Thought I was getting it...now not so sure...HELP

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Status
Not open for further replies.
O

Oldredhead

0
Jul 26, 2007
4
Goodyear AZ
Hi there-I've been lurking and reading everything here for days now. thought I had a rudimentary understanding of how this works, except that it's NOT, so please advise where I am going wrong!

12000 gal
IG pebble-tec
sand filter

Had a high CYA level, same old story, using 3" pucks for several years. Long story short, drained 2/3 of water and refilled.
CYA at 130 and still seems to be dropping from 200+ but still no TC or FC reading showing up.

Added 5 - 96 oz jugs of 6% bleach yesterday evening and I gal this am-still nothing.

Numbers are as follows: Temp 85*
Total Chlorine 0 Original TA 133
Free Chlorine 0 Adjusted TA 94
CYA 130 Total Hardness 376
Ph 7.6
Do I add another 5 gals this evening or can someone suggest a better course of action?
At temps of 114-116 here-grandkids are clamoring to get in the pool! LOL
Love this site and WILL get it yet!
LindaM in AZ
 
I would say do another partial drain...130 for CYA is still WAY high.

How does your water look? Is it clear?

Someone alot more knowledgable than me should be by shortly! I may be way off base with my suggestion so take it with a grain of salt!
 
Thanks for quick response even though I was dreading hearing that "drain again"...I figured that was the "not too distant" course of action. I thought I read that the CYA could keep dropping for up to a week-must have read that wrong. lol

Water looks great and crystal clear, better than it's looked in weeks -that's what is making me so crazy!
Well back at at it-thanks much!
 
I agree with bassadict69, you need to get the CYA level down more. WIth a CYA of 130 you need to get the FC up to 30 and hold it there to shock the pool. 5 (96 oz) jugs isn't even 20 ppm of chlorine in your pool with that CYA level.
 
Oldredhead said:
Thanks for quick response even though I was dreading hearing that "drain again"...I figured that was the "not too distant" course of action. I thought I read that the CYA could keep dropping for up to a week-must have read that wrong. lol
Click to expand...

Got that one backwards (or is it just wishful thinking? :wink: ) When you add CYA to a pool it can take up to a week for it all to dissolve so you need to wait that long before testing it. When you are draining you can get a pretty good reading in a few hours of circulation after refilling. HOWEVER, if you CYA levels have been very high for a period of time it is possible that CYA has deposited in the plumbing and on the pool surface so you might see the level creep back up in about a week as more of the stuff dissolves. Not a big problem, just drain some more water out! :shock:
 
Redhead,

Gimpy's on to something. Too much CYA does not make chlorine disappear. Chlorine goes away because of two things.....organics in your pool or the Sun. Since that high dose of CYA is in there, the chlorine should get some pretty good protection from the Sun so that leaves only one possiblility....organics (algae) in the pool.

However, you report your water as crystal clear so while that doesn't eliminate organics, it certainly indicates your pool is not "swamped" in algae or something else that needs to be killed.

So, what's left? Your testing method. I suggest you take a sample by a pool store or use a neighbor's tester to confirm you truly have no chlorine in the pool. While this circumstance is pretty darn rare, I think you need to confirm your tests because the other two possibilities don't seem very likely.

If a second test confirms no chlorine, as silly as this sounds, you've got organics despite the clarity of your pool water and will need to bring the FC W-A-A-Y up and Shock your pool. I'd calculate from Jasonlion's calculator and bring it up to about 28-30ppm in the evening and then check it again the next morning. You should have a chlorine reading at that time. Post up how much it is and you'll get good advice on where to go from there.

I'm not ignoring your very high CYA.....it's just that that alone cannot account for your disappearing chlorine.
 
Good Morning and Thank You!!

I am using THT 6 way test kit from Walmart until I can afford to order your TF 100.

(Just inherited custody of 10 year old twin grandchildren, so funds are tight right now)

Still showing 0 chlorine doing the OTO test this morning

Will take sample to local pool place for testing this am and post their numbers.

Am I using chart right-need 697 oz of bleach to get to 28 ppm?
Thanks again for your help!

Just took this over myself this week-so a lot to learn (grandkids and saving costs again! lol
Linda M in AZ
 
Got some numbers from the pool store

Hi All-still fighting this thing but was able to get a sample tested today and these are the numbers:

12,000 gals pebble-tec IG
Temp 85

FC 8.4
TC 8.4
Ph 7.6
TA 149
Adjusted TA 109
Hardness 348
CYA 133

2 nights running have added 697 ozs. bleach+1 gal 46 oz of 6% in late afternoon-should I abandon this
process and just start dumping more water? Other than high CYA-do I have algae? I don't "see" any signs of it but wondered about black algae in the pebbletec. My neighbor just fired her "pool guy" because she had it and he didn't recognize it....
Well off to do more bleach until I hear otherwise.
Thanks for the any advice you have to offer!

LindaM in AZ
Water is crystal clear
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Best advice you will see is to keep at it with the bleach.

If you are using Jasons calculator, you can put the cursor on the 697 oz, and look in the bar right above it, next to the pool size, and it will tell you how many gallons/cups or jugs to add... just a little easier than measuring out 697 oz!!
 
You can stop shocking the pool when the water is clear, there is no CC, and the free chlorine level remains steady overnight. You already have clear water, your CC is already zero, so all you need to do is measure the FC level in the evening and again the next morning to see if it is changing or not. If it remains the same, or withing 0.5, you are done. If it goes down more than that you need to keep it at shock level till it holds steady overnight.
 
Hold steady, it took me at least a week of constantly adding bleach to get the number to hold steady...and that includes 2 partial drains to lower my CYA from over 100. Now at 70. Since then (late May) and discovering this forum and following the advice I've had no problems at all. I had clear water too, despite 0 chlorine readings I would add bleach and nada on the test....and I test with the HTH also. So even tho I couldn't see it there was something there eating it. "Just keep bleachin' bleachin' bleachin" - think Dori from Finding Nemo when you hum the tune - ask the grandbabies....good luck.
 
Linda,

Check your pH with your kit again. Pool store reports 8.4 (that's too high) and you reported 7.6 on Thursday (that's perfect)

Confirm that 7.6. If your test shows above 8.0, you'll need some muriatic acid to bring it down around 7.2-7.6

My guess is it's a pool store error.
 
duraleigh said:
Linda,

Check your pH with your kit again. Pool store reports 8.4 (that's too high) and you reported 7.6 on Thursday (that's perfect)

Confirm that 7.6. If your test shows above 8.0, you'll need some muriatic acid to bring it down around 7.2-7.6

My guess is it's a pool store error.
Click to expand...

Dave,
read the test results again. FC and TC are 8.4, pH is 7.6! Stop staying up so late putting together those test kits! :wink:
 
OUCH!! That was a pretty big faux paus (or however the heck you spell it) My apologies Red and everyone.

Your right, Evan, I need to cut back on the test kits or maybe the adult beverages....altho I swear I was sober as a Church Deacon when I misread that post.
 
((or however the **** you spell it))
Faux pas misstep?

Funny how french words are commonly used and accepted (assimilated) while Quebecers (who commonly speak french) seems to make efforts into assimilating english words...

Mayday => [Venez] M'aider (pronunced the same) => Help me
Fiancée => Engaged
Entrepreneur...

And so on...
 
Darkside of the Pool said:
((or however the **** you spell it))
Faux pas misstep?

Funny how french words are commonly used and accepted (assimilated) while Quebecers (who commonly speak french) seems to make efforts into assimilating english words...

Mayday => [Venez] M'aider (pronunced the same) => Help me
Fiancée => Engaged
Entrepreneur...

And so on...
Click to expand...

You ARE kidding, right? These ARE all French words originally, including Mayday, as per Wikipedia:

Mayday is an emergency code word used internationally as a distress signal in voice procedure radio communications. It derives from the French venez m'aider, meaning 'come help me'.[1] It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency by many groups, such as police forces, pilots, firefighters, and transportation organizations. The call is always given three times in a row ("Mayday Mayday Mayday") to prevent mistaking it for some similar-sounding phrase under noisy conditions, and to distinguish an actual Mayday call from a message about a Mayday call.
Click to expand...
 
Linda hasn't logged on since 3/08...unless she is subscribed to this thread, I doubt you will hear back soon unless you PM her.

Darkside...any specific reason you are trying to revive posts from years ago today? I feel it has run it's course and will lock it.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Status
Not open for further replies.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply