Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: exit109gal on July 19, 2007, 10:40:01 am
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I went ahead and purchased the Hot Spot Sorento model, it arrived last Friday. I am having problems understanding the whole chemical stuff.
The store gave me "brilliance" products.
Does bromine do the same function as chlorine?
I took the water to be analyed and they said I needed more bromine, but I didn't have bromine, I had chlorine.
I have been using the tub and love it.
Pat
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Brilliance is essentially pure (or pretty damn close) bromine, as opposed to other bromine that has considerable chlorine content. Your dealer should also have given you a couple packets of Brilliance's bromide or whatever they are calling it.
(Start Up?). Did they give you anything like that?
The soduim bromide powder goes into the water to "bump start" your bromine levels from the get go. It will take a day or three to get a bromine reading from your floater, so the bromide tides you over till that happens.
You can also use chlorine. Dichlor, right? Trick there is to measure the level.
If you have Brilliance test strips, they might not test for chlorine, so how are you measuring or testing the chlorine?
Sooner or later you'll get a bromine reading- keep checking periodically until you get a steady reading, thereby knowing your floater is dialed in ok.
Also, expect to have to occasionally adjust your Ph or alk- bromine and MPS (Brilliance shock, if you have any) tend to lower those numbers.
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Some questions I can't answer, I am at work, I think I have a product for increasing calicum hardness, PH increaser, total akalinity increaser and chlorinating granules, nothing that says bromine. They did not give me the packets nor a floater
i will be stopping there this weekend to discuss. It doesn't sound like I got the right stuff.
thanks
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Would be helpful to know what you were given by your dealer.
And it may be me who confused the issue. I went out to Brilliance's web site and learned that thing have changed with them since I used their products.
Brilliance is made by a company that at one time bragged about their being chlorine free sanitizer alternatives. Baqua Spa is a sister line of products to Brilliance, both being touted as chlorine free.
I now see that Brilliance sells dichlor (chlorine)- and standared brominating tablets (possibly mixed with chlorine like lots of other bromine tabs) in addition to their original sanitizer- which is pretty much pure bromine.
Bromine is often put in some type of floating dispenser, chlorine isn't, at least not the kind sold commonly for spas (Granular chlorine or dichlor)
Sounds like your dealer didn't do a very good job at all setting you up with a chemical routine- if they did give you Brilliance chlorine granules, but are testing your water for bromine- At the very least it doesn't sound like they helped you at all learning water chemistry. That being the case, you're probably better off without them, and you'll possibly learn more here and end up being able to train them on water care.
We can probably get you on the right track if you let us know exactly what you have.
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I sell Brilliance Chemicals.....the chemical kit contains, floater, start up, bromine, oxidizer and balance chemicals. Brilliance is an easy system to use. Brilliance has several other types of sanitizers. like dichlor and a mermaid. The chemical kits are unmistakable, small box open it up and there you go. Someone could have removed the missing stuff too.....has ben known to happen....
Tom
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The thing that puzzles me is the chlorine granules, which looks like Brilliance just started selling?
I too assumed she got a starter kit, but it sure doesn't sound like it.
No bromine, no floater, no sodium bromide.
Will be intested to see just what was provided.
What clearly wasn't provided was water care guidelines.
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You are right I will probably do better here than with the dealer. There was no "kit" he gave me 5 containers and test stips.
They are
calcium hardness increaser
chlorinating granules
total alkalinity increaser
Ph increaser
and another to get rid of the foam
now when I test with the brilliance strips there are 5 items
total bromine
free chlorine
total alkalinity
ph
calcium hardness
i have 4 products but I am testing for 5 ...that's what I don't get
i did it this morning and everything is ok except the free chlorine...is that the chlorinating granules...i would think so right???
the stip shows bromine but I have no bromine
I have no floater
I am confused
thanks
pat
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You are on the right track.......chlorine is measured in to the spa depending on the gallons of the tub. The test strips are five pad strips, measuring for both bromine and chlorine. The first pad measuring the bromine level, ignor it. The second pad measures free chlorine, pay attention to this pad. Free chlorine refers to the amount of chlorine present to destroy bad stuff. Chlorine in this case doesn't require a floater, it is added directly. Brilliance has a good consumer manual, if you don't have it.....ask your dealer for it. If that fails email me and I will mail it to you. Tom
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Thanks Tom
I want you to be my dealer....
I think I have the manual from their web site i printed out a manual.
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The confusing thing here is the Brilliance chlorine. Most of us think of bromine with Brilliance. They also sell chlorine, which is basically the same as everyone else's chlorine (dichlor).
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When did they start doing that, anyway? When I used Brillinace, a few years ago, the company that made it bragged about it being totally chlorine free.
The Brilliance bromine had no chlorine.
The same company also makes Baqa Spa, also a chlorine free bragging point.
Now they're selling dichlor, and apparently also making bromine tablets that quite possibly contain chlorine like many of the others.
What's up with that? Needing a bit of a revenue boost, perhaps?
Is bromine loosing ground to dichlor as a spa sanitizer?
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here is the low down.........(Avecia)Brilliance sold to Arch Chemicals. Arch is a huge conglomerate......maker of all things chem. Arch expanded the line up to include a dichlor labeled Briliance, this is fine becuz I use N2 which requires a touch of chlorine to operate. By adding the dichlor I stopped ordering from another company their dichlor. Brilliance still has the best bromine, 100% chlorine free and wonderful on your flesh......Have a good weekend all......Tom
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Thanks! That certainly clears up the mystery, in my mind, anyway.
I Musta missed the press release!
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I know many dealers here carry Leisure time products, We do not...our reasoning and it is just something that irks me personally and that is that leisure time like to rename bromine as example and call brilliance and shock and call it renew and many consumers come in thinking that is all that will work in their spa not understanding that is just marketing on leisure time part and that the product is simply shock or bromine. I like the Sea Klear products as if you look the active ingredients are higher and they cost about the same or less.
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I have used the brilliance product since December 06'. I use the 100% bromine granular "sanatizer" product and also had to buy a floater to slowly release that product. Every 7-10 days, i shock my tub with 100% bromine "Oxidizer" by Brilliance.
I use the other products, not to balance bromine, but to balance the other chemistry of water, (PH and alkalinity).
To start up, i first balance the PH, Alkalinity. Then i use the Brilliance "Start-up" packet to get my sanatizer levels up (bromine ). I dont get a reading on my test strips or my Taylor test kit right away. It usually takes a good 3 days for me to get a good Bromine reading on those test stips or kit.
I am not familiar with the Brilliance products some of the others above are speaking of. My dealer only sells the orange "Brilliance" product in the 100% bromine line. Therefore, i only check bromine.
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I will echo macejh's post as we do the exact same. We have been using Brilliance (100% bromine) for a year now (we switched from dichlor) with much better results. Water is always clean, no chemical smell and it doesn't dry my skin. We keep the floater in at all times to slowly release the bromine. Bromine does the same thing as chlorine - I have found it is just what you prefer and what you find works best for you.
If you find that you do not like Brilliance and want to switch to a chlorine regimen, I would empty and refill your spa with new water. Also when we switched to Brilliance, our dealer gave us credit for our left over chlorine products so if you do decide to switch check with your dealer to see if they'll do something similar.
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If you find that you do not like Brilliance and want to switch to a chlorine regimen, I would empty and refill your spa with new water.
You pretty much have to, going from bromine to chlorine. Going the other way you don't need to dump the water.