3" tabs in floater or skimmer?????

[traceyb]

I so far have been putting my chlorine tabs in the skimmer box. I have since been told that a floater will distribute chlorine just fine and reduce the speed that it disentigrates. Is this true? My levels stay up pretty good, so I wanted to know what ya'll thought. I bought a floater last night and put my "pretty much chewed up tab" in there and had to tie it up to the ladder, cause it got stuck at the skimmer opening. I wanted to try it out. I still value your all's opinion>

Thanks

[sunofthebeach]

I so far have been putting my chlorine tabs in the skimmer box. I have since been told that a floater will distribute chlorine just fine and reduce the speed that it disentigrates. Is this true? My levels stay up pretty good, so I wanted to know what ya'll thought. I bought a floater last night and put my "pretty much chewed up tab" in there and had to tie it up to the ladder, cause it got stuck at the skimmer opening. I wanted to try it out. I still value your all's opinion>

Thanks

I say skimmer. When I used the floater you would swim by the floater, or run into it by accident and get a shot of 50 ppm chlorine in your face. Sometimes someone would pick up the floater and the water from inside of the floater come out and get on them.

[waterbear]

If you have a cartridge filter I would not put the tabs in the skimmer. I have seen carts destroyed by the low pH conditions they can create when the pump is off and the tab sits there. When the pump comes back on it's like pouring acid right into the skimmer.

[KurtV]

Seems to me that both those methods of using tri-chlor have significant downside. Those who're going to use tablets more than occasionally should probably get an inline chlorinator and do it right.

[waste]

Tri-chlor in the skimmer is a 'NO-NO" IMO, A teathered floater is a much better alternative, but let's face it - exclusive use of tri-chlor is an invite for chem problems. The trouble with pucks in the skimmer is the damage they do to the plumbing and (if you have a liner pool) the area around the skimmer mouth when the system is off. I'm wicked tired now or I'd tell you a way to use the tabs safely - the only problem is that it be at least as much work as just using bleach to chlorinate your pool.
(this is 'hell week' for pool dudes, everyone wants their pool for Mem day, even though it's probably going to rain )

If you want more info, I'll get back to you this weekend -

[chem geek]

My own personal experience is that neither the skimmer nor the floater work well unless you follow certain precautions. Here's what happened to me:

1) Floating feeder. It is absolutely true that the floating feeder will have the Trichlor tablets dissolve MUCH more slowly, even when "dialed up" to maximum, at least with the feeder I used. In fact, it is likely to be TOO slow in many cases. As for tethering, do not do that near any metal. I tethered my floating feeder onto a stainless steel bar (that's just under the water) and the feeder parked itself close to the bar. When the pump turned off, the Trichlor released chlorine and acid (remember that Trichlor is highly acidic) and ended up rusting the two (steel?) mounts closest to where the feeder parked itself. Other mounts did not rust so I know the cause was the Trichlor in the feeder.

2) Skimmer. There is no question that the tablets dissolve somewhat quickly in the skimmer, especially compared to the floating feeder. However, here again when the pump turns off the buildup of chlorine and acid corroded my thermometer which was in the same basket as the Trichlor pucks. When the pump turned on, who knows what this high chlorine/acid combination did to my equipment, though clearly the "blast" would be very, very brief so may not have been a problem (I just don't know -- I suppose I'll find out when I replace my heater which I plan on doing to upgrade to a more efficient type).

The above problems plus some others are what got me started investigating pool water chemistry. So I suppose in some sense they were a good thing.

So I would say there are two rules when using Trichlor in the pool, rather than in an inline feeder. First, keep the pump running if you use it in the skimmer. Second, keep any floating feeder away from any metal in the pool and probably away from the sides just to be safe (if the pump is always running and the feeder is put near a good water flow then that is probably OK). I would think that some sort of contraption that would have the Trichlor in a mesh near a return flow (but out into the pool a bit) would work well to inject it faster and with less risk, but the comment on running into it while swimming would apply (perhaps it could be moved to the skimmer when using the pool).

Richard

[traceyb]

Wow! What good info. I currently have my floater tied to the right rail of my wedding cake steps. When the pump is on (8 am to 10pm) the circulaton of the water pushes it about3 feet from the ladders and the water circulates "away" from the rails, however when the pump is tripped off 10pm to 8 am, I'm sure it rests closer than 3 feet from the rails, you know, cause the water has no circulation to push it away. I'm really confused on what to do. I don't want corrosion any where...who does right? Maybe I'll alternate from the float to the skimmer and remove all 3" pucks when I think of it (when the pump will be off) . Thats gonna kinda work to be a pain though...HMMMMmmmm?