Swimming Pool Tips and Reviews

A Sodium Bromide product will work effectively in treating Yellow Algae in your pool. As long as the active ingredient is Sodium Bromide it will work in clearing up the algae. The percentages vary by product and the Knock Out product shown here in granular form is 99% Sodium Bromide. They also make a Knock Out Problems liquid which is about 30% Sodium Bromide and part Clarifier also but no less effective. One of the things that you need to do is to make sure you have a very high chlorine level before you start this treatment.   Bring the chlorine up to what we refer to as "Blazing High" if it is at zero ppm. This means you need to have a chlorine level of 5-10 ppm before you start using the Sodium Bromide product. If the chlorine level is already at 3-5ppm you should be okay with just the Sodium Bromide dosage and sanitizer to be added such as liquid chlorine. One common mistake is not starting with a good chlorine level. Sodium Bromide will convert the chlorin...

There are several methods you can use to eliminate and prevent algae in your pool all season long. I am a big fan of adding borates to your pool to prevent algae and alternatively, you can use the PoolRX product or a maintenance dose of a sodium bromide product like YellowTrine or No Nor Problems. But what happens if you are currently using one of these methods or none of them and you still have persistent algae in your pool? This is where a good Phosphate remover can come in and save the day. Keep in mind phosphates are measured in ppb – parts per billion instead of the standard ppm – parts per million used in the industry. To give you an idea of how small a ppb is, imagine a roll of toilet paper stretched from New York across the Atlantic Ocean to London. 1 ppm would be one tiny sheet of the entire roll that is stretched across the ocean! So a phosphate level of 100 ppb is extremely minuscule but any amount of phosphates in the water is food for the algae. We are dealing w...

Cleaning the Jandy TruClear Sal Cell couldn’t be any easier. If you look through the clear top and notice that the black cell plates have a lot of calcium build upon them, it is time for quick cleaning. The process is simple from beginning to end. A warning from Jandy: CAUTION Disconnect power to the system at the main circuit breaker before performing this procedure to avoid the risk of electric shock which can result in property damage, severe injury or death. Here are the detailed steps from Jandy with some notations from me: 1. Ensure that all power to the power pack and the controller is turned off at the circuit breaker. This is very important to prevent any kind of voltage arch when you put the cell in acid. It could blow out the fuse or worse as Jandy noted above. 2. Before removing the cell for cleaning, shut off any necessary valves to prevent any water loss. If your pool equipment sits below your pool equipment, turn off all ball valves befo...

Here is the battle of the new Salt Water Systems. The Jandy TruClear Vs the Pentair iChlor. Both systems are the latest to be introduced by the big three manufacturers with Hayward waiting on the sidelines to update their AquaRite System. As it stands the Truclear and the iChlor are targeting the same market, a compact and up to date saltwater system backed by one of the big three. So, which one is better? I get asked this question all the time. I have a TruClear at my personal residence only for the default reason that I have Jandy Equipment on my equipment pad. I always say if you have all Pentair or all Hayward and, in my case, all Jandy equipment then it is logical to go with a salt system from that manufacturer. Since I have Jandy equipment I went with the TruClear system and if you have all Pentair equipment I am going to tell you to stick with the iChlor system. Let me break it down so that you can easily see the differences. Pool Size Winner: TruClear, it can gene...

Sizing a Salt Water System known also as a Salt Water Generator (SWG) can seem easy enough since each salt system rates maximum pool size in gallons for you already. But herein lies the problem when sizing a salt water system. The cell size may be rated for your size pool but that may not be in fact the correct salt cell size. Huh? Here is the reason why. Let’s say your pool is around 18,000 gallons. I will use the Pentair Intellichlor for our example here. For this pool size, the salt cell that would be rated for 20,000 gallons is the IC20 which is designed for pools up to 20,000 gallons. So, it would be only logical to purchase a Pentair Intellichlor Salt System with the IC20 cell. But this is the wrong choice in my opinion. You should actually purchase the IC40 Salt System which is rated for 40,000 gallons of water. Here is why. The IC20 salt cell will produce .70 lbs. of chlorine in a 24-hour period. This means with the pool pump running at full speed (3450 RPM) it will pro...

An automatic pool cleaner can be a big investment and there are so many different models and types out there which can make the choice downright confusing. Should you choose a Robotic Pool Cleaner, a Pressure Side Cleaner or a Suction side Cleaner? And which is the best in each category? While the Zodiac Ranger isn’t the top Suction Side Cleaner it is the by far the best value-priced cleaner on the market in my opinion. Currently listed for $140 online it is a real bargain for what you get. It comes with 32 feet of real pool hoses, the same quality hoses found on the more expensive G2 cleaner. It also comes with the standard Zodiac Flow Keeper Valve for the skimmer and that valve alone is over $50.00 by itself. The cleaner head is also very high quality and has some good weight to it so the cleaner will not float or just drift in the pool. The fact that you can also replace the parts on the Ranger makes it a great buy. Unlike the $99 cleaners found online which have no spar...

The Cyborg is a 2-wheel suction side cleaner that is offered as an affordable option but is not one of those cheap generic type cleaners. It is a well made and very highly engineered cleaner that will leave your pool looking spotless every week. The Cyborg comes with 40 feet of pool hoses and these hoses are very thick and well made. With 40 feet of hoses, the Cyborg is great for even a larger pool but will work equally fine in a smaller pool. One of the interesting features of the Cyborg is the flashing LED light that is built into the lid of the cleaner. When the Cyborg is functioning properly and is moving in the pool the LED light will be flashing green. When it is not moving or there is something jammed in the turbine it will not flash. The overall design of the Cyborg is much like the Pentair Rebel and Hayward PoolCleaner 2-wheel cleaner. I would say the wall climbing ability is very similar to the Rebel and you will have to adjust the suction down at times to keep ...

Everyone seems to have widely differing opinions on retail pool stores. Either you love them, hate them or you fall somewhere in between. With the advent of online internet pool stores, the retail pool store was supposed to go away a few years ago. But that is not the case and they have even become stronger I think because of the internet. One reason retail pool stores have gained traction over the online stores is that the big and small manufacturers want them to stay in business. So, they tailor specific products that can only be purchased at a retail pool store. Jandy has effectively “left the internet” as they put and only make their products available at your local retail pool store or from your pool service provider. Dolphin, Water Tech, Pentair, Hayward to name a few also make retail pool store only products. One of the benefits of buying a product from a retail pool, the store is the warranty on the product. Some manufacturers will offer a bonus year and even 3-4 ...

I started my Podcast back in July of 2017 and it has really grown over the last two years. In order to keep the content fresh and to give listeners more options, I decided to post a Podcast every weekday starting at the beginning of May this year. The feedback has been great, and I will continue with the format of a full Episode every Monday and a shorter 5-6 minute Episode Tues – Friday called a MiniCast. I am on over 12 Podcast Hosting sites and you can listen and subscribe to any of these below: iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pool-guy-show-podcast/id1257613192 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4vBthPxqaNIAlw4LFVB2m3 Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/listen?pcampaignid=MKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16#/ps/Imhdwnal25iyl4c2yfceih2ni4y Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/david-van-brunt/pool-guy-podcast-show iHeartRADIO: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-the-pool-guy-podcast-show-31084340/ Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Poo...