Hello new user here

[PoolDoc]

removed.

Chlorine free shock is almost always a bad idea.

[jhiswin]

I'm going to return as much of the chlorine free shock as I can.

I bought most of the items for the stain removal. Did you ever find out if the Culator can be used in the way you made in that post (soaking it)?

Does the 4ppm Culator actually absorb 4x as much as the 1ppm? Why are there different versions for winter and spring? Their descriptions seem to imply that they absorb different metals?

[PoolDoc]

I think the different sizes DO absorb different total amount of metal; but as best I can tell, the CuLator has ONLY one 'ingredient', so it's going to behave identically regardless. That is, they can change the capacity by adding more, but that's all.

Not sure which "soaking" post you are referring to . . .

[jhiswin]

You mentioned seeing if you coud soak in distilled water for reuse

[PoolDoc]

Ok. I had to Google, to see what you were talking about -- I was referring to the possibility of STORING it over the winter that way.

OK. I just called Periodic, and was told that long term storage of the CuLator product in deionized water (essentially, the same as distilled water) should not result in any deterioration.

Let me be clear: the purpose of storing that way is to avoid it drying out and cracking (some polymers can do that, once hydrated -- I don't know if the CuLator product would do that or not) and to store it over the winter, or between use periods.

Putting it in tap water would result in it picking up whatever metal ions were present in the tap water, and thus 'consuming' a portion of the Culator's capacity.

However, the info from Periodic product suggests you'd be able to buy the 4 ppm CuLator pack, use it for a week whenever you added a potentially metal containing chemical or top-off water, then remove it, and store in in distilled water till you were ready to use it again.

[jhiswin]

Just an update: I think I might have figured out where all the metal came from. Last year someone used an InTheSwim winterizing kit. I looked up the active ingredient for the winter algaecide in the kit, and it uses "Copper sulfate pentahydrate".
It really is a pain how difficult it is to find active ingredients for these products.

I'm going to use the upcoming rainy days to try the stain removal. I'll post my results in a new thread.

[PoolDoc]

It really is a pain how difficult it is to find active ingredients for these products.

Yes, it is. And unfortunately, it's getting worse, not better.

That's one reason I've been so focused this season on posting the Amazon links. It allows me to give people a way to get exactly what they need, with a far smaller chance of going astray, then when we tried to help them find it (whatever *it* might be) in a pool store. Usually, the Amazon prices are pretty good.

And, getting a commission on the sale helps the forum, too. But, I'm trying hard NOT to link things unless it looks like they are a good deal for the users here.