Recent content by Phookinl

Really disappointing response from the manufacturer. Certainly won’t ever consider them.

The test kits recommended here are very good. The instructions are pretty clear and there are lots of helpful souls on here who can help you out if you have difficulty. Taylors also have some videos on the internet that show you some of the tests too. Test strips generally are not accurate...

Not fussy where I buy it, but I usually find it's cheaper in Oz to buy the concentrated product. Having said that, I also don't enjoy the fumes. So I bought a 15L drum which I used up. Once it was empty, rather than return it for the deposit, I kept it and use that as my storage and just buy a...

I suspect it's either a faulty unit or there may be some sort of catalytic effect from something in the pool water. What that would be I have no idea, I think the power unit is more likely.

I've had the old version of The Pool Cleaner in two pools. The first we had for two years, fibre glass pool and after two years there was no sign of wear on the wheel tyres at all. In the current house we bought one 5 years ago and it runs 6-8 hours per day. The pool is pebblecrete and it's...

Just as an additional point to be aware of, some concrete cleaning and etching products are formulated wtih surfactants too. Typically an ethoxylated alkylphenol, non-ionic surfactant. These aren't really nasty, but probably not something you want in your pool. SDSs are safety related documents...

There are three forms that CYA could be sold in aside from as the dichlor and trichlor. Anhydrous Dihydrate Liquid (sodium salt of CYA in aqueous solution). The dihydrate may go into solution marginally faster, particularly if it's essentially dust. The liquid is already in solution so it's...

Some of the more expensive chlorinators claim to do exactly what you ask by monitoring the ORP of the pool water and adjusting chlorinator output as required. Problem is that the systems are very expensive, generally have poor reliability, high maintenance costs, ORP probes are hundreds of...

Only free chlorine. The colorimetric pH test tends to be bleached out by the high chlorine levels, so that's why you adjust the pH to the lower end of the typical range at the start. It makes sure the chlorine is present in it's most effective form and allows for pH drift upwards during the SLAM...

Sort of kind of. There are two basic types of pool cleaners if you don't include the robots. Some are driven by the suction of the pool filter and others run off a separate pressurised line. I think the Polaris is a pressure cleaner, but that is just how it is driven. Both do much the same...

Yes, Bunnings carry an awful lot of rubbish, but the salt, at least the premium grade isn't one of them.

I do love reading SDS from some of these companies. Hy-Clor's superfloc is a polyaluminium chloride solution. So PAC is an inorganic polymer, although it's probably more accurate to call it a highly complex ion. It does have a number of aluminium ions joined together. The second ingredient...

The blue cube ones are typically a mixture of a very high molecular weight polyacrylamide flocculants. The molecular weights of these polymers are in the tens of millions and they're quite effective at removing suspended solids but they're really bad for gumming up filters. Since the cubes are...