Cal Hypo tablets. Try the Pool Life brand. Just put them in the pool skimmer and not in any chlorinator or floater that you previously had 3" Trichlor tablets in.
Thank you for your candor, I stopped buying tablets years ago after losing hundreds of dollars from dishonest salespeople or ones that just didn't know. I found "trouble free pool" and learned a lot of what is in your podcast from them. Thank you for your honesty.
My water is chronically soft. I live in South jersey and have well water. Even without passing it through our water softener and treatment tanks in the house (direct fro the well) it's just super soft. Last CH reading I got was 75. And we use cal hypo to shock the pool! I've finally talking the rest of the family out of the trichlor because we had algae constantly from high CYA. Debating on a liquidator/stenner pump solution or a slow dissolving calcium hypochlorite solution. Since it's a vinyl liner pool (30k gallons) and we have such soft water I feel like cal hypo tablets would be the easiest... But the chlorinator solutions seem to suck. I guess just put it in the skimmer? Running the variable speed pump 24/7. But then again I can get 5gallons of 12% liquid chlorine from the pool store for $10 after jug deposit. Paired with a cheap liquid dispensing solution that seems like the cheapest option.
2 года назад
I just lowered my CYA from 150+ down to Bout 100, maybe slightly less by draining 1/2 the pool. Is there another way to lower CYA without draining? 20k gallon pool.
Ikr. Why aren't cal-hypo tablets the standard? We can add stabilizer as needed, or shock with dichlor. Almost half the weight of a trichlor tablet is CyA.
@@Aaron_Revis I think you meant to say cal-hypo tablets. Trichlor are CyA tablets and are used in chlorinators. But true, cal-hypo and trichlor do not play well together. I personally have heard of about 6 or 7 chlorinators blowing up when people put cal-hypo in them. It reacts with any residual trichlor that remained inside, not the chlorinator itself..
@ Thomas leville - I don't think this is correct. I think you may be reading the label incorrectly or mixing up their products. They sell a bucket of 3" tabs that are trichlor and they also sell a bucket of "chlorinating granules" which is dichlor.
The CYA in my pool was so high, I drained 80% of my pool, refilled it with fresh water, added 32 oz of bioactive in the pool, waited a few days and the CYA was still above 100 ppm. My plan is to use calcium hypochlorite tablets.granules or liquid chlorine.
@@vegasranger you absolutely can! Just be sure you begin your season with the correct amount of stabilizer (or CYA) then use liquid chlorine only. Just keep in mind depending where you live, you will have to be diligent about adding it every other day if not daily to compensate for the 1ppm daily burn off. For some folks with very busy lives and no pool guy, that can be a pain in the ass. For example I live in AZ and if I do liquid only I use it daily and it just becomes part of nightly routine before bed since I run my pump for 12 hours during the night. Always add liquid chlorine in the evening so it has time to work. If you add it first thing in the morning or afternoon the sun will burn it off quicker.
@@vegasranger yes, but then you have to add chlorine every to every other day. The tablets help to hold your chlorine level where it should be, about 3 ppm
My Central California pool is at 30 ppm CYA and I sanitize with liquid alone. Yes, it is a hassle adding liquid every couple days during the swim season...or even daily during a heat wave with lots of swimming. But I don't have to add that much at a time compared to if I had high CYA. I plan on adding borates soon. Question: Does free chlorine level drop at a consistent rate regardless of the level? For instance, does it drop from 6 to 5 ppm at the same rate as 4 to 3? I'm trying to determine if I would benefit from adding larger amounts of liquid less frequently vs. smaller amounts more often.
This should be a required watch for all pool owners. Tossing tablets in a floater and walking away is what too many people want to do. Then they ask pool stores why their pool is green with a floater full of tablets. The money wasting commences shortly after that.
Your pool will regret it when not if you get phosphates just not good to use constantly the bad thing is when you add shock to your skimmer it’ll literally shock your chlorinator
@@Jgentry818 I have a swg designed for a 50k gallon in an 18k gallon pool, and I read trouble free pool religiously and never heard about cya hurting a salt gen
I run a pool service route and this has been our biggest issue. We attempted to use the cch endurance skimmer tablets with cal hypo but found they dissolved too fast for weekly service. Additionally, the cal hypo tabs are very hard too find. We are now experimenting with a weekly cal hypo shock and minimal trichlor tablets to maintain chlorine levels but it can be very difficult in Texas to maintain chlorine. We are looking into poolrx and borate but the high initial cost is challenging for a small company. Any thoughts on a good balance of trichlor, liquid, or cal hypo with our weekly service?
Cal Hypo tablets seem to be the answer - unfortunately they are not readily available as you noted. Also I have found that 2 CCH tablets equals 1-Trichlor tablets so that can get expensive. Borates or a PoolRx seem to be the answer but you will need to pass the cost on to your clients. You can really cut down on the chlorine use with either of those products. Some guys are pushing salt systems but that is more of a niche market. Try your best to use one of these enhancers.
For my chlorine pools, I will use cal hypo tablets in the early fall, winter and early spring. Then I will switch to trichlor tablets for the summer but yah stabilizer gets too high late summer then I will have to start shocking/adding algaecide.
I`v been doing pools since 1987, first in S. Fl. now in N. Fl. this is why its so important to keep a log of what you test and what you add...Ch & Ph every week, Alk, every other week, Cal & Stab. once a month baring any issues. I`v found 99% of home pools take 1 jug & 1 tablet a week, maybe 3-4 cups of acid. The heart of the pool is filtration & circulation. I have done THOUSANDS of pools, first in house for 5 years, then as a Sub for 15 years but as a sub, I worked for a man who sold routes, he would build a route, I would maintain it until he found a buyer, we did that about 5-6 times a year, we did that for about 10 years. There`s not a whole lot I haven`t seen, I did all his clean ups & acid wash`s. I just started a new Comm. pool on my route, barely could see the top step, 2 1/2 weeks latter crystal clear.
@@cwstewartjr1973 that`s not bad at all, I`m so stingy, I will break a tab in half, so if i need to put more than one, I`ll go with 1 1/2 tabs and do the same for the next pool, so at the end of the day I save about 5-6 tabs and for the week 20 or so and for the month, you see where i`m going.
Stay away from TRICHLOR. It’s unknown as to how much pool owners have spent on trying to correct what these tablets do. Between all the chemicals and water replacement the amount has to be astronomical, and yet, these tablets are sold without any warning as to the build up of CYA. Just because pools are seen as a luxury, doesn’t give them the right to abuse pool owners.
While I do agree retail pool stores can often take advantage of customers people still need to use their brain and READ. I can't count how often I hear people say they hate chlorine and want a salt pool because "it's natural". The industry as a whole is two tiered - highly educated on the subject or completely misinformed.
I recently had to switch back to trichlor tabs in my inline chlorinator. I just couldn't keep FC and TC high enough with liquid (even adding everyday). Plus our TA is quite high so I like the acidity of the trichlor to help maintain pH. Be careful when using them (like any pool chemical) and they can be very effective. P.S. I'm in the Houston area: high T, lots of sun, lots of rain.
There are situations where Trichlor is not terrible. Out here on the West coast we just get very little rain and we will have severe drought restrictions starting next month. So draining a pool to lower CYA may become very expensive.
I am in Houston too. Going through the same issue. Been using Trichlor for last few years May - Sept and liquid Oct - April. This week I checked my CYA and was shocked to see it at 140. Just drained pool 1/3, refilled and after a few days repeated. After I get it down to 40 I am going to try to just add liquid each night and run the pump at night. If I can't keep up I'll put 1 tab in a floater for the week to see if it helps. Liquid (Wal-Mart) is $5 gallon 10%. I'll keep it in cool / dry place to make sure it doesn't burn off (ie - not in my garage or outside).
I've learned the hard way. Pool Rx, liquid chlorine, Cal hypo if my calcium is still on lower side (otherwise liquid chlorine) baking soda, muriatic acid, soda ash are my friends. Nothing worse than having 100+ CYA after dropping 16 pounds of shock into a very light teal pool and realizing cya was to blame. My CYA now is basically less than 20. I figured with pool RX and I watch the pool, if I know swimming will happen, I'll chlorinate night before and maybe shock after later the next night.
@Michael Paris that's why I montior my calcium. All my rocks and tile are coated and don't have to ever worry about it. Coat your stuff and protect it.
Borates, borates, borates has been the answer to pool perfection for me. No trichlor, only use slow dissolve NST cal hypo tabs and with the borates, Chlorine levels have stayed in range almost 2 weeks without adding or shocking. Booya!
@@jasonjanes3256 I poured 20lbs through the skimmer in 14000 gal. Tested at 50ppm and should be good for the season. Good idea to ensure all your levels are on point before adding.
I help my neighbors, and take care of their pool. When I took over their cynaric acid level was at 400 PPM! They had just kept dropping tablets in over the years. They thought people at the pool store were using water testing to rip people off. They had to use yellow out every week. They originally were opposed to going to liquid chlorine because it was "more expensive", even though they were spending 100s of dollars on yellow out a year. Talk about being "Pennywise, dollar foolish".
@@hoppingrabbit9849 They were so cheap they didn't want to drain and fill. I guess we did some but it was just from backwashing their 20 year old sand filter. It took over a year, but their CYA is now under 80.
It’s simple. If you rely on tablets at some point you won’t be able keep the water sanitary and you will have to drain the water and fill with fresh water. You can’t remove Stabilizer from the pool water once added. Only use tablets when you are on vacation.
I think I’m going to create my own channel just to react to yours. I’m really surprised that Leslie’s attached their name to yours.. You clearly didn’t read the instructions on the bucket.
Fantastic episode!!
Can i add tablets in the skimmer instead of floater?
Negative. It will ruin your equipment.
Great episode!
What kind of chlorine tablets are good or don't have cyanoric acid ?
Cal Hypo tablets. Try the Pool Life brand. Just put them in the pool skimmer and not in any chlorinator or floater that you previously had 3" Trichlor tablets in.
So what do you recommend to use instead of the tablets? Liquid chlorine?
Liquid chlorine and Cal Hypo tablets
Thank you for your candor, I stopped buying tablets years ago after losing hundreds of dollars from dishonest salespeople or ones that just didn't know. I found "trouble free pool" and learned a lot of what is in your podcast from them.
Thank you for your honesty.
My water is chronically soft. I live in South jersey and have well water. Even without passing it through our water softener and treatment tanks in the house (direct fro the well) it's just super soft. Last CH reading I got was 75. And we use cal hypo to shock the pool! I've finally talking the rest of the family out of the trichlor because we had algae constantly from high CYA. Debating on a liquidator/stenner pump solution or a slow dissolving calcium hypochlorite solution. Since it's a vinyl liner pool (30k gallons) and we have such soft water I feel like cal hypo tablets would be the easiest... But the chlorinator solutions seem to suck. I guess just put it in the skimmer? Running the variable speed pump 24/7. But then again I can get 5gallons of 12% liquid chlorine from the pool store for $10 after jug deposit. Paired with a cheap liquid dispensing solution that seems like the cheapest option.
I just lowered my CYA from 150+ down to Bout 100, maybe slightly less by draining 1/2 the pool. Is there another way to lower CYA without draining? 20k gallon pool.
Draining is the most effective way really.
Why don’t they make tricolor without so much dang stabilizer in it?
Ikr.
Why aren't cal-hypo tablets the standard? We can add stabilizer as needed, or shock with dichlor. Almost half the weight of a trichlor tablet is CyA.
It's just the chemical make up. Like a chocolate without cocoa. Chocolate contains a cocoa percentage of between 60% and 100%.😜
They can't seem to manufacturer enough of them. Not sure why but they are very hard to find in my area.
@@mayorb3366 - I was told that if you use CyA tablets in an in-line chlorinator, that it will explode.
@@Aaron_Revis I think you meant to say cal-hypo tablets. Trichlor are CyA tablets and are used in chlorinators. But true, cal-hypo and trichlor do not play well together. I personally have heard of about 6 or 7 chlorinators blowing up when people put cal-hypo in them. It reacts with any residual trichlor that remained inside, not the chlorinator itself..
Sam's Club 3" tabs are made of Dichlore. What's the difference?
Very similar except dichlor has even more CYA in them than Trichlor.
@ Thomas leville - I don't think this is correct. I think you may be reading the label incorrectly or mixing up their products. They sell a bucket of 3" tabs that are trichlor and they also sell a bucket of "chlorinating granules" which is dichlor.
The CYA in my pool was so high, I drained 80% of my pool, refilled it with fresh water, added 32 oz of bioactive in the pool, waited a few days and the CYA was still above 100 ppm. My plan is to use calcium hypochlorite tablets.granules or liquid chlorine.
Just switch to liquid chlorine and Cal Hypo tablets. The CYA will continue to decline on it's own.
I use them in the beginning of the se ason when opening. And when I'm not tending to the pool for a period of time. I use mostly liquid clorine
Thanks for the podcast David I made that mistake before over using the Tablets from Costco CYA went through the roof stay safe.👍🏼
Brilliant thank you! I know now why i struggle with Algae
3” tabs have gone thru the roof! 6-7 months ago I was paying $89 for a 25lb bucket. Yesterday it was $200 for the same 25lb! Ridiculous!
Crazy if you break it down per tablet.
@@SPL Yeah exactly! 🤪🤪🤪
Can I go without chlorine tablets?
@@vegasranger you absolutely can! Just be sure you begin your season with the correct amount of stabilizer (or CYA) then use liquid chlorine only. Just keep in mind depending where you live, you will have to be diligent about adding it every other day if not daily to compensate for the 1ppm daily burn off. For some folks with very busy lives and no pool guy, that can be a pain in the ass. For example I live in AZ and if I do liquid only I use it daily and it just becomes part of nightly routine before bed since I run my pump for 12 hours during the night. Always add liquid chlorine in the evening so it has time to work. If you add it first thing in the morning or afternoon the sun will burn it off quicker.
@@vegasranger yes, but then you have to add chlorine every to every other day. The tablets help to hold your chlorine level where it should be, about 3 ppm
My Central California pool is at 30 ppm CYA and I sanitize with liquid alone. Yes, it is a hassle adding liquid every couple days during the swim season...or even daily during a heat wave with lots of swimming. But I don't have to add that much at a time compared to if I had high CYA. I plan on adding borates soon.
Question: Does free chlorine level drop at a consistent rate regardless of the level? For instance, does it drop from 6 to 5 ppm at the same rate as 4 to 3? I'm trying to determine if I would benefit from adding larger amounts of liquid less frequently vs. smaller amounts more often.
There are a lot of factors to consider but a rule of thumb is 1 ppm per day without pool use or other extreme conditions.
This should be a required watch for all pool owners. Tossing tablets in a floater and walking away is what too many people want to do. Then they ask pool stores why their pool is green with a floater full of tablets. The money wasting commences shortly after that.
I converted my pool to salt last week, and literally just gave my neighbor about 30-40 tablets I had left that I'll never use.
Your pool will regret it when not if you get phosphates just not good to use constantly the bad thing is when you add shock to your skimmer it’ll literally shock your chlorinator
That is a good option - add borates to 50 ppm to help control the rising pH.
@@Jgentry818 I have a swg designed for a 50k gallon in an 18k gallon pool, and I read trouble free pool religiously and never heard about cya hurting a salt gen
@@jerry4012 make sure you convert your heater if you are using one.
Dude my 11000 gallon pool is perfect with 3" tabs. I'm in the California dessert area.
They are not ineffective if used correctly.
In south Texas you don’t have to worry about this problem to much rain and it’s way to hot
We get 3" of rain a year in my area - if we are lucky, it is a different ball game for sure.
@@SPL yes It is down here you need a 80+ cya to avoid algae growth
I run a pool service route and this has been our biggest issue. We attempted to use the cch endurance skimmer tablets with cal hypo but found they dissolved too fast for weekly service. Additionally, the cal hypo tabs are very hard too find. We are now experimenting with a weekly cal hypo shock and minimal trichlor tablets to maintain chlorine levels but it can be very difficult in Texas to maintain chlorine. We are looking into poolrx and borate but the high initial cost is challenging for a small company. Any thoughts on a good balance of trichlor, liquid, or cal hypo with our weekly service?
Cal Hypo tablets seem to be the answer - unfortunately they are not readily available as you noted. Also I have found that 2 CCH tablets equals 1-Trichlor tablets so that can get expensive. Borates or a PoolRx seem to be the answer but you will need to pass the cost on to your clients. You can really cut down on the chlorine use with either of those products. Some guys are pushing salt systems but that is more of a niche market. Try your best to use one of these enhancers.
Can you use CCH tablets in a chlorine feeder?
In 2017 we moved all pools to liquid chlorine, best decision ever. We need more liquid chlorine manufacture’s in the pool industry. 🤔
We certainly do. But it is hard in any region to start a new business. Florida is lucky with over 6 manufacturers.
For my chlorine pools, I will use cal hypo tablets in the early fall, winter and early spring. Then I will switch to trichlor tablets for the summer but yah stabilizer gets too high late summer then I will have to start shocking/adding algaecide.
Good plan. 👍
I`v been doing pools since 1987, first in S. Fl. now in N. Fl. this is why its so important to keep a log of what you test and what you add...Ch & Ph every week, Alk, every other week, Cal & Stab. once a month baring any issues. I`v found 99% of home pools take 1 jug & 1 tablet a week, maybe 3-4 cups of acid. The heart of the pool is filtration & circulation.
I have done THOUSANDS of pools, first in house for 5 years, then as a Sub for 15 years but as a sub, I worked for a man who sold routes, he would build a route, I would maintain it until he found a buyer, we did that about 5-6 times a year, we did that for about 10 years.
There`s not a whole lot I haven`t seen, I did all his clean ups & acid wash`s. I just started a new Comm. pool on my route, barely could see the top step, 2 1/2 weeks latter crystal clear.
You are an Old Timer! 👍
Im using about 2 tabs and 2lbs of shock per week for each pool here in texas
@@cwstewartjr1973 that`s not bad at all, I`m so stingy, I will break a tab in half, so if i need to put more than one, I`ll go with 1 1/2 tabs and do the same for the next pool, so at the end of the day I save about 5-6 tabs and for the week 20 or so and for the month, you see where i`m going.
So There are more benefits to salt water pools because it lowers the PH. Constantly fighting to keep PH down in salt water pools.
You can use borates at 50 ppm to help keep the pH from rising so quickly.
egg whites only - no yoke - bye bye cholesterol
Stay away from TRICHLOR. It’s unknown as to how much pool owners have spent on trying to correct what these tablets do.
Between all the chemicals and water replacement the amount has to be astronomical, and yet, these tablets are sold without any warning as to the build up of CYA.
Just because pools are seen as a luxury, doesn’t give them the right to abuse pool owners.
Thatguy is right. 👍
While I do agree retail pool stores can often take advantage of customers people still need to use their brain and READ. I can't count how often I hear people say they hate chlorine and want a salt pool because "it's natural". The industry as a whole is two tiered - highly educated on the subject or completely misinformed.
I recently had to switch back to trichlor tabs in my inline chlorinator. I just couldn't keep FC and TC high enough with liquid (even adding everyday). Plus our TA is quite high so I like the acidity of the trichlor to help maintain pH. Be careful when using them (like any pool chemical) and they can be very effective. P.S. I'm in the Houston area: high T, lots of sun, lots of rain.
There are situations where Trichlor is not terrible. Out here on the West coast we just get very little rain and we will have severe drought restrictions starting next month. So draining a pool to lower CYA may become very expensive.
@@SPL I really wanted to go liquid Cl due to trichlor cost right now. I may try again after the season's over (in October ha!)
I am in Houston too. Going through the same issue. Been using Trichlor for last few years May - Sept and liquid Oct - April. This week I checked my CYA and was shocked to see it at 140. Just drained pool 1/3, refilled and after a few days repeated. After I get it down to 40 I am going to try to just add liquid each night and run the pump at night. If I can't keep up I'll put 1 tab in a floater for the week to see if it helps.
Liquid (Wal-Mart) is $5 gallon 10%. I'll keep it in cool / dry place to make sure it doesn't burn off (ie - not in my garage or outside).
@@phillabar9433 good luck man! Let me know how it goes.
I've learned the hard way. Pool Rx, liquid chlorine, Cal hypo if my calcium is still on lower side (otherwise liquid chlorine) baking soda, muriatic acid, soda ash are my friends. Nothing worse than having 100+ CYA after dropping 16 pounds of shock into a very light teal pool and realizing cya was to blame. My CYA now is basically less than 20. I figured with pool RX and I watch the pool, if I know swimming will happen, I'll chlorinate night before and maybe shock after later the next night.
Smart! 👏
I’m all ears
PoolRX and low hardness level and calhypo is your friend.
Calhypo isn't a silver bullet, instead of cyanuric acid, the chlorine is bound to calcium. Too much calcium in your pool can cause calcium scaling.
@Michael Paris that's why I montior my calcium. All my rocks and tile are coated and don't have to ever worry about it. Coat your stuff and protect it.
Borates, borates, borates has been the answer to pool perfection for me. No trichlor, only use slow dissolve NST cal hypo tabs and with the borates, Chlorine levels have stayed in range almost 2 weeks without adding or shocking. Booya!
Can I start to use borax ? and how much should I add each week ? Thank you so much!
@@jasonjanes3256 I poured 20lbs through the skimmer in 14000 gal. Tested at 50ppm and should be good for the season. Good idea to ensure all your levels are on point before adding.
Sorry, I added 20 lbs boric acid.
@@DD-el2ox Thank you, I'll give that a try -
@@DD-el2ox thank you, and how do measure boric acid ? Are there strips I can just dip into the water ?
I help my neighbors, and take care of their pool. When I took over their cynaric acid level was at 400 PPM! They had just kept dropping tablets in over the years. They thought people at the pool store were using water testing to rip people off. They had to use yellow out every week. They originally were opposed to going to liquid chlorine because it was "more expensive", even though they were spending 100s of dollars on yellow out a year. Talk about being "Pennywise, dollar foolish".
Exactly!
@@hoppingrabbit9849 They were so cheap they didn't want to drain and fill. I guess we did some but it was just from backwashing their 20 year old sand filter. It took over a year, but their CYA is now under 80.
Have no idea what you are talking about at all
LOL! That may very well be a good thing!
It’s simple. If you rely on tablets at some point you won’t be able keep the water sanitary and you will have to drain the water and fill with fresh water. You can’t remove Stabilizer from the pool water once added. Only use tablets when you are on vacation.
I think I’m going to create my own channel just to react to yours. I’m really surprised that Leslie’s attached their name to yours.. You clearly didn’t read the instructions on the bucket.
What part of the instructions are you referring to?
What are the instructions on the bucket?
@@Aaron_Revis ???? Enough with the guessing games, what are you saying?
GET TO THE POINT.......!
Sure.
Ya agree