A&A Quik Dek-Clor Questions

[kluczenk]

Hi all, this is my very first post to the forum so a big thanks up-front for all the help. I'm a new pool owner and haven't much clue about what I'm doing right now so please excuse the ignorance.

The pool is a 33,000 gallon inground free-form plaster that is about 7 years old. There is also an inground cleaning system as well as an in-deck chlorinator. Specifically it is the A&A Manufacturing chlorinator (Quik Dek-Clor I believe). I reached out to A&A for documentation but was only given marketing literature. I'm hoping you folks can help me with how I should be using this system. Some specific questions are below but any general guidance is appreciated. I've had the pool go green on me twice since opening now and I believe it is because I'm doing something very wrong.

How many 3'' tablets should I be putting in the in-deck basin? (it looks about 18 inches deep but I've only been adding 2-3 tablets at a time)
Is there any setting I can change to alter chlorine flow? (there is an on-off valve for the chlorinator back at the pump but nothing in the basin I can see)
How many times a day and for how long should I run the pump (1.6HP)?
Should the chlorinator be on during that whole period?

I'm in the process of cleaning up the pool with some shock and will be posting in another section but hopefully you can give me some general advice on how to properly chlorinate the pool going forward so I'm not in this situation so often! Thanks!

[aylad]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!!

I have to say I don't know anything about your specific model of chlorinator, but can do some research online and see if I can come up with an owner's manual. Most chlorinators are set up to accept pucks up to 3-4 inches from the top of the cylinder, and most have a knob at the base of the cylinder to help control water flow.

HOWEVER............

Chlorinators are a good thing to have IF you know how to use it. Most people that use chlorinators don't realize that for every puck they dissolve in the chlorinator, they are also increasing their stabilizer. As stabilizer increases, so must your mininum chlorine level to compensate. THis is probably why you're finding yourself with frequent algae blooms. Trichlor pucks also tend to drive your pH down, which could be an issue in a plaster pool. If you would test a sample of your pool water with a drop-based kit (no strips, please!) and post your numbers here, we'd be glad to help you figure out why you're having to fight the algae. If you don't have a drop-based kit, WalMart sells a 6-way for approx. $15 that will work for now, but we really recommend the Taylor K-2006 so you can do all of your own water testing. If none of that is possible, you can always take a sample of your water to a local pool store and have it tested, but be prepared--they're going to come at you with a long (and expensive!) list of things YOU MUST BUY RIGHT NOW!! Resist that temptation....just tell them you already have it at home. Come back and post your numbers, and we'll be happy to help you out!

Janet

[AnnaK]

I have a chlorinator which sounds similar to yours. It's 18" deep and takes 3" in diameter trichlor pucks. It holds seven of those when filled to capacity. My assembly has a small turn valve on the bottom near the piping; it can be set in 1/8th increments from OFF to FULL.

It doesn't matter how many pucks you put in. They'll begin to dissolve fairly quickly, releasing chlorine and CYA, until the water inside the chlorinator has reached the saturation point, and this is then fed into the pool. As more water enters the chlorinator when the pump is on, more of the pucks dissolve to maintain the saturation level.

How much chlorine and CYA the pucks release depends on their weight. The ones I use weigh 8 oz each. In a 33,000 gal pool one of those would raise the FC by 1.7, raise CYA by 1, lower pH by 0.09. You can find this information by using the Pool Calculator. Put your volume in at the top then scroll down to Effects of adding chemicals and input the weight in ounces for the pucks you use. Also tell it whether you use trichlor or dichlor pucks.

While these auto-chlorinators can be useful at certain times they carry with them a number of pitfalls as Janet already mentioned. You likely had a green pool because you didn't have enough free chlorine in relation to the amount of CYA added via the pucks.

When you shock your pool I would urge you to use bleach rather than a powdered "shock" product since they may add yet more stabilizer (depending on the product). Bleach just adds chlorine and that's what we want in there to get the green out.

Answering your question about pump run time is difficult. The goal is to get one complete turnover of water in a 24 hour period. How long it takes your pump to do that I do not know. Most of us run our pumps for about 8 hours out of 24 and some people split that into two 4 hour sessions. Mine runs 8 hours during the night on a timer and for about an hour after a swim session.

What type of water testing equipment do you have?