Liner Fading Fast

allegedly this fast fading has to do with the dyes used in blue colored liners.
Medium blues are especially prone.

My liner is 3 years old now as well and I just noticed for the first time this season,
one area in the shallow end that gets the most sun has faded noticeably.

I am thankful that it is gradual to the point it doesn't stick out like a sore thumb
when viewing out of the pool, but under water I can definitely see the difference.

Oddly enough, where the seam overlaps, it is still the original darker color.

Very much considering a plain jane white liner next time.
 
I have an auto cover and it's covered most of the time except for weekends. I'm thinking of the brown sand colored liner next time!

If this is normal, then ok, good to know, but if it's not normal then I'll start questioning what happened.
 
Same here. I'm bubble covered 5 days a week except on evenings and the faded area is shaded by then.

I should have clarified it's the most sun exposed but only on the weekend. I don't have the pool covered
at all over winter though and keep it at open water level. But then again the sun is much lower in the sky.

anyhoo....from what I have read this is normal for our shade of blue liners.
 
So funny that you created this thread. Below, you will find mine after 3 years. I will have to go cut a new piece (around the same size and take some pictures and update the thread). The old one is fading outside to catch up in the event of a tear in the liner. Although, I will be a few months late in taking pictures, but no big deal.

Liner fading progression after 3 years
 
This side NE is New England or north east.. not that we think the world revolves around us LOL

Guess I'll have to invite you over so you can see the true NE. Make sure to wear red or you won't be welcome.

- - - Updated - - -

So funny that you created this thread. Below, you will find mine after 3 years. I will have to go cut a new piece (around the same size and take some pictures and update the thread). The old one is fading outside to catch up in the event of a tear in the liner. Although, I will be a few months late in taking pictures, but no big deal.

Liner fading progression after 3 years

Interesting but mine doesn't get much sun exposure with the auto cover. I'm thinking it's the medium blue dye as stated above and the pool is like a giant washing machine. I'd be interested to follow your experiments though.
 

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Interesting but mine doesn't get much sun exposure with the auto cover. I'm thinking it's the medium blue dye as stated above and the pool is like a giant washing machine. I'd be interested to follow your experiments though.

This is 5 months per year. This year, I probably have more fading and will update sometime next week. It looks bad only when the sun is beating down on the liner, but as sun settles, the liner is not as bright. I probably have another 5-7 years before the fading is really bad, but only time will tell.
 
Guess I'll have to invite you over so you can see the true NE. Make sure to wear red or you won't be welcome.

- - - Updated - - -



Interesting but mine doesn't get much sun exposure with the auto cover. I'm thinking it's the medium blue dye as stated above and the pool is like a giant washing machine. I'd be interested to follow your experiments though.

I breathe & bleed Red
 
My liner went in in 2006. Was a slow fade over the years but is increasing at a rapid rate late in life. The black oval is where I put a puck under the step to fight algea before TFP. Only did that once and learned the hard way. This year the bottom is looking almost white, with almost no color. I guess the TFP clear water doesn't block the sun. ;) An you can see where the installers jumped out onto the deck. And the worst of the fading is only on the bottom. In full sun all day and the sun will hit every part of the pool walls at some point throughout the day.

Liner Fade.jpg
 
Liner is 3 years old, is this excessive fading?

It looks like your top boarder is fading very fast (Take a look at square difference), than mine in 3 years. Curious to know if you keep your CYA/FC ratio around the minimum/maximum daily and how long is your pool open during the year?

Also, updated with some more pictures and not that much of a difference between 3rd and 4th year.



Liner fading progression after 3 years
 
My CYA is 40-60 throughout the summer and I keep FC 4.5 - 9 (depending on CYA that month). I cannot let it drop below 4.5 or I'll get cloudy. I use the non-swg chart because the low chlorine levels of 3-6 and high CYA on the swg chart don't work for my pool.

I open in late April and close at the end of October. The water temp stays around 88 but can go as high as 92 on hot days.

sooooo, is my fading abnormal?
 
My CYA is 40-60 throughout the summer and I keep FC 4.5 - 9 (depending on CYA that month). I cannot let it drop below 4.5 or I'll get cloudy. I use the non-swg chart because the low chlorine levels of 3-6 and high CYA on the swg chart don't work for my pool.

I open in late April and close at the end of October. The water temp stays around 88 but can go as high as 92 on hot days.

sooooo, is my fading abnormal?

I do not know if your fading is abnormal, but you can see the difference between mine and yours. I keep my FC on the lower end, usually ranging between 3-5 daily, and never as high as you go. Maybe the difference in higher FC levels has contributed to fading faster. Regarding your levels, how many skimmers, main drains, and returns do you have? You may want to look at the circulators as maybe there are dead spots somewhere in the pool contributing to cloudiness and the higher chlorine requirements. The higher you go, the more you burn off. Something appears to be off, especially with an SWG. Also, how often do you brush?
 
I have 2 wide mouth skimmers, 1 main drain in the center (sport pool) and 4 returns. I brush minimum of twice a week and manually vacuum once a week (I have a routine and a small pool). Hey, maybe i'm brushing off the color :D I lose 1 FC daily (this week) and run the pump 2pm - midnight currently.

How do you find dead spots? I assume that the return farthest away from the pump would be where it could be having issues because there's less coming out there.
 
If you are losing 1 FC daily at higher levels, then clearly something is going on with cloudy water. Brushing twice weekly breaks up all dead spots as well. You should be fine with circulation. The quality of the liner may be the issue or higher chlorine levels, but not brushing. Your pool is 11,000 gallons and with the set up, you should be fine. You may want to change the pump run time from 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Maybe the pool being down consumes more. You will have to experiment with pump run times and cycles.

This keeps you at 10 hours, but I have mine running at hours. Unless you are running to heat water up, etc. Thanks!
 
Losing 1-2ppm of chlorine daily is considered normal though. And Higher level chlorine is lost
quicker than lower levels.

I really believe it is more of the known issue of blue organic dyes breaking down over time that is the cause.

I could be wrong, but this seems to be the answer i think.
 

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