How Much Can a Liner Fade?

[FormerBromineUser]

"Poifect" hahahaha!

[J_Palmer_Cass]

That liner fading looks similar to the look of the liner I replaced last year. It is probably caused by a combination of UV and chemicals.

My last liner was an overlap liner. The area covered by the coping was still the original color when I removed the coping. The top foot of the liner faded different depending on which side of the pool you looked at.

How "brittle " is the vinyl on the floor of the pool?

[CarlD]

Since there was a different pattern at the top of the liner, you didn't see fading there. I suspect some was due to my Blue Diamond robotic.

The vinyl all over doesn't seem particularly brittle. Perhaps being dry and in the air may change that.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

I had my liner exposed to the sun for about 2 months during my rebuild, so near the end it was pretty brittle relative to new vinyl. More a stiff feeling than brittle, but easy to puncture as compared with new vinyl. The old liner was great protection for the sand during the rebuild.

I never had to patch that 2nd liner over 14 years of use, so I made out pretty well. The original liner was installed poorly, and needed mutiple patching.

I am still running low chlorine (around 1.0) along with Nature 2 with the new liner. Trichor in an auto chlorinate dispenser. One chlorine fill of 8 to 10 of the 3" tablets about 4 weeks apart. Once a month "super" chlorination, but not as "super" this time. I use a 1/2 a gallon of liquid chlorine to super chlorinate. PH plus every once and a while (depending on "acid rain" amounts). A small amount of algaecide once a month.

This time I am being very careful about "super" chlorination levels.

This year I also installed new sand and replaced the internals to the Hayward sand filter. Plastic gets brittle over the years.

Zero algae this year. Then again, it was kind of a cold summer this year.

[CarlD]

I've noticed that NOW the bottom is getting brittle, but, like you, I'm leaving it in place as a tarp over the sand.
On the chemical side, I'd never use a Nature2 because, while it helps control algae, it adds metals. While it's expensive, an SWCG will allow you to do the same thing.
Are you careful to watch your CYA levels with the Tri-Chlor? Remember for every 10ppm of chlorine it adds 6ppm of CYA.

My sand filter is fine and the plastic tank shows no sign of brittleness or UV breakdown. It's always been covered over the winter, and, for the last several years, been under the deck addition (where the deck chairs are). I'm still using my original sand, no problems.

[J_Palmer_Cass]

I tend to think that most pool liners are on borrowed time after 10 years of use.

I have not checked CYA levels this year. Filled pool last fall, and I did not add any stabilizer. The only CYA source has been from the chlorine tablets.

I lose about a foot or so of water over the winter, so I will check CYA levels next spring.

I like the low chlorine levels that you can use with Nature 2, so the lower chlorine use balances out the cost of the Nature-2 cartridge.

For the filter the pipe that connects the valve to the laterals broke in the spring, so I had to buy the entire lateral assembly. Fairly cheap on line. While I was at it, I changed the sand. I had to remove all of the sand from the filter anyhow, so it was a good time to change the sand.

One less item to worry about!

[CarlD]

Of course, if you have to replace the laterals, then changing the sand is probably necessary.

How much does the N2 cartridge cost you each year? Is it $100 or more? I buy 25 gallons of 12.5% for $95, which is more than enough for a season. I would need to use twice as much and the N2 would have to cut that in half to break even.

That's my argument.