FROG + BBB Method?

[Dougget]

Hi,
We are having a new 18x36 IGP installed and it comes with the Frog mineral system. I raised concerns about the Frog with the pool guy and he told me...

"You'll love it. It uses less chlorine, makes the water feel softer, etc, etc. It comes with the pool and if you don't want to use it, you can just remove the chlorine canister and mineral pack and set the lever to zero."

So I'm tempted to try it for the first season and see how it goes. Of course I want to keep an eye on my chemistry so I'm buying a TF-100 kit.

What ranges should I shoot for while using the Frog system?
- Chlorine
- pH
- CC
- CH
- TA
- CYA

I fully expect that I will not want to buy a new mineral cartridge next season. Can I still use the Frog unit as an in line chlorinator?
Here is my thinking - First, remove the chlorine pack and mineral pack. Second, put regular chlorine tabs/pucks into the Frog housing and set the lever on 5.
Then test the chlorine level over several days to fine tune the lever setting on the Frog unit. Find a good equilibrium and keep it set there.
Then I would continue to do daily Chlorine and pH testing and weekly full (TF-100) testing and use the BBB method ongoing.

My logic is this: Rather than having to add liquid chlorine / bleach every 2-3 days, my re-purposed Frog unit would keep a trickle of chlorine running into the pool while the filter is running. Things might get a little out of whack if the kids have a pool party or something, so a bit of bleach might be needed occasionally on top of the Frog trickle.

What do you think?
Thanks,
Doug

 

[Richard320]

Bad idea.

The pool frog adds metals to the water. They don't evaporate. In time, you may end up with metals stains on the walls and green-hired kids. The chlorine feeder uses trichlor. It adds CYA to the pool. It also doesn't evaporate. It just builds and builds until one day you're posting one of those "My pool is green" threads.

Here's a lengthier explanation. Alternative sanitizers and pools--The Truth!!

 

[tim5055]

No Frog....

Richard has it covered.

Someone is paying your pool builder to push these things. They operate on the razor blade marketing concept. Get the consumer in with what appears to be a low cost item (like a free razor) and make your money on the overpriced refills. The pool builder probably gets them for little money so he can include it, plus the distributor may have some award system for sales volume.

Add to that the facts that Richard pointed out (really not good for your pool) and you have to wonder if the PB has your best interest in mind....

 

[Donldson]

Ah the Frog, my old nemesis that has grown on me... Oh, no, I don't like it, I just don't have as much hate for it as I used to. Comes from seeing far, far worse systems I suppose.

So #1, it uses silver. Now, silver isn't copper, and it even as some anti-bacterial properties so good on it. It is most certainly not a replacement for chlorine however and can still causing staining which I hear are even more difficult to remove than copper stains. But it is pretty unlikely that it will put enough silver in to a seasonal pool to really do much harm, nor help too much either. Also that is an extra $120 at startup each year. Yay.

So on to the bac-pacs. The contain 2 lbs of trichlor each. Now, you know that regular use of trichlor can lead to problems, but we will set that aside for the moment. You can get 50 lbs of trichlor for about $2/lb on sale. A bac pac typically runs about $20. So you are paying 5 times more for their trichlor. That is an impressive premium! I sure wouldn't want that to be my primary source of chlorine, which is why I ripped the frog out of my setup shortly after finding this site.

Finally, you absolutely should not be following their 0.5 ppm FC recommendation even with the mineral pac installed. Once the CYA gets up to anything readable that is far too low to keep the water sanitary. So if you are following the FC/CYA chart and using the trichlor as your primary source of chlorine then you will need to constantly be increasing the setting on the frog and going through the pacs faster and faster. Until eventually it cannot keep up and you need to supplement with bleach anyway. Every 10 ppm FC it adds it also adds 6 ppm CYA. At 5x the cost remember!

Finally, nope, your plan will not work. The frog is designed to use its own pacs and won't work if you just put tablets in the feeder. Also, you still have the problems above if you do that. If you are at the pool doing daily testing then I don't know how adding chlorine is adding significantly to the time and effort. More importantly, if you are taking the time and effort to test your water properly (something that puts you above 90% of pool owners I assure you!) then why stop there?

Finally, as I said we had a frog on our pool when we bought our home. Let me assure you, the water was NOT softer or nicer with the frog than it is now following TFP methods. Absolutely 100% the opposite, the water is much better now than it ever was then.