After reading this forum, I ordered a 8 gallon Liquidator for $158. The 3/8" upgrade kit is included. Is it still recommended to swap out the stock needle valve with the Hayward needle valve? What about the check valves? I really do not want to remove them.
My pool equipment is above the pool level. Will the supplied connectors connect to my pump and heater drain ports or do I have to take the drain plugs to Home Depot and match them up to barb plugs? I will put the hoses and connectors together after I close the pool so it will be ready for next season. I am not drilling into my PVC pipes and do not want to remove or use the off-line chlorinator connectors.
I switched to liquid chlorine/bleach after reading this forum over the past month since my CYA was high all season before all of the hurricane & tropical storm rain lowered my CYA. Now I do not want the CYA to rise out of control again.
Polyquat algaecide and shock are ready for closing the pool on Oct 1st.
Thanks for the advice!

You may have to buy a couple of ¼" male NPT to speedfit adapters but everything else should be there.

I would highly recommend getting the Hayward needle valve but it's not absolutely necessary. You'll be able to tell how hard it it to adjust after a couple weeks use, then you'll know if you need it.

I just received the liquidator, but I do not think I got the 3/8" upgrade kit. I have to obtain other parts anyway, do I really need it? Does the upgrade kit upgrade the tubing in addition to the 5 parts shown in the picture.
http://pstpoolsupplies.com/ImageGallery ... oductId=27

What size tubing should I use (3/8 I.d. 1/2 o.d. or 1/4 I.d. 3/8 o.d) if I decide to obtain my own parts instead of getting the upgrade kit? The Hayward needle valve comes in both sizes and home depot and lowes plumbing sections contain both sizes adapters.

I also need to mark the tank in gallon increments and paint the sides. How far away from the pump and heater drain plugs can this be installed? My equipment is next to my shed and I cannot block the walking areas ( equipment access areas too)

The upgrade uses the same 3/8" o.d. tubing that comes with the LQ. It just upgrades the valves and fittings. That's where the restrictions are in the original setup. If you got new fittings, flow valve & check valve, you got the upgrade.

Thanks Bama!

The fittings I received do not look like the 5 fittings in the upgrade kit picture. I have contacted the online merchant and they promised to look into it, especially since they emailed me that the 3/8" upgrade kit was included.


Thanks!
David
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bibeaud,

How you liking the LQ? Any issues to report? I really want to get an "automated" system this seasonal. I'm against salt for numerous reasons including questionable ROI and I was going to go with a tablet feeder but multiple people on this forum warn about high CYA levels. This only leaves me the LQ. Thoughts?

I live in NJ. I will uncover the pool and install the liquidator along with opening up the pool in late March/early April. I will post comments after it is in use..

I ran a liquidator for a year. They work great. My indoor equipment dictated me getting rid of it, ventilation wasn't good enough and it was causing issues in my garage. I strongly suggest against a tablet feeder. I switched to salt water, I travel a lot so something like the liquidator or salt system is pretty much a necessity for me so the pool will stay chlorinated while I'm gone.

Any issues with the PH rising? I have heard that Liquidators can cause a high PH level. Since my entire system is outside, ventilation is not a problem. I think that this year (since I'm switching from Baquacil), I will manually chlorinated using Tri-Chlor granulars. Once I get my water where I need to and I'm comfortable with chlorine I'll revist this next season (2013).

When I first installed it I had scaling inside the unit. The Liquidator doesn't raise pH, but it exposed my poor TA in a heartbeat. So, get your TA right and you should not have a problem. If you still do, add borates to the pool. Once I did that, my issues disappeared. I also had the softest, clearest pool water I've ever seen.

I'm going to repeat myself. Liquidators don't raise pH. It's simply adding bleach to the pool water.

Watch those CYA levels adding that Tri-Chlor. You might end up with a pool that's a handful to maintain.

So maybe I'll just go with a Liquidator versus the tablet chlorinator. decisions decisions decisions.

What bleach is best to add - 6%, 10%, or 12%? Is using a Liquidator a more costly way to maintain a pool?

It will take any of the bleach concentrations you mention. The higher conentrations are nice because you don't have to haul as many bottles. Unfortunately I haven't found anywhere in Texas to get anything higher than 6%.

I don't know of any reason using a Liquidator would be more costly than any other method. It's just adding bleach to your pool over a period of time. Same as doing it manually, but without the daily need.

There's no way I'd use a tablet chlorinator on my pool. NO way.

Cost wise this isn't actually too bad. In general, with the 8 gallon Liquidator can hold ~10 96 ounce bleach bottles. Hasa's website says that will last me 1 month. So at $2 a bottle, that equates to $20 a month. 4 month season = $80. Plus a few other chemicals and I should be under $125 a season. In theory that is.

Liquidator is installed and working. I have the water entering the liquidator from the heater drain plug port using a straight quick disconnect connector. I have the water exiting the liquidator and entering the filter pump drain hole under the pump basket using a right angle quick disconnect connector.

I am using the Hayward Needle Valve. Currently the filter is running 6 hrs a day and the flow meter is showing the black ball on #1 setting. I will adjust this as the temp heats up and more chlorine is needed in the pool.

I installed a shutoff valve after the heater drain plug port so I can lower the water level in the liquidator to add chlorine.

David