New to the forum. Looking for pool cleaner and water balance information.

[jilted]

Hello,

I'm new as the subject says and I found this forum while researching pool cleaners and water balance.

Pool info: I am in Louisiana and my pool is an in ground vinyl liner pool. It's around 26,000 gallons.

First question:
I need to replace a failing Polaris 380 cleaner and was considering the original Aquabot since it has a reasonable price of around $650. Looking for input regarding that unit or reasons to look at another one. (I have seen the Dolphin Diagnostic but have read quite a bit of negative reviews on it and the customer service)

Second question:
Last season I installed a Comp-U-Pool salt system because I had serious startup issues. The pool looked great all year. This year, even using the "super-chlorinate" feature I am having trouble with algae trying to forum on the surface of the pool. I was told by another salt pool owner that all he does is watch the pH level and also does the occasional "super sockit" to the pool. Are there any other things that I should be monitoring? The Comp-U-Pool wants the salt level around 3500ppm which is where it is.

Thanks!

[Watermom]

I'm going to let someone else answer your questions since I am not familiar with the cleaners you are interested in or the comp-u-pool salt system. Just wanted to pop on here and say hello and welcome you to the Pool Forum! One of the other moderators aylad aka Janet is also from LA. We have actually had several new members join from LA this year. Hope you enjoy the forum!

[PoolDoc]

Salt systems are over-sold.

By this, I don't mean they are bad things -- I have salt chlorination on my remaining local customer pools. But I mean
+ They do NOT auto-magically solve all your pool chemical problems.
+ You STILL need to test your water.
+ And when something goes wrong, you STILL have to do what it takes to maintain your water chemistry.

Salt water chlorine generators (SWCG) are just that: simply a way to make chlorine and add it to your pool. They do the same thing a Trichor feeder does, or a peristaltic pump feeding bleach. If your SWCG is sized well, it will make enough chlorine to treat your pool during normal conditions, but it will NOT make enough to clean up your pool when you are having problems!

In your case, do this:
#1 - add 6 gallons of *plain* 6% house hold bleach to your pool this evening. (~ 12 ppm chlorine, on your pool)
#2 - check your chlorine in the AM with an OTO (yellow drops) kit. You should be dark yellow. If not, repeat the dose.
#3 - check again in the late PM. Again, if not dark yellow, repeat the dose.
#4 - get your CYA tested if possible -- the correct algae killing chlorine dose for your pool depends on your CYA level.
#5 - order a Taylor FAS-DPD testkit (Amazon link below in my sig) so you don't get in this situation again.

[CarlD]

There are several cleaners in your price range, in addition to the Aquabot, from the Blue Pearl from Blue Diamond (which people RAVE about) to the new Dolphin Nautilus (a friend just ordered this so I'm looking forward to her and her husband's experience. They claim it uses a laser guidance. Reviews I've seen have been excellent ). That's at least 3 choice. My preference would be the Blue Pearl, because I use the big-brother Blue Diamond all the time. But don't go by my bias.

Carl

[jilted]

Thanks for all the replies and sorry for my delay in replying I was gone most of the weekend. I'll try to respond to everything:

PoolDoc
re: the test kit
I have a pretty nice multi-test kit so do i just need the FAS-DPD portion? All the test kits are actually getting old their were already there when we bought the house.
Also, I did notice Friday evening that one of my timer sliders moved so the pump was only running about 6 hours. I still have some 3" chlorine tablets left over so I put a couple in the skimmer basket and let the pump run all weekend (also had the polaris struggling along stirring up the bottom). So the pool is completely clean again so thats cool. But I really do need to start testing the water and understanding water balance. This is our third year with the pool so it's way past time for me to become a pool master! Our local pool store seems to always want to sell me something and then the next week he'll sell me something to counter the effect of what he had me do the week before!

CarlD
re: the Dolphin Nautilus
Is that a new model? I see it for sale in a few places but not on the Maytronics website.
I will check out the others you mentioned as well since one of my concerns is the cheap Aquabot I am assuming has their older technology in it.

Thanks!
-stephen

[PoolDoc]

You need an FAS-DPD chlorine test, and a disappearing dot based CYA test. However you get those is OK, so long as you don't have a heater. If you have a heater, you ALSO need relatively accurate alkalinity and calcium tests. And finally the pH test in the Taylor K2006 (as well as other Taylor models) can test pH when chlorine levels are in the 10 - 15 ppm range, vs 5 - 10 ppm range for most other kits.

Ben

[jilted]

Since the other is old I will go ahead and order a full kit, since I really want to take command of the pool this year.

I do not have a heater but was considering one of the solar ones (like Enersol) to extend the season. Our pool spends July and August in the upper 90s.

Thanks!
-stephen

[jilted]

the new Dolphin Nautilus (a friend just ordered this so I'm looking forward to her and her husband's experience. They claim it uses a laser guidance. Reviews I've seen have been excellent ).

Carl

Hit me up after you see it in action. Thanks!

[waterbear]

Everything PoolDoc said about SWCG's is true but he neglected one very important point, IMHO. The convenience factor of not having to manually add chlorine, not having to worry abut the pool becoming overstabilzed, and the better 'feel' to the water because it is closer to the salt content of the human body (less 'pruning' of toes and fingers and less stinging of eyes) can be worth their weight in gold to a pool owner, myself included!
You stiill need to test the water and keep it balanced and you do have to pay attention to salt levels and pH but they do make pool maintenance easier in the long haul. My 2 cents.

The most important things to watch in a salt pool are:
don't use the superchlorinate function if you need to shock. It raises FC too slowly. Add liqiud chlorine or bleach (this is what the unit is making anyway).

Keep your FC at 4-5 ppm normally (assuming an 80 ppm FC level). If you do you will find that you should never need to shock nor have an algae problem during normal pool operation.

Make sure your water is balanced to slow down scaling in the cell.

Inspect and clean the cell on a regular basis, particularly if you have one of the non self cleaning compupool units. However, even the self cleaning ones still might need maunal cleaning with acid if your calcium levels are high.

For best pH stability:
keep the CYA at the maximum (80 ppm for Compupool units)
Don't lower the pH below 7.6 and when it rises to 7.8 drop it back down to 7.6. The lower the put the pH the faster it rises. (Get a Taylor K-2006 FAS-DPD test kit. It has an acid demand test that will make this an easy task!)
Keep the TA between 70-80 ppm. This will minimize pH rise from outgassing of CO2, which is the primary cause of PH rise in salt pools. If your TA is higher than this lower it. You will see a BIG difference in your acid demand.

Adding borates to 50 ppm will help stabilize the pH even more by adding a secondary borate buffer system that effectively slows the pH rise and keeps it around 7.7 for a longer period of time than without borates. Borates also have algaestatic properties and improve water 'feel'.

You still need to test water at least weekly and make any needed adjustments with a salt pool but if you try this tips you will find that your pool maintenance will be at a minimum and your water will be problem free. Once again, A Taylor K-2006 will make your water testing and balancing very easy. IF you want to test salt then Taylor does have a salt test and AquaChek makes a salt titrator strip. Both have their good and bad points but both are usable. There are also handy pocket meters to test salt level but they do need to be calibrated on a regular basis.