when do you add stabilizers?

[duffmama]

Are you supposed to add stabilizers before adding chlorine or after? I added cya yesterday and this morning my chlorine levels are zero.

[CarlD]

Stabilizer, aka, CYA for cyanuric acid, takes a while to dissolve into your water, from 48 hours up to a week. Meanwhile, if your pH isn't low, you can use an inexpensive floater with tri-chlor tabs to maintain a constant chlorine level and add CYA at the same time. If your pH gets low, below 7.2, you can compensate by addind some Borax. Yup, Twenty Mule Team Borax.

But you will need to test for CYA, but no more than weekly.

If you don't have a good test kit we recommend the Taylor K-2006 or 2006C kits. If you look at Watermom's or PoolDoc's sig you'll see a link to the test kit at a reasonable price.

[duffmama]

Thanks for the quick reply. Sitting on the deck and enjoying a cup of coffee and planning the next course of action for my pool. This is my first year maintaining our pool and I've been reading a lot of posts here and want to follow the BBB method.

[CarlD]

The B-B-B method isn't hard and all it really does is strip the mystery away from pool maintenance, as well as useless and troublesome expensive additives that cause more harm. The Bs are Bleach, Borax and Baking Soda, but you also need CYA, and either muriatic acid or dry acid to maintain your pool. With proper testing and dilligence, you shouldn't ever need anything else (unless your fill water has high metal content, but that is something else)

[Watermom]

Go over to our sister website www.poolsolutions.com and do some reading there as well. Very informative!

[Manslick]

Thanks for the quick reply. Sitting on the deck and enjoying a cup of coffee and planning the next course of action for my pool. This is my first year maintaining our pool and I've been reading a lot of posts here and want to follow the BBB method.

The key to success is test test test. Once you have things in order, the BBB is the bomb.

[tado921]

The key to success is test test test. Once you have things in order, the BBB is the bomb.

Agree 100%. Some people get sticker shock when they see the price of the test kit, but as a person who learned the hard way I say this: If you think you can't afford the right test kit, then you can't afford to not have it.

It will pay for itself very quickly.

Tad