Chlorine tablets during winter

[Caspersen]

hello there! I'm new pool owner and I'm trying to find out how to maintain it correctly. In my pool there is salt chlorination but now that the temperature of the water is less than 15 degrees Celsius (I'm from Europe, not sure about the F equivalent) I had to turn off the chlorinator and I use chlorine multi-tablet.
the manufacturer told me just to put one tab on the skimmer and when it dissolves to put the other one. That didn't sound quite correct on my logic so I started reading about that and found that forum. Red it's corrosive to let it in the skimmer. During winter I only use the pump for 3hours

so I'm trying to understand: red that the floaters tend to stuck in one place and cause discolouration of the liner. Is this correct? Can I prevent it? Is it good idea to put the tablet on the skimmer only during those 3 hours that the pump is running and then remove it? Is it the same if I put a tablet on a floater and let it in the water during pump time and then remove it? Should I remove the floater when pump is off? I have cats that like to drink water from the pool so I'm worried to let the floater all day there.

also should I check the chlorine level in the water when the tablet dissolves and if it is within normal range should I put the same quantity (let's say 1 tablet) shortly after The first one is dissolved or should I wait a day or so?
sorry for the silly questions and thank you for your time

 

[Mdragger88]

If you can tether the floater so that it doesn’t rest against the wall with string or fishing line then do that.
You are correct about putting them in the skimmer- its not good for the equipment on or off.
You can also just use liquid chlorine to maintain target levels of fc FC/CYA Levels instead of fooling with the tablets. You just add it slowly infront of a running return jet. Allow it to circulate for 30 minutes or so before turning the pump off.
Use PoolMath to calculate amounts based on your pool volume & liquid chlorine %.
Trichlor tabs in America are generally 8oz - not sure about in Greece.
Trichlor tabs are acidic & also add cya in addition to free chlorine (this may or may not be something you want) - the effects of adding tab in poolmath can show you these effects based on your pool volume.

 

[Caspersen]

there are here 200gr tablets (so around 7pm I guess). Should I leave the floater all day in the pool or only in the hours the pump is working?
I have to think about liquid chlorine after I finish the existing pack of tablets I have which is still full

 

[Brad_C]

An alternative thought.

We don't get terribly cold, but in winter our water temp can get down to 10C. I put the chlorinator in winter mode (that throttles it to ~85% cell current) and add 1000ppm extra salt. That keeps it generating all winter. By the time the rains have diluted the water we're back to where we need to be as the water warms up.

If you sample the water from your return you can verify the chlorinator is working and approximately how much it's generating based on a calculated water flow to verify it's all working.

 

[Caspersen]

Checked the manual and didn't see a winter mode on the salt chlorinator

 

[HermanTX]

there are here 200gr tablets (so around 7pm I guess). Should I leave the floater all day in the pool or only in the hours the pump is working?

Correct that 200 grams is about 7 oz. A puck is slow to dissolve. I have always kept my floater in the pool regardless if pump is running or not. Do your testing as normal to determine where your FC levels are - there is no need to wait for a puck to dissolve as you want an average of your FC levels in your pool.

 

[Caspersen]

Haven't test yet. I will do today later on to check what's going on. I red it's good idea to have a dedicated day and put the puck there always same day. Let's say once per week on Tuesday. My pool is not so big (7,5x3metres so around 6500 gallons if I'm not wring in the conversion from cubic metres to gallons). the pucks bought from the store made the pool not stating for what water volume are enough so I guess I should check given that I red there are some tabs good for 5000 gallons and other that are enough for 10.000

 

[HermanTX]

My pool is not so big (7,5x3metres so around 6500 gallons if I'm not wring in the conversion from cubic metres to gallons).

You do not state how deep but if it is 1.5 to 2 meters deep on average then you are correct in volume of 7000 to maybe 7500 gallons.
It is just best to put 2 - 3 pucks in the floater and test daily.

 

[Mdragger88]

Here’s what each one of those tablets - once dissolved - will do to 7k gal of water

The fc gets depleted but the cya remains & continues to rise with every tablet thus continuously increasing your minimum fc threshold. FC/CYA Levels
The only way to lower cya is to replace water.
If you need a little cya increase the tablets are ok to use but you should switch to liquid chlorine once cya is in target range.

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