Concerns about bleach with vinyl liner (IG)

[gumbeaux71]

Hi all, have been at this forum for a while and have been using bleach rather than other forms of chlorine for about 2 years now. Pool's been beautiful. Last year, we had seen just a couple small hole-type tears and had them patched. Then, last month, hubby and I noticed a large tear in the vinyl liner of our IG pool on the sun-facing side. It was too large to be repaired. The guy who is putting in our liner said that it was weakened by the bleach.

Is that so? Could we have just been pouring it in too close to the liner? I'm concerned and want to do this right so I don't end up having to have another new liner put in.

BTW, the old, split liner was approx 12-15 years old.

Thanks,
Erica

[chem geek]

Pouring slowly in front of a return away from the edge (as far as you can reasonably stretch) will not concentrate enough chlorine to cause a problem. Another alternative that you can do is to take a large bucket of pool water and put some of the chlorine in it to pre-dilute it before adding it back to the pool, but I really think that's overkill.

If you always poured the chlorine in the same place and the tear/hole was in that place (especially if there was no return in that area), then that might be a valid correlation.

Much more likely is that the sun degraded the vinyl. UV radiation certainly breaks down the coloring in vinyl so it could also, over time, break down the structural components as well. This link (http://www.gcrio.org/UNEP1998/UNEP98p61.html) is one of many that talks about this.

Richard

[nater]

My parent's vinyl liner gave up on the sunniest side after about 13 years, they've always only used pucks. My dad's home owner's insurance helped cover the replacement cost, not sure how/why. And no, he's not a scammer ;)

[tonyl]

12-15 years out of a liner isn't all that bad. By that time, you'll probably be ready for a change.

I replaced mine after 10 years and it looks like a brand new pool. For 900 bucks (diy....me only) I think it's money well spent.

A guinite pool would have initially cost me MUCH (about 2X) more than my vinyl pool.

My liner problems stemmed from the pool company advising extreme shocking Spring/fall with liquid bleach.....as in 8 gallons of pool bleach for a 20k pool. To say there was little color on the bottom of the pool would be an understatement.

But for liner protection, just add it to the skimmer with the pump running, or lean way out past the returns and keep the pump running for an hour or so.

Nontheless, again...12 to 15 years from a liner isn't all that bad.~ It won't last forever no matter how careful you are.

Hope this helps, Tony

[PopcornGirl]

I'm glad someone else already pointed this out, but isn't 10-15 years about RIGHT for a liner???
What's so strange about that? I don't understand why your pool guy didn't just chalk it up to typical age-related wear & tear on your liner.
When I was researching various pool types before we built ours, I was told several times that a liner only lasts about 10-12 years. Indeed, it was my primary reason for deciding to go with gunite.
Just my .02 ;)

[gumbeaux71]

Thanks. I had a feeling that the lifespan was about right. I just wondered why he said that about the bleach. My husband usually walks around the entire pool pouring in the bleach. So, we could definitely stand to change the way we administer it to the pool.

Part of me did wonder whether this guy just wanted to pooh-pooh the idea of bleach, because he handed me a pamphlet recommending against using bleach.

[falken]

did wonder whether this guy just wanted to pooh-pooh the idea of bleach, because he handed me a pamphlet recommending against using bleach.

I would love to read that. Do you have any way to scan it in? I hope it says never to use "liquid shock" from the pool store too.

[Poolidiot]

"he handed me a pamphlet recommending against using bleach."

And what did this pamphlet give as reasons for not using bleach?

[gumbeaux71]

That it would "weaken the liner." Oy! Yeah, I will look for it and scan it, if found. I think I may have chucked it after my initial reading.

[aylad]

That it would "weaken the liner." Oy! Yeah, I will look for it and scan it, if found. I think I may have chucked it after my initial reading.

Hmm,I wonder what he thinks "swimming pool" chlorine does at 12%, if 6% bleach weakens the liner? :p

Jan

[Pool_Mike]

12-15 years out of a liner isn't all that bad. By that time, you'll probably be ready for a change.



No kidding. That is a great life span on a liner. I wish they made underwares that last that long :D