First opening with swg,wondering if tabs in the skimmer with swg off would be ok, need a small boost in cya anyway
Clorine tabs in skimmer
- Thread starter REBARBEE
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 62,729
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
No. Never put tablets in the skimmer. Use a floating chlorinator.
Bee,
Adding chlorine tabs to the skimmer works if you are trying to make your plastic skimmer turn yellow and fall apart. Does not happen quickly, but it does happen.
I would never recommend using skimmer as a tab feeder.
Thanks,
Jim R.
Adding chlorine tabs to the skimmer works if you are trying to make your plastic skimmer turn yellow and fall apart. Does not happen quickly, but it does happen.
I would never recommend using skimmer as a tab feeder.
Thanks,
Jim R.
The pucks will lower the pH of the water going through your filter system, which means you'll have acidic water flowing across the plates of your SWG. Not a good thing.
Personally I prefer to use some dichlor powder to raise the CYA. Dissolves quickly, not nearly as acidic as trichlor, and gets the CYA level up quickly.
Personally I prefer to use some dichlor powder to raise the CYA. Dissolves quickly, not nearly as acidic as trichlor, and gets the CYA level up quickly.
If the pump runs continuously, the chemistry does not get bad in the skimmer or in the system.
For example, if you have 7 tabs in the skimmer and it takes 3 days for the tabs to dissolve, this is the chemistry effect downstream at a flow rate of 30 GPM .
If the pump stops, the chemistry gets bad fast.
If there is no heater and the pump does not stop, then I might use tabs in a skimmer, but it is a risk that you have to understand.
The problem with a floater is that trichlor dust or particles/pieces can fall on the floor from the feeder and cause damage for cheaper tabs.
If the TA is good, the pH will stay in range.
Before using trichlor, add the equivalent amount of weight in baking soda (X 1.15) to the pool to offset the expected pH and TA drop.
For 7 trichlor tabs (49 oz.), add (49 x 1.15 oz = 56 oz) = 3.5 lbs baking soda to the water to offset the acidity.
For example, if you have 7 tabs in the skimmer and it takes 3 days for the tabs to dissolve, this is the chemistry effect downstream at a flow rate of 30 GPM .
If the pump stops, the chemistry gets bad fast.
If there is no heater and the pump does not stop, then I might use tabs in a skimmer, but it is a risk that you have to understand.
The problem with a floater is that trichlor dust or particles/pieces can fall on the floor from the feeder and cause damage for cheaper tabs.
If the TA is good, the pH will stay in range.
Before using trichlor, add the equivalent amount of weight in baking soda (X 1.15) to the pool to offset the expected pH and TA drop.
For 7 trichlor tabs (49 oz.), add (49 x 1.15 oz = 56 oz) = 3.5 lbs baking soda to the water to offset the acidity.
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Use powdered shock. It will raise CYA and FC. No waiting to dissolve either, happens in minutes.
For a 20,000 gallon pool, the total effect is as below and the effect on the TA will be a drop of 12 ppm for (7) 7 ounce tabs.
3.5 lbs of baking soda added to the pool before using the trichlor will maintain the TA.
This gives 5.67 ppm chlorine per day and you will lose some chlorine each day, so you will get only a small rise over the three days.
If you lose 4ppm per day, you gain 1.67 ppm per day x 3 days = 5 ppm increase in FC.
The pH loss is offset by the TA and carbon dioxide offgassing, so the pH should remain stable assuming pH loss and gain are equal, which will happen if the TA is good.
3.5 lbs of baking soda added to the pool before using the trichlor will maintain the TA.
This gives 5.67 ppm chlorine per day and you will lose some chlorine each day, so you will get only a small rise over the three days.
If you lose 4ppm per day, you gain 1.67 ppm per day x 3 days = 5 ppm increase in FC.
The pH loss is offset by the TA and carbon dioxide offgassing, so the pH should remain stable assuming pH loss and gain are equal, which will happen if the TA is good.
My pool is a living example of the above advice. When we bought the house, the prior owner and the dealer that built the pool (!) all said to just put the tabs in the skimmer. And it had been done for many years before we bought the house/pool. I continued to do so for several years, until I bought an off line chlorinator for the tabs. Had a leak a couple of years ago, and it turned out to be a crack in the bottom of the skimmer. The completely different pool tech showed me where the bottom of the skimmer was all eroded away, and it was about to come apart like a rusty tin can. The other skimmer, than never had tabs, was pristine. Currently the bad one is lined with a heavy layer of epoxy and fiberglass. But we are on the watch for future failure, which will mean busting up the concrete, digging a pretty massive hole, and replacing things. An outside chance the return line itself may be in poor shape too, so an even bigger hole/trench. Fingers crossed!
In general, I would not use tabs in a skimmer, but under specific circumstances it can be done without causing any problems.
I don't recommend doing it.
You should never do it when you have a heater or when the pump is off.
I don't recommend doing it.
You should never do it when you have a heater or when the pump is off.
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