Spa water analysis, new owner questions

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Victoriadoughboy

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Aug 2, 2018
10
Victoria, MN
Following the water balance and bromine set up instructions in the stickys, I kicked off my first spa in mid September.

The first month was great however when the floater ran low on bromine everything has gone a little wack.

The spa is a 6 person set up with waterfall and ozone. 350 gallons.

Here's what I mean.

Issue 1)
According to my Taylor test kit water balance wheel thingy:
a 50 TA with
200 CH and
any PH in normal range is out of balance at 100 degree water.

However my ph stayed steady in the 50-60 TA range. I did not allow it below 50, but when it's above 60 I get pH drift up and have to add muriatic acid.

Should I still leave the TA at 50-60 even though the Taylor water balance wheel thingy says I'm out of balance?

Issue 2)
Bromine floater. First couple weeks I had it cranked open to 8/10 and supplemented with bleach while bromine dissolved. At one point during the end of this period my chlorine measurements drifted up to 15+! When the drift up started I stopped adding chlorine and let the levels fall. Assuming the bromine kicked in and could let that work.

How do I properly calculate bromine levels with my kit?
Can the kit distinguish between bromine and chlorine levels?

Issue 3)
When the bromine drifted back down to a decent level I refilled the floater full, but closed her down to a 4/10. Levels fell to 0.8.

And then measured my CC, which was high so I started to SLAM to lower CC. I've been in SLAM protocol for 2 weeks, however I'm not measuring twice daily, only about 24 hours or so as time allows.

My last chlorine addition was 36hrs ago roughly and I SLAM to 15 instead of 10 because the CC won't go away!

I also open the floater back up to 6/10.

What's going on here?
Why won't CC lower?
Why isn't bromine kicking in so I can stop adding so much bleach?

Pool math logs from beginning of SLAM:

 
The TA between 40-50 is fine. It's actually works better with the PH there.

The floater is tough to get used to. Try Testing every 24 hours and only make slight adjustments to the floater (1 or 2)

I wouldn't go in the tub with the FC above 10. With bromine and an Ozone generator you should be looking FOR an FC 2-4. But never let out go under 2. When it gets to low is when you start to have issues.

Also, did you do an ahh-some treatment before you started using it? That's a must for any spa, even brand new and then 1 or 2 times per year after that
 
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jza1736 said:
The TA between 40-50 is fine. It's actually works better with the PH there.

The floater is tough to get used to. Try Testing every 24 hours and only make slight adjustments to the floater (1 or 2)

I wouldn't go in the tub with the FC above 10. With bromine and an Ozone generator you should be looking FOR an FC 2-4. But never let out go under 2. When it gets to low is when you start to have issues.

Also, did you do an ahh-some treatment before you started using it? That's a must for any spa, even brand new and then 1 or 2 times per year after that
Click to expand...

Ahh-some....no, haven't done this. It's an older tub that came with the house which we purchased this summer. It was used and maintained regularly but only during the winter. What's the process for this?

Appreciate the comments, I'll let the levels stablize and work to maintain 2-4 FC.
 
Will check into that this weekend.

Re-ran test yesterday and CC climbed again.

FC 11.2
CC 0.6
Temp 100

Seems odd that when I SLAM after the addition CC drops but then climbs back up after a day or two.

Is it safe to assume there's something in the water that isn't being completely removed?
 
Good to know on CC levels, I was getting worried.
Last test was 24hrs ago:
FC 9.4
CC 0.0

Now I can go back to getting the floater set up correctly.


How do I properly calculate bromine levels with my kit?
Can the kit distinguish between bromine and chlorine levels?

Appreciate the help so far!
 
Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in, but you're running bromine. CCs aren't an issue. They aren't even a thing! How can you have combined chlorine when any chlorine added instantly converts bromide into hypobromus acid and becomes an inactive chloride ion? Answer is you can't. You can have combined bromine but as the Taylor guide points out, unlike CC, CB still has sanitizing power. I'm not sure if the Taylor kit can check for CB. (Also not sure if CB is the correct term)

One other thing I'd like someone to answer, is you can't have FC in a bromine tub, instead you'd have FB (if that's what it's called). Did you get the bromine test reagents? If not, the FC ones can check bromine but you have to scale it one way or the other by a factor of 2.2. Again, hopefully someone else can chime in here, I'm only vaguely familiar with running bromine as I've only ever run chlorine.

I think we need a bromine expert to update the bromine sticky...
 

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If you're using a chlorine test kit, multiply by 2.25 to convert to a bromine reading.

Combined bromine (bromamine) should not shown up on a CC or CB test, but it's common to get a reading.

I'm not sure what's being registered. Maybe ozone or bromate or some other weak oxidizer.

MPS will register as CC if you use MPS (Non chlorine monopersulfate shock).

Don't use the Taylor wheel to calculate the CSI. Use PoolMath.

Leave the TA down where the pH is more stable.

200 is a little bit high for calcium in a hot tub due to the higher temperature. If possible, try to keep the calcium level lower.

With a lower calcium level, you can use a higher pH target for better pH stability.
 
jseyfert3 said:
Maybe someone with more knowledge can chime in, but you're running bromine. CCs aren't an issue. They aren't even a thing! How can you have combined chlorine when any chlorine added instantly converts bromide into hypobromus acid and becomes an inactive chloride ion? Answer is you can't. You can have combined bromine but as the Taylor guide points out, unlike CC, CB still has sanitizing power. I'm not sure if the Taylor kit can check for CB. (Also not sure if CB is the correct term)

One other thing I'd like someone to answer, is you can't have FC in a bromine tub, instead you'd have FB (if that's what it's called). Did you get the bromine test reagents? If not, the FC ones can check bromine but you have to scale it one way or the other by a factor of 2.2. Again, hopefully someone else can chime in here, I'm only vaguely familiar with running bromine as I've only ever run chlorine.

I think we need a bromine expert to update the bromine sticky...
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I'm hoping can be cleared up as well. I'm using the FC FAS DPD that came in the kit noted in my sig.

I've searched a lot and can't find clarity on measuring bromine.

The tub started with bleach while the bromine tabs dissolved. After a couple weeks when I tried to stabilize the bromine levels, FC at one point was measuring 15+ on only bromine, the FC quickly dropped below 1 because I closed the floater quit a bit and we used the tub a few times.

At which point I started adding bleach to boost it back and decided the check CC but then the wheels fell off my already shaky understanding of all this chemistry.

The heavy bromine came with lots of strong smells however from what I gather from the latest test the water is safe, it's clear and has hardly any smell.

We haven't used it in 10 days though.
 
I have a bromine spa.

What Reagent are you using with your Taylor dpd test?
872 is for bromine.

I can't see your signature. Sorry I'm using the Tapatalk app and signatures don't come up

Don't adjust the floater so much. It's a pain I know. I started with a floater also. If it's high and out of range go down 2 clicks. If it's in range, but high go down 1 click. Then retest in 24 hrs. Same in reverse of its low.

Here are the instructions :
dff4bd53074f9830062210df554fb87e.jpg
 
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