Vinyl Liner Spa with Stain I Cant Remove ** PLEASE HELP**

[Northview]

Hi,

I am new to this forum. Thank you to all who contribute and help others find or correct problems.

So about two weeks ago i opened my pool, the pool was clean and the spa was really dirty with algae.

Please keep in mind that the pool and spa have 2 separate equipment so they are two bodies of water with Salt Chlorinators.

Once the algae cleared up in the spa i noticed a brown stain on the bench in the spa.

The next day i went to a local pool store. He told me i should try Natural Chemistry - Stain Free Cleaner. I sprinkled it into the water around the spa. Nothing happened.

I went back to the pool store the next day and the owner told me that since that didn't work i should try adding. 5 Liters of Chlorine, 1/3 a bag of salt and to boost the chlorinator. I went back home added everything and nothing happened.

I then went back to the store the following day and he told me i should drain the spa up to the bench and clean it with GLB PoolCare - TLC Pool Cleaner, it faded a little bit as i was doing it. I was scrubbing like crazy. At that moment my wife came out and said try this Fantastic all purpose stain remover with bleach. It came off amazingly. I was shocked. It was new again. I was very happy knowing it was gone.

I was wrong! The next day i went to work, my wife called me and said that the stain is back again and it looks like we didn't do anything the previous night. I couldn't believe it.
Latest Water Readings (May 24th, 2024): FC=6.18ppm, TC=6.71ppm, Combined Chlorine=.53ppm, PH = 7.5, Hardness 199 ppm, Alkalinity = 110 ppm, Cyanuric Acid = 44 ppm, phosphate = 266 ppm, salt = 2900

I am lost for words and don't know where to turn for help. Does anyone know what's going on or what can i do the get rid of these stains?

 

[PoolStored]

So, the first product (Natural Chemistry - Stain Free Cleaner) was citric acid. Same thing as Vitamin C pills you buy OTC at the drug store. This is used to remove IRON staining...so it is not iron.

GLB PoolCare - TLC Pool Cleaner is Sulfuric, Hydrochloric (muriatic) and phosphoric acids. These are harsh on plaster pools and should be used as a last resort.

The odd parts are the lines on the stains...do these line up with anything?

If you have a chlorine puck, with gloves, use one and rub it GENTLY over the stains and see what happens.

Here is our stains guide.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Northview]

So, the first product (Natural Chemistry - Stain Free Cleaner) was citric acid. Same thing as Vitamin C pills you buy OTC at the drug store. This is used to remove IRON staining...so it is not iron.

GLB PoolCare - TLC Pool Cleaner is Sulfuric, Hydrochloric (muriatic) and phosphoric acids. These are harsh on plaster pools and should be used as a last resort.

The odd parts are the lines on the stains...do these line up with anything?

If you have a chlorine puck, with gloves, use one and rub it GENTLY over the stains and see what happens.

Here is our stains guide.

Stains in Your Pool

The stained pool is beyond embarrassing. Our in-depth Guide to remove stains in your pool will help you to remove the stains and prevent them in the future.

www.troublefreepool.com

Thank you for your response.

So basically drain the spa back down and then get a chlorine puck and rub it on the stains I’ll try that.

Yea I know I see those perfect lines and I can’t think why it’s like that.

I’m starting to think maybe it has something to do with the soft padding underneath the liner?

 

[PoolStored]

So basically drain the spa back down and then get a chlorine puck and rub it on the stains I’ll try that.

Read the stain guide!

No, do not drain. Put on a rubber glove and put the puck underwater. GENTLY move the puck around. You will know quickly if it works. If it doesn't work fairly quickly, stop, put the puck in a zipper bag (smelly). You do not want to damage the liner. Be careful, not too long. If it does lift the stain, then the stain is organic, STOP with the puck. To remove organic stains raise the FC up between 60% and 100% of shock level for your CYA, Chlorine / CYA Chart, and brush often, daily if you can.

 

[Northview]

Read the stain guide!

No, do not drain. Put on a rubber glove and put the puck underwater. GENTLY move the puck around. You will know quickly if it works. If it doesn't work fairly quickly, stop, put the puck in a zipper bag (smelly). You do not want to damage the liner. Be careful, not too long. If it does lift the stain, then the stain is organic, STOP with the puck. To remove organic stains raise the FC up between 60% and 100% of shock level for your CYA, Chlorine / CYA Chart, and brush often, daily if you can.

Thank you,

So after researching the TFP chart it says that the fc shock level is about 24 at 60 cya level. So that would mean I should shock the spa or just add chlorine to make the levels higher. It’s a 8x8 spa with bench all around so I’m not sure exactly how much water is in there. Right now my free chlorine reading is 6.18 ppm.

Sorry for so many questions. Thank you very much for your help.

 

[PoolStored]

Test the stain first with a puck. If it is organic, then, make an estimate of the volume of the spa (LxWxD) and use pool math "effects of adding," then tests with chorine. If you overshoot reduce the volume of the spa. If you undershoot, increase the volume of the spa in Pool Math.

8x8x3' is about 1400 gallons.

 

[Northview]

Hi, so I just tried the chlorine pucks and the stain came off, I can’t believe it.

Only problem is this would take me all summer to do with the pucks.

Now that we know that worked, what would be my next step.

Again thank you so much. I can’t believe the local pool guy who has 40 years experience didn’t recommend me to try this! Wtf. I spent $200 on cleaning products.

love this forum so far.

 

[PoolStored]

Now that we know that worked, what would be my next step.

As my mother would say, I'm not going to tell you the 4th time. Read the stain guide, please.

Report back with your proposed next steps for approval...

 

[Northview]

lol ok

 

[Northview]

Hi ok, so today I added about 30 grams of spa chlorine granular.

I waited about 2 hours. I was reading that my alkalinity was out of wack so I added some alkalinity plus.

I waited another 4 hours.

I then added 5 litres of liquid chlorine. Because I tested the water and I wasn’t getting any free chlorine reading for some reason. My salt generator keeps reading low salt so I added 1/2 a bag of salt.

I then added some ph minus to lower the ph level.


I need to get this water balanced.

Also im not sure if my salt cell is working properly..

 

[Northview]

These are my current numbers