromine dispenser and noticed it was empty. I thought my mind was playing tricks on me because I know I put two tablets in before I left for dinner. I decided to check the levels of the bromine and it was off the charts. 50 to 100 parts per million would be my best guess.

Now my skin feels like it's burning it and my wife is complaining about the same issue. We both had two showers so far to try to wash off some of the residual bromine.

So my question is to everyone is have they ever heard of quick dissolve bromine tabs if there is such a thing or what can cause two tablets to fully dissolve within 2 hours and not dissolve that Tic Tac size piece of the original one that was in there from the week before?

 

I am thinking that somehow some of the pucks got mixed into the bucket that I have. The bucket was fully sealed when I bought it with a tamper-proof lid. I've tried to look up quick dissolve bromine tablets or pucks online and I haven't been able to find anything. 

I'm planning on going back to my local spa store tomorrow and ripping them a new asshole. I'm just wondering if I'm Justified to do that.

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I've used bromine tablets in a floater in my spa since getting it in 1988.  I suspect that your container actually has chlorine tablets in it, not bromine tablets - no matter what the label actually states.

Bromine tablets simply do not dissolve that fast, and especially at 99F.

I've purchased products where wrong stuff was inside the container, like mesquite BBQ sauce instead of regular.  And I worked 4 decades in the consumer products industry, and mislabeling or stuff getting into incorrect containers does happen sometimes.

I'd call the manufacturer, you'll likely get a refund.  and buy/try a different brand of bromine tablets.

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16 hours ago, nickrides said:

Maybe it's just me but i wouldn't rip anybody a new A$$hole. They didn't package anything, they just sold it.

There's a technique to "complaining".  I just got a coupon for replacement toothpaste after purchasing a 3-pack of the same product I'd been using for years - the viscosity was too high, tough to get out of the tube.  So manufacturer sent me a coupon good for up to $9.

Yes, I have noticed the "shrinkflation" on that product: went from 8.2 oz. tube to 6.5 oz. to 5.7 oz.....

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I went back into my local spa store today with bucket in hand and asked for the manager and the owner. I told them my story of what happened and they had an extremely surprised look on their face. The manager opened the bucket of bromine and took a smell and said 100% this is chlorine pucks. My problem with that statement is that some of the pucks lasted 3 to 5 days and others less than 2 hours. I thought it was very unsafe if chlorine and bromine tablets were mixed in the same bucket. My best guess is that the mixture in the bromine pucks we're wrong. The owner and the manager went over to the Shelf and took off five buckets and open the tamper proof seals and smelled them. Three out of the five buckets smell like chlorine the other two had almost no smell. They then decided to pull all bromine pails off their Shelf and stop sales of that brand. I gave them my name and phone number because I wanted to hear what the outcome will be when they contact their supplier.

They wanted to compensate me for this incident by giving me two buckets of a different brand of bromine tablets. They also said that they will get back in touch with me after they get done talking to their supplier. 

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RBF International just contacted me to let me know what they're findings were into the investigation of what happened. The representative that I talk to was a very nice fellow and seem to be very knowledgeable about the incident and about their different product lines. He was also in contact with my local spa store immediately after receiving my email. He and his team went and searched for the buckets with the same date codes and lot number to find that the product was mislabeled and was also a product for a different Brand other than Coral spas. He said after their testing they found that the product that was in the bucket was NOT Bromide but a form of Dichlor, the quick-dissolving puck formulation used for shocking hottubs. He mentioned that they dissolve almost instantly when in contact with water. That seems to be what had happened but he could not explain why the first couple pucks I used took three to five days to dissolve. He then went on to explain that it's "near" impossible that the bucket was mixed with standard chlorine pucks but not 100% impossible. He then asked for my address to send me a compensation package for my troubles. Whatever that may be I won't know until it comes in.

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1 minute ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

. Might have to send them an email and get some free stuff...What was that batch number again...lol

Email sent, we'll see what happens. 

I'm not exactly sure what the batch or lot numbers are. RBF contacted my local pool and spa store directly and got the information from them.

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