After lurking for 2 years, I'm joining the group

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A

austin_puckhead

0
Aug 11, 2015
7
Austin, Texas
Pool Size
14300
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Living in Austin, Tx. Wife, kids, dogs, and a 14k gal plaster in-ground pool.

Owned a pool 20 years ago (only for about 2 years), and took care of my father-in-law's pool about 5 years ago. I tried to learn as much about the chemistry as I could, but both pools caused me a great deal of headaches.

Once TFP had finally taught me the relationship between CYA and the effectiveness of free chlorine, a lot of stuff from the past started making sense. Can't say enough positive about this forum and the generosity and intelligence people who share their knowledge/experience on the forum.

The pool I currently own is the nicest I've had to maintain: electronic control center (w/ freeze protection), ozone generator. But that darn chlorinator (and specifically the pucks that go into it) is starting to annoy me. I'm very close to getting a Liquidator.

The other thing about this pool is that it's about 10 years old. Little electronic/mechanical things are misbehaving, so I'm going to need to do some work on the system. I know I could call a company and get them to do the work for none of the trouble and 4x to 10x the cost, but there is a cheap DIYer inside me.

I'll be posting my specific questions in the appropriate threads in the coming days and weeks. I look forward to communicating with everyone.
 
Well , let me say welcome to TFP and thank you for the kind words.

I will say that you should retire that puck chlorinator and get a SWCG, liquidator or Stenner pump. For every 10ppm of chlorine the pucks add they also add 6ppm of that CYA. So,every puck is driving your CYA level higher.
 
Welcome to the forum. :wave:

Once you start a thread, try to keep everything under that thread, everyone will see your whole story that way. even if you change subjects it just works out best to keep it under one roof. We'll all see it and respond.
 
Tim,
Interestingly, (before I owned the house) the pool was SWCG when built, but the saltwater eroded the coping. They replaced the coping and got rid of the SWCG. It's been run on pucks for many years (including the 2 years that I've owned it). I never considered a Stenner pump. Hadn't heard much about them. I'll do some research.

duraleigh,
thanks for the tip. I would've thought to compartmentalize each problem, but I understand the rationale.

pabeader,
Interesting take on O3. If the chemistry data says it's of nominal benefit, I'll defer. Anecdotally, whenever I test my Cl, I never show any combined chlorine (even when I've let my levels drop below 1ppm). The highest CC I've registered was < 0.5ppm. I've assumed that was because of the O3 generator.

I'll share my challenges, as time permits, over the next few days.
 
You
austin_puckhead said:
Tim,
Interestingly, (before I owned the house) the pool was SWCG when built, but the saltwater eroded the coping. They replaced the coping and got rid of the SWCG. It's been run on pucks for many years (including the 2 years that I've owned it). I never considered a Stenner pump. Hadn't heard much about them. I'll do some research.

duraleigh,
thanks for the tip. I would've thought to compartmentalize each problem, but I understand the rationale.

pabeader,
Interesting take on O3. If the chemistry data says it's of nominal benefit, I'll defer. Anecdotally, whenever I test my Cl, I never show any combined chlorine (even when I've let my levels drop below 1ppm). The highest CC I've registered was < 0.5ppm. I've assumed that was because of the O3 generator.

I'll share my challenges, as time permits, over the next few days.
Click to expand...
Yes, the salt can erode some soft stone work so switching out of the SWG was probably a good idea.

I would recommend picking up a quality test kit and checking all the water parameters. A Texas pool running on pucks for a long time is probably going to have very high CYA and just because of your western water will probably have high CH.

Check out Pool School where we store most of our acquired knowledge. Start with - Pool School - How to Chlorinate Your Pool This will explain more about the problem with pucks.

Get the TF100 at TFTestkits.net. It is the best bang for the buck, but in full,disclosure they do support the forum so in a way it helps us also.

Do a forum search on ozone and you will have a nice evenings reading. It's not going to hurt your pool, but it really owing help either. That nice warm sun out there provides plenty of UV to eliminate any CC's.
 
Thanks, Tim. Starting 9 months ago, I have spent days reading articles from the Pool School and threads from the forum. Not to overlook anyone else, but Richard's knowledge and diligence was mind blowing. I've been preaching the CYA problem with the pucks to fellow pool owners (and citing this forum) for the last 6 months. The only thing I haven't done is automate my switch to bleach. Now I need to read about the Stenner pumps and decide if that or Liquidator is the best for me.

Oh yeah, about 3 months ago, I got the Taylor K-2006 from TFTestkits. And borate strips.
 

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