Hi there,
I'm a newbie, and have been following waterbears bromine method, I have successfully got my spa up and running, and have a couple of questions and maybe some learning points for other new spa users trying bromine.
Firstly, what I learned that may have been obvious to others but not to a newb like me!
1. Don't start with TA much over 80, I started at 110, and had to work my way all the way down to 50-60! That was a lot of acid
2. When you add "borates" make sure you know what you're adding, i.e. Borax involves adding even more acid. vs. a "balanced" product
3. Read and reread the section on TA and how to get the pH down, and how the TA acts as a buffer, I found I was adding WAY too little acid, and it took a long time to get the pH correct. Add enough acid to get you down around pH 7, and then aerate to get back up and see where it lands, give it some time...
4. Also Adding borates really spikes up the pH, I almost think it is better add borates when adding Baking Soda, so that you can measure the total alkalinity before having to add acid, otherwise you have to rebalance twice.
Now for the questions:
1. I think one mistake I made was not waiting for the water to come to temperature, I started balancing the water right away at 75 degrees, does it make a difference or am I just imagining things, my pH was off the chartsr (Taylor 2106 test kit) judging by the amount of acid I had too add, it was probably over 8.4
2. I am using http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Floating-B ... 609C1.aspx as a bromine feeder, and am having trouble maintaining proper bromine levels, either they shoot up high around 5, or really low around .5ppm, this is without adding any shock (chlorine bleach), any suggestions?
3. Am I just supposed to put 3 tablets in the feeder, or can I put more in if there is space (so it will last longer between changes), also, if the tablets haven't dissolved after 1 week, so I just let them stay in there, or chanqe them? The instructions say to add tablets every week, but do I need to add if there is still 3 (partially dissolved) tablets in there?
Thanks so much for all your help so far!
My spa numbers after 1 week.
CH 150
TA ~55
pH 7.8
Bromine ppm ~0.5 depending on how I set the feeder
Temp is 99 degrees
Tetra Borate 10ppm (250g)
Freeflow Passport 280 gallon spa with Ozonator
I'm a newbie, and have been following waterbears bromine method, I have successfully got my spa up and running, and have a couple of questions and maybe some learning points for other new spa users trying bromine.
Firstly, what I learned that may have been obvious to others but not to a newb like me!
1. Don't start with TA much over 80, I started at 110, and had to work my way all the way down to 50-60! That was a lot of acid
2. When you add "borates" make sure you know what you're adding, i.e. Borax involves adding even more acid. vs. a "balanced" product
3. Read and reread the section on TA and how to get the pH down, and how the TA acts as a buffer, I found I was adding WAY too little acid, and it took a long time to get the pH correct. Add enough acid to get you down around pH 7, and then aerate to get back up and see where it lands, give it some time...
4. Also Adding borates really spikes up the pH, I almost think it is better add borates when adding Baking Soda, so that you can measure the total alkalinity before having to add acid, otherwise you have to rebalance twice.
Now for the questions:
1. I think one mistake I made was not waiting for the water to come to temperature, I started balancing the water right away at 75 degrees, does it make a difference or am I just imagining things, my pH was off the chartsr (Taylor 2106 test kit) judging by the amount of acid I had too add, it was probably over 8.4
2. I am using http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Floating-B ... 609C1.aspx as a bromine feeder, and am having trouble maintaining proper bromine levels, either they shoot up high around 5, or really low around .5ppm, this is without adding any shock (chlorine bleach), any suggestions?
3. Am I just supposed to put 3 tablets in the feeder, or can I put more in if there is space (so it will last longer between changes), also, if the tablets haven't dissolved after 1 week, so I just let them stay in there, or chanqe them? The instructions say to add tablets every week, but do I need to add if there is still 3 (partially dissolved) tablets in there?
Thanks so much for all your help so far!
My spa numbers after 1 week.
CH 150
TA ~55
pH 7.8
Bromine ppm ~0.5 depending on how I set the feeder
Temp is 99 degrees
Tetra Borate 10ppm (250g)
Freeflow Passport 280 gallon spa with Ozonator