Inline chlorinator or floating buoey...Your thoughts

[nabril15]

What an amazing webpage/forum that I found in TFP.
We bought a new home (built in 1980), and it has a nice clean pool. I continue to discover things, tools, and tricks to maintaining clean. My only approach at this time is to take a sample to my nearby store, and follow their advice.
1) Is that enough? My pool is clean, no algae, no cloudiness, but a voice tells me that I need to check for the levels of all those acronyms that we all know: CYA, FC, etc. Right? I imagine you want to see some numbers, but I am sorry, I have none. I bought a 5-way kit with the dyes, but I've yet to use it. Again, I rely on the pool store.

My original question
2) I truly hate to see the floating plastic buoey with the 3 inch chlorine disks, and so I discovered an inline chlorinator that would be completely out of sight. I can cut my pvc to make room for it, and goodbye buoey. However. At present I am running my pump every other day, and if I had an inline chlorinator the pool would only get that "dosage" every other day. I realize the delicate balance of chems in my pool is not reliant on those 3 inch disks.

Some of your thoughts? If someone has it installed, is it "better" than the buoey? Same thing? Personal preference?

Thank you

 

[gordyjamz]

First thing, click on pool school above. There's a LOT of useful info there.

You're gonna need to do test with that kit you bought. Follow the instructions in pool school for correct levels. Keep an eye on the CYA levels when using 3 inch chlor pucks. They will make it rise in a hurry, which will affect the chlorine's ability to sanitize. Personally, I would ditch the buoy, and pucks altogether and just use liquid chlorine (bleach). Many others here will say the same. Your pool might be clear now, but continuing to use the pucks can turn it into an algae mess down the line.

 

[JasonLion]

1) If going to the pool store works for you, then go for it. Maybe you are one of the lucky ones that has an actually good pool store. However, most people find that following pool store advice usually leads to problems, perhaps not right away, and ends up costing a lot more than following the approach we teach here.

2) If you are using chlorine tablets then an inline chlorinator is a lot better than a floating chlorinator. It is also best to run your pump every day if at all possible, perhaps for a shorter period of time than you are running it now.

Using chlorine tablets often leads to problems down the way. The tablets constantly add CYA. For most people the CYA level eventually gets too high and major problems ensue.

 

[nabril15]

Thank you very much. I will read all the links under Pool School, and I like the sound of the BBB method. Last night I tried to explain to wife and kids that when we use bleach, their skin will not burn. A long discussion followed....

As a member of BJ's wholesale, I can see the benefit of buying the Baking Soda there, and maybe the bleach.