New Guy, New Pool, Already been Pool-Stored... Always happy to learn

[Skeet Shooter]

Hello All.

I am a new pool owner with a brand new pool and brand new to everything here. I sense I will be learning a lot from you all as I expand my knowledge here.

[Watermom]

Welcome to the Pool Forum! Lots to learn here. Read a lot on the forum, especially the stickied threads at the top of each subsection and also on our sister website www.poolsolutions.com. Until your registration is complete, you will need to log out first to be able to see the rest of the forum.

Tell us about your pool. Do you have a good test kit? If not, do yourself a favor and order a Taylor K-2006 or 2006C (better buy). It is not available locally but you can get it through the test kit link below. (Takes you to Amazon.) Having that makes your pool care so much easier.

[Skeet Shooter]

I filled out something on an external link... I have a few questions about a few of my choices. Come to find out I may have been duped into purchasing Pristine Blue. After reading up on it here it seems to be universally untrusted/hated. Also i get the sense that the local pool store might have had a hand in scamming me there... They told me that my left over still sealed 3" chlorine tabs are no longer any good because they were stored outside in a shed, because they got cold. Well the only option you have is to store them there or in your garage, and unless you have a heated garage, it sounds like you are only left with storing them in your house, and I hear thats a big no-no.

Also I think I might have broken, or maybe it was already broken, my heat pump pool heater. So I suppose once I'm able to I'll put these into a thread somewhere the experts can get to.

Thanks again... I hope i'm able to learn a lot from you all.

[PoolDoc]

Also i get the sense that the local pool store might have had a hand in scamming me there... They told me that my left over still sealed 3" chlorine tabs are no longer any good because they were stored outside in a shed, because they got cold. the experts can get to.

I usually try to avoid suggesting that pool store staff are DELIBERATELY lying, but in your case, I'll make an exception. Unless your pool guys are total idiots, with IQs at the level of wintertime temps in your area . . . they are liars. I guess that's good info to have, early in your career as a pool owner. Sorry you had to learn it the hard way.

It IS true that trichlor tabs can get nasty, if they winter over: you should always open an old bucket OUTSIDE, and stand up wind when you do. But trichlor tabs ruined by cold weather? Total lying BS! Ironically, using them up in your pool is about the ONLY way you can legally dispose of them, short of hiring a HAZMAT disposal company. And trichlor is NOT 'compatible' with garbage. Hopefully the garbage truck didn't catch on fire as it carried them away!

. . . membership updated.

[Skeet Shooter]

Well, i'm happy to hear that my suspicions were confirmed. I never threw them out since I figured I would confer with you all on that... After reading everything, I figured they were BS'ing me on that one...

Any how, I believe now that I will not be purchasing any more of that Pristine Blue junk... I have enough Chlorine for now, my next few investments will be some PH up (I think I can use Soda Ash for that according to your Pool School), some Algaecide or similar inhibitor, a good test set, and I believe I will be building a solar roller for my pool after searching on a few other boards.

Other than that, I'm really looking forward to enjoying our new pool. I know the fiancee will be happy. Now to not fall into the pitfalls of buying that solar breeze solar skimmer thing... God that thing is cool!

[PoolDoc]

It's got positive reviews on Amazon:

Solar Breeze Pool Skimmer

so it may be OK. (I don't really know!)

[Skeet Shooter]

Yea I saw that as well.. But over $500 for something that is more of a "convenience" than manually skimming my 24' pool? I like to think that I'm young and can find the time to do that my self. Besides, now that I have made the mistake of going With Pristine blue, and now I have to correct it. That's going to cost me some hard earned $$ right there. Since draining and starting all over again is really not an option, and I only put one dose of PB in I think I will have to follow the advice I've been searching here regarding switching back to chlorine. I kind of wish that I had never went to that pool store.

[PoolDoc]

I wasn't recommending it; I was just thinking of the old adage about 'men & their toys' and thinking that that might be a fairly harmless way to scratch that itch, except for the $500, of course.

Regarding PB => copper stains, so raise your chlorine levels carefully and slowly. Use many small doses rather than large ones. Run your filter 24/7 till you've reached high chlorine levels + high pH (7.8). That will reduce the chance of stains.

[Skeet Shooter]

Thanks Doc, yea definitely boys and their toys kind of thing... But i already have many expensive hobbies hah. Any how yea with PB, I need to get myself a good test kit... Those strips just don't quite tell the whole story for me. I think I will start doing this tomorrow, since I will have my kit by then, and I'll start raising the chlorine levels... right now my PH and Chlorine level is very low (based on what those strips are saying) so it might take a while to bring up my chlorine and PH levels. But I'll keep at it and start posting results once I have my test kit.

[Watermom]

Did you order a Taylor K2006?

Also, most of us use 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle at Walmart) to raise pH instead of soda ash since it will raise pH without affecting TA.