Cyanuric Acid won't dissolve

19 years ago

It's the first time i've added cyanuric acid since I had my new pool built. I read the directions and poured it into a bucket of warm water and stirred. And stirred. And stirred.... I eventually got tired of stirring and poured all the water into the pool but kept the granules in the bucket and added some more water to it and let it sit overnight thinking it would dissolve. Yeah right. The next day I stirred, and stirred, and stirred. I finally got frustrated and tossed it all in the pool. And swept.. And swept.. That stuff refuses to dissolve. I pushed it back and forth in the pool for a good half hour and finally figured the polaris would suck up what didn't dissolve, and blow water on it while it sat in the polaris bag until it did dissolve. What's the trick to this stuff?!

Featured Answer

sandradee

19 years ago

Russrimm...been there, done that!

You can put CYA into a knee hi or a leg of old pantyhose, tie it up, and place in your skimmer. It takes just a couple of days to dissolve that way. The "package" is not so big as to interfere with water circulation or suction at the skimmer.

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Comments (12)

muddyboot
19 years ago
You need to pour it into the skimmer and it will dissolve in the filter.
russrimm
Original Author
19 years ago
Is that ok for the equipment and filter? I read elsewhere that you should never pour any chemicals whatsoever in the skimmer?
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muddyboot
19 years ago
You need to vacuum up the cyaneric acid off the bottom of the pool immediately so that it is vacuumed into the filter and so that it does not bleach out the plaster.
muddyboot
19 years ago
the only chemical that goes in the skimmer is the cyaneric acid
repair_guy
19 years ago
Conditioner is a slow release chemical. It is safe to add to the skimmer provided you remove the pump basket first. Remember to put the basket back. You can really ruin your week if you add the conditioner too fast to the skimmer. It will plug and in about 2 weeks, it will clear.

Poor quality conditioner dissolves slower. High quality stuff dissolves better.
sharlanet
19 years ago
Speaking of cyanuric acid, is there a cheaper place to buy it than the pool store? They told me I needed 12 lbs of it at $5 a lb? Ouch! I only put in half that much because what it said on the package was totally different than what they told me; and I know if you get too much, you can only get rid of it by draining some of the pool. So is the pool store the only place you can buy it?
arbisi
19 years ago
HD,Lowes,Walmart,Target all carry it.
florida_gal
19 years ago
We were also told to clean the filter BEFORE adding the CYA through the skimmer.
tagprod
19 years ago
The big think about the filter is not to clean it right after adding the CYA. If the filter doesn't need cleaning right now, don't worry about it.
lsbarkley
19 years ago
If you need to backwash do so before adding the CYA. CYA can take up to a week to fully dissolve. It is best to pour granules into a pantyhose stocking and tie it up. I then place this into the skimmer with part of the stocking stuck under lid to keep is on the edge of the skimmer basket. It will take a few days to dissolve. Since the dissolve rate is slow backwashing will wash out the undissolved CYA. Retest your level about a week after you added the CYA. Hope that helps.

Ls
pebbleconcepts
19 years ago
One trick I used to dissolve it quickly was to put it in a five gallon bucket and then add 2 and a half gallons of bleach.I ussually just throw it on the bottom of the pool but the bleach does dissolve it quicker.I never bleached a pool bottom yet. I have clogged an impeller in the pump trying the skimmer trick. I don't reccomend that. I am not condoning it either. It worked for some here.