Tablets vs. Granular chlorine

[ccarver80]

New to using chlorine, looking online and right now we have Spa Guard granular Chlorine Concentrate.

What's the benefits of the granular vs tablets, I know ones "diclor" and "Trichlor"

I know a lot of people don't recommend trichlor - (tablets) --why???

Thanks

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to TFP!!

Have you checked out "How to use Chlorine in my Spa"

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If you follow the sticky that tim5055 posted, then you can successfully use dichlor-then-bleach. You want to avoid the long term use of any solid forms of chlorine as they will build up unwanted chemicals (either CYA or calcium) in your water. Since this is a spa, sole use of dichlor will lead to excessive CYA build up which will make the spa water unmanageable and lead to excessive water replacement.

Dichlor is preferred over trichlor because trichlor is very acidic and it dissolves more rapidly than dichlor does. This can lead to fast increases in FC levels. The excess of acidity of trichlor will lower your pH to levels that can damage your new spa and the acidity consumes TA (total alkalinity). If the TA bottoms out to 0ppm, your pH can crash to very low levels.

 

[ccarver80]

yea I read the sticky, wife does not like the idea of pouring bleach in our High dollar hot tub, she just insists on using a chlorine specifically for hot tubs..... she's 6 months pregnant so there's no arguing with here at this point lol (trust me I've tried)

I also have spa guard enhanced shock, it has a less chlorine content and "other ingredients"

I really wish our ACE system was functioning .....


Also on a side note:

has anyone tried one of these??

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...SIN=B001HDM8HM&linkCode=xm2&tag=welofothla-20

 

[JVTrain]

Do a search for Nature2 on this site and find out the opinions... They're not terrible for spas but really not necessary. It's a product that adds metals to your water (copper, silver ions). Can lead to staining of blonde hair depending on levels.

I realize the situation with a significant other being resistant to these ideas. But there are thousands of users on this site, including myself, who use exclusively bleach after the dichlor start up in their spas. The science is valid. The experiences here are valid. If you were to continue to use dichlor, your CYA will become elevated to the point of making the chlorine not effective anymore, then you'd have to drain and refill. If you add one ounce of dichlor every 3 days, starting with 0 CYA, you'd be at 76 ppm after a month. 152 after two months and at this point or sooner, you'd likely have a spa that was turning foul because the FC level is not sufficient for sanitation at this elevated CYA. This is a low estimate on how much dichlor you would need, which largely depends on how much you use the tub. You'll never have this problem with bleach.