Vacation question (what type of tablets)

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joshua5438

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Mar 15, 2016
448
Easley, SC
I know this has been covered many times but I have a more specific question. I will be gone for seven days and do not have anyone that will be able to check on the pool. My plan is this...

Bring FC to slam level the night before we leave.
Turn pump off just before leaving.
Add a floater, tied to both sides of pool to keep it centered in the deep end.
Have faith that it will be somewhat clear when I get back....

Here is my question. The last home owner used 3" tablets and left a box of them for me to use.... They are the Clorox XtraBlue 3" long lasting tablets. Should I use these or purchase a different type? The claim to contain a 6 in 1 slow dissolving formula. I know nothing about tablets at this point but think using them will be my best bet while on vacation. What are your thoughts/suggestions?
 
It is hard to say as those tablets list a small percentage as "trade secret", which could be copper, zinc, borax, or some other chemical. Personally I would much prefer pure trichlor tablets. You might as well not bother though if you are turning your pump off for a week. If you aren't circulating the water then there is nothing circulating the chlorine out of the floater and around the pool. You are likely coming back to a stagnant mess anyway so no point going to the trouble of tying down a floater.
 
Definitely do not turn your pump off! The tabs you have left behind will be fine. Just use a couple of them. You might also want to adjust your pH to the low range of your pH tends to rise.


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Thanks guys. I cannot leave the pump on. I have no way to cover the pool and if a storm comes thru my pool will be full of leaves. I currently have a full grown oak tree hanging over my pool that I plan to remove this fall. I figured leaving a tablet in would be better than nothing. I understand the water circulation or lack of but it still seems like it would add some chlorine to the pool.
 
I do not know about your Clorox tabs but you could compare ingredients label to 3" trichlor online, my guess is it will be the same, 6 in 1 slow dissolving may just be marketing, but I do not know. I have a chloinator that I use for vacation and a timer for the pump, worked well last year but raises CYA 1.2 ppm per puck in my pool which is similar volume as yours I have kept my CYA= 30 for this reason and will increase probably 10 when I go on vacation. But if you do not have timer or chlorinator that does not help. I have a friend with pool who uses 2 floaters and then threw 3-4 tablets in each of the skimmers, he does have a pump timer. He is not using TFP, he uses pool store and so far has not had a problem in a couple of years. I tested his water when he came home surprisingly CYA was only 40 ppm, his FC 5 and still had a lot of pucks in skimmer that did not dissolve so he took them out of skimmer and resumed managing pool as he did before. The only thing I can imagine is that over winter his CYA went down to close to zero and on start up which he did end of June he has not added much CYA and or the CYA that has been addaed has not tested to its full potential as it may take 7 days to register on test after adding. Not sure I recommend this but worked for him. big thing is what is your CYA and are you ok with doing a water replacement to get CYA down when you return. Do you have a neighbor with a teenager you could teach and pay to take care of pool?
 
I do not have a timer yet.. Just purchased the home end of last year and appears to have never had one. My CYA was at 40 the last time I checked, it was over 100 when we first opened the pool. I have no idea how many pucks would be needed but cannot see it raising it so high that it causes me to replace lots of water. I do not have any neighbors close by. Closest one is a elderly man but I would not feel comfortable asking him to care for the pool. The typical pucks say they are 99% chlorine but the ones I have say they are 94% chlorine. As said above... who knows what the other 5% is... I may buy a small box of the the standard tri chlor and give the other to my brother... still have not been able to convince him to change over, although I did convert my dad to the TFP way!
 
Yea, My friend and I got pools at same time but his was maintained, he is not interested in TFP, he says too much trouble and has had good luck so far with pool store. Good luck. If at 40 should only take you to 50, problem is circulation and the dreaded oak tree. Hope you find a solution and if so post may help someone in future.
 

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I think for a typical day running it 13 hours is probably over kill. I cannot keep it on while I am gone as I have had large clumps of leaves fall in the pool and clog up the skimmer while I am away. Just thought of this while I was typing this... what if I turn off the skimmer and leave the floor drain on? what are the odds of that getting so clogged up that it allows air in the pump?

Next year I hope to have the tree cut down, a mesh leaf cover, timer on the pool and my stenner pump installed. That will be my plan for next years vacation. Anyone know if you can attach a leaf cover to the loop loc anchors? Thats my plan if I can.
 
I like bottom drain idea, also any possibility family/friends can come and check skimmers and floor drain a few times especially if it storms? does not have to be same person maybe 3 different ones. My thoughts are if you leave skimmers and floor drain on, if skimmers clog floor drain takes over. i do not see air getting in from skimmers if it clogs and floor drain is on, just severely decreased supply of water from skimmer. With skimmer on should collect most of leaves till they clog, so leaves won't sink right away clogging floor drain
 
I would just leave the skimmer on. If it gets clogged with leaves a few days after you leave the pump will still be drawing from the floor drain (just like turning off the skimmer).
 
This is how I thought it would work also, until I came home one day after a storm and the skimmer opening was clogged not allowing water into the skimmer basket. Thats how air got in the system. Single leaves are not an issue, its the leaves that are attached to the small limbs that cause the problem as they cannot make it into the skimmer basket. Any suggestions on how to prevent that? Thats why I wanted the leaf net cover.
 
One more question. What if I turned the pumps off and put a floater in the deep end and the shallow end? I know it will not circulate like we want it to but do you think this would help to keep my FC somewhat elevated? Im just not comfortable with leaving the pump on while I'm away...
 
without water circulating, you'll have part of the pool that is protected from algae growth, and other pockets of water that will foster growth. No point in that really. Can you adjust the pump strength lower, so it will circulate but not try to pull all the leaves into the drain?
 
with no circulation, any slow dissolving tabs are going to be REALLY slow dissolving.
I had to try a few stores to find tabs that weren't 4- 5- or 6-1 tabs with random algaecides or whatever. Just regular 3" tabs in the individual packets.

With no neighbors, no pool guy, no relatives, and no pool cover, you might just have to raise it up to mustard algae level and hope you stay above the minimum after 7 days.
 

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