Chlorine floater

[mmardini]

Hi everyone. We just replastered our pool one week ago with a pebble finish and we are working on balancing our water. We added a gallon of CYA on Tuesday which brought our level to approximately 30. We don’t want to add too much too quickly, but we are having a problem keeping chlorine in the pool because it’s been 105 all week. We have chlorine pucks that we used to use before we redid the pool, and it’s my understanding that those raise cya as well as chlorinate the pool. We don’t plan to use them in the future, but we wanted to use them for now along with LC in order to keep Chlorine levels adequate and slowly raise CYA. Problem I have is on the start up instructions it says to not use a “chlorine feeder” for 28 days....we have a chlorine “floater”....so would that be ok to use at this point? We are trying to stick to the instructions as best we can. Also if we can’t use the floater, is there any other way to use the pucks for now? Thank you!

 

[tim5055]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the difference between a feeder and a floater and really don't understand why they say not to use either one?

They say you can add CYA and you have to add chlorine or yu will have a green mess. Once dissolved into solution the chlorine and CYA from tabs are the exact same chemicals you would add separately. I get teh feeling that those instructions were written by someone who has no idea on how the chemistry works. @JoyfulNoise Comments??

 

[mmardini]

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the difference between a feeder and a floater and really don't understand why they say not to use either one?

They say you can add CYA and you have to add chlorine or yu will have a green mess. Once dissolved into solution the chlorine and CYA from tabs are the exact same chemicals you would add separately. I get teh feeling that those instructions were written by someone who has no idea on how the chemistry works. @JoyfulNoise Comments??

I have no idea! I don’t understand what the problem with using a feeder is either. I have a feeling they are trying everything to make you void the warranty or something.

My only thought is maybe if the floater gets stuck in a spot like it sometimes does that it will over chlorinate in that one spot and maybe alter the color of the pebble? Bht no idea how this is different than pouring LC.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Bperry]

A feeder implies an in-line feeder, which if you have a SWG, wouldn’t be a good idea. Maybe that’s what their point is?

 

[mmardini]

A feeder implies an in-line feeder, which if you have a SWG, wouldn’t be a good idea. Maybe that’s what their point is?

A feeder implies an in-line feeder, which if you have a SWG, wouldn’t be a good idea. Maybe that’s what their point is?

That’s what I was thinking. I looked up feeder and it’s not what we have. We do not have a SWG. So no one sees a problem using a floater with pucks after a week of plaster? I really can’t think of what the issue would be but they made the instructions confusing!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

For plaster startups, I would definitely use a floater. Floaters add chlorine and CYA very slowly and the acidity of the pucks will help to keep the pH/TA in check a little better. Inline trichlor feeders tend to create very acidic "stews" inside the feeder column. When the pump turns on, you get highly chlorinated and very acidic water leaving the return line. You'll also get some "dribbling" of that acidic mixture out of the return after the pump turns off. This can all lead to plaster discoloration around the return lines.

When starting up a plaster pool, using liquid CYA is not the best approach. First and foremost, no chlorine should be added for the first 48 hours. The I would add dichlor to get CYA and FC in the water while floating trichlor pucks to slowly bring up the CYA. You want to avoid high chlorine levels in the pool (and chloride ions) as much as possible for the first 21 days to give the plaster the best chance at producing a high quality surface. This is why newly plastered SWG pools don't get salt for the first 28 days....chloride is bad for plaster during the initial startup.

Every plaster applicator has their own favorite startup recipe and few follow the NPC Technical guidelines to the letter. So just try to follow whatever your applicator told you to do to avoid breaching the warranty

 

[mmardini]

For plaster startups, I would definitely use a floater. Floaters add chlorine and CYA very slowly and the acidity of the pucks will help to keep the pH/TA in check a little better. Inline trichlor feeders tend to create very acidic "stews" inside the feeder column. When the pump turns on, you get highly chlorinated and very acidic water leaving the return line. You'll also get some "dribbling" of that acidic mixture out of the return after the pump turns off. This can all lead to plaster discoloration around the return lines.

When starting up a plaster pool, using liquid CYA is not the best approach. First and foremost, no chlorine should be added for the first 48 hours. The I would add dichlor to get CYA and FC in the water while floating trichlor pucks to slowly bring up the CYA. You want to avoid high chlorine levels in the pool (and chloride ions) as much as possible for the first 21 days to give the plaster the best chance at producing a high quality surface. This is why newly plastered SWG pools don't get salt for the first 28 days....chloride is bad for plaster during the initial startup.

Every plaster applicator has their own favorite startup recipe and few follow the NPC Technical guidelines to the letter. So just try to follow whatever your applicator told you to do to avoid breaching the warranty

Thank you for that very helpful information! Is this for plain plaster or pebble finishes as well?
I think I’m just going to add the pucks. We want to raise the cya without adding more liquid as we certainly don’t want it to go too high.

 

[Oly]

How many gallons in your new pool? You can easily anchor a floater across a corner of the pool so it does not rest along the side. Keep tabs on your pH and use pool math to estimate the amount of CYA you are adding. Raising your CYA 10ppm with trichlor will help you keep the FC in your target zone, save a bit of liquid and buffer a rising pH with new plaster. What is your water temp in Palm Springs now? We like to say we live in Palm Springs North and our water has fallen below 70. Still nice without all the daily FC loss.

 

[mmardini]

How many gallons in your new pool? You can easily anchor a floater across a corner of the pool so it does not rest along the side. Keep tabs on your pH and use pool math to estimate the amount of CYA you are adding. Raising your CYA 10ppm with trichlor will help you keep the FC in your target zone, save a bit of liquid and buffer a rising pH with new plaster. What is your water temp in Palm Springs now? We like to say we live in Palm Springs North and our water has fallen below 70. Still nice without all the daily FC loss.

We arnt 100% sure we are going to measure the pool this weekend but we estimate around 10,000 gallons. We never measured before the remodel as it was a very old pool and we weren’t watching the water levels at all, just let the pool guy do it.
Our pool temp today was 80 degrees! It was great and so refreshing! Plan on a nice pool weekend this weekend!

I like your idea of anchoring the floater. We are also thinking of putting some pucks in the skimmer while the pump is running, then taking them out when the pump turns off. Good idea or no?

 

[Oly]

At 10K gallons each 8oz puck increases FC by 5.5, CYA by 3.3 and lowers pH by .29.
I would float them unless you are in a hurry but after 3 pucks you are already up 10ppm CYA.

 

[mmardini]

At 10K gallons each 8oz puck increases FC by 5.5, CYA by 3.3 and lowers pH by .29.
I would float them unless you are in a hurry but after 3 pucks you are already up 10ppm CYA.

Thank you! That info is very helpful. Now that the temp is decreasing we arnt in a hurry we want to slowly raise the cya then stop the pucks entirely. What is a good cya level to shoot for knowing that fall and winter are basically here? We are currently at 30

 

[Oly]

I run my pool in the 30 to 40 range during the summer. You may want to go a bit higher due to your climate and solar radiation levels during the summer. Each pool is unique you will find your pools sweet spot with frequent testing as time passes.

 

[tim5055]

Is this for plain plaster or pebble finishes as well?

Pebble is a type of plaster finish.