Helping son close pool that is only 2 years old as installed in fall 2017 so 2nd full season of operation . Water is clear . First time he closed as previously the installer closed / 27500 vinyl lined inground with filter plates and is a SWG . Readings look good as PH 7.5 FC 6.0 CC 0.0 TC 6.0 , Akl 90 and Hardness 170 and CYA 50. Lowered water down the returns and notice the dark tile top section of the vinyl liner looked cloudy or faded and it appears to go all the way down on the pebble sections . Used a magic eraser and it lighten it but no means is it back to a brilliant dark upper section. Eraser has some dirt on it after the scrubbing . Thinking we need to clean the liner or add something to the water before closing . With water chemistry pretty good am confused by what it is and what to do , HELP in Eastern PA as winter is approching
Help - liner looks faded
- Thread starter gfritz1
- Start date
Its just fade from the UV and the chlorine in the water. Some liner patterns and markers hold up better than others. You want to raise up the FC to slam level or close to it based on the CYA and close it up.
Having owned a pool for 30 plus years I dont agree that it is "just faded" after 2 years .I have no experience with salt water systems thus am asking for help from the Forum . Could it be a calcium scale and if so how to test and how to remove
Calcium scale can form on vinyl surfaces, but good luck making that happen. Your CH levels and pH levels have to be WAY off the chart for it to actually occur. I wouldn’t even stress about that.........
Can you post a photo of the fading?
Can you post a photo of the fading?
Since you have drained below the returns, why not simply clean it with formula 409? It won't hurt it and it sounds like you are not describing fading but that it is dirty.
Calcium scale would be rough and look like a stain. It should have nothing to do with your salt system. Got a pic?
Calcium scale would be rough and look like a stain. It should have nothing to do with your salt system. Got a pic?
You would be surprised at how poor the dye being used in today's linear is. I just winterized a 2 yr old pool 2day that has significant liner fade. I see it all the time especially in pools that are not covered in winter with solid covers. Sometimes there is a little fading that is actually a film of salt scum but it comes off easily. The fact that a magic eraser disnt clean it is what I'm going by. Goto the auto parts store and get a spray bottle of vinyl cleaner and try a very amall spot or test on a piece of scrap liner first. Hopefully he has pieces from install for possible patch down the road
Hopefully these pictures show the fading or area of concern . As you can see its from the water line down and per the other notes it is not scaly or gritty .Its basically appears like a film over total liner. The magic eraser for sure lightened it a little and you could see some dirt on the eraser after the rubbing. He has to pull back the cover today to add the water pills etc so we will try the 409 and vinyl cleaner as see what happens .Thanks I agree that his hardness reading has always been below 200 and while he did have a high PH for a short period it was not like months . Will report what we find
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borjis
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Opened back up tonight to try cleaning the walls as suggested by a few different people above and take a closer picture . It was not noticeably visible tonight almost like is dissipated off the liner and deposited itself under the winter cover. Very warm under the cover and many droplets or beads on it. We tried two different cleaners on the walls and got some noticeable dirt on a white rag but not a lot and could not see the difference where we did this. Sorry the picture does not show it better but you could see before a visible white film from water line down . So guess we will close and see what it looks like in Spring .Will update then