Was at Leslie's seeing if they could loosen the pump impeller for a rebuild. I was telling them about the chemicals that had come with the pool I acquired and they said that Cal-Hypo was bad for vinyl liners. They said they wouldn't warranty a liner that had Cal-Hypo used in it. I'm new to this pool stuff but have done some reading here and elsewhere and hadn't heard this. I hadn't planned on using the Cal-Hypo as I have high calcium levels in my fill water. This is only the second time I've been in a pool store and after reading about them here I take everything they say with lots of skepticism. :-D I'd just like to know the truth so I ask here.
Cal-Hypo bad for vinyl?
- Thread starter msgtdan
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JohnT's explaination plus - CalHypo is acidic, so if it settles on the liner it can cause problems. Had it happen to my Softub, the bottom is now all wrinkled because I was using CalHypo thinking it was DiChlor and didn't make sure that the stuff was completely dissolved.
Cal-Hypo is not acidic -- like all sources of hypochlorite it is basic/alkaline at least when initially added. Trichlor is acidic. If you added Cal-Hypo and it settled to the bottom with some undissolved, then the high chlorine levels and/or high pH were the issue. With vinyl liners, concentrated chemicals such as chlorine or acid should be added slowly over a return flow with the pump running and then the liner lightly brushed in the area where the chemical was added to ensure thorough mixing. With Cal-Hypo, one can premix some in a bucket of pool water to help dissolve it.tphaggerty said:
That all makes sense, I'd known that with granular product you're supposed to dissolve it in a bucket first. The way he talked just using Cal-Hypo in a vinyl lined pool was an absolute no-no. He made the statement that it was okay in fiberglass or plaster, but not vinyl. So it's primarily the undissolved particles in direct contact with the vinyl that's bad. Thanks all for the education, I'm sure I'll be back for more at some point 