vinyl liner wrinkles explained

[mariane]

Looking at wrinkles in the liner and a curious search of the web resulted in a blog/website/thread: Exposing a New Cause of Liner Wrinkles - Tara Liner Blog
Has anyone ever heard of this before?
Just wondering.
Also, since we keep our chlorine levels on the higher side - above 8-10, and since pH readings are not accurate at these levels, How do I adjust the pH so it does not get too low?
full test results:
FC 8
CC 0
pH 7.2
CYA 40
TA 90
Salt ~ 2000 (we don't test, just dump 2 50 lb bags in early June and call it good)
Borates 80 (I think but can't tell the colors one from another. Did not intend for it to get that high but over shot. lol )
Thanks,
Love TFP

 

[domct203]

Looking at wrinkles in the liner and a curious search of the web resulted in a blog/website/thread: Exposing a New Cause of Liner Wrinkles - Tara Liner Blog
Has anyone ever heard of this before?
Just wondering.
Also, since we keep our chlorine levels on the higher side - above 8-10, and since pH readings are not accurate at these levels, How do I adjust the pH so it does not get too low?
full test results:
FC 8
CC 0
pH 7.2
CYA 40
TA 90
Salt ~ 2000 (we don't test, just dump 2 50 lb bags in early June and call it good)
Borates 80 (I think but can't tell the colors one from another. Did not intend for it to get that high but over shot. lol )
Thanks,
Love TFP

Taylor phenol red can be used up to FC 10ppm, if you are at FC 8ppm now, check your pH.

Why do you run your FC so high?

 

[mariane]

Thanks domtc203
High FC probably cause I'm a "lazy pool girl". ::
Sometimes I don't get to the pool for several days. Then the FC drops near low recommended levels and I bring it up.
We are going away for the long weekend and I will bring it up near before we leave.

I also am bringing up the pH to 7.5 using washing soda per Pool Math.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I take no issue with the article cited.

It has long been the case that vinyl liner manufacturers use calcium carbonate as a filler material in liners for both production purposes (to change the mechanical properties of the material so that production equipment can produce the necessary sizes and shapes) as well as for printing purposes (calcium carbonate makes a decent "white" background material). Pool stores and technicians will often cite this as the reason WHY you have to have higher than necessary calcium hardness in your water or else you'll leach calcium carbonate out of the liner. That claim has never been verified in the literature, by manufacturers or by the tens of thousands of vinyl pool owners that follow the TFP recommended guidelines.

Chemical swelling of polymers is a well known phenomenon and it looks like domestic manufactured vinyl is more resistant to it than cheaper imports. The biggest problem is that vinyl pool liner makers source materials from all over the world and a single vinyl liner could potentially be made up of vinyl sheets that come from different sources. So, trying to tease out these intricacies and link them to specific chemical issues is next-to-impossible.

Thanks for the post, it's another data point to reference and a good warning to pool owners looking at new vinyl pool construction.

 

[mariane]

Thanks JoyfulNoise.
Since I never bother to check CH I still don't need to check it, right? LOL
We will probably need to replace the liner next year since it is developing more wrinkles and also going on its 12th summer. So I don't need to worry about the vinyl liner manufacturers next year as long as its not a cheap import?
But... I better get a better handle on my pH levels.
Thanks