Thoughts on Clarifier with BBB?

[Noah_Count]

After doing things the wrong way for a couple of years like dumping huge amounts of powdered shock in the pool in the spring after leaving it uncovered in the winter and trying all sorts of "magic bullet" elixirs like " Yellow Rid" as well as constantly using chlorine pucks I have finally gotten my pool in hand using BBB and my SWCG. It took draining and refilling a major amount of water in the pool and probably a lot more bleach than it should have because of my lack of a proper test kit but I got it done. Then I set about fine tuning the balance of the water with borax and baking soda and also powdered stabilizer in a sock hung by the return. Up until a few days ago, the only "pool store" product I was using anymore was the stabilizer. The only problem I had was that even though my water tested well and no matter how many times I rinsed the cartridge to my "skim filter" my water still had a very very slight cloudiness to it. It just wasn't the sparkling clear I remembered from the first summer I had the pool. The filter wasn't even getting very dirty either. That first summer I had the pool, I had cloudiness once after an extended period of heavy rains. Back then I used Clarifier and the pool cleared back to sparkling seemingly overnight. So the other day while in Wally World, I stopped by the pool aisle and could not resist buying a bottle. I put the recommended dosage in my pool and while the results were not as dramatic as I had remembered before, there has been a definite difference made in the water in the last couple of days. If it's not quite sparking, it's close. I've also noticed the filter cartridge has been much much dirtier the past couple of times I've cleaned it with nothing, no swimmers etc., to account for extra dirt. It seems as if the clarifier is doing what it is deisgned to do which is make the tiny particles that get through the filter clump up so they don't anymore. So I'm kind of wondering what the school of thought is on clarifier with BBB. I know the general consensus seems to be to stay away from pool store chemicals and I agree after what I've been learning here but I can't argue with the results of the clarifier.
Rergards,
Michael

 

[elenaran]

Out of curiosity, tried a OCLT?

 

[Noah_Count]

Out of curiosity, tried a OCLT?

No because I don't have a test kit capable of that yet. I had to just keep hitting the pool hard with bleach when I shocked it after the partial water replacement. The algae is gone and the SWG is maintaining and keeping up.
Michael

 

[anonapersona]

So, how much did that bottle of clarifier cost? I mean, compared to the cost of the TFP-100 at $68 plus shipping from tftestkits.net?

 

[Noah_Count]

So, how much did that bottle of clarifier cost? I mean, compared to the cost of the TFP-100 at $68 plus shipping from tftestkits.net?

11 bucks. In my situation it's a lot easier to come up with 10 or 11 bucks at a time than 70 some odd. I will eventually get the test kit. I probably would have gotten it instead of spending money on an SWG had I known about BBB at the time. Live and learn. Whether or not I have an expensive test kit wasn't supposed to be the point of this thread. I've made do and managed to get my water pretty well balanced with the kit I have. I was just wondering what folks thought about the use of Clarifier. As I said, I don't look for magical elixir's to solve all my pools ills anymore but in this case the Clarifier appears to be doing what it's supposed to. I find myself curious what's in it. Very slippery stuff.
BTW my latest test results are... FC 3.0, PH 7.6, TA 80 and CYA 70. Been pretty consistent now lately and I'm happy. Of course we are about to have several days of fairly heavy rain but hopefully it won't affect the pool like it used to.
Regards,
Michael

 

[JasonLion]

Clarifier is nearly always a waste of time and money, though there are rare occasions when it is useful. Cloudiness such as what you describe is normally caused by your levels being out of balance. Balancing the water correctly is simpler and less expensive than spending money on clarifier.

 

[Noah_Count]

Clarifier is nearly always a waste of time and money, though there are rare occasions when it is useful. Cloudiness such as what you describe is normally caused by your levels being out of balance. Balancing the water correctly is simpler and less expensive than spending money on clarifier.

Interesting. My levels were and have been pretty well balanced for quite a bit now. That's why it was sort of baffling to me I could not get that last little bit of cloudiness from the water. Of course, if you look at my sig, you'll see I don't have the greatest filter system in the world but the clarifier sure has seemed to make it perform better these last few days. Maybe I've come upon one of those rare occasions?
Regards,
Michael

 

[Noah_Count]

Happy to report that test results are remaining pretty consistent. My chlorine was a tad bit lower but I expected that because I had enough heavy rain yesterday and last night to fill the pool up past the skimmer. Had to let the water down past it so it could get the stuff off the surface of the water. Gave the water a small dose of bleach, based on the pool calculator, to help out my SWG because of the rain. Pool is crystal clear and I'm a happy camper! Enjoying the site folks. I'm sorry others have problems but reading about them and watching people here help solve them is interesting.
Regards,
Michael