Leaving for Vacation need some help ?

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nomad26

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LifeTime Supporter
Sep 2, 2012
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I am leaving for Hawaii in January.
I was going to shock my pool to 15 ppm to and see how long it lasts .
Its at 4 ppm free Chlorine now.
My CYA is at 50 .
I was on the automatic Frog system ,now I am off that system. I have been adding chlorine manually .
I have no way to add chlorine ( I am using bleach or liquid) automatically now while I am gone .

Bottom line I was wondering how much to put in for 10 days while I am gone to be safe or at least a guess ?
Before I go out and try my shock method of 15 ppm to see how long it lasts , I thought I would check on here for ideas.
Thanks
Mark
 
First, shock level according to the chart in Pool School is 20ppm for a CYA of 50ppm.

Do you have a cover you could put on? Given the cooler temps and lower sun in the winter, there is a good chance that the pool would still be clear by raising the FC up to 20ppm right before you go. A cover would also help protect the FC from the sun.

You could also buy a floater and put a few pucks in the pool to help maintain the FC, but realize it will raise the CYA some and you are already at the top of the recommended range.

Add your location to your profile ... for all I know you are in Australia and entering summer and not winter.
 
I am in California San Jose Bay area were not having really hot weather here, I really don't want to use the floater it will raise CYA like you said if that were the case I could just use the Frog again and put a cartridge in it while I am gone . I just drained the pool to lower the CYA at the end of summer and I don't want to drain it again. I would be very shocked if it were to get warm here while I was gone .
I do not have a cover for this pool but its such a small pool I could put a tarp over it pretty easy.
 
My CYA's only 20, but I had a similar situation here in south-central Florida. I was gone for a week. I bumped the chlorine to shock level (10) before I left and put the solar cover on, and it was still above minimum when I got back. I let it ride, and I didn't hit minimum (2) until 10 days had elapsed. The weather was a mix of sunny and cloudy for the time I was testing. I'd say 10 days is doable.

A question for others: Is there any problem with going 10-20% over shock level if the pool won't be used? I'd guess I could have gone two weeks starting from 12, expecting FC to be near 0 when I got back. Then I'd dump in a shock-level dose and test for overnight chlorine loss.
 
Thats a good idea ! I do have solar cover for it . I can put that on it and shock it to 10 or 12,
I am hearing there is no harm in bumping the levels higher if no one is going to swim in it.
Is the right ?
 
We do not recommend going much above the shock level listed in the Pool School chart as you may start to cause damage. You certainly do not want to go above the mustard algae level from the poolcalculator.

Again, for a CYA of 50ppm, shock level from the table is a FC of 20ppm. From poolcalculator, shock level is 16ppm and the mustard level is 29ppm.

I would raise it to ~20ppm, throw the solar cover on, and then forget about it and enjoy your vacation.
 
With 50 ppm CYA, you need to use 16 ppm as your shock level. The levels I mentioned are for my water, with a CYA of 20. If 20% over is acceptable (waiting to hear from the experts) you could raise your FC to 19 before you left to buy you more time. On second thought, you could probably go as high as mustard shock level. (29 for you, 14 for me). Your normal chlorine range is 4 to 8, so you'd have 21 ppm to lose before your water dropped to the top of the safe range. If you lose on average 1.5 ppm per day, that would be 14 days.

You'll need to learn your pool and how many ppm of FC you lose on an average day (which changes by season and by weather) to get a solid estimate.
 
You'll need to learn your pool and how many ppm of FC you lose on an average day (which changes by season and by weather) to get a solid estimate
.
I am not going to test it to see how much I am losing per day thats a bit to much for me . I will just shoot for the 19 to maybe 20 something and call it good. If the weather forecast is real sunny when I leave I will bump it some if not that should be fine for 10 days .
Thanks so much for your input
Mark
 
RobbieH said:
Is anyone stopping by to check on your house while you are gone? You could just have them dump in a quart occasionally to keep FC up.
Click to expand...

No but I may ask someone to check on the pool after I shock it before I leave . If they see anything green in there I could have them dump some chlorine in. Good idea thanks
 

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