Pentair chlorinator issue

[srinig1]

Bought a home that came with a beautiful pool. Managing it myself. Learning as I go. Huge thanks to TFP!

The pool is fairly new pool (around 2 years). The one issue I notice is that chlorinator is not dissolving the tablets.

when we got the house there were lots of tablets in the chlorinator and it was not dissolving.

A YouTube video suggested not having enough water. So I opened the chlorinator let the pump run and fill it with water and then closed the lid. Did not help.

A Friend told me to try just with two tablets. That did bot help either.

Any idea why the tablets are not dissolving? Something got shut? Something got disabled in the controller may be?

Attached are couple of pictures and will be glad to add specific ones.

Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks

 

[HermanTX]

There are 2 things to check.
First - remove the hose and ensure it is clear. Also verify that the dial is working by blowing through it. It is metered from lo to hi flow so just ensure that is working. Also you can move the tube to the top of the tube rather than at the bottom so flow goes completely down the tube pass the pucks.

Second - There is a check valve in the bottom of the tube (below the where pucks sit). That is to ensure flow does not go back into the tube from the main pipe but it could be stuck not allowing flow to go down.

See manual attached

 

[reggiehammond]

Bought a home that came with a beautiful pool. Managing it myself. Learning as I go. Huge thanks to TFL!

The pool is fairly new pool (around 2 years). The one issue I notice is that chlorinator is not dissolving the tablets.

when we got the house there were lots of tablets in the chlorinator and it was not dissolving. A YouTube video suggested not having enough water. So I opened the chlorinator let the pump run and fill it with water and then closed the lid. Did not help. Fried told me to try just with two tablets. That did bot help either.

any idea why the tablets are not dissolving? Something got shut? Something got disabled in the controller may be?

Attached couple of pictures and will be glad to add specific ones.

Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks

Now is a great time to rip it out and replace with a SWCG; the tabs are adding CYA and you’ll be reliant on the rain to push enough water out for that not to become an issue. Do you have a proper test kit?

 

[HermanTX]

It may be helpful for future needs to update your signature under your profile to include pool information, equipment information, test kit type, etc.

Also, you indicate that you have been learning from TFP so you know that pucks can increase your FC levels and really cause some issues in the future. So you may want to switch to liquid chlorine.

 

[srinig1]

It may be helpful for future needs to update your signature under your profile to include pool information, equipment information, test kit type, etc.

Also, you indicate that you have been learning from TFP so you know that pucks can increase your FC levels and really cause some issues in the future. So you may want to switch to liquid chlorine.

The CYA is at 25 PPM. I am trying to use liquid chlorine and pucks until i get CYA to 30/35 and then switch to liquid chlorine. I can add stabilizer, but the process seems to very tedious

 

[HermanTX]

The CYA is at 25 PPM. I am trying to use liquid chlorine and pucks until i get CYA to 30/35 and then switch to liquid chlorine. I can add stabilizer, but the process seems to very tedious

In this heat and not sure how long sun is on your pool, you really need to get to 40 CYA soon or you continue to be on brink of minimum FC levels. See the FC/CYA Levels which gives target levels of FC for all CYA levels.
Dissolving 8oz pucks can take a while (which is why you are trying to get your chlorinator to function properly-right?).

Do you use PoolMath app?
There is a feature in it called Effects of Adding. I put in your pool volume and every puck (8oz) raises FC by 3.3ppm and raises CYA by 2 ppm - so you need 5 pucks to fully dissolve as a minimum (there is always some error in these calculations) to gain 10ppm of CYA.

 

[HermanTX]

I can add stabilizer, but the process seems to very tedious

Not sure what you mean. I have an old nylon sock that I use - I fill it with 2lbs of stabilizer and hang it in front of a return jet. I use a wood stick and some string with bricks as my counterweight. In less then a day, it is full dispersed. I then test a day or two later to confirm the increase. See picture.

 

[BK MAC]

If everything is working well with the chlorinator, it may be your brand of pucks. My PB installed my pool with the same chlorinator. The day they filled the pool they dumped CYA in my skimmer, threw some Bioguard SilkGuard sticks in the chlorinator and left. While waiting days for someone to return and orient me on my new pool, I noticed a slight green tinge to the water. There was plenty of water going through the chlorinator (they also eventually changed the hose to the top position), but the tabs were so compressed they would not dissolve. Fast forward.....I get new tabs that dissolve, water was chlorinated and clear, CYA hit 70, I find TFP and realize the err of my ways, remove the pucks from the chlorinator, switch to liquid chlorine and live happily ever after.

 

[reggiehammond]

The CYA is at 25 PPM. I am trying to use liquid chlorine and pucks until i get CYA to 30/35 and then switch to liquid chlorine. I can add stabilizer, but the process seems to very tedious

The only thing to worry about with stabilizer is contact with your plaster or liner. Any way you can get it out into the pool works. A broom stick with a sandbag on the deck works great.

 

[srinig1]

In this heat and not sure how long sun is on your pool, you really need to get to 40 CYA soon or you continue to be on brink of minimum FC levels. See the FC/CYA Levels which gives target levels of FC for all CYA levels.
Dissolving 8oz pucks can take a while (which is why you are trying to get your chlorinator to function properly-right?).

Do you use PoolMath app?
There is a feature in it called Effects of Adding. I put in your pool volume and every puck (8oz) raises FC by 3.3ppm and raises CYA by 2 ppm - so you need 5 pucks to fully dissolve as a minimum (there is always some error in these calculations) to gain 10ppm of CYA.

yes. you are correct. it is really really hot. added 2LB of stabilizer. will check again tomorrow and will add more as required.

 

[srinig1]

Not sure what you mean. I have an old nylon sock that I use - I fill it with 2lbs of stabilizer and hang it in front of a return jet. I use a wood stick and some string with bricks as my counterweight. In less then a day, it is full dispersed. I then test a day or two later to confirm the increase. See picture.
View attachment 364895

thanks for the picture. tried the same technique thank you very much

 

[HermanTX]

yes. you are correct. it is really really hot. added 2LB of stabilizer. will check again tomorrow and will add more as required.

It takes a couple to 3 days for the CYA to show in your tests so don't keep adding stabilizer. Let it dissolve and mix throughout the pool and test daily to see changes. You do not want to overshoot so error on the low side.
Use the Pool Math app to look at the "effects of adding" on the drop down menu to do your calculations for adding any chemical.