Trichlor Quality Question

First let me say - I have maintained my pool with both bleach and with Trichlor tabs. Both methods have their +'s and -'s, and I'm now on a hybrid method using a little of both.

My question is this:

Has anyone with experience with Trichlor tablets noticed a difference in the quality between different brands.

In the past I have always used Leslie's Pool branded tablets purchased in store. I always hated the strong chlorine blast that I got when I opened the bucket, so this year I decided to try some wrapped tablets and purchased 50Lbs from In-The-Swim (online/catalog supply store).

The In-The-Swim tablets seem to yield a really low level of chlorine, and I have struggled to keep my levels in check this year.

I feed the tablets with a Rainbow (model 320 I think) online feeder. It doesn't matter if I have 3 tabs in, or 8 tabs, or if the flow rate is low or on max, I can't get my chlorine level to stay where I need it.

Any input related to quality of tablets is appreciated.

I ahd the same problem with my Rainbow 320 and gave up. When I need to use trichlor I use a simple floater. It works well.

The feeder has never been a problem for me. The flow through the feeder is fine, the tablets are dissolving just as they should, I'm just not able to get any reasonable level of chlorine out of them.

The more thought I give it, the more I think I'm going to have to just pickup a new supply of Tabs from Leslies - they're 20% off right now anyway.

I also recently installed an offline 320 for my sister-in-law on her pool, and she's had great success with it (using Leslie's tabs). The past 2 years she had constant problems using Cal-Hypo tablets in the skimmer.

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I have noticed a difference in brands. I used to use the tablets from WalMart and they had a strong chlorine odor. I now use the Guardex brand and they aren't quite as bad.

No matter which brand you use you will have a chlorine odor when you take the top off of the chlorinator just because of the tablets disolving in the water. Especially if the pump has been shut off for awhile.

Have you looked at the available chlorine percentage on the side of the newer bucket? The fact that you don't get the strong chlorine odor from the newer pucks tells me that maybe it has a lower chlorine concentration, or maybe are old.

No matter what brand you use, be careful to check the ingredient label and make sure they haven't had copper added......

Janet

They are the same as the Leslie's brand that I usually use as far as ingredients, and advertised available Cl - that's why I bought them.

There's a chance that they are old - hard to tell since I bought them from a catalog store. However I thought that the shelf life for trichlor tabs was pretty long (provided they are kept from freezing or extreme heat).

I store my tablets in the garage, temps never exceed about 90 during the summer (and rarely that hot) and never lower than about 45-50 in the winter.

Looks like there's nobody with specific experience with this In-The-Swim brand tablets. I'll just chalk it up to experience and go back to buying my tab's from Leslies.

Thanks for all the replies.

Just a follow up -

I have given up on these tablets from In-The-Swim, and I'll proabably just go with some Leslie's tabs next year.

For now - I'll be bleaching for the rest of the summer.

My final weeks on these el-cheap-o tablets had me putting 8 or 9 tablets (a full charge) into my Rainbow 320 online feeder with the feed rate on MAX.

I never got my FC above 1.5, and my CC was always 0 - - - so I don't have any issues with nasties in the water. I started this 'experiment' (if you want to call it that) with a perfectly clear pool after shocking with bleach, and getting the water in perfect balance.

After about 5 or 6 days, I was getting the same ole problem of low FC, and eventually started to cloud a bit.

Back to bleach for now -

My advice - if you decide to use Tablets for your pool, use a quality tablet purchased from a local pool supplier that will back the product up in case you get a bad batch.

Have you checked all your openings for clogs in your chlorinator? Before you spend $100 or more on a bucket of new pucks, have you tried a floater? Adjustable ones are $10 or less. If your chlorine dispersal is acceptable from that, then your problem is your chlorinator.

I personally don't like the things and won't have one, but that's me. When I want to use pucks (and that's rarely) I'll use a floater.

It sounds like to me that you may have an issue going on in your pool that you are barly keeping ahead of, that is using your up your chlorine. You may want to keep you chlorine levels up to shock levels for a couple of days then try and reevaluate the pucks.

I've used the in the swim wrapped sticks before. I was previously using Blue Wave from the local pool store at twice the price, and noticed no differnence other than that.

The last time I bought sticks I went back to Blue Wave because I found them on-line cheaper than in the swim, but I'm now 100% bleach for all things chlorine.

In the swim does huge volume. I'd be skeptical that the tabs you used were old.

I too am using both bleach and In-the-Swim pucks with a Rainbow 320. I have had excellent results. It seems you have a bad batch of pucks or a faulty chlorinator.

I'd condidered the chlorinator, but figured since the flow was OK, and the unit drained immediately after taking the cap off that it was fine.

Any tips on what to check on the 320?

Like I said when you remove the cap it drains (as it always has due to the chlorinator being above water level). Upon switching the pump back on the unit fills as it should, and the flow rate valve works as well.

Maybe I'm missing something.

I'm also going to shock this weekend to make sure it's not something in the water.