[UPDATE] When even the "Experts" don't listen to their own advice ...

[PoolStored]

I believe @Newdude started the whole #RunChlorineHOT club (or whatever the hashtag is …)

#TeamRunHot

@Newdude came up with it and is President of the team. He gave me the OK to publish it first...

Sodium Hypochlorite 10%

I've been maintaining my new pool for 2 months and I've been adding 1 gal of bleach (Sodium Hypochlorite 10%) every 3 to 5 days. Is this an average amount of bleach to maintain the chlorine level?

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Newdude]

Guys. Guys. No need for credit. I'm just tickled pink anytime I see a creation off in the wild. RUN FREE little one !!!!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

My dudes … I’m am the OG of running hot … I’m the Tupac West coast SWG owner and @Newdude is the East coast Notorious B.I.G …

 

[PoolStored]

Do I get to be the Midwest Eminem (I did hang out on 8 mile as a kid)...

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Do I get to be the Midwest Eminem (I did hang out on 8 mile as a kid)...

Vanilla Ice

 

[PoolStored]

I see where I rate...

 

[Katodude]

Scuuze me, Florida here. I am Vanilla Ice.

Nothing funnier than a bunch of middle age folks pretending to be rappers.

 

[Katodude]

How do you test your PH then?

ph meter. Works great. Hate the color bar stuff.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

So today I added my 2oz maintenance dose of SKILL-IT. Observations -

• No discernible difference in water chemistry, in particular, FC loss or demand
• Definite increase in “foamy-ness” with additions
• NO WASP!
• No birds on the waterfall (and so there is decreased avian fecal matter)
• Mild improvement in water clarity (algaecides do have clarifying properties)
• No discernible increase in system pressure

All in all, I can call this “experiment” successful. Seems to be little downside risk in using SKILL-IT with a definite decrease in wasp landings. If anything significant changes, I’ll add more to this thread.

SKILL-IT cost $36/quart on Amazon. I’ll likely get 12 weeks out of one 1-qt bottle. That should get us through the majority of the swim season. So $3/week for wasp control seems like a decent trade off to me. YMMV.

 

[JamesW]

Based on your recommendation, I ordered a skillet from Amazon.

Is this the right thing?

How much should I use?

 

[Newdude]

Is this the right thing?

No

Iron. Further Reading

 

[JamesW]

No

Iron. Further Reading

It's ok, I figured out how to use it to control wasps anyway.

When they land on the deck, I smack them with the skillet.

Works well.

 

[mgtfp]

How much should I use?

You need enough to cover the whole pool surface plus some gap fillers that are not included with the product, see fine print on page 687 of the liability waiver document.

 

[JamesW]

My buddy Larry from the Facebook group explained it to me.

You have to let the skillet completely dissolve which adds a lot of iron to the water and then the wasps drink the water and they get loaded with iron.

Then, you put out the magnets and the wasps get stuck to the magnets.

I thought you were just pranking us with the skillet thing, but it's actually quite clever.

 

[mgtfp]

The simple solutions are usually the best. Thanks for sharing your FB wisdom with us, James.

 

[JamesW]

The simple solutions are usually the best. Thanks for sharing your FB wisdom with us, James.

Always glad to help.

They wanted me to sign a NDA, but I said "No Way! This Facebook information is just too good not to share with the world".

 

[JoyfulNoise]

My buddy Larry from the Facebook group explained it to me.

You have to let the skillet completely dissolve which adds a lot of iron to the water and then the wasps drink the water and they get loaded with iron.

Then, you put out the magnets and the wasps get stuck to the magnets.

I thought you were just pranking us with the skillet thing, but it's actually quite clever.

I would see if you can find any cobalt skillets. Cobalt has higher magnetic moment.

 

[JamesW]

Magnetic Moments.

That would make a good name for a line of greeting cards.

Maybe Hallmark will pay you for the idea.

 

[Mdragger88]

I would see if you can find any cobalt skillets. Cobalt has higher magnetic moment.

And just think of the pretty colors.. a 2 for 1!

 

[JoyfulNoise]

I captured this video of the SWG running and the bubbles it is creating with the algaecide in the water -

These bubbles, especially at high speed are super tiny and champagne-like. Without the SKILL-IT in the water, my SWG always produced very large gas bubbles. This is similar to the effect seen when the aerator runs so it’s not surprising.

However, I believe this serves as a good demonstration for those pool owners who switch to an SWG and then complain that their water turns cloudy and full of micro-bubbles. We’ve seen posts like that and so it points not to a problem with the SWG but to the idea that someone was using heavy doses of algaecide or some other chemical that has reduced the surface tension of the water and now the bubbles created are tiny.