I Got Lucky

[black_vanilla]

When you find out you only live 45 minutes from one of the only places that sells granular boric acid, you take a drive!

 

[Mdragger88]

You are my hero!
I contemplated stopping by on my way back from Atlanta recently but I figured my husband would protest to cramming a 55# bucket in our already loaded down car
Sure beats paying shipping!

 

[black_vanilla]

You are my hero!
I contemplated stopping by on my way back from Atlanta recently but I figured my husband would protest to cramming a 55# bucket in our already loaded down car
Sure beats paying shipping!

They were super nice too!

 

[black_vanilla]

I lowered my PH to 7.2 because I read to get it to the bottom of the range before adding Boric acid. But then in PoolMath is says that adding 34lbs of Boric Acid will lower PH another .2, putting me at 7.0. Should I wait till tomorrow to see if my PH rises .2 and then add the boric acid or just add it now and then retest PH in the AM?

 

[Mdragger88]

They were super nice too!

Did u just walk in?

 

[PoolGate]

Why do you want to add boric acid?

 

[Chuckiechan]

I lowered my PH to 7.2 because I read to get it to the bottom of the range before adding Boric acid. But then in PoolMath is says that adding 34lbs of Boric Acid will lower PH another .2, putting me at 7.0. Should I wait till tomorrow to see if my PH rises .2 and then add the boric acid or just add it now and then retest PH in the AM?

IMO, always wait a day after adding chemicals to get an accurate test.

 

[black_vanilla]

Did u just walk in?

I called them first to make sure they had it in stock and they pulled it and brought it up front. But once I got there I just walked in.

 

[black_vanilla]

Why do you want to add boric acid?

I read about the benefits of it so I wanna try it.

 

[Mdragger88]

I lowered my PH to 7.2 because I read to get it to the bottom of the range before adding Boric acid. But then in PoolMath is says that adding 34lbs of Boric Acid will lower PH another .2, putting me at 7.0. Should I wait till tomorrow to see if my PH rises .2 and then add the boric acid or just add it now and then retest PH in the AM?

Sorry- didn’t see this when replying earlier - but lowering ph to 7.0 will also lower your ta (which is fine) & with it still being around 70 the ph should recover just fine.
Point your jets up to aerate the water & this will increase your ph without increasing ta.

 

[Sunny Blues]

Is boric acid the same thing as Borax? To add borates to the pool? I ask because every spring we do that and it takes 16-17 boxes of Borax. I’d love to save money on that if there were a way. Is Boric Acid the same thing?

@black_vanilla what did that 55lb bucket cost?

 

[Newdude]

Is boric acid the same thing as Borax?

No but they both add borates in the end. Boric acid was typically slightly more expensive, but an easy one time dose. Borax and MA were typically cheaper, but requiring more work.

Borates in pool - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

As someone who's both used and not used borates, I don't see their benefit for most people, and even less for vinyl people. They would need high evaporation rates and high TA fill water. Most vinyl pools are in places that get alot of rain, so they don't fill nearly as much as the desert dwellers.

Anywho. I save the money now for something else. The pool still obnoxiously sparkles without them.

 

[black_vanilla]

Is boric acid the same thing as Borax? To add borates to the pool? I ask because every spring we do that and it takes 16-17 boxes of Borax. I’d love to save money on that if there were a way. Is Boric Acid the same thing?

@black_vanilla what did that 55lb bucket cost?

Right around $103. Not sure if I saved much money by driving out there vs getting shipped, but I took my mom with me and she like to get out and ride. It’s 35-45 min drive from me.

 

[Sunny Blues]

Ok thx for clarification guys. Yeah it’s cheaper to buy boxes of borax. I don’t mind the bit of added work because it’s not much.

We do it every year and I will say that it made our water much more sparkly in those first few years we did it, and really soft, but we also struggled with high TA in those years. I haven’t noticed the sparkle as much if at all in the past 5 years but we keep alkalinity below 100 all those years. I’m not sure it’s worth the $90. I can’t tell. I know there is absolutely no sparkle or softness at all without it so we will probably keep it up. The How to Add Borates to Your Pool on this forum really spoke highly of doing this even to vinyl pools and like I said we saw a big difference when we first started doing it. Hmmmmm

 

[Newdude]

I can’t tell.

Maybe mine would sparkle more with borates.

But i wouldn't be able to see past the existing sparkles to know if there was more of them.

 

[Chuckiechan]

When you find out you only live 45 minutes from one of the only places that sells granular boric acid, you take a drive!

I just now stumbled into this at Amazon. Free delivery May 2 - 6

 

[Mdragger88]

I just now stumbled into this at Amazon. Free delivery May 2 - 6


View attachment 568210

They must have just added that! I been stalking their amazon store for a while.

 

[black_vanilla]

I just now stumbled into this at Amazon. Free delivery May 2 - 6


View attachment 568210

I’m not sure where you are located but I think Duda delivers for around $116 total.

 

[Chuckiechan]

I’m not sure where you are located but I think Duda delivers for around $116 total.

I'm in Sacramento county, California.
I could not get a freight quote from Duda. I E mailed, I filled out a form, and I called but got no answer. I found it locally at Sierra Chemical but the price was $3 something a pound. I may buy from Amazon for next year's supply. Not sure yet.
I fly into Birmingham now and then. I wonder if I could carry it as "checked baggage" ? Lol.

 

[Mdragger88]

I'm in Sacramento county, California.
I could not get a freight quote from Duda. I E mailed, I filled out a form, and I called but got no answer. I found it locally at Sierra Chemical but the price was $3 something a pound. I may buy from Amazon for next year's supply. Not sure yet.
I fly into Birmingham now and then. I wonder if I could carry it as "checked baggage" ? Lol.

You may need to split it up - usually a 40 or 50# cap on checked bags.
May raise some flags with your suitcases of white powder though