Pentair Rainbow Chlorinator - Model 300

[Yeshelloo]

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well. I recently put in a VS pool pump and have been running it at about 1100 RPM. I’ve realized that my Pentair chlorinator isn’t filling up and feeding into the return line. Has anyone experienced this issue, is the pressure too low to fill into the chlorinator, or is something broken? Thanks!

 

[jdlangley1]

Is the chlorinator dial turned on? I have the same chlorinator but do not use mine so I have not experienced that.

 

[sktn77a]

If the chlorinator dial is turned up to maximum and you aren't getting any chlorine fed into your pool then I guess, yes, the flow must be too low. You might want to speed it up for 2-3 hours a day to get the chloring feeding.

 

[Richard320]

I've also seen threads from people who have had the tubes get clogged with stuff from those pucks with all kinds of stuff added. If speeding things up doesn't cure it, you might be poking through clogged passages.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't at least ask if you're aware of the problems of using trichlor exclusively. Are you?

 

[Yeshelloo]

I ad

I've also seen threads from people who have had the tubes get clogged with stuff from those pucks with all kinds of stuff added. If speeding things up doesn't cure it, you might be poking through clogged passages.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't at least ask if you're aware of the problems of using trichlor exclusively. Are you?

I add liquid chlorine but for maintenance, it’s easy to use the tabs. Do people just only use liquid chlorine?

 

[mknauss]

A good read --

How to Chlorinate Your Pool

Before chlorinating your pool, you should know these simple tips. Learn the best way to add chlorine to your pool.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Richard320]

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I add liquid chlorine but for maintenance, it’s easy to use the tabs. Do people just only use liquid chlorine?

I use pucks in a floater when I go away for more than overnight. Otherwise it's bleach.

 

[BowserB]

I have a Pentair chlorinator, but since learning about CYA here, I don't use it, but rather use liquid chlorine. However, when I did use it, I found the same thing as you. My return out of the filter splits with one side going to the pool and the other going to the spa. The chlorinator is on the pool side, not the spa. Since I run the pump at a low speed, and not all of the returning water goes past the chlorinator, there just isn't enough to feed through it. Again, since I don't use it, it doesn't really matter to me. If you have a good test kit, check your CYA, as using only the tabs, you may have too much. If my CYA gets low, I will use tabs for a couple days to bring it back up, but even then, I put the tabs in one of those floating things. My Pentair chlorinator just sits. Yes, I have tested it, and if I bring up the pump speed, it does get water pumped into it. I'm pretty new to pools, but from what I've learned here, I am at a loss to understand why there isn't available chlorine tabs with no cyanuric acid. Oh well.

 

[mknauss]

I am at a loss to understand why there isn't available chlorine tabs with no cyanuric acid.

There are -- they are compressed Calcium Hypochlorite. They add calcium to your water instead of CYA. Some areas can get away with that. Many cannot as they have high CH fill water and thus rising CH in their pool.

 

[Donldson]

I am at a loss to understand why there isn't available chlorine tabs with no cyanuric acid.

Chlorine is a gas, it must be combined with something to remain in solid or liquid form at normal temperatures (boiling point is -30F). This can be done with saltwater to form sodium hypochlorite (bleach), though it is not especially stable and the chlorine escapes over time. For solid forms though the options are cyanuric acid in the form of trichlor or dichlor, calcium in the form of calcium hypochlorite, or lithium in the form of lithium hypochlorite. Trichlor is the only one easily compressed in to solid form that will slowly erode in a predictable manner, though there has been some advances in doing this with cal-hypo as well. In each case the chlorine is consumed but the solid it rode in on is left in the pool.