Cal Hypo Comparison

[Yev]

So I went to Walmart yesterday to buy some calhypo for my pool. They had 3 types of HTH calhypo, all the same percentage (around 56% I think). They were labelled 2-in-1, 4-in-1 & 7-1 and all had the same amount of calhypo, but they were labelled with different actions as can be seen at the bottom of this post. I didn’t have time to figure thigns out, so I just bought the Ultiamate, and noticed that is had a very blue color compared to regular shock, and their website calls the blue “Visible Blue Action, so you know it is working!”

So a 2 part question, that the heck is the blue I put in my pool? And what actually is the difference in the products? Seems like all 56% cal-hypo is the same, but interested to read others takes on this.

2-in-1 Shock Treatment
Kills Bacteria & Algae
Won’t fade of bleach liners


4-in-1 Super Shock Treatment
Kills Bacteria & Algae
Won’t fade of bleach liners
Crystal clear results in 24hrs
Reduces eye irritation & chlorine odor

7-in-1 Ultimate Shock Treatment
Kills Bacteria & Algae
Won’t fade of bleach liners
Crystal clear results in 24hrs
Reduces eye irritation & chlorine odor
Prevents stain & Scale
Fast Dissolving
Softens Water

 

[Richard320]

It has a whole bunch of stuff added, including Aluminum
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/pdfImages/6a/6a028dd2-f9bb-46f4-aa53-15e32df95758.pdf

 

[Yev]

OK, let me ask my question in a better way. Which should I buy, and a brief why might be handy?

 

[MassNerd]

Less is more. Don't be adding minerals and chemicals with questionable benefits.

Straight from the Pool School ABC's of pool chemistry you only need to worry about: Chlorine, CYA, Calcium (although less so in your vinyl pool) and balancing Ph. Not sure what's in "7-in-1" versus plain CalHypo, most of those claims are true of a maintained pool with plain old liquid chlorine.

 

[Richard320]

OK, let me ask my question in a better way. Which should I buy, and a brief why might be handy?

You want to avoid any chemicals that contain hidden ingredients like clarifiers or metals. Clarifiers can gum up filters. Metals can stain.

Are you sure you want Cal-hypo? 56% stuff will add 2 CH for every 3 FC. That'll mean 10-15 CH increase every week. While low CH is okay in a vinyl pool, high CH can still cause scale.

 

[Yev]

Mostly bought this as they were out of 10% shock and 8.25% bleach. The 6% bleach was not a value. I am in the middle of opening my pool and it got green, as when I opened, my Intelliflo VS pump would not turn on (turns out moisture ni teh electronics) and by the time I fixed it, mega green happened. Just trying to keep at shock level, and these weer my choices. My CH level right now is 25 when I opened it, so I am not too worried about what a dozen bags are going to do to me in terms of calcium.