Chlorine liquid vs pucks

[sjoefl01]

The puck feeder in my pool has never done much good. I have to add a lot of liquid to keep the numbers in range. This morning I began to wonder about how much chlorine is actually in one of those pucks.
What chlorine concentration would you get if you dissloved one of those pucks in some calibrated amount of water?
Would it be cheaper to float some pucks than adding liquid?
What about the skimmer basket? Is it a bad idea to throw pucks in the skimmer baskets?
I don't use stablized pucks so I assume I wouldn't be changing the CYA by using the pucks.
Has anybody done a cost benifit analysis on this topic?

 

[Guest]

I don't use stablized pucks so I assume I wouldn't be changing the CYA by using the pucks.
Has anybody done a cost benifit analysis on this topic?

There are only 2 types of chlorine 'pucks', stabilized trichlor and unstabilized cal hypo. Cal hypo is usualy in the form of a caspule, btw, and cannot be used in an oridnary feeder but is usualy used in a skimmer. If you have a feeder then you are using trichlor and it will cause your CYA to rise.
Please post the actual ingredeints in the pucks you are using for clarification purposes.

 

[JasonLion]

If you know the contents of the pucks, usually trichlor, and the size, frequently 7 oz but they vary, you can use my Pool Calculator, see the link in my signature, to figure out what they add to your water. Enter your pool volume near the top and then see the "Effects of adding chemicals" section at the bottom.

 

[sjoefl01]

The pucks turned out to be trichlor. At the store where I get them there are containers marked stablized and the others just say chlorine tablets. I always figured that they would not raise the CYA. I see now that they will. They are 3 inch 7 oz pucks so based on the calculator I would need to add a lot of pucks to change the chlorine levels a little. I haven't calculated the cost per buck but I doubt it would save any money. Actually I am wondering why bother with them at all.
I saw something else on the container that goes against what I thought. They said you should run your chlorine at 1 to 2 and shock weekly at 5 to 6. They also said not to swim above Cl of 3.

I trust the people here a lot more than I do the package labels of the products I buy. They are wrong aren't they?

 

[JasonLion]

Those recommendations are very reasonable for extremely low CYA levels. They are completely wrong for the CYA levels used in most outdoor pools these days.

 

[Guest]

The pucks turned out to be trichlor. At the store where I get them there are containers marked stablized and the others just say chlorine tablets. I always figured that they would not raise the CYA. I see now that they will. They are 3 inch 7 oz pucks so based on the calculator I would need to add a lot of pucks to change the chlorine levels a little. I haven't calculated the cost per buck but I doubt it would save any money. Actually I am wondering why bother with them at all.
I saw something else on the container that goes against what I thought. They said you should run your chlorine at 1 to 2 and shock weekly at 5 to 6. They also said not to swim above Cl of 3.

I trust the people here a lot more than I do the package labels of the products I buy. They are wrong aren't they?

No they are right and if you don't follow their directions to the letter your skin will fall off, your family will leave you, you won't get a date for the prom, and you will have bad breath for the rest of your life!!!!! :-D
These levels are commonly suggested and they will work fine for an UNSTABILIZED pool but once CYA enters the picture things change quite dramatically!

 

[Ohm_Boy]

I trust the people here a lot more than I do the package labels of the products I buy. They are wrong aren't they?

Well, I won't say that they are wrong, just that over time they just become less right.
I will say that you are right to trust the people here.

The problem with trichlor pucks is that as they raise the CYA levels, your pool requires more and more chlorine to sanitize. More tabs to chlorinate, more CYA. The same holds true with dichlor granules. Eventually, you cannot maintain enough free chlorine to effectively keep your pool clear. Reminds me of the Tribbles in Star Trek* - the more you put in, the worse it gets.
Naturally, bleach has no such limitation, because it has no additional components to alter your pool chemistry.



*In the Star Trek episode The Trouble With Tribbles, Tribbles infested a bin of the food grain Quadro-Triticale. The grain was poisoned, however, and the poison prevented their digestive system from absorbing the ingested food. The more they ate, the more their systems rejected food, and as such, the Tribbles died from malnutrition. As Captain Kirk said, "They starved to death. In a storage compartment full of grain, they starved to death."

 

[Aramei]

So are you recommending to use liquid chlorine only?

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

So are you recommending to use liquid chlorine only?

I AM! (unless for limited use, like going on vacation for a week or two, or a few other limited circumstances.) For normal pool maintenance, Bleach is all that is necessary and it doesn't do or add unwanted things to your pool. :-D

 

[jjdurrant]

I have been using Trichlor tabs with Clorox for the last couple months.. I plan to stop using tabs soon though as my CYA is where I want it.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

I have been using Trichlor tabs with Clorox for the last couple months.. I plan to stop using tabs soon though as my CYA is not where I want it.

ONE of the limited circumstances....new pool water when raising CYA, ensuring monitoring of PH levels.....adding appropriate PH chems to keep it in range.