Bromine Pool with Failing Brominator - Using Bleach as Sanitizer Instead

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Most pucks are trichlor or dichlor which contain CYA. There are cal-hypo pucks available but they leave a gloppy mess in a floater and we do not recommend putting them in the skimmer basket. They also add calcium to the water which has its own set of problems when it gets too high. Liquid chlorine doesn't contain CYA or calcium, it just leaves a little salt behind (as do all forms of chlorine).

If you do decide to use cal-hypo pucks they must have a new floater that has never contained dichlor/trichlor. Chlorine with CYA and Calcium do not play well together and could start a fire.
 
The origin on my confused understanding of chlorine bromine compatibility came from the day I decided to switch the feeder from bromine to chlorine.

The local pool shop said I had to rinse the feeder thoroughly of chlorine because a chemical explosion could occur.

Now I’m thinking that entire concept of incompatibility was utter nonsense. I could just take the remaining bromine out of the feeder and drop some chlorine pucks in with no issue, right?
 
Cybergy said:
The origin on my confused understanding of chlorine bromine compatibility came from the day I decided to switch the feeder from bromine to chlorine.

The local pool shop said I had to rinse the feeder thoroughly of chlorine because a chemical explosion could occur.

Now I’m thinking that entire concept of incompatibility was utter nonsense. I could just take the remaining bromine out of the feeder and drop some chlorine pucks in with no issue, right?
Click to expand...
Without a little research I would say no. Even different forms of chlorine (Trichlor and Dichlor) should never be used from the same feeder or yes, a chemical explosion can occur.

Help, I mixed two brands of shock!!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
I have been getting advice here on switching to chlorine liquid or pucks without these warnings so I’m not sure the situation you described applies to these chemicals.

I have chlorine pucks (trichloro-s-triazinetrione) and bromine pucks (dimethylhydantoin) that appear to be fairly compatible. This is not shock.
 
Cybergy said:
I have been getting advice here on switching to chlorine liquid or pucks without these warnings so I’m not sure the situation you described applies to these chemicals.

I have chlorine pucks (trichloro-s-triazinetrione) and bromine pucks (dimethylhydantoin) that appear to be fairly compatible. This is not shock.
Click to expand...
The warnings deal with a confined space. You said

I could just take the remaining bromine out of the feeder and drop some chlorine pucks
Click to expand...

This is what is dangerous. Anytime you mix chemicals in a confined space bad things can happen. Adding different chemicals in an open pool is generally OK, but even then we advise to have 10-15 minutes between additions of different chemicals with the pump running to mix things up well.
 
Cybergy said:
I have been getting advice here on switching to chlorine liquid or pucks without these warnings so I’m not sure the situation you described applies to these chemicals.

I have chlorine pucks (trichloro-s-triazinetrione) and bromine pucks (dimethylhydantoin) that appear to be fairly compatible. This is not shock.
Click to expand...

Shock is a verb, so nothing is shock
 
Update on this thread:

I have been running chlorine pucks now for weeks in my Hayward feeder and the pool chemistry is perfect. I returned what was left of the bromine pucks to the pool store (3/4 of a bucket - about 12 Kg)

Glad to know I'm not going insane! I've never seen pucks that don't work/disintegrate until now.


Thanks for all the helpful responses.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply