Bromine Pool with Failing Brominator - Using Bleach as Sanitizer Instead

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Cybergy

Cybergy

0
May 23, 2014
116
Whitby, Ontario - Canada
I have been using bromine in my pool for about 15 years. I love it. It's very low maintenance. The water is always clear, and chemical levels are stable. The only other chemical I add is baking soda to raise PH - Usually later in the season when the bromine starts to lower PH.

But when my chlorine feeder died last spring I got a new one (and switched to a Hayward variable speed pump, and new filter around the same time). I replaced the feeder with the exact same model (Hayward CL220). For some reason this one fills very slowly (3/4" per minute on full) and the bromine tablets are barely disintegrating. It's still mostly full after a month of operation. I have contacted Hayward for support but I have yet to hear back. I have tried multiple pump speeds, putting bromine tabs in the skimmer to raise levels, pouring hot water in the feeder to loosen any debris, etc. But the bromine level just does not get high enough to keep the pool clean.

My question is regarding the choice of a suitable sanitizer. I was told since I switched to bromine I could never switch back to chlorine or convert to salt? So if I'm stuck on bromine, is bleach the only liquid sanitizer I can use until I get this feeder issue sorted out?

Buying bleach at the local gouging grocery store is getting to be a pain.
 
zea3 said:
Maybe there is a blockage in the unit. Have you tried using a floater for the bromine tablets, just to make sure they are not the issue?
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I have a floater for my spa but I never thought of putting it in the pool. I only put 2 tabs in for the spa but guess it would take a full stack for the pool. Not sure how many it holds, probably 10-12 tabs. I'll give that a try.

The tabs in the skimmer do disappear over time, but not in the feeder really. I don't think there is any flow happening in the feeder. I'm limited by the size of the skimmer to how many tabs I can put in there. I have them in a mesh bag to keep them to 1/2 of the basket and allow pool debris to fill the other 1/2.
 
Cybergy said:
My question is regarding the choice of a suitable sanitizer. I was told since I switched to bromine I could never switch back to chlorine or convert to salt? So if I'm stuck on bromine, is bleach the only liquid sanitizer I can use until I get this feeder issue sorted out?

Buying bleach at the local gouging grocery store is getting to be a pain.
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Bleach is chlorine. Be it liquid "shock" from the pool store, bleach from Canadian Tire or a salt water chlorine generator - they are all the same chlorine.

Now, I will admit, I'm not one of the bromine experts around here, but, as I understand it bromine turns into bromide in the process of oxidation (eating the bad stuff in the water). Additions of chlorine immediately oxidise the bromide back into bromine to start the process again.

If you have been running your pool on bromine for 15 years you should have a bromine bank in the water that can be reactivated by chlorine for a long time while you sort out your feeder.
 
You can use liquid chlorine. It will just reactivate the bromide to bromine.

How long ago was the pool filled?

What is the surface and when do you expect to redo it?

Is the pool covered?
 
Pool was filled in 2002, originally chlorine but switched to bromine in about 2004. The water is drained below the returns every autumn which probably reduces the bromine bank somewhat, but gets stocked up again as the season progresses.

I'm not sure what you mean by "surface"?
 

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You're going to have a lot of dmh buildup from the tabs.

In my opinion, bromine tabs are not a good solution.

You can use liquid chlorine. I would suggest that you periodically do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to determine if the sanitizer is being kept high enough.

After the liner change, I recommend that you switch to chlorine.
 
I have stocked up a floater and filled 1/2 of the skimmer basket with with bromine tabs. Over 4 days I still have nearly zero reading for bromine. The pool store said they have never heard of bromine tabs being "bad" and were unwilling to offer a refund/replacement.

So as suggested above, I would like to switch to chlorine.


Can I use chlorine tabs - or do I have to use liquid chlorine?
 
Ok, so there is a difference between chlorine tabs and liquid. I just didn't want to go back to the old days of lugging the chlorine jugs around, staining clothes and floor mats, etc.

I have a good test kit. Does CYA climb because of the existing bromine bank, or because of using chlorine tabs over liquid?
 
Cybergy said:
If I'm correct in reading through the pool chemistry section, it appears CYA only rises with stabilized chlorine - which is not unique to a pool with a bromine bank.

I may have answered my own question.
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If it's confusing, just ask.

But to have CYA in teh water you would have had to have added it. Stabilized chlorine products (Trichlor or Dichlor) OR have added 100% CYA.
 

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