Boric acid --Powder or Granules?

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LittleTagAlong

LittleTagAlong

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Jun 17, 2016
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Amarillo TX
Ok, I am close to getting everything stable and in the correct range. I'm pretty sure I want to add borate. I see in Chemistry 201 some brand names are mentioned. Is there a difference in these products or any commercially produced boric acid? I found a place mentioned on a thread on TFP (somewhere) that mentioned this company, DudaDiesel.com. IF, if this is right product, which do I use the granulated form or powder? Pricing came out for my pool to less than $10 difference of Borax and MA. Here are links to what I found: http://www.dudadiesel.com/img/items/boric15f_255_L.jpg and http://www.dudadiesel.com/img/items/borp5f_300_L.jpg
 
You want granulated form, powder is too fine.

Even if the boric acid is more expensive, use it. The borax/MA method is a pain in the behind and many people regret using it because of the wild pH swings caused by the borax. One user clogged up his sand filter with calcium scale because the pH got too high.

Boric acid is a weak acid and it readily and easily dissolves in water. Your pH drop from adding it will be minimal. And you can add it all in one batch (or two if you prefer to brush in between). It's just so much easier it's worth the little extra hassle to buy boric acid online.
 
I'm the user that clogged up my filter using borax/MA to borate my pool. It wasn't the end of the world, but I certainly would avoid it if I could do it over again. I was able to get MA for $4 a gallon and borax at walmart for $3.97 for a 65oz box. 5gallons of MA and 15 boxes of borax worked out to about $80 in stuff. Plus tax. I could have gotten a 55 gallon drum shipped tax free from duda diesel for I think it was $88 when I looked.

from what I've heard, the powder can float on the water. It's better to get the granules because they sink.
 
If you add by broadcasting the boric acid around the pool a few pounds at a time, it's little work at all. I added a total of 38lbs of boric acid by pouring in 19lbs in at a time and sweeping in between (I also had my suction cleaner running). I used my DE scoop which held ~ 2lbs to scoop up the boric acid granules and then I would sprinkle them around the edges of the pool. I brushed twice. It took about 45mins worth of time to add everything.

It's really quite simple and easy.
 
I'll add a little bit of experience using the powder form to this thread.

If you have a choice between granular and powder, select the granular form.

I was able to pickup the powder form locally to save on shipping so I used that for my pool. I had zero problems using the powder form, but there potentially could be an issue if there is any wind. Without any wind, I was able to mix it with a 5 gallon bucket half filled with water and poured over a return. I did this several times. I would not advise to broadcast into the pool water as the powder.
 
ping said:
I'll add a little bit of experience using the powder form to this thread.

If you have a choice between granular and powder, select the granular form.

I was able to pickup the powder form locally to save on shipping so I used that for my pool. I had zero problems using the powder form, but there potentially could be an issue if there is any wind. Without any wind, I was able to mix it with a 5 gallon bucket half filled with water and poured over a return. I did this several times. I would not advise to broadcast into the pool water as the powder.
Click to expand...
Thanks. It's almost always windy here.


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