Trouble getting Bromine Spa started

[itabb]

current:
Bromine (hopefully) 3.0
PH 7.5
TA 80
CH 150

Added 10 oz Borax (17.5 ppm Borates?)

I have had a devil of a time stabilizing my water. I started with tap:
PH 7.5
TA 20
CH 30

I added CH first to 120. Then added baking soda to 110. Then added sodium bromide for bank. I put in 6 oz. for a 485 gal spa. Then I added 10oz Clorox Bleach. Both motors running, new heater, bubble intakes open (this may have been my issue).

I let that soak for a while. Tested. PH was above 8. So I added 1 oz of Muratic Acid. Waited, tested, above 8. Added 2 oz dry acid, waited, tested, PH above 8. added more dry acid, waited, tested, ph above 8. By waiting, usually 2-8 hours. Checked TA, 40. Added 2 oz baking soda, 2 oz dry acid, turned off booster pump, set filter pump to low, closed air intakes. waited, tested, ph below 7!!! panic. Added 10oz Borax, waited 5 min, tested, PH 7.5. whew. Bromine was below 1, added 4 oz bleach. woke up this am, readings as at the top.

Did the air jets have such an impact on the PH? Or is it something with the heater? Having the ph below 7 for a few hours, how bad did that hurt the new heater? Did I put the chemicals in the right order? How do I know I added the right amount of Sodium Bromide? When I added Muratic Acid, I saw yellow brown in the water which cleared up in a few minutes. What is that? Is the acid destroying the Bromine Bank?

Regards,

Ian

 

[polyvue]

 

[chem geek]

Did the air jets have such an impact on the PH? Or is it something with the heater? Having the ph below 7 for a few hours, how bad did that hurt the new heater? Did I put the chemicals in the right order? How do I know I added the right amount of Sodium Bromide? When I added Muratic Acid, I saw yellow brown in the water which cleared up in a few minutes. What is that? Is the acid destroying the Bromine Bank?

Ian,

Yes, the aeration from air jets does have the pH rise rather quickly, especially at higher TA levels. No, you didn't cause any significant damage having the pH below 7 for a short period of time since it most likely did not get very low and it wasn't very long.

As for the sodium bromide, it'll be fine since I presume you will be using bromine tablets (BCDMH or DBDMH) from this point forward, correct? That will continue to add bromine and increase the bromide bank as well (as the bromine is used). Your pH might be more stable since the bromine tablets tend to be acidic over time. If the pH still seems to rise too much, you can consider using 50 ppm Borates (say, from Gentle Spa which is mostly Boric Acid).

I do not know what the yellow-brown was when you added the Muriatic Acid. No, the acid won't destroy bromide. Maybe you've got some iron in your fill water and the local acidity (plus oxidizer in the water) oxidized the iron which had it show up in color until it dispersed and got more diluted -- that's just speculation on my part.

Richard