The previous pool owner's kids threw some metal lawn chairs into the pool, which left some stains on the pool floor. I've had the pool for over a year now, and they don't seem to be fading, so I purchased an ascorbic acid stain remover from the pool store. They told me that I must bypass the heater when I use the ascorbic acid or else I could severely damage the heater. Is that critically important? It looks as though it could be a bit of a job to bypass it the way the PVC pipes are configured. Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Using ascorbic acid for stains
- Thread starter GES
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
If you are doing the AA treatment the way we recommend, then no, there is no need to bypass the heater. The only time you have to bypass the heater is when the PH is going to go very very low (lower than we recommend). Depending on what they told you to do, their approach may or may not result in a lower PH than we would recommend.
If you are doing the AA treatment the way we recommend, then no, there is no need to bypass the heater. The only time you have to bypass the heater is when the PH is going to go very very low (lower than we recommend). Depending on what they told you to do, their approach may or may not result in a lower PH than we would recommend.
I have been waiting for cold weather in the Dallas/Ft Worth area before trying the AA treatment to try and avoid having an algae problem while the chlorine level was low. Before starting the treatment, I had the following test results: 0 Chlorine, 7.1 pH, 120 alkalinity, 100 CYA. My pool is 24,000 gal. Before adding the AA, I applied a bottle of Polyquat 60 just to play safe regarding algae. I used 3 pounds of ascorbic acid and did not see any change in the stains on the bottom of the pool after an hour. Since I didn't have any more ascorbic acid on hand, I bought a bottle of Stain Remover from Leslie's which I was told was basically ascorbic acid, and added the entire bottle. There still was not any change in the stains after another 2 hours. In hopes that the stains were loosened from the pool floor, I then applied 3 bottles of Jack's Blue Stuff and ran the filter for 24 hours, but still no change. I then tested the water and the pH was still 7.1. Even if the stains were unaffected by the ascorbic acid, shouldn't the pH have dropped? I'm wondering if the ascorbic acid has a shelf life (I had purchased it 3 mos. ago and stored it in a dark cabinet in the house), yet it seems to me that Leslie's Stain Remover should've still done something. Any ideas or suggestions?
I am not sure you will have success with rust stains and AA. I have some in my pool which I can minimize but not get rid of.
Why are you doing AA treatment for spot stains? It would seem far more effective to use the AA in a sock and hold it on the spot. A complete AA treatment is more for iron precipitation from the pool water and, generally speaking, a wide spread out area of iron precip that is too big to treat as a spot.
Why are you doing AA treatment for spot stains? It would seem far more effective to use the AA in a sock and hold it on the spot. A complete AA treatment is more for iron precipitation from the pool water and, generally speaking, a wide spread out area of iron precip that is too big to treat as a spot.