Chlorine puck feeder questions

[CypressTx]

Hello all,

Our last pool had a SWG, our new pool has a Pentair 320 chlorine puck feeder.

Question - How many pucks should I fill it with? Should I fill it all the way to the top? Some videos say to put 2 or 3 pucks in. Wouldn't it be easier maintenance to fill it and just top it off every so often? Do I need to turn the control knob down lower if I put more pucks in since there'll be more concentration of chlorine in the feeder?

Next question - how long should a 40lb bucket of 3" pucks last? I bought Clorox brand at Costco because it had the same ingredient %'s listed as a higher end brand. I've probably already gone through 20lbs in 3 months - that seems like a lot, is it? I'm in Houston and we've had 100+ degree weather with lots of sun and we have no shade if that helps answer that question!

Thanks in advance

 

[tim5055]

We generally don't recomend using a puck feeder as your primary source of chlorine. Pucks are almost half CYA, so your stabilizer levels continue to rise requiring ever higher levels of chlorine to have the same effective sanitation.

The other thing that concerns me is the pucks you purchased. When I was in Costco yesterday they only had the Clorox "blue" tabs. Generally when. "Blue" is in the product name it implies that there is an additional ingredient, copper. Copper builds up in the water and can cause unsightly staining and blond haired folks to develop green hair.

Read this for more information on how we recomend you chlorinate your pool. Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Now, as to your original questions - I doubt if you will get any/many responses as we just don't recomend pucks. It's kind of like posting on a vegan food forum asking for recomendations on preparation of steak. We know it exists, but just don't deal with it.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Russ,

What Tim says is 100% correct, but I have a different type of question..

Many people here have switched from a non-SWG pool, to a SWG pool, and for the most part you won't find many that would switch back.

I'm curious about your feelings about your new pool. How do you feel about the water? Do you notice any difference between the two pool? How does the water feel and what about any smell differences.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[CypressTx]

Russ,

What Tim says is 100% correct, but I have a different type of question..

Many people here have switched from a non-SWG pool, to a SWG pool, and for the most part you won't find many that would switch back.

I'm curious about your feelings about your new pool. How do you feel about the water? Do you notice any difference between the two pool? How does the water feel and what about any smell differences.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Hi Jim,

I feel the water is just fine, not much different overall compared to our salt water pool. It doesn't feel as soft but is just as easy to maintain (so far) other than I'm adding pucks every week to the feeder. It doesn't smell any different, and we aren't having to worry about any metal objects nearby rusting anymore. It was also eating our flagstone a bit, but now we have travertine anyway.

 

[CypressTx]

Also just as another follow up on this one.. I contacted Clorox and there is no copper in the Clorox Blue tabs.

 

[Surf_ox]

Hi Jim,

I feel the water is just fine, not much different overall compared to our salt water pool. It doesn't feel as soft but is just as easy to maintain (so far) other than I'm adding pucks every week to the feeder. It doesn't smell any different, and we aren't having to worry about any metal objects nearby rusting anymore. It was also eating our flagstone a bit, but now we have travertine anyway.

Im in cypress and your usage of 9 per week is about right. However using the pucks will cause the CYA to go through the roof hindering effectiveness of the chlorine. Then the pool store will sell you lots of stuff to fight the subsequent conditions(algae, CYA etc), shock and more pucks.

I have since ditched the pucks unless we're going to go out of town for a week (not in near future) and gone with the method here using bleach from the Walmart.

Read about it on the site. In the long run it will be cheaper.


--------------

Don't ever hesitate to try something new. Remember amateurs built the ARK and professionals built the TITANIC.

 

[gerg]

I've just been topping mine off once a week and adjusting the setting based on my chlorine readings. I'm trying to finish out the season with the pucks I already bought and will switch to bleach if I run out or CYA gets too high. Next year I'll be installing a SWG in it's place.