How Much Can a Liner Fade?

[CarlD]

As I'm rebuilding my pool, you can see, without water, how much the liner has faded in 12 seasons.

The floor of the pool is almost white, but where the drop-in steps sit it's much closer to the original color. And, if you can see the patch on the top right of where the steps were, that's the ORIGINAL color of the liner when it was new. I saved the old liner for patches (it only lasted 10 days).

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-02dL_MRBIvs/VAtiWLLr9II/AAAAAAAAADM/wIl_W40_qzA/s800/037.JPG

[FormerBromineUser]

Whoa, Carl! That is an incredible amount of fading! Besides the debacle this summer where you took FC way high and were low on caffeine, what do you think caused all the fading???

[CarlD]

Some of it, is, of course, 12 summers in the sun. It's quite possible, as Ben has discussed the extreme variability of vinyl quality, that this vinyl was less impervious to UV rays. The floor of the liner faded far more than that walls of it (you can only see a little on the right of the picture) which leads me to believe UV more then FC faded it. That wall portion you see is on the South side of the pool, so always a little more shaded as it looks North. Some is due to my preferring to kill a bloom fast, so we can swim faster, such as when we came home from a month away to a green pool, knowing I was planning to change out the walls and liner, I simply hammered the FC (and replaced the coffee maker! :) )

I suspect that over a decade most liners fade and fade a lot, but if you don't have a reference point, as I do, you only sort of notice it.

[JimK]

Our liner has faded below the water line since 2004. It's only noticeable if the water level is below normal and you look at the border pattern.

Since the fading is below the water line I assume it's from exposure to chlorine all these years.

[FormerBromineUser]

Liner reference comparison.... Kinda reminds me of how I feel when I look at my wedding pictures and then look at my hubby. Who IS that old (faded) fart, anyway? How did THAT happen??? :eek:

[CarlD]

Funny, the liner doesn't bother me, the mirror does. But I sometimes think my wife has her own "Dorian Gray" portrait.

"The way she sees and the way he looks they're a poifect match!"--Classic line from "A Fiddler On The Roof"

[FormerBromineUser]

"Poifect" hahahaha!

[J_Palmer_Cass]

That liner fading looks similar to the look of the liner I replaced last year. It is probably caused by a combination of UV and chemicals.

My last liner was an overlap liner. The area covered by the coping was still the original color when I removed the coping. The top foot of the liner faded different depending on which side of the pool you looked at.

How "brittle " is the vinyl on the floor of the pool?

[CarlD]

Since there was a different pattern at the top of the liner, you didn't see fading there. I suspect some was due to my Blue Diamond robotic.

The vinyl all over doesn't seem particularly brittle. Perhaps being dry and in the air may change that.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

I had my liner exposed to the sun for about 2 months during my rebuild, so near the end it was pretty brittle relative to new vinyl. More a stiff feeling than brittle, but easy to puncture as compared with new vinyl. The old liner was great protection for the sand during the rebuild.

I never had to patch that 2nd liner over 14 years of use, so I made out pretty well. The original liner was installed poorly, and needed mutiple patching.

I am still running low chlorine (around 1.0) along with Nature 2 with the new liner. Trichor in an auto chlorinate dispenser. One chlorine fill of 8 to 10 of the 3" tablets about 4 weeks apart. Once a month "super" chlorination, but not as "super" this time. I use a 1/2 a gallon of liquid chlorine to super chlorinate. PH plus every once and a while (depending on "acid rain" amounts). A small amount of algaecide once a month.

This time I am being very careful about "super" chlorination levels.

This year I also installed new sand and replaced the internals to the Hayward sand filter. Plastic gets brittle over the years.

Zero algae this year. Then again, it was kind of a cold summer this year.

[CarlD]

I've noticed that NOW the bottom is getting brittle, but, like you, I'm leaving it in place as a tarp over the sand.
On the chemical side, I'd never use a Nature2 because, while it helps control algae, it adds metals. While it's expensive, an SWCG will allow you to do the same thing.
Are you careful to watch your CYA levels with the Tri-Chlor? Remember for every 10ppm of chlorine it adds 6ppm of CYA.

My sand filter is fine and the plastic tank shows no sign of brittleness or UV breakdown. It's always been covered over the winter, and, for the last several years, been under the deck addition (where the deck chairs are). I'm still using my original sand, no problems.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

I tend to think that most pool liners are on borrowed time after 10 years of use.

I have not checked CYA levels this year. Filled pool last fall, and I did not add any stabilizer. The only CYA source has been from the chlorine tablets.

I lose about a foot or so of water over the winter, so I will check CYA levels next spring.

I like the low chlorine levels that you can use with Nature 2, so the lower chlorine use balances out the cost of the Nature-2 cartridge.

For the filter the pipe that connects the valve to the laterals broke in the spring, so I had to buy the entire lateral assembly. Fairly cheap on line. While I was at it, I changed the sand. I had to remove all of the sand from the filter anyhow, so it was a good time to change the sand.

One less item to worry about!

[CarlD]

Of course, if you have to replace the laterals, then changing the sand is probably necessary.

How much does the N2 cartridge cost you each year? Is it $100 or more? I buy 25 gallons of 12.5% for $95, which is more than enough for a season. I would need to use twice as much and the N2 would have to cut that in half to break even.

That's my argument.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

I must be lazy.;)

Nature-2 costs about $72 for the year.

The chlorine dispenser has to be filled about once per month, so I have little ongoing maintenance to do as far as chemicals are concerned.

PH plus every now and then, and modest shock once a month just in case.


http://www.amazon.com/Nature2-Mineral-Cartridge-Replacement-A30/dp/B002IT5JR0/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1410224220&sr=8-16&keywords=nature+-+2

[J_Palmer_Cass]

Carl, on your other thread you said that you have salt in your pool water.

What do you do exactly to maintain the water quality in your pool?

[CarlD]

JPC,
It's how the BBB system works: You spend a little time every day or two checking your water and catching changes before they become problems. 2-5 minutes a day should be all it takes, then a full suite of tests once a week, and (hopefully) vacuuming and brushing no more than once a week.

Because we are away a lot, I put in an SWCG system and that requires a salt level of 3000ppm. But that was only the last 2 seasons. The 13 before that (3 with an Intex) were mostly as above. I've rarely had a problem.

If you haven't spent time on learning how our BBB system works, wend your way over to Poolsolutions.com and have fun reading (it's our sister site). Much has changed, but the basics haven't. While BBB is short for "Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda" I haven't bothered adding baking soda in a couple of years, and usually use Borax and/or Muriatic Acid just a few times a season.

My sig here used to say "Stay ahead of your water!" Because that's the key. If you know what's going on in you pool before you have a problem, you won't have a problem!