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View Full Version : BBB in hot tub too?



clayw1963
07-24-2006, 09:30 AM
Converted my pool from Baquacil to the BBB two weeks ago and could not be happier. The pool looks better than ever! I'm getting familiar with the testing and I'm very happy with the conversion.
I have been using Baquaspa in my hot tub:(
Can you use the BBB method in the hot tub also? Should be easier than the pool, just drain, change the filters and refill.
Just curious about what everyone else uses in their hot tubs.

sevver
07-24-2006, 09:36 AM
I got rid of my hot tub about a month ago, but I did the BBB in there. It does not take much at all to change things pretty drastically I found. At first I majorly ovreshot the Ph each way like five or six times. And the bleach also did not take much, probably a half of a cup was too much if I remember right. I don't measure though, I "guesstimate", but I want to measure, when the eye gets better and I am allowed to move again I plan on making a log book or spreadsheet. Good luck to you and just remember to be careful with your amounts.

waterbear
07-24-2006, 11:19 AM
main difference is that you will be dosing with teaspooons to ounces instead of cups to gallons or pounds! Also, you might find dry acid is easier to dose than muriatic. It's not easy to measure out a teaspoon of muriatic acid!

Tomcat
07-25-2006, 12:53 PM
Chlorine doesn't last as long at the elevated temps (or so I remember reading somewhere). Bromine is better. I bought a jug of bromine tabs ($15) and they lasted me nine months, so not a big expense there. I have a floater and put one or two new tabs in once a week. I tried using muriatic acid, but would always overshoot my target ph, so now I use dry acid (also very cheap). When needed, I do use borax as ph up. I also shock once a week with a non-chlorine shock (also very cheap - I think like $3 a bottle that lasted seven months). I've found the hot tub maintenance to be very cheap and easy. Your milage may vary due to frequency of use and any "beverage" spillage or addition of other organic compounds :-)

waterbear
07-25-2006, 12:58 PM
Chlorine works fine in a hot tub. It is a bit more temperature and pH sensitive than bromine but is easy and the least expensive.
There is a lot of misinformation about bromine. Bromine tablets in a floater are NOT enough. First, sodium bromide has to be added to the water to create a bromine bank that the oxidizer (chlorine, MPS, or ozone) converts into hypobromous acid. Bromine tablets do contain either chlorine or MPS but they dissolve very slowly and it can take a long time to get enough bromine reserve in the water for them to work properly if you don't add the sodium bromide first. IMHO, the best shock for a bromine spa is bleach.

I have used both in a portable spa. They both have their own unique sets of problems. For example, I found that pH control was much harder with bromine. pH was always dropping.