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Brown Stain and Chemicals


Guest Linda

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Hello everyone,

Was wondering about this info i rec'd from a Pool Rep from a local Pool Supply Store. I was told to use "No Mor Problems" once a week along with my Automatic Chlorinator and i won't ever have to shock my pool again. Is that true?

Also, i have some light brown staining from what i believe happened when i used 2 lbs of Total Alkanility Increaser, per the Pool Store Rep. I had bought my pool water in for testing and i needed to raise my Total Alkanility and Calcium Increaser. Per their recommendations, i added the 2lbs of Total Alkanility Increaser and Calcium Increaser. The next morning my Fiberglass Shell had this light brown staining on the walls of the deep end and on the steps of the shallow end. This happen last summer and the stains are still in the same place. Not any better or any worse.

Anyhow, i have asked so many Pool reps about the staining and haven't rec'd any information. They are at a lost. I finally decided to order some Pool Stain Removal from United Chemicals. Have heard great things about their products.

Any info on the No Mor Problems and not shocking the Pool water and the brown staining and how to remove it?

Thanks so much!

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tamie-

I haven't been on the website recently. However, i do have some info for you.

I did try the Stain Remover from United Chemicals. It worked really well on the winter staining. But those brown stains are still there. First of all, i put the stain remover in the pool when the water was really, really cold. Second, the Stain Remover did remove all my Chlorine and PH levels. It was a pain trying to get a steady chlorine reading. Took months, even after shocking the pool many times.

Since then i have learned that maybe adding the Stain Remover in warmer weather, like now, would be a better time. And recently, i've learned from another Fiberglass Pool owner of her way of removing stains. Buy some Ascorbic Acid from a local Feed Store (about 8.95 lb) and then get some Metal Free Product and Algicide from a Pool Supply Store.

First lower the chlorine level and add ascorbic acid all over the pool. Wait 15 mins. and follow-up with a metal free product and an algecide and according to this Fiberglass Pool owner her pool looks beautiful. Now, i haven't done this. However, i plan to give it a try next month. Also, wait 3 days before shocking the pool water. Just start adding some chlorine by feeder and/or chlorinator the day after treatment. Furthermore, i was told you can swim in the pool the next day.

Again, this is news to me. Heard this treatment really works. If you decide to try it, let me know how it goes.

Also, the Pool Stain Treat from United Chemicals did work. Think i needed to wait and add the treament when the water was warmer.

Good luck-Linda

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In reply to the abscorbic acid and metal free for fiberglass pools-I also did this-yes it removes the stains instantly, but it was difficult getting chlorine back in the pool and only worked for a short time.

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I am having the same exact issue and have been to 3 different pool supply companies to no avail. I am now $1400.00 in debt trying to fix this problem.

I also have a fiberglass pool and have a brown stain that shows up approx 4-5 days after I do all the treatments to get rid of it. The water is cloudy at first, I get the ph in and the water clears perfectly and the pool is beautiful for 2 days and when the chlorine level is back up where it is supposed to be the stain comes back. It has been a vicsous cycle. I even removed all metal from the pool..pool light, ladder etc and replaced all of it including screws. I also changed the sand which is only a year old. Still no luck. I have used metal free, drained the pool and even etched it with muriatic acid and used the alum after treatment under the advice of San Juan pools. We thought this might finally be the answer until it came back again 5 days later.

I am ready to fill it in! All of our readings are perfect, metal, ph, alkalinity, chlorine etc. Not sure what to do. You name I probably have already tried it.

Not sure who to turn to at this point. Please let me know how you are progressing.

I feel your pain.

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I am having the same exact issue and have been to 3 different pool supply companies to no avail. I am now $1400.00 in debt trying to fix this problem.

I also have a fiberglass pool and have a brown stain that shows up approx 4-5 days after I do all the treatments to get rid of it. The water is cloudy at first, I get the ph in and the water clears perfectly and the pool is beautiful for 2 days and when the chlorine level is back up where it is supposed to be the stain comes back. It has been a vicsous cycle. I even removed all metal from the pool..pool light, ladder etc and replaced all of it including screws. I also changed the sand which is only a year old. Still no luck. I have used metal free, drained the pool and even etched it with muriatic acid and used the alum after treatment under the advice of San Juan pools. We thought this might finally be the answer until it came back again 5 days later.

I am ready to fill it in! All of our readings are perfect, metal, ph, alkalinity, chlorine etc. Not sure what to do. You name I probably have already tried it.

Not sure who to turn to at this point. Please let me know how you are progressing.

I feel your pain.

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I DON'T KNOW IF YOU EVER GOT RID OF YOUR STAINS OR NOT, BUT I RAN INTO THE SAME PROBLEM AS YOU AND ALSO USED 3 BOTTLES OF THE REGAL STAIN REMOVER TO NO AVAIL. AFTER SPEAKING WITH SOME OTHER POOL OWNERS, THEY ALL HAD THE SAME ADVISE. USE POOL STAIN TREAT BY UNITED CHEMICALS. IT WAS DIFFICULT TO FIND, BUT WHEN I DID, THE ONE BOTTLE I PURCHASED

REMOVED ALL OF THE BROWN STAINS WITHIN AN HOUR. I TRUELY BELIEVE ALL POOL STORES SHOULD HAVE THIS ON THEIR SHELVES. IT WAS CHEAPER THAN THE REGAL BRAND ALSO.

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I have what appears to be rust colored dots that started on my pool steps and now have appeared on the ledge of my pool and some on the floor. I have tried the Stain Free Product along with Metal Out. This did not work. I was also told to try soft scrub and bar keepers friend to see if it would remove the stains on the steps. This did not help. The pool is fiberglass. I am at my wits end. The pool is only 2 years old and it looks like we never take care of it. The pool store doesn't know what is causing it or what else to use to remove it. One pool installer suggested draining the pool and having the stains sanded out and then refinish the fiberglass. This isn't the type of maintance I expected from a maintance free pool. My water chemistry is good and the pool store is stumped because they have seen something similiar but not as bad in pools where the ph is off but my has't been. Anyone have any ideas?

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We installed a fiberglass pool this summer and it has been a trial and error process with the staining.

Our first staining problem came fron the paver installers, who colored the morter with red dye before applying it. It matched the bullnose pavers. While applying the morter some fell in the pool. After 2 days, the pool sides and seats were stained brown. I used a metal treatment (since the pigment in the morter was probably red oxide) and it removed it almost instantly.

Once the tile was installed arounf the top of the pool, I caulked under the bullnose pavers with an acrylic outdoor caulk (cedar colored to match the pavers) After several weeks of swimming and splashing, I found the caulk was breaking down and the colorant was staining the pool. This time, however, Metal Free did not remove the stain.

I had heard about ascorbic acid removing stains, so I cut a lemon in half an applied it to the fiberglass. The stain instantly disappeared.

I lowered the chlorine to 0 and added muriatic acid to the pool ($4/gal at Lowes/Home Depot - cheaper than ph down), lowering the ph to under 6.5 I believe.

After a few hours, the pool was bright and white. I raised the ph and alkalinity and added chlorine.

Last night after heavy rains, I had blotches of stains in the pool. I applied a cut lime to them and they disappeared.

I'm no expert, but could your stains be from fertilizer or some other source? Fiberglass attracts stains. I doubt your finish is bad after 2 years unless the gel coat was damaged.

Try holding a cut lemon on the stain and see what happens. If that works, you'll need to lower the ph with acis and hopefully it will clear the finish.

An excellent web site I found is "askalanaquestion.com" He deals with staining all the time. He;s a chemist and knows his stuff.

Good luck.

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I've been searching for solutions to this tan staining on fibergalss pools and found this message informative.

My situation is that I have a brand new - 8 months old - fib pool that has been accumulating brown/tans stains for a few weeks. And, no, I'm not going to ask the installation company because their service was terrible. They will be my last resort if I exhaust all other possibilities.

I've kept the pool reading correct since in the ground with the exception that a heavy rain here seems to drop to ph through the floor and then I've had to raise it back up several times. I've read in literature that metals accumulate in acidic water and when you raise the ph up quickly, they stain the pool. And...if you don't clean up the stain quickly, they're tough to get out. I think this may describe my problem.

I got the water metal tested and did show only a very trace amount of iron and they gave me two bottles of stain remover, which did nothing. I'm reluctant to just double or triple up on that stain remover and try again due to expense and no guarantee it will work.

What I'm wondering is if there's an inexpensie alternative to try first (based on the assumption I've got metal stains). Why couldn't I drop the ph way down with acid and run the pool a couple days like that and then add metal remover as I slowly bring the ph back up. From everything I've read, that seems doable, but I don't want to do harm either.

Any thoughts?

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Dano,

Those pesky brown stains are a pain!

I don't think, based on your message that metal is the problem. When I had a metal problem, the color disappeared instantly when I poured the "Metal Free" on the steps.

These stains that take days/weeks to appear are what puzzles me. We've had no real rain run-off in the pool since I last removed the stains, yet after a few days, they re-appear.

I think you should drop the chlorine to 0 and then treat with muriatic acid. Run the filter while you are doing this.

High chlorine levels actually neutralizes the acid (I wasted 1/2 gallon) so wait to it's zero before adding the acid.

Clean the filter cartridge, or backwash next to remove any pigments, tanins, etc.

After the fiberglass is clean, add ph increaser slowly and then bring the chlorine up. Have the water tested so that the Total Alkalinity is good. If not, add Alkalinity increaser in small portions. Re-test.

Let us know how this works.

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