Suggestion: A "What's That Product" stickied thread

[TheDeuce]

Basically what the thread title says.

When I was switching over to the TFP approach I wanted to know what I had been putting in my water, especially since the pool store test this spring showed that I had 0.3 (unspecified units) of copper and a report of "Copper from products? - Yes" notation. Now apparently we don't have stringent labeling laws here in Manitoba and I suspect other jurisdictions might be the same. After some internet sleuthing I found out that the BioGuard Smart Shock the store had me put in weekly has 0.73% copper citrate, which I suspect is the source of my copper.

Then I found a tub of "Dazzle Performance Plus" in my garage. No information on the label of what's in the product, just a lot of descriptions of what it does. I had the pool store email me a pdf of the safety information sheet and it turns out it's boric acid.

My idea is that we should have one stickied thread where people can post what they've learned is actually in the products they've used in the past. Balance Pak 100? Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate, aka baking soda. Balance Pak 200? Sodium Carbonate, aka washing soda. Smart Shock? 63% sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione, .73% copper citrate, 36% other ingredients.

It might be a useful tool for helping members identify what they've been putting in their pool in the past when they're diagnosing present issues.



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[YippeeSkippy]

The TFPC method doesn't recommend those potions so the topic only comes up when folks ask or say they've used them and now have a problem. I can appreciate your idea, but wouldn't that have the potential to seem as if we endorse them?

Maddie

 

[Winger 03]

The TFPC method doesn't recommend those potions so the topic only comes up when folks ask or say they've used them and now have a problem. I can appreciate your idea, but wouldn't that have the potential to seem as if we endorse them?

Maddie

Hmmmm, Interesting idea. How about if we made a list of "the pool store wants me to add X" or I need to raise my "TA" what is the "generic" thing to use rather than what the Pool Store wants me to buy there.

A friend of mine said he needed to raise his TA. He told me the Pool Store sold him something that when he added it, looked a lot like baking soda. No kidding I told him, that is what it was - just under a fancy $$$$ name.

Maybe such a list is around, but a sticky or something to it might do us all some good.

 

[Donldson]

How about if we made a list of "the pool store wants me to add X" or I need to raise my "TA" what is the "generic" thing to use rather than what the Pool Store wants me to buy there.

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

Non-Recommended Pool Chemicals

These pool chemicals should not be added to your pool. Save your money and frustration and avoid these chemicals!

www.troublefreepool.com

This info has been in Pool School since before you and I joined. Repeating it in a sticky won't get it found any easier. Most people get to a sticky because they get pointed there, not because they found it themselves. It's just not the way most people go about reading on a forum.

 

[TheDeuce]

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

Non-Recommended Pool Chemicals

These pool chemicals should not be added to your pool. Save your money and frustration and avoid these chemicals!

www.troublefreepool.com

Helpful links for sure but I'm thinking along the lines of a thread in the other direction. Not a "use this instead of this" but rather "I used this, what did I use?".

This one's on of my favourites: Bioguard Pool Complete!

See your pool in Hi-Def!
You might have clear, blue pool water because you’ve done the basics by adding chlorine to kill bacteria, a bit of shock to remove contaminants and an algicide to prevent unwanted blooms. Good job! You’re a wise pool owner. But believe it or not, your pool could look even better.

Take your pool to the next level with BioGuard® Pool Complete™, the weekly maintenance product that produces water that’s simply AMAZING to behold. It’s hard to describe the visual results, but even pool owners with routinely good-looking water find their water simply remarkable.

That’s because the 3-in-1 high-intensity action of Pool Complete ensures your water stays super clear, reducing unwanted phosphates and eliminating unsightly waterline rings. It’s a tremendous value too as one bottle can last an entire season for the average pool.

You don’t know what you’re missing… give it a try! It truly is “the final touch for any pool.”

That's all very nice. But what the heck is it?

I need to defend one of my local pool store owners here. When I noticed this stuff on the shelves and asked him about it he said I should just stick with the basics and I'd be fine. He stocks it because customers read about it on the internet and request it so he needs to accommodate their wants but he's not in favour of the magic elixir approach. But he never tries to sell anyone on it. And I've never heard the word 'phosphates' uttered in their showroom.


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[TheDeuce]

The TFPC method doesn't recommend those potions so the topic only comes up when folks ask or say they've used them and now have a problem. I can appreciate your idea, but wouldn't that have the potential to seem as if we endorse them?

Maddie

I doubt it, especially when the thread is basically "I'm fixing the mess these products made and need help knowing what I actually did to my pool!".

It would have saved me from putting copper into my pool all summer last year.


m.

 

[Winger 03]

Recommended Pool Chemicals

Which should I buy? TFP's recommended pool chemicals are cheap, easy, and won't unbalance your pool water.

www.troublefreepool.com

Non-Recommended Pool Chemicals

These pool chemicals should not be added to your pool. Save your money and frustration and avoid these chemicals!

www.troublefreepool.com

This info has been in Pool School since before you and I joined. Repeating it in a sticky won't get it found any easier. Most people get to a sticky because they get pointed there, not because they found it themselves. It's just not the way most people go about reading on a forum.

Thanks JD, looks like we have where I can point people to, much appreciated.

 

[Donldson]

I need to defend one of my local pool store owners here. When I noticed this stuff on the shelves and asked him about it he said I should just stick with the basics and I'd be fine. He stocks it because customers read about it on the internet and request it so he needs to accommodate their wants but he's not in favour of the magic elixir approach.

This is what qualifies for "honest pool store owner" now? Wow. The bar certainly has been set quite low when "I don't think it's necessary, but I keep it on the shelf because I'll be darned if I'm going to miss out on a sale" is considered a defense of their character.

And what are we supposed to say about it? It's aluminum sulfate and water. Does that clear things up? That's a pun, it's just a clarifier. Bottom line is that we don't recommend it, so why give it special recognition? And there are literally hundreds of pool products under thousands of different brand names in the US, some regional and some national. Then there's Canada and Australia. Then there's a ton of English speaking pool owners from non-English speaking countries that are members. And new products every year. It's not worth the time it would take to create some sort of repository, we just answer the questions as they come.

No need to list all the "not recommended" products, the recommended one is much shorter and pretty self-explanatory. This stuff isn't on the list, so obviously it isn't going to get a "yeah, throw it in" from us.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I do think we can improve the "What Not to Put in Your Pool" article to include FLOC, MPS, Aluminum products mentioned in the video but no the article in Pool School.

 

[Richard320]

Nobody looks at stickies. Just like nobody Reads this before they post.

 

[TheDeuce]

This is what qualifies for "honest pool store owner" now? Wow. The bar certainly has been set quite low when "I don't think it's necessary, but I keep it on the shelf because I'll be darned if I'm going to miss out on a sale" is considered a defense of their character.

And what are we supposed to say about it? It's aluminum sulfate and water. Does that clear things up? That's a pun, it's just a clarifier. Bottom line is that we don't recommend it, so why give it special recognition? And there are literally hundreds of pool products under thousands of different brand names in the US, some regional and some national. Then there's Canada and Australia. Then there's a ton of English speaking pool owners from non-English speaking countries that are members. And new products every year. It's not worth the time it would take to create some sort of repository, we just answer the questions as they come.

No need to list all the "not recommended" products, the recommended one is much shorter and pretty self-explanatory. This stuff isn't on the list, so obviously it isn't going to get a "yeah, throw it in" from us.

Howdy! Didn't need to see the handle to know who posted this!

I'm not certain you're understanding my intent. It's not to promote or even suggest that these products be used. It would be to help members know what they've put in their pool before they found TFP. Looking at a list of appropriate products doesn't help one figure out what they've been swimming in in the past. "Hey, my kid's hair turned green." "Did you use copper based algaecide?" "Nope!" {checks thread} "Oh darn, yes I did."


m.

 

[Donldson]

I'm not certain you're understanding my intent.

You want us to scour the thousands of pool products out there, look up the SDS, compile all of that in to a sticky, and then you think everyone will read it (they won't). Am I missing a part of your intent?

Are you volunteering for the time it will take to do this? Because if so then feel free, none of us will turn away a thread with the ingredients of every pool product we run across. Otherwise the idea is DOA, there's too little benefit for the amount of work required.

 

[mguzzy]

What if there was a Wiki entry with the SDS links for all the pool products we can find? Or are the already here?

SDS Search - VelocityEHS

Looking for an SDS? Search the industry’s most used SDS database now online at VelocityEHS.

www.msdsonline.com

 

[JJ_Tex]

Might I suggest a user driven thread where people can post "I used x and later found out it caused y". That way the mods arent having to spend a ton of time on it, but future people who search for product x can come across the tread.

Kinda like the user driven pool color thread: Pool Finish and Color Viewing Room...TFP Member Sound Off

 

[Newdude]

future people who search for product x can come across the tread.

And the horror post by the OP certainly won’t be mistaken for an endorsement.

 

[magiteck]

Nobody looks at stickies. Just like nobody Reads this before they post.

So I just read that (for the second time... I did read when I first joined. ), and something stood out at me after re-reading.

Should this really be in there??
Only the better kits have all of these tests, please read this article to understand why we need this information, and this one to see some test kit options. If you don’t have a test kit with all of those tests, many pool stores offer water testing.

When a user posts their pool store results, they're just told not to trust them. But the "read before you post" thread tells them to use pool store testing and to post those results.

Might be time to update that thread.

 

[Leebo]

Over the Winter there will be some opportunities to improve the content we show to our users and the recommended/non-recommended chemicals are both articles that are to be reviewed. As @YippeeSkippy mentioned there’s now videos and all sorts of new links we can utilize to improve the article overall, it’s just a matter of doing the work.

And @Richard320, you’d be surprised how often the Stickies are read.

 

[mguzzy]

And @Richard320, you’d be surprised how often the Stickies are read.

I'm stuck on stickies, cause stickies stuck on me...

 

[TheDeuce]

You want us to scour the thousands of pool products out there, look up the SDS, compile all of that in to a sticky, and then you think everyone will read it (they won't). Am I missing a part of your intent?

Are you volunteering for the time it will take to do this? Because if so then feel free, none of us will turn away a thread with the ingredients of every pool product we run across. Otherwise the idea is DOA, there's too little benefit for the amount of work required.

Ya see guys? There's a variety of ways one can make the new members feel welcome and comfortable in an inviting environment. One free of intimidation and mockery. A safe place as the new age types like to say. The quote above demonstrates one approach to making a new member feel at home knowing that his posts and contributions are welcomed. Your approach may differ.

Mine sure does.

That aside, nope, I don't want you or the admins or anyone else specifically to scour the thousands of pool products. Rather I would rely on members contributing anything they've discovered on their own, much like how I started with the variety of Bioguard products in my OP. As time goes on we'd have quite the verbose encyclopedia.



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