Adding in-line chlorinator...Good or bad idea?

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altusfirst

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Nov 19, 2013
5
San Diego, CA
FC - 7
TC - 7
pH - 8
TA - 40
CH - ?
CYA - 40
Phosphates- 500

Hi, I'm new to this forum so bear with me if I make any mistakes. First off, I would like to thank in advance anyone taking the time to help me out with my question. This is a great thing everyone is doing and as you all help me I will try me best to help anybody in the future. :goodjob:

So I've had this pool for about 8 years and the maintenance has been done mostly by the same company. Long story short I came to this forum to learn how to maintain the pool myself, since I know no one take care of your stuff better than yourself. However, before I cut the pool service I wanted to install a Pentair rainbow 320 in-line chlorinator. I know some people have an issue with these because of the additional CYA they add to the pool via the tri-chlor pucks. However I feel it is a good product that can help my transition to the BBB method and inexperience. I'd like to hear what you guys think.....I've also attached a pic here http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb4 ... hoto-9.jpg of my equipment so that you can comment on possible installation tips or problems. Thanks!!
 
Welcome to TFP!

The problem with the chlorinator is that your CYA rises so quickly you may only be able to use it for a month or so before your CYA is too high. In my pool, I get about 7.5ppm per week CYA increase using a chlorinator. You don't have a winter or heavy rains to dilute your water, so you can't really afford to add any CYA at all to your pool.

If you want automatic chlorination, you would be better off to consider a salt water chlorine generator (SWCG).
 
I 2nd what was stated above. I have an inline chlorinator on my new pool(mid August). I only used it for about 5-6 weeks before finding this sight. My CYA was already up to 73 after that relatively short amount of time. I turned it off somewhere around the beginning of October and have not used it since. My only source of chlorine has been bleach since then. Due to some heavy rains my CYA is down to ~65 which is till on the high side but quite manageable. The only reason I can foresee using the inline chlorinator again is for vacations and even then I hope to have someone who can add bleach for me. The bottom line is that there is a lot of information here that can seem intimidating at first but in practice is very simple. Just keep reading and asking questions and you will be ready for the switch in no time.
 
Echoing what has already been said, using pucks to chlorinate your pool will only be effective for a while. Installing the puck dispenser is fine but I would think of it as a supplement rather than a primary method for chlorination.
 
altusfirst said:
FC - 7
TC - 7
pH - 8
TA - 40
CH - ?
CYA - 40
Phosphates- 500

Hi, I'm new to this forum so bear with me if I make any mistakes. First off, I would like to thank in advance anyone taking the time to help me out with my question. This is a great thing everyone is doing and as you all help me I will try me best to help anybody in the future. :goodjob:

So I've had this pool for about 8 years and the maintenance has been done mostly by the same company. Long story short I came to this forum to learn how to maintain the pool myself, since I know no one take care of your stuff better than yourself. However, before I cut the pool service I wanted to install a Pentair rainbow 320 in-line chlorinator. I know some people have an issue with these because of the additional CYA they add to the pool via the tri-chlor pucks. However I feel it is a good product that can help my transition to the BBB method and inexperience. I'd like to hear what you guys think.....I've also attached a pic here http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb4 ... hoto-9.jpg of my equipment so that you can comment on possible installation tips or problems. Thanks!!
Click to expand...
I've highlighted the three problems I see.

One: those are pool store test results. Phosphates are immaterial, unless you're in the business of selling phosphate removers. If you want to take control of the pool, get your own test kit yesterday. It sounds like you've been reading here, so you probably already know what we recommend for a kit. The pool store is just not reliable enough. Here's an older thread you probably haven't seen. It makes the point very well: inconsistency-in-readings-t61728.html

Second: pH is too high

Third, there's not much to transitioning. You don't need an automatic chlorinator. If you can use a measuring cup and pour milk into a glass, you have the skills needed to balance your water. Take a reading, plug the numbers into calc.html and add what's needed. A couple minutes a day, that's it. Brushing and vacuuming should be less than an hour. That's pretty much it. In a couple weeks' time, with a little coaching from us, and you'll have the clearest, sparkliest water you've ever seen.
 
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Thanks for the quick response!! Your suggestions back up what I was originally feeling. I always though adding it would just complicate things. I will take the leap and start maintaing my pool myself, and the troublefreepool community, by next month.

I recently bought some 6-way strips that measure the FC, Alkalinity, PH, and CYA. Would that work fine while I save up some money to buy the more accurate kit??? Any tips on what to start stocking up in??

Also Leslie's pool supply store is about a half mile away from my home and they do free water test (where I got my initial readings). So my plan was to check the pool every other day or so with the strips and do a full check at Leslie's every month. What do you guys think?
 
altusfirst said:
Thanks for the quick response!! Your suggestions back up what I was originally feeling. I always though adding it would just complicate things. I will take the leap and start maintaing my pool myself, and the troublefreepool community, by next month.

I recently bought some 6-way strips that measure the FC, Alkalinity, PH, and CYA. Would that work fine while I save up some money to buy the more accurate kit??? Any tips on what to start stocking up in??

Also Leslie's pool supply store is about a half mile away from my home and they do free water test (where I got my initial readings). So my plan was to check the pool every other day or so with the strips and do a full check at Leslie's every month. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...

My thoughts....strips are worthless. At best they tell you nothing, at worse they mislead you into doing the wrong thing. The faster you get the good test kit, the faster you save money by only putting in chemicals that you need.

As for Leslie's testing, you get what you pay for.

I wouldn't stock up on anything yet, except maybe a few gallons of bleach. Remember, the whole philosophy of this method is to only put in what you need. If you don't need it don't buy it, and if you haven't done a test yet, you don't know what to buy.

Bottom line, the faster you cut the cord and completely immerse yourself in the TFPC method (pun most definitely intended) the more money you'll save and the better off you'll be.
 
I could not agree with Smykowski more.

The strips are worthless and the testing at pool stores has been repeatedly found to be inconsistent and inaccurate ... but they will always have something to sell you.
 
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altusfirst said:
Thanks for the quick response!! Your suggestions back up what I was originally feeling. I always though adding it would just complicate things. I will take the leap and start maintaing my pool myself, and the troublefreepool community, by next month.

I recently bought some 6-way strips that measure the FC, Alkalinity, PH, and CYA. Would that work fine while I save up some money to buy the more accurate kit??? Any tips on what to start stocking up in??

Also Leslie's pool supply store is about a half mile away from my home and they do free water test (where I got my initial readings). So my plan was to check the pool every other day or so with the strips and do a full check at Leslie's every month. What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
I think you didn't read the link I posted. inconsistency-in-readings-t61728.html
 

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Your link didn't work for me. I notified the Administrator about it, and I thought you would like to know also. I know there are some server issues going on right now and that may also be the cause, however I think this is an important article and would like to read it. Kindly
 
How's about taking the money for the chlorinater and buy a test kit instead? I know a good kit isn't cheap but the TF100 is a deal and a half! Before I came here I spent much more than the cost of a kit in one trip to the pool store. (And still had bad water.) I used a chlorinater also and pucks and powders--you get the idea. My CYA was so high that I didn't have to add stabilizer for 2 summers. I did have to use more chlorine though. Also, because of my location I lost quite a bit of water over the winter and it still took 2 seasons to get my CYA at an ideal point.
 
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