AFiremanFirst Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Okay, so I have a customer that has put a solar pill in his pool! I giggled under my breath, thinking to myself, really? A few weeks have passed and his pool is 10 degrees warmer than any of my other pools? It's a white plaster pool and I have 4 black pebble tech pools to compare it with. No! they didn't sell him a new themometer to go with his pill! I'm getting my temp reading from my lamotte salt tester! So what is in this pill? Leslie's also advertises a product called heat saver that claims to put a chemical solar cover on your pool, same chemical? If so what is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Mostly mineral oil, just like the solar fish. When the water is still, it forms a very thin layer that slows evaporation some. Any disturbance and layer segments. I don't know how well it breaks down but I've had to TSP soak several DE grids and cartridges because of over use. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFiremanFirst Posted March 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 makes perfect since! So of course I'm not interested in adding it to customers pools, but would you use it in your pool? I've got 4 girls ages 3-12. They're ready to swim, and well I am too. But our water is still just a little chilly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted March 30, 2011 Report Share Posted March 30, 2011 Would I use it? No. I have a solar cover and heater. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulsimmons Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 If you give it a try I'd be interested to hear about the results. Sounds like it might be a bit more of a pain than it's worth (wonder how it might interact with a sand filter). Curious though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoolGuyNJ Posted March 31, 2011 Report Share Posted March 31, 2011 That depends on how quickly chlorine breaks it down and how much is dispensed when it gets jostled by activity in the pool. It will vary. It can gunk things up, not just the sand but the walls, a salt cell (though I wouldn't expect much of it to make it there before the chlorine zaps it), heat exchanger, etc... I can't advocate it's use and I won't Guinea Pig either my pool or any of my clients pools. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txpoolguy Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 If you read the package carefully, you'll find that it needs "calm" water to work. Since, in N.TX we rarely have calm water due to the wind, especially in fall & spring, when you'd want to use this, it seems a bit unlikely that it'll do much. However, their laboratory testing claims to do something...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem geek Posted April 1, 2011 Report Share Posted April 1, 2011 These products are just long-chained hydrocarbons with an alcohol end and are dispersed using an isopropyl alcohol carrier. I believe that stearyl alcohol is used in WaterSavr while cetyl alcohol is used in HeatSavr (see this patent). As was noted by others in earlier posts, the product is only effective at preventing evaporation and therefore reducing heat loss if the air is relatively still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterbear Posted April 3, 2011 Report Share Posted April 3, 2011 IMHO, these products are best used in commercial, heated, INDOOR applications when dosed with a peristaltic pump and the system is off overnight. They are least effective in outdoor residential pools and usually only prevent a degree or two overnight heat loss in best cases from what I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFiremanFirst Posted April 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 I appreciate the postings. And I'm considering the peristatic pump set-up. But again guys. I'm in North TX. Guinea pigging isn't the word. I've got one customer using the product (solar pill) on his own accord and it's working. I'm not talking about 2-3, I'm talking about 7-10. Yeah, it's windy, but when it's not, there is potential! Statiscally, we are "windy-er" than Chicago! We're also hotter! I'll do my best to post results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yoyoma Posted December 21, 2012 Report Share Posted December 21, 2012 AFiremanFirst, What did you find out about this solar pill product? I have a saltwater/DE pool and don't want to gunk up my pool. I live just south of Fort Worth where it is moderately windy. I am considering the Solar Pill product and the Cover Free product made by Natural Chemistry. (HeatSavr is too expensive per recommended dose compared to those other two.) Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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