TA of 30

Jump to latest Follow Reply
D

DMS2014

Silver Supporter
LifeTime Supporter
Jun 22, 2014
812
Houston, Texas
In my Fiberglass/Bromine/450-gallon independent spa, the chlorine was 1.0 last night. Added 1/3 c of "pool" bleach (I think it's 12%). this morning, it's still 1.

The TA is 30. I read the spa sticky again about bromine and it says you need to balance the TA and pH. But HOW do I get the TA up?? The pH is 7.8.

Please advise.
 
Baking soda raises TA. It will also raise the pH a bit. Use PoolMath (button at top of page) for recommended chemicals and quantity.
 
How did the TA get that low? Normally low TA results in low PH too.

What is your fill water TA?

How old is the spa water or did you just fill it?
 
mas985 said:
How did the TA get that low? Normally low TA results in low PH too.

What is your fill water TA?

How old is the spa water or did you just fill it?
Click to expand...

You know, I just recently started dealing with this spa. My husband, the know-it-all, was using dumb sticks and then I read somewhere on here about rash and not having high enough chlorine and then my husband went out of town and I started managing it bc I wondered if that was his problem too (rash every time e gets in)

So I don't know the answer to either of those questions but the water is not that old - I just can't give u a date. Now that I am taking care of the spa, I will write that info down ...




- - - Updated - - -

I still don't understand. If I raise my TA, it raises my pH, then I have to use acid to lower the pH? I don't get it. When the TA was high in my pool, the acid knocked it down and all was well....i'm just not good with these things....need to be led by my nose....
 
Given the size of the spa, I would just replace the water. Probably cheaper than dealing with adjusting the water you have. Start fresh with CL only and a little bit of CYA. You can use tri-chlor if you have it to bring up the CYA. You don't need much if the spa is covered most of the time. Maybe 10 ppm CYA. Then your FC target should be 1 ppm. Watch the acid dosing (chlorine pucks and sticks will lower PH).
 
mas985 said:
Given the size of the spa, I would just replace the water. Probably cheaper than dealing with adjusting the water you have. Start fresh with CL only and a little bit of CYA. You can use tri-chlor if you have it to bring up the CYA. You don't need much if the spa is covered most of the time. Maybe 10 ppm CYA. Then your FC target should be 1 ppm. Watch the acid dosing (chlorine pucks and sticks will lower PH).
Click to expand...

Wow I am even more confused now. I wrote down the recommended levels for a spa and it says the FC s/b 3-7, TA 60-80, And pH 7.2-8. The rest don't apply to Fiberglas if I remember correctly ...
 
The FC levels depend on the CYA levels. Pool School has a table for that.

What was the source for your numbers?
 
yeah, I know. I got these numbers from this website. I will have to run through all the sticky stuff and see if I can find it again. Like I said, I am now totally confused. I was told that you don't do CYA with a bromine tub. You don't do CH with a bromine tub. Those stickies are really long. I will go through them again.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Sorry, I assumed you were running a chlorine tub because of your initial post about adding chlorine. If replacing the water, you should be able to run just a FC tub if you want to. Just rinse out the tub and filter.

So are you planning a primary Bromine or Chlorine tub?
 
when I read the bromine sticky, it said you needed to SHOCK the tub: Here is a step by step: As you see on number 3, it says you can use bleach. Nowhere does it talk about fiberglass. So based on what I understood or misunderstood, I needed to keep the FC at 3-7/pH of 7.5-8 and TA between 70-90. We have bromine tabs in there. I am still very confused. I was just trying to check everything and get it right.

1) On each fill balance the water (adjust TA and pH. Add calcium if below 125 for acrylic spas or below 200 for plaster). More info here on balancing spa TA and PH, How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?. If you have metals in your water add a metal sequesterant.
2) On each fill add sodium bromide to the water. (Follow manufacturer's directions on dosing. You will end up with about a 30 ppm concentration of sodium bromide.)
3) Shock with your preferred oxidizer (chlorine/bleach or MPS) and turn on the ozone if you are using it. Your bromine levels should now be above 10 ppm. Wait until they drop below 10 ppm before entering spa.

4) If using a 3-step system add your floater with bromine tabs and adjust it to maintain a 4-6 ppm bromine level. If using a 2-step system add your preferred oxidizer as needed (and adjust your ozone) to maintain a 4-6 ppm bromine level.

5) Shock weekly to burn off organics that collect in the water. (If you are using ozone and your bromine levels are staying at 4-6 ppm then you can shock less often.) Wait until the bromine level drops below 10 ppm before entering spa.

6) Test bromine and pH before entering spa each time. Test all water parameters (bromine, pH, TA, Calcium Hardness) weekly.

So I guess what I need is for someone to step by step tell me what I am doing wrong. I put everything as the very first line in my post about my spa so I wouldn't "waste" anyone's time as I had been reported to moderators. I don't know what else to say or to post. Just trying to understand.
 
It is ok to use CL for oxidizing purposes only (aka shock) in a bromine tub after heavy use but you should not use it to maintain FC levels on a daily basis. If your primary sanitation is bromine, then only use that on a day to day basis.
 
DMS2014 said:
In my Fiberglass/Bromine/450-gallon independent spa, the chlorine was 1.0 last night. Added 1/3 c of "pool" bleach (I think it's 12%). this morning, it's still 1.
Click to expand...

That basically means that your oxidizer got used up. You'd know a little more if you did a proper OCLT, but you may have to SLAM the tub.

The TA is 30. I read the spa sticky again about bromine and it says you need to balance the TA and pH. But HOW do I get the TA up?? The pH is 7.8.

Please advise.
Click to expand...

Add baking soda to raise TA. Then adjust pH back to 7.5 or 7.6. Adjusting pH to 7.5 or so won't impact TA so much. You lower TA by reducing pH to 7.2 repeatedly. Add your baking soda, give it 30 min to mix, then measure pH and TA. When adding acid, don't add too much. Better to add too little, test, then add a little more, than to add too much.
 
mas985 said:
Yes, everything else (TA, PH, Br) needs to be balanced but you don't balance CL every day in a bromine tub. CL is only used as a shock agent when you need it.
Click to expand...

That's not necessarily true. You need an oxidizer to convert your bromide bank into bromine, which provides sanitation. Chlorine is a perfectly fine way to maintain the bromine level in the tub.

I use bromine, have an ozonator, and don't use a bromine tab floater. While the ozonator helps maintain the bromine level some, I still need use chlorine to recharge my bromine level. I add some chlorine every time after I use the tub, and a little extra when I feel the need to shock.
 
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