What Are Your Thoughts On Remington Solar Chlorine-Free Sun Shock?

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S

Singuy

0
Jan 11, 2016
72
Winter Garden FL
My pool construction haven't started and today I came across this little gem. Anyone ever used this? Does it work as advertised? I will put in a simple chlorine system with tablets and forgo the salt system if this thing works.

I have seen very positive reviews on homedepot.com and amazon.com. How magical is this thing?
 
Looks like it is probably a gimmick copper ion system, our general advice here on anything with copper in it is go running and screaming unless you like anyone with blond hair having it turn green. (and possibly your pool water if there are no blonds in your family).

Ike

p.s. I just thought I should add another reason why copper is bad, copper does a fairly good job at killing algae, it however does not effectively kill bacteria and viruses, Chlorine generally kills all three, so we use the visible presence of algae as a proxy to show that the Chlorine is at effective levels, once you add metal ion systems then you may have clear water, but it may not be safe clear water as those not visible to the naked eye bacteria and viruses may be thriving
 
I may use the salt in conjunction with an ionizer if it reduces the need for me to brush the pool every week. I'll need to do more research about staining. Some people say it's more prevalent if the pool is fiberglass. Algaecide is expensive and doesn't seem to work all that well...not to mention shocking the pool is pricey as well.

I went with a salt system to reduce maintenance. If this copper ionizer can reduce my maintenance further then more power to it. As long as it keeps the algae at bay, then I'm happy. I don't need to brush bacteria and viruses off the walls of the pool. Turning up the chlorine level will be good enough...algae on the other hand is a pain in the @##. I live in FL and have to deal with 95 degree weather, high amount of sun, and 3 hours of rain daily. You can see how maintenance can be more troublesome than normal.
 
The vast majority of people here that follow the TFP method never use algaecide or other magic potions and never have a green pool, all you need is Chlorine, CYA, CH, and pH control. Algaecide, ion systems, Phos Free are all things that mask the symptoms of an out of balance pool and make the pool stores lots of money, it is far better to fix the underlying problem and maintain proper chlorination than it is to spend boat loads of money at the pool store every month, at least it is better for the vast majority of pool owners that find there way here.
 
What about overall cost? I was thinking about putting the ionizer in, have chlorine level at 75% of normal, and run the pump for only 6h/day(17k gallon). Can I reduce the runtime of my pump using the TFP method? Will it be more work for myself after it's all said and done?
 
There are lots of copper ion systems and this is one of them. Generally they suffer from two problems: They don't oxidize and they are dificult to quantify.

You need two actions going on in your pool. First you need sanitation. Killing the bad stuff. Chlorene does that really really well. And we can determine how much chlorine you need to have present in your pool at any given time to keep the pool sanitized. You also need to oxidize or burn off the organic matter that gets into your pool, skin cells, fecal matter from Johnny, the kid that lives down the street ( Your kids are always perfectly wiped up) and other assorted junk. Chlorine is also good for at this.

A salt pool with a SaltWaterChlorineGenerator is a chlorine pool. Adding copper to it will in theory allow you to reduce the amount of chlorine you are using. By how much you ask well that where the guesswork comes in because you cant accurately test on a daily basis your copper ion levels and keep your chlorine level that low while still keeping enough chlorine in the pool to complete sanitation and oxidation.

The end result for most folks is that you end up using as much chlorine as you would without the copper. Why because you can test and maintain a level that you know is correct. You shoot for the level you know will work. Been there done that, thank you Nature 2.

The second problem is that some folks, depending on water chemistry and whether or not they swim laps counter clockwise get copper stains. For some reason no Jandy equipment reps ever get copper stains. But the rest of us mortals have gotten them.

So if you NEVER want to shock your pool on a weekly basis. NEVER go in a pool store. And NEVER want to hear your spouse ask why the pool surface has that brown or green tint, stick with the TFP method. There are no guaranties in life, but I can read a book on the bottom of my pool its so clear and I use this method and am a chemistry idiot.
 
Running your pump for 3 hours a day is sufficient if that is enough time for your SWCG to produce enough chlorine. Chlorine production is the limiter for run time on SWCG pools.

Where did 75% come from? (I'm on a rant) You have no reason to believe that that is sufficient chlorine to oxidize and sanitize. If you have a party and the next day you want to increase your sanitizer, you cant use 75% because the copper does not increase . Depending on how much CYA is in the water if you want to maintain chlorine at 5% of CYA but you need to increase your CYA you need more chlorine because the copper is not increasing.
 
Singuy, I was maintaining my pool last season with PoolRx (copper). It was supposed to last a year, but my pool greened over winter (about 5 months into the PoolRx) and I just started working to bring it back a couple weeks ago. Algae fight with Leslie's ran me up around $250 and I still have a green pool. I ordered one of the TFP recommended test kits and started following the SLAM procedure and using the pool calculator, and in just a day I can start to make out the bottom of my pool. Total cost using the TFP method so far is $33 in bleach and borax. I will probably end up using about $15-21 more in bleach for the SLAM procedure then will start maintenance. Personally, I like spending $50 to get the result I want better than $250 and being no better off. The only thing that actually did anything from the pool store was the conditioner which I am lucky the pool store didn't over condition me, this is the one thing they got right and put me a little high but in an acceptable zone for the TFP goals.
 

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I was skeptical at first but after using it for 2 weeks, the algae I could not get rid off is gone! In addition now I use very little chlorine. Remember you would still need to use some chlorine but much less than before and no algea!
 
BUT now you are adding copper to your water and that can cause long term problems to the pool and people (blonde hair turn green). It really is a shame as it does work but has such bad side effects it is not worth it over the long term.
 
I bought two of them and absolutely love them!

Suffering through the worst drought in a century Californians did not have the option of mostly draining a pool to get rid of too much conditioner. I had to maintain Cl2 levels above the highest concentration on the quick test kit to stop algae. No matter how many times I super-chlorinated, I had a constant battle with algae. I saved the $220 or so in Cl2 costs over the summer.

Two of these units cured my chronic algae problem without needing to drain half or more of the water out of the pool! Our wet winter helped by allowing me to release some excess water, but the algae problem was resolved before winter. During this summer's heat waves--typically a dangerous time for algae because the pool blows through Cl2 very fast while having intense sun light--I never had any algae problems. My copper anodes lasted 14 months, and just bought a replacement pair for ~ $60.

I can't recommend them high enough for those with chronic algae problems.
 
Strong_Lead said:
I bought two of them and absolutely love them!

Suffering through the worst drought in a century Californians did not have the option of mostly draining a pool to get rid of too much conditioner. I had to maintain Cl2 levels above the highest concentration on the quick test kit to stop algae. No matter how many times I super-chlorinated, I had a constant battle with algae. I saved the $220 or so in Cl2 costs over the summer.

Two of these units cured my chronic algae problem without needing to drain half or more of the water out of the pool! Our wet winter helped by allowing me to release some excess water, but the algae problem was resolved before winter. During this summer's heat waves--typically a dangerous time for algae because the pool blows through Cl2 very fast while having intense sun light--I never had any algae problems. My copper anodes lasted 14 months, and just bought a replacement pair for ~ $60.

I can't recommend them high enough for those with chronic algae problems.
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Just because your water is clear of algae, does not mean it is safe. Using copper to prevent algae masks the danger of the FC being too low for your CYA to effectively kill pathogens in the water.
 
Strong_Lead said:
I bought two of them and absolutely love them!
Click to expand...

Glad you think they are working for you. Of course, there were other options. You could have saved a LOT of money and just added copper to the pool, it would have accomplished the same thing. Of course, for the money you spent on these you could have also gotten a real test kit and learned to properly care for your pool. Then you would not have needed to constantly "super-chlorinate". That would have solved quite a few problems including your chlorine costs. It has solved "chronic algae problems" without green hair and staining for thousands, it would have worked for you.

But, you know, as long as your water is clear and you aren't concerned about all the bacteria and stuff in the water, then have at it. Meanwhile we will continue to discourage anybody from using these horrible products while also helping those who found us too late and need to remove the copper stains from their plaster.
 
bukzin said:
Any new experiences from users here? Thx
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No, because we don't do metals.

Chemistry hasn't changed, copper in the water is still a horrible thing to deal with. People leaving reviews on websites for pool chemicals are still as uninformed as they've ever been.

If you aren't following the FC/CYA Levels, then you really should consider it.
 
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