Spa Slacker Posted July 27, 2007 Report Share Posted July 27, 2007 Waterbear recommended that I buy spa shock that is plain sodium bromide and doesn't contain any other ingredients like diclor or MPS. On refills he also recommended bleach. I've looked a couple online shops, and most do not mention their shock's active components. Can anyone recommend reliable online shops- like ones w/ tech support numbers? Anyone know where I can buy plain sodium bromide shock? What size shock is good to buy considering I have a 280 gal spa w/ moderate use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prawny Posted July 28, 2007 Report Share Posted July 28, 2007 Why not try a local pool shop as that way you can look at the chemical components on the pail at the store??? They are all listed on the side. Plus most of this stuff travels as a dangerous good so you don't want to be shipping it across the country from a $ perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted July 29, 2007 Report Share Posted July 29, 2007 I think you misunderstood me. Shock is not going to be sodium bromide but will be plain MPS. There are some products on the market that are supposed to be 'one step' and combine both sodiium bromide and MPS or dichlor together. The sodium bromide should be adding on filling the spa each time to create your bromide reserve in the water and then shocking with either MPS or chlorine to activate the sodium bromide into bromine sanitizer, hypobromous acid. I suggested using chlorine (bleach) for shocking instead of MPS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spa Slacker Posted July 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 I suggested using chlorine (bleach) for shocking instead of MPS. Waterbear... Thanks again for your email!! By your suggestion, I've ordered bromine granular, and was planning to use the bleach for creating the chlorine for shocking. Are you suggesting that I should order some MPS for weekly maintenance? Is there some benefit for MPS shock instead of bromine/bleach regimen? Prawny ... thanks for your thoughts. If I had a helpful local shop with Waterbear- I wouldn't need this forum! It seems like compared to the local stores I've been to the 'net has much better selection. Also the price seems reasonable- the site ordered the bromine also had MPS - 100% pure DuPont Monopersulfate Compound (potassium peroxymonosulfate, 45.2%) 6 lbs for $25 + $3 handling. The brand they carry is Oxy-Spa. It would be really gr8 if poolspaforum (or some URL) had an FAQ page w/ the latest thoughts and instructions for simple / safe / low-cost bromine spa maintenance. Thanks again all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted July 30, 2007 Report Share Posted July 30, 2007 IF you are going to be shocking with chloirine then you don't need MPS. You use either one or the other. I see no advantage in using MPS for shocking. Both will oxidize the bromide ions into hypobromous acid. (And if you have the sodium bromide in the waer there will be no chloirne, it will be converted into chloride ions--the MPS will form sulfates in your water). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagstone Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Is there a way to tell if there is enough sodium bromide in the water? My first thought, based on your comment above, was to check for chlorine following a shock as it should all be consumed by the bromine. If I add the correct amount of chlorine (bleach) and it is not completely consumed oxizing the bromine, then there must not be enough bromine, right? But according to my test kit, chlorine and bromine must exist as a fixed ratio of about 2.2. What am I missing? As a side note, I did my first bleach shock tonight with 1-1/2 cup clorox in a 500 gal spa. The bromine didn't jump up quite as high or as quickly as I expected and that made me wonder if I had enough sodium bromide in the water. Also, the alk stayed fairly low, but the pH jumped way up. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 to insure enough sodium bromide is in the water you need to add it on each filling according to package directions. For the Rensezvous Bromastart product I believe it's 1/2 oz per 100 gallons of water, for example. This will give you 30 ppm in the water. It is necessary to drain and refill on a regular basis because some of the bromide does get consumed (actually it become bromates) and cannot be reactivated over time. This is particularly true in a two step bromine system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flagstone Posted August 2, 2007 Report Share Posted August 2, 2007 Thanks Waterbear. It took a little over 1-3/4 cups bleach, but the bromine eventually climbed to >10 ppm. As a side note, I let the spa run out in the sun with the cover off for a while this morning and within an hour or two it was back down to 6 ppm and the pH also returned to it's previous level, about 7.5. The startup packet I recieved contained 2 oz sodium bromide. I had a very hard time getting the oxider to bring the bromine levels up so I added a second 2 oz. packet and eventually, 1/2 of a third. This seemed like a lot to me, but it fits with your 1/2 oz per 100 gallon guideline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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