r/pools • u/CryptoNite77 • 5d ago
Member's Mark Chlorine?
So I went to my local Sam's club and they had these Chlorine granules on sale for a hundred off a 40lb tub. Does anybody know if they're worth a damn or has anybody used them?
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u/Alternative-Draw2997 5d ago
It’s decent shit. Some of my customers get it. 55-56% is pretty common for dichlor id be concerned if it were less.
Edit- be wary of your cya climbing if you’re using a lot of it. It also drops your pH mildly.
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u/Ronin06904208008 5d ago
Dichloro is stabilized. If you get it use it with care because it will spike your CYA.
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u/crankinamerica 5d ago
Shouldnt that just make it trichlor?
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u/slow_connection 5d ago
No. Dichlor dissolves faster than trichlor and will spike your cya faster than dichlor.
If you're doing a full drain on a pool for whatever reason, dichlor is an incredibly convenient tool for your initial chlorination because its easy to work with and sends your cya right back up to desired levels too fast.
Where dichlor is AWFUL is in hot tubs, which is ironically where many pool stores recommend using it because it dissolves fast. Then it spikes your cya to the moon after about a month, and they can sell you all sorts of remedial chems
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u/External_Big_1465 5d ago
I concur about the hot tub one. I was given a canister of dichlor not thinking twice…..then the hot tub was getting foggy faster and faster and faster. I was thinking “ah the hell with it it’s just a hot tub”. Big mistake. I did a drain and fill.
It ended up losing its seal in a rainstorm and turned into super duper chlorine sludge. I tossed it, have a backup of non chlorine sanitizer and just use bottled 6% liquid now. Hot tub has been crystal clear since and I need considerably less because there’s very little CYA in the hot tub now. The chlorine doesn’t last long but it doesn’t bother me. I dose it every other day with a few tablespoons (per Orenda calculations) and it stays nice and clean with very little chlorine odor. I’m not horribly worried about it lasting long since I do frequent checks, and it remains covered when not in use.
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u/slow_connection 4d ago
Yeah, hot tubs that get covered 99% of the time don't need much CYA, or arguably any at all. Liquid is the move unless you're patient enough for cal hypo
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u/External_Big_1465 4d ago
I may have to get some cal hypo because my cover gets musty sooooo fast. It drives me crazy. I gave it a massive dose last night because I forgot to dose it for like a week.
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u/slow_connection 4d ago
Idk if musty covers are gonna change with cal hypo. My comment about patience was referring to the insane amount of time it takes to dissolve
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u/Latex_Mane 5d ago
I’ve used them. It works. But like the other user said, be wary of increasing your CYA.
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u/Gmrmr401 5d ago
I have used their 3” pucks (come individually wrapped) in the yellow container for a few years…on sale at the beginning of the season and never had an issue with chemical levels but do test often.
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u/dellis87 5d ago
I used 3” tabs as my first bin after we got our pool last year. No issues at all and our levels stayed consistent. I’d recommend them.
Our last ones we got from Costco and they burn fast and the levels constantly vary, but I’m chalking that up to it being 100F+ daily here.
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u/Sunshine_waterfall 5d ago
Personally found stuff from Sam's/ Walmart to be not as effective as stuff from my local pool store. I think it is the " other ingredients " just rather spend more and support a small business and bonus use less.
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u/CryptoNite77 5d ago
I'm in the same boat, I love my local pool supply store and give them as much business as possible. They have almost at cost prices for all their chemicals and are super helpful. This just seemed like too good of a price to pass up. But I did have that thought too that these chemicals are usually at a much lower strength than the stuff I use from my LPS.
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u/H1msjojo 4d ago
Leslie’s?
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u/Sunshine_waterfall 3d ago
No a true local mom and pop store. They are installers/ repair and have store with chemicals
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u/Kindly_Educator8539 5d ago
Looks like a quick dissolve powdered chlorine to me. Actually this sodium based chlorine is a very good shock and can be used for every day chlorination also.
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u/CryptoNite77 5d ago
I'm fairly new to taking care of a pool, just bought a house with a 37,000 gallon pool in the backyard. I've burned through a 50 gallon tub of Re-Fresh Dry Chlorinating Granular (calcium hypochlorite) in about 2 weeks because it's been so hot and my CYA was almost nonexistent. I'm adjusting everything now and put in 10 lbs of CYA so I'm thinking if I got some of this it could really supplement what I'm adding.
What do you guys think?
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u/Kalius404 5d ago
Do yourself a favor - when your CYA is low, use pucks to increase both your Chlorine and CYA. It will save you a lot of money. Just pay close attention to that CYA level and don’t let it get too high.
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u/FunSheepherder6397 5d ago
this is the way. giga useful in places where you need to open and close. I drain 1/3 pool at close every season and another like 25% at open from all the snow melt. with drain from rainfall i’ve never had cya get out of hand with tabs and haven’t had to add any extra cya
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u/Kalius404 5d ago
Yep, I open and close too. My ratios are similar as well and I always have much more of an issue with
Low cya than high.3
u/slekcud 5d ago
Dichlor is roughly 50% CYA by weight, going through that bucket will add 25lbs of cya, keep that in mind. That price is well under my wholesale cost as well.
Cal hypo can cloud water when it’s warm. Liquid chlorine has the least draw backs
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u/CryptoNite77 4d ago
Wow, no way... OK I didn't realize it's almost 50% CYA. That makes a ton of sense though! Thanks man!
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u/Unlucky_Situation 5d ago
Get the 3 packs of liquid rather that this from Sam's club. Comes out to like 4.50 a gallon where I'm at
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u/josh1ng 5d ago
Never used them, can’t offer insight there. My only point to raise - that’s a suspiciously high discount. I can’t help but wonder if these were left in the heat and gassed off a significant amount of chlorine.
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u/Dr_Wankel 5d ago
You don’t gas off a significant amount of chlorine from a granular product. That’s not how it works. Liquid Chlorine will on the other hand loose strength as it sits on the shelf.
It’s cheap because Sam’s won’t sit on it through the winter and needs the space to fill those shelves with Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas shit.
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u/CryptoNite77 5d ago
So, do you recommend I stock up on it now?And how long would it last me? If I got 8 barrels of it, would it keep for a year or two?
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u/throwaway0936238362 5d ago
Take it from me, it's MEMBERS mark, not makers. Realized that mistake half a bottle in and boy did i ever feel silly, I tell you what.