Starite chlorinator question

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sjoefl01

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Jul 16, 2007
66
I have a Starite puck chlorinator that came with the pool when I bought the house. It's never really worked right. I have the little valve turned all the way up but I have always gone a year between buckets of those pucks. I am told that if it was working properly I would have to buy a lot more buckets. I have studied the thing and don't really see anything on the outside that can go bad. I changed the hose one time and the Oring on the cap one time but it has just never really done much. The little screen at the bottom has seen better days.
I am getting tired of dragging liquid chlorine around and would like to get this thing working. Are there any replacable parts? I have never taken it apart and don't know if there are other seals or things that should be looked at. I just know a load of those tablets will last probably a month or more with the pump running 24/7.
I would really be thankful to hear what the experts have to say. I love this site.
 
I think most people would say you are better off with the liquid. The pucks used in the chlorinator add stabilizer that does not leave your pool unless you drain the water or do RO treatment. Once the staibilzer gets too high it becomes nearly impossible to get your chlorine levels high enough to avoid a green pool.

Read the ABC article and How to chlorinate your pool article in Pool School.

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone :)
 
Thanks Jason
I hate typing on a phone also.
I replaced the liner for my pool this winter. I live in Florida where we get tremendous rains every day in the summer. The pool get direct sun when it is not raining and it is big. I have always had to pump water out often to keep the pool from overflowing so I have always had to add stablizer several times in the summer. If I don't have any stablizer I will spend the whole summer fighting algae and dragging chlorine containers around. I test the water so I can keep up with stablizer and of course I would stop with the pucks if I saw the level getting high.
My next door neighbor uses a chlorinator and packets of powder chlorine. He takes a sample by the pool store every once in a while and his pool always looks great. He has to shock it every once in a while. But that is about it. From my side of the fence he seems to have a truly troublefree pool. Mine, on the other hand is a constant worry and hassle. I am constantly dragging jugs of chlorine around and having to worry with it every couple of days. Surely there is some better way.
 
Given the amount of water change over you seem to have and constant sun, it sounds like you very well may be the exception to the rule and that the chlorinator may in fact work out well for you. Especially if you are aware of the dangers and are keeping an eye on the relative CYA and FC levels. That said, unfortunately, I have no idea how to help "fix" your chlorinator as i have never deal with them before.

Hopefully someone else will have some ideas.
 
Well, there is the possibility that you have the 'perfect storm' situation to use the chlorinator and still keep things under control. (lots of rain & water replacement & sand filter cleaning also requires more water replacement). This is still the BBB method because you understand what you are doing and testing and verifying. :goodjob:

And, that is one huge pool to be manually dosing with bleach /liquid chlorine.

Edit [Don't know nuttin' about the chlorinator ]

Also, if you decide to use the pucks you will need to keep the TA a little higher (100 - 120) and keep a close watch on the pH, too.
 
This beast has me really frustrated. It turned green while I was out of town and has been swallowing chlorine all weekend. I can run it to 12 at night and it loses 5 overnight. Within 24 hours it has no detectable chlorine. I have been testing for 3 days now and the demand is the same. The water looks good but I still don't have it calmed down yet. I added a little stablizer to try to get this under control. I have been keeping the stablizer down. I need to take the water down sometime soon to work on a light. I'm ready to forget about the light and get these chemicals stablized.
The puck thing seem like it would be good for when I travel. My wife doesn't mind adding chlorine but has no interest in the chemistry, She just follows the instructions I leave.
Thanks for the advice. I like this site. It is active. I usually get a lot of response to questions. You guys have saved me a lot of grief.
 
First and foremost, you need to shock the pool. Bringing it up to 12 and allowing it to get to zero is not helping you one bit. You're just spinning your wheels and wasting whatever you're putting in there.

Post a full set of test results for us and how you got them.

As for the chlorinator First I suggest getting rid of it and going to a swcg or an injection system. BUT, since you have it I'll try and help you. :-D
What model do you have?
Have you pulled the big reducer on the inlet side and checked the screen for pluggage?
 
It would be nice if instead of preaching to him about liquid chlorine, that someone would actually try to answer his question about his feeder.
Sjofl01 do you constantly have air in your pump skimmer basket? If yes, then you might be getting air inside your feeder thus causing an airlock. I would look at that first. Second, your feed tube inside the pipe may be clogged with debris or minerals. Unplug the hose and turn on the pump to see if water is coming out. If you end up needing to replace the feeder I would strongly suggest getting a Pentair Rainbow 320 as it's a pretty common and reasonably cheap unit. It would take just a few minutes to cut out the old one and glue in a new one. Hope this helps!
 
I thought 12 was shock level based on the TFP chlorine chart. Actually the chart said 10 with no CYA but I decided to take it to 12 anway. If I am wrong about that level please put me straight. I'm not an expert. I was adding the chlorine at sunset and then adding it at sunset again. That is when it had gone to zero. I was told that you always add chlorine at night so it can do it's job before the sun comes out and burns it up. Maybe I should add it in the morning also?
My CYA was zero. I added a couple of pounds of stablizer yesterday. I have a sand filter so I don't think I would get accurate results just yet. The TA is 90 and the PH is 7.5. I don't run calcium it's vinyl.
The cannister says Porpoise no 320 on it. I don't know where I came up with the Starite from. Maybe one of the pumps. I was thinking that somebody might say something like (they have a rubber gasket in the bottom that has to be changed every couple of years). I haven't torn into it. The thing looks fairly simple but I don't know what the bottom looks like.
I have had air in the pump every since I installed the Intelliflo. I was told here that was normal with low flow pumps.
 

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Chlorine was detectable tonight. Id say
CL .5
CYA a little less than 20
TA about 95
PH 7.5
I added 2 lbs dichlor (I am out of liquid)

Just didn't have time to check the dispenser today.

I really think I'm cool with the chemicals unless 12 is not a shock level. I'm going to take a measurement after the dichlor mixes and then check to see how much the level drops overnight.
As long as we are talking chemicals I would like to see a chart that has the burn rate on chlorine in full sun at 85 degrees water temp with varios CYA levels. I don't know the equations but it looks like a perfect Excel application (or maybe Java). If I had that I could calculate the pros and cons of running up the CYA to reduce chlorine consumption. I know if the CYA level is up you have to add more chlorine to get the same results but you also shouldn't have to add it as often.
 
I did a little research and I think the chlorinator is made by Pentair. I see there is a check valve in the base. I also found a place to get parts. There is also a top feed option. I'm not sure if that means 2 feeds or just switching from the bottom to the top. Does anybody know what would happen if I moved the feed to the top? I wish it wasn't so late. I'd love to tear into it. The device looks straight forward.
 
Make sure you review the shocking process. From poolcalculator.com I get 11 ppm FC for a cya of 20. This is a minimum, i.e. add enough so that it never goes below 11 ppm until you pass the all three criteria at the same time (see my sig).

Since you are still loosing 5 ppm/per night, you have a ways to go with the shocking process. 11+5 = 16 ppm at the very least needed to maintain shock level overnight for your pool right now. During the day you need to add chlorine often enough that your FC does not drop below 11 ppm. Overdose a little if you can not be by the pool the whole time.
 
Look here http://www.troublefreepool.com/rainbow-feeders-air-problem-t41359.html for a solution that I discussed to eliminate the airlock problem common with the Rainbow feeders. To disassemble it is very easy. The barrel unscrews from the base which is glued into the return line. But before this can be unscrewed get on your knees and look under the barrel right were it screws into the base (hard to do when you're an old fat guy like me!)and you will find a stainless set screw that must be removed before the barrel can be rotated and unscrewed. After the barrel is removed you can see how the device works by diverting return water into the feeder tube and over the tablets. Hope this helps you.
 
What speed are you running the Intelliflo?
If you're running mostly low speed it may help to the top feed the unit. To top feed it just move the fittings from the bottom to the top hole. You may have to have a longer piece of hose.
 
It will probably be this weekend before I have time to take the chlorinator apart. I sure do appreciate the help. The chemicals seem to be straight and the pool is really clear.
I do have another question though. If the check valve has a problem will it be obvious or visible? Is there some sort of test?
 
+1 to what linen said.

You should be able to tell if there is a major problem with a check valve as the internals will not move freely. Seeing a small leak due to a minor failed seal would be harder to see i think. Although, in you application, a small leak would not be of concern i do not think. You seem to be looking for a major failure where the valve will not open freely.
 
I had passed the three tests the night before. The overnight consumption was less than one. There was no detectable combined chlorine and the water is so clear you would think the pool was empty. I actualy have a couple of more personal tests that passed also. The water doesn't smell like burnt chlorine and my wife said it did not burn her eyes. Personally I don't have time to swim. I am too busy at the pool store getting chlorine, brushing the sides and water testing. My daughter is scared to swim. She thinks there is something wrong with the water. All of the fun has gone out of this pool. I regret buying the new liner. I should have spent the money to fill the pool with sand and make a tomatoe garden. I am thinking seriously about a pool guy.
 
Just step back and take a break. Look at what you accomplished and be proud that you did it. It sounds like your water is just fine and now it's time to jump in with the family and get wet and splash around and make obscene noises with your arm pits to gross everyone out like I do from time to time. Then go plant those tomatoes elsewhere in your yard and when you get hot this summer you can jump in your sparkling pool to cool off.....
 

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