Active 99 Vs Xtra Blue Chlorine Tablet Comparison

Newbie: 99% OR 95% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione

• Thread starter ebeck
• Start date Apr 11, 2015

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• #1

Prior owners used 99% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione 3' tablets. Just purchased Clorox Xtra Blue 3' tablets that are 95% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione and 5% secret ingredients that help keep water blue, dissolve corrosion, and dissolve slower. Do you think these extra ingredients are good and safe or am I better off finding a 99%? Seems that more chemicals, especially ones that dissolve corrosion may be more toxic to people and not necessarily be better for the pool. Please help this newbie. Thanks.

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• #2

Welcome to TFP!

We don't recommend using "multi-function" products. It is always better to purchase each thing you need separately. Doing so is less expensive and gives you more control over what goes into your pool.

Separately, we don't generally recommend using trichlor tablets for regular day to day use. Trichlor adds CYA to the water, which builds up slowly and will eventually cause problems.

In this particular case, I know there isn't anything toxic or even mildly dangerous in those particular tablets. The extra ingredients aren't useful except in rare cases, but they aren't dangerous either.

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• #3

Thanks for the quick response! If you don't recommend Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione for every day use, what do you recommend? Previous owners sore by this stuff, and said it is all you have to use (most of the time). Just throw 2 tabs in each week and that's it for the most part. Looks like I have some learning to do.

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• #4

Welcome to TFP ebeck!

If you are going to use trichlor, use the pure stuff. We strongly teach knowing what is going in your pool and "secret ingredients" go against that mantra. Proper testing and only adding what is needed is more cost effective and easier in the long term.

You should check out the Pool School here. It is a wealth of information to helping you maintain a sparkling clear pool. If you plan to use trichlor then it is important to learn how it works, what it adds to the pool in addition go chlorine, and the consequences of overstabilization.

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• #5

We recommend using liquid chlorine (same as household bleach) or a salt water system (SWG).

Trichlor is very easy to use, until you have problems with high CYA levels.

The real key is to understand what is going on and what the tradeoffs are between the various forms of chlorine. Trichlor adds chlorine, lowers PH, and adds CYA. Sometimes you want that specific combination, but in most situations it will end up raising CYA too high.

Do you have a good test kit? Knowing your chemical levels is the most important single think you can do to take care of your pool.

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• #8

Prior owners used 99% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione 3' tablets. Just purchased Clorox Xtra Blue 3' tablets that are 95% Trichloro-S-Triazinetrione and 5% secret ingredients that help keep water blue, dissolve corrosion, and dissolve slower. Do you think these extra ingredients are good and safe or am I better off finding a 99%? Seems that more chemicals, especially ones that dissolve corrosion may be more toxic to people and not necessarily be better for the pool. Please help this newbie. Thanks.

I started to use the Xtra Blue 3" tabs just 5 weeks ago by adding 1 tab per week for the first 3 wks and last week 2 tabs (total 5 tabs. My CYA went from 50 to 80! I use a Taylor drop test kit and when I buy acid have the store do a water test and their CYA readings were within 5 of mine. I have stopped using them and have reverted to plain old liquid Chlorine for the past week. I am hoping regular backwashing will take care of the problem caused by these tabs but it looks like I will end up having to drain about a third of the water and refill. About a month's convenience is not worth the aftermath. Why don't they make trichlor tabs without the cyanuric acid is a mystery to me. This is the first time I had used tabs, maybe other brands don't contain as much CYA but I am reluctant to chance it,

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• #9

All tablets contain trichlor. Trichlor is essentially hypochlorite bound to cyanuric acid molecules. Hypochlorite has to be bound to something to be stable. In powdered forms, it's bound to cyanuric acid (dichlor and trichlor). It's bound to calcium in calcium hypochlorite (cal-hypo) products. In bleach, it's stabilized by salt and lye. The only one that doesn't add chemicals that build up in your pool to cause problems is bleach... well that and lithium hypochlorite, but that's very expensive.

95% or 99% is only the percentage of trichlor. The rest is fillers and binders to keep the tablet together. For every 10 ppm of FC you add using trichlor, you're ALWAYS getting 6 ppm of CYA.

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• #11

I started to use the Xtra Blue 3" tabs just 5 weeks ago

You've probably also added copper to your pool. Only use the 99% trichlor tabs if you're going to use any and nothing that says xtra blue.

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Source: https://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/newbie-99-or-95-trichloro-s-triazinetrione.90443/