Is everyone still getting their boric acid from dudadiesel.com? Or does everyone just buy the borax itself from the store?
Borate Users
- Thread starter Ale_Brewer
- Start date
- May 23, 2015
- 24,471
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Boric acid is the better method. The cost is about the same but it is MUCH easier. Boric acid is a weak acid so it changes pH very little while borax is a strong base and raises pH strongly. Accidental scaling of calcium is much more likely with borax.
It does look like Bulk Apothecary is a little cheaper than Duda Diesel, which is where I normally buy my boric acid.
Matt, my question was more about where forum users are buying their boric acid these days (the ones that use it).
The reason I ask is because I found somewhere that I can buy A LOT of boric acid from for REALLY CHEAP. Like 6 pallets of it. Way more than I can use in a lifetime but I was thinking I could save some forum members some money by selling it on here. Not in an official capacity, I mean I don't have a business selling pool chemicals, more like a friendly hook-up for us forum members. The only problem is that it's in powder form instead of granular form. So I'm trying to decide if it would be beneficial at all to buy the stuff or not if no one is going to want it. It seems like most people on here use the granular form and I don't know if they would be willing to switch to save some cash.
Matt, my question was more about where forum users are buying their boric acid these days (the ones that use it).
The reason I ask is because I found somewhere that I can buy A LOT of boric acid from for REALLY CHEAP. Like 6 pallets of it. Way more than I can use in a lifetime but I was thinking I could save some forum members some money by selling it on here. Not in an official capacity, I mean I don't have a business selling pool chemicals, more like a friendly hook-up for us forum members. The only problem is that it's in powder form instead of granular form. So I'm trying to decide if it would be beneficial at all to buy the stuff or not if no one is going to want it. It seems like most people on here use the granular form and I don't know if they would be willing to switch to save some cash.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,471
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
No to powdered form. It's way too fine and even the slightest breeze (like a cat breathing heavily) will cause it to go all over the place. It will also float on the water rather than sink and dissolve.
You want granular boric acid...period.
You want granular boric acid...period.
What if you mixed it with water inside the house and then added the slurry to the pool? That's what I do with my baking soda when making TA adjustments.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,471
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Seems like a lot of neat work to me. Your average sized pool needs 25-35lbs of boric acid to reach 50ppm B concentration. At a room temperature solubility of 57 g/L (~ 0.5 lb/gal), that’s going to be a lot of trips back and forth.
But what if you could get it for half price? I imagine that most of us here have already done the initial dose and are just adding small amounts for maintenance.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,471
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Meh.
Difference is $35 versus about $80 delivered. Not really a big deal to me. Being lazy and just tossing a few pounds of granules into the pool with a quick brush is a big deal to me. Honestly, if I were forced to use the borax/MA method where you kinda have to premix the borax in a bucket and add it slowly to the pool, I wouldn’t add borates at all.
Difference is $35 versus about $80 delivered. Not really a big deal to me. Being lazy and just tossing a few pounds of granules into the pool with a quick brush is a big deal to me. Honestly, if I were forced to use the borax/MA method where you kinda have to premix the borax in a bucket and add it slowly to the pool, I wouldn’t add borates at all.
I just meant mixing the powdered boric acid with water so the wind doesn't take it. I will never do the borax/ma method again.
HOO
0
I know what you are going to say, but I've been using Pro Team Supreme Plus for a couple of years. If you want "easy" and don't mind the cost, this is the way to go.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,471
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Whatever floats your boat. The ProTeam stuff is just a mixture of borax/boric acid to produce a pH neutral effect. Boric acid does lower pH but not typically by more than 0.2-0.3 units for a 50ppm B load. Since most people have issues with rising pH, the boric acid method works well. That said, you do have to buy large quantities of boric acid (25lbs buckets) as opposed nicely packaged bottles.
It’s kind of like liquid CYA versus granular CYA - pros & cons for both but you eventually get the same effect.
It’s kind of like liquid CYA versus granular CYA - pros & cons for both but you eventually get the same effect.
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