*UPDATED* Is liquid stabilizer worth it?

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thefloatqueen

thefloatqueen

Bronze Supporter
Dec 24, 2018
1,377
Columbus, Ohio
Pool Size
8000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
My CYA somehow dropped to 30 (probably from rain and having to add fill water from evaporation) and I am going through bleach like crazy! I have a little bit of granule stabilizer left but I absolutely abhor doing the sock method so I’m contemplating buying liquid stabilizer from Amazon for $30 and will be delivered tomorrow morning. Is it worth it to not deal with the hassle? Can I test CYA hours after adding it? The granule stabilizer seems to take forever to show up after testing. Below is a pic of the one I might order. Thanks in advance!
****SEE UPDATE IN COMMENTS!****


E1F5CCFB-9659-40AD-8C0A-60CA0EAA828A.jpeg
 
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”worth it” is a personal decision. Personally I dont think so, but if you hate the sock method that much and dont mind paying the $30 then yes.

Make sure you shake the jug vigorously as it has a lot of sediment and sludge at the bottom.
 
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I'm one of those people who thinks the liquid is worth it - it's all I buy. I tried the sock method once. I had a lot of CYA to add and I ended up having to squeeze it and squeeze it and squeeze it some more to get it all into the water. It dried out my hands and I decided from that point on that I'd prefer to just pour the liquid around the perimeter, give it a brush and get immediate results. Also, my pH tends to run low and the liquid conditioner doesn't drop it like the powder stuff does.
 
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UPDATE: Ughhhh I don’t know if it’s because of all the rain and me having to drain several inches of water the day after I added the liquid conditioner but when I tested my CYA yesterday it is STILL 30!! I mean the dot hasn’t changed at all from before. I shook the jug really good and poured the 3 cups (per PoolMath app) slowly around the pool then did a quick brush/swirl afterwards to make sure it was all mixed (this was on Sunday). Tested CYA the next day and it’s the SAME! WTH? Did I get a defective product? Did me adding it on a REALLY hot and sunny day make it less effective? I gave it another go last night after the sun went down so we’ll see when I test my CYA in a bit. If it’s not at 40, I’m getting a refund. So disappointed. I was super excited about the stuff. 😭
 
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DiverGirl1972 said:
I'm one of those people who thinks the liquid is worth it - it's all I buy. I tried the sock method once. I had a lot of CYA to add and I ended up having to squeeze it and squeeze it and squeeze it some more to get it all into the water. It dried out my hands and I decided from that point on that I'd prefer to just pour the liquid around the perimeter, give it a brush and get immediate results. Also, my pH tends to run low and the liquid conditioner doesn't drop it like the powder stuff does.
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I posted an update above. Do you use the same brand of liquid stabilizer? I’m wondering if I got a bad batch or if I did something wrong. I shook it real good and followed the instructions. I’m so disappointed.
 
thefloatqueen said:
I posted an update above. Do you use the same brand of liquid stabilizer? I’m wondering if I got a bad batch or if I did something wrong. I shook it real good and followed the instructions. I’m so disappointed.
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I use the exact stuff - Natural Chemistry as you have pictured above! I kind of had the same problem when I added the first dose of the season. In the end, I think my CYA was lower than I had initially thought but everything else I've added since has registered within an hour or two as expected when re-tested. If you added it, it should be in there!
 
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DiverGirl1972 said:
Also, when you got to the end of the jug, did you add water to the jug, give it a good shake and ensure every last bit went in the pool? I then brush the heck out of it until all little white bits are gone from the bottom of the pool.
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PoolMath only said to add 25 fluid ounces to my 7000 gallon pool with a CYA of 30 (I’m trying to get it to 40) so I shook it for several minutes to hopefully get the stuff from the bottom of the bottle all mixed in but I did not add water to it and I poured the stuff into a measuring cup since I was afraid I would accidentally add too much. And of course, it’s POURING down rain right now (I might even have to drain a half-inch or more) so I didn’t even get to test my CYA after adding it last night! I ran the pump for 8 hours after adding it. I swear it better be 40 next time I test or it’s getting returned lol!
 
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And I brushed a little but I didn’t know it leaves white stuff at the bottom!!! 😳😭 I only did a very quick little brush near the perimeter of the pool and I swirled the water around. Lord, I expected this to be as easy as pouring liquid chlorine. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
 
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Shoot.....looks like I am going to have to drain almost an inch. Water level is getting too high. I can’t catch a break lol! All of last season my CYA stayed at a solid 50 and held chlorine great. The only time I added stabilizer was when I first filled my new pool and I used the sock method. Now somehow it is 30 and I’m going through bleach like crazy.
 
Since you get a lot of rain and have to drain periodically, measuring the CYA level just before adding stabilizer is a good practice. I highly doubt you got a defective product, just your CYA level was lower than you thought.
The sock method is not all that bad. Well, maybe when you try to add a lot of stabilizer it can take a long time and lots of squeezing, but for adding smaller doses just to bump up the CYA level, it works quite well. And is quite a bit cheaper as well.
 
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thefloatqueen said:
And I brushed a little but I didn’t know it leaves white stuff at the bottom!!! 😳😭 I only did a very quick little brush near the perimeter of the pool and I swirled the water around. Lord, I expected this to be as easy as pouring liquid chlorine. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
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It's normally just a little bit and a good vigorous "once around" with the brush usually takes care of it for me. I usually schedule additions of this before my weekly brushing to kill two birds with one stone. It's not quite as easy as chlorine, but for me, it's still better. I've already added 3 1/2 gallons of conditioner to my pool this summer and I could probably bump mine up another 10 as well. Hang in there!
 
Seems like a lot of trouble you are going through w/ the liquid method to avoid the trouble of the sock method. :)

I also thought the sock method was a pain. Well, I figured out that if I attach the sock to a pole DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF a return, the process goes much, MUCH faster. And you know if you put on gloves, you can avoid dry hands. :) Honestly...I have the long rubber gloves I use when adding MA and I will just set them out when adding CYA. Last time I did this, I added a little over 2 pounds and it only took a couple of hours to dissolve it. I think I went out and squeezed the sock out 2 or 3 times.
 
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Welp, the liquid stabilizer is getting returned to Amazon and I ended up doing the dreaded sock method last night. So bummed this didn’t work out, but just happy to finally have a CYA of 40 so I’m not going through so much liquid chlorine (even on days the pool isn’t being used). I thought about just using trichlor pucks in a floater until I could bring it up to 40 but it sounds like that would take a while and those things aren’t cheap. Thank you all for your help! I appreciate it. :)
 
HeyEng said:
Seems like a lot of trouble you are going through w/ the liquid method to avoid the trouble of the sock method. :)

I also thought the sock method was a pain. Well, I figured out that if I attach the sock to a pole DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF a return, the process goes much, MUCH faster. And you know if you put on gloves, you can avoid dry hands. :) Honestly...I have the long rubber gloves I use when adding MA and I will just set them out when adding CYA. Last time I did this, I added a little over 2 pounds and it only took a couple of hours to dissolve it. I think I went out and squeezed the sock out 2 or 3 times.
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Yep, I put the CYA granules in a sock and tied some string to it, tied it to the frame of my pool (I have an Intex) right in front of the return, let it do it’s thing, and periodically squeezed it. It took less than an hour to dissolve about 10 ounces. Now I’m running my pump 24/7 until it fully registers. Should I test again in 2 or 3 days? Or longer? I’m starting to get low on my CYA testing reagent from my liquid stabilizer experiment that I had to do twice lol
 
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bbrowncods said:
What is wrong with gradually adding the granules to the skimmer? It is what I do. Most stays in the skimmer basket and then ends up in the prefilter and dissolves in a few hours. I have never used a sock (at least not for this).
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The sock method has always been recommended on here so it’s just what I’ve stuck to since I know it works. This is only my second time ever having to do it since getting a pool last summer.
 

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