Jack's Magic

[Brian T]

I recently have noticed some white spots on the floor of my pool. It used to not be so noticeable but now it is. I test my water regularly and balance it as instructed on this forum. I called my pool builder since my plaster is still under warranty. He advised me to use Jack's Magic (Magenta) and if that doesn't work, we will do an acid wash.

Has anybody had any experience with this product? Please advise.

 

[Swampwoman]

Jacks Magic is one of two recommended metal treatment products here at TFP. Do you have an swg? Magenta is formulated to work with same.

Since the work is under warranty and the contractor has recommended a product that TFP also typically recommends, I think you'd be fine to proceed.

I'm assuming you already have one of the TFP kits recommended for testing so that you can control your parameters for treatment, right?

Also, after you take this measure, if you still have problems, there are folks on the forum very technically informed about plaster problems if you need help convincing contractor to make it right, so do post back!

Cheers!

 

[pooldv]

I agree that it won't hurt to use it. But, the root cause is likely high PH and high CSI that is allowing scale to form. SWG tends to cause PH rise, especially if TA is 90, 100 or higher. Lowering your TA to 60-70 will help reduce PH rise. Monitor PH and keep it at 7.8 or lower and use Poolmath to keep an eye your CSI to make sure it stays under 0.6.

More on scaling here,
Pool School - Calcium Scaling

More on using Poolmath here,
Pool School - PoolMath

More on CSI here,
Langelier and Calcite Saturation Indices (LSI and CSI)

 

[gtemkin]

I can't speak specifically about Jack's Magic (Magenta), I think used by itself it would probably be fairly harmless and pretty ineffective, but on the other hand I would urge caution when getting chemical recommendations from pool builders. My personal experience is that pool builders are great at building pools, but not so good at caring for them once they're filled with water. I realize the PB holds the warranty cards so to some extent you have to do as he says, but maybe he should be the one trying Jack's Magic, not you.

There's quite a few very knowledgable people on this forum that could judge the pool builders recommendations and they don't have any "skin in the game".

If you want to make use of their knowledge, you should post your water testing numbers and general history, describe the spots in detail (size, shape, roughness, appearance, number of them, their locations) and post some photos. You'll get better guidance the more information you provide.

 

[Brian T]

gtemkin: Is there a reason why you would say that the product is "pretty ineffective?"

I had a PB build my pool March 2015. I would say the first 1.5 months, I did not do anything to the pool water. I did not even hire a pool guy to take care of the pool. I think this is why I have these white spots, which we believe is scaling. After 1.5 months, I got onto this forum and studied how to take care of my pool. Ever since then, I have been able to keep my pool balanced according to the numbers on this forum. I use the Taylor K-2006 kit.

The spots in the pool is irregular and not very apparent. I have tried taking pics but it does not show up like how you would see it live. Here are my numbers:

CYA: 30
pH: 7.6
TA: 80
FC: 3.5
CH: 350

 

[gtemkin]

What I meant is, i believe Jacks Magic Magenta is a sequestrant which will bind to calcium in your water, but I think by itself, it would have limited effect on scale, which is calcium that is no longer in the water. Jacks Magic Magenta page mentions it is to be used in conjunction with other Jacks Magic products, which are probably various acids meant to dissolve the scale first. I think you could do the same thing by keeping your pH towards the low side (-CSI) and brushing. All your numbers look good and even though your at the top of the recommended range for CH, there's potential to allow a higher calcium range, so long as you keep the CSI negative and the pH below 8.0.