Pucks

[steveinaz]

Yep, nothing out there. How long will you be gone? Maybe just shock, cover and run the pump. Hope for the best if you can't get someone to come over. If its short term, my guess is the pool won't suffer much except lower chem levels when you return. Keeping debris out of the pool with the cover on will help.

That's what I do, a 1.5 gallon jug of Clorox and I'm good for 7-9 days.

[CarlD]

There are two types of Cal-hypo tablets that do not add CYA to your water and are supposedly slow-dissolving. Both are sometimes called "Duration".

One is wrapped a plastic capsule that you then dispose of. Get this type.

The other is not and will dissolve in a skimmer in a matter of hours, and block the skimmer...Guess how I know! Don't waste your time or money.

HTH used to make the plastic type but now makes the caplet. There is a sister brand that I can never remember the name of that makes the plastic capsule.

Again, that's what you want, that plastic-wrapped Cal-Hypo capsule.

[jrv331]

Looks like I'll have try this method, Im going to be gone for 8 days so if I do nothing I will definately be at 0 colorine by the time I get home. Im leaving my solor cover on to keep out as much crap as possible.

Back to the Tablets - I should know this, but whats the difference between dichlor and trichlor? I thought one was not stablized and the other was?

Thats the reason I like the BBB method - simple and easy to understand.
Thanks for all the help
John

[NWMNMom]

Almost all the tabs are Trichlor now AND just recently a lot of them have copper in them as well. The dichlor tabs are around some places but not anywhere I have looked recently (and I HAVE looked) The difference? Ummm...I know this one but it escapes me. Two vs. three (di vs tri) chemical compounds/active ingredients - the chlorine, buffer (cya) and other ingredients like copper (to act as an algaecide) not counting the inactive filler crap some have. Thats my best guess off the top of my head, but I bet if we look it up on the site, its here somewhere. Chemgeek?

[Sherra]

Tri-chlor & di-chlor both have stabilizer. The difference is tri-chlor also has a "clarifier"

[CarlD]

Tri-chlor & di-chlor both have stabilizer. The difference is tri-chlor also has a "clarifier"

Sorry, this is just plain wrong. See Waterbear's explanation.

Tri-chlor and Di-chlor have stablizer because that's part of the chemistry that makes them. And when they release their chlorine, they release the CYA too (stabilizer).

If your CYA is high, using Tri-chlor while you are away will send it through the roof.

When I'm away, I have someone dump 1 gallon of bleach in the skimmer every other day and that's all I need. I have the pump on a timer, and leave the solar cover on. So all my father-in-law has to do is dump in the bleach every other day.

[NWMNMom]

I knew someone would show up with the right explaination! Thanks.

[RocKKer]

My understanding is -
Di-chlor has Chlorine and CYA
Tri-chlor has Chlorine, CYA and Acid

[waterbear]

Dichlor and trichlor are both stabilzied chlorine (chlorinated isocyanurates). Trichlor has a pH of around 2 while dichlor has a pH of around 6 so both are acidic. Trichlor is slow dissolving so it is suitable for forming into tablets for use in erosion feeders. Dichlor is very fast dissolving so it is sold in granular form and is not really suitable for use in erosion feeders.
Dichlor adds more CYA to the water than trichlor. For every 1 ppm of FC added dichlor will add .9 ppm of CYA while trichlor will add .6 ppm.
Hope this helps.

Edit: some companies will include other ingredients such as copper sulfate as an algae preventative, clarifiers, sodium tetraborate (borax) as a pH buffer, etc. into their formulations of these products but these have nothing to do with whether it's trichlor or dichlor. Also, the number of chlorine molecules attacted to the cyanuate structure determine if its dichlor or trichlor. Dichlor has two and trichlor has three. This is why dichlor puts more stabilizer in the water then trichlor for a given amount of chlorine. There is one third more chlorine in trichlor than in dichlor.

[day1]

Actually saw some cal hypo pucks at wal mart neighborhood store. I'm thinking of using these when I go away on vacation.