Understanding Chlorine dosage chart on Taylor K-1004

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poolnooob

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Dec 28, 2012
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As my name states, Im new to this. I just moved into a house and have yet (3 weeks) to add anything except for water to the pool.

The water level dropped under the skimmer, so I had to add several inches of water to the pool. I bought a taylor test kit online, because I used to clean pools several years back, and figured I could take care of it myself.

I cant for the life of me remember how the chlorine portion works. The test kit says my FC us in the 1-2 range. The acid demand test took me 2 drops to come down from 8.3 to 7.8. Using the ph dosage chart, I believe I need to add 1.72 pints. But I dont know how to use the chlorine dosage chart.

Would someone mind explaining how that works?

Thanks
 
Also realize that we recommend the K2006 or the TF100 test kit which includes the very important FAS-DPD chlorine test. Does your current kit test for the following: FC CC pH TA CH CYA

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
jblizzle said:
Also realize that we recommend the K2006 or the TF100 test kit which includes the very important FAS-DPD chlorine test. Does your current kit test for the following: FC CC pH TA CH CYA

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
Click to expand...

I was just about to say, I should have checked here before buying a test kit. The k-1004 only tests for FC, CC, ph, and TA. I've updated my signature to help you help me, but how can you help me, if I cant provide you with the necessary test results?

Looks like I may have to take a water sample to the pool store :rant:
 
Pool store says CYA is "down to 50". They sold me 4lbs of stabilizer, and 2.5 gallons of chlorine. I also picked up 1 gallon of muratic acid, but they said I dont need to add any.

So, if my CYA is at 50, and given my previous test results, how would you treat this pool?
 
poolnooob said:
Pool store says CYA is "down to 50". They sold me 4lbs of stabilizer, and 2.5 gallons of chlorine. I also picked up 1 gallon of muratic acid, but they said I dont need to add any.

So, if my CYA is at 50, and given my previous test results, how would you treat this pool?
Click to expand...

Unless you have a SWG - if you plan to use the methods here - DO NOT ADD CYA at this time.

Still need all the existing info you have:

FC - I think 1-2?
CC - ? Unknown ?
pH - 8.3
TA - ? Unknown ?
CYA - ? 50 ? (from Pool Store)
CH - ? Unknown ?
Water Temp: ? Unknown ?
Surface Type: (Add to Signature) Vinyl, Plaster/Gunnite, Fiberglass, etc.

With the little info we have from you I would say that your pH does need to drop. I'd say your FC is too low. Without a way to test CC's and FC at high accuracy in > 10ppm values (FAS-DPD) you will have a tough time using the Shock Process that we recommend (see Pool School).
 
Look up your CYA in this chart: pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

The minimum FC and Target FC are listed. Target is a starting point of what you should try to maintain your FC a day to day basis. Typically we recommend using liquid chlorine as the source unless using a SWCG (Salt Water Chlorine Generator).
 
poolnooob said:
I cant for the life of me remember how the chlorine portion works. The test kit says my FC us in the 1-2 range.
Click to expand...

Detailed Instructions here: http://www.taylortechnologies.com/produ ... umber=5817

Basics:
Chlorine (Free, Combined, Total)/Total Bromine Test

1. Rinse and fill chlorine/bromine cell to mark with
water to be tested.

2. Add 5 drops R-0001 and 5 drops R-0002. Cap and invert to mix.

3. Match color with color standard. Record as parts per million (ppm)
free chlorine (FC) or total bromine. For chlorine: See dosage chart
for adjustment. For bromine: See manufacturer's instructions
for adjustment. For total chlorine, see Step 4.

4. Add 5 drops R-0003. Cap and invert to mix.

5. Match color immediately. Record as ppm total chlorine (TC).

6. Subtract FC from TC. Record as ppm combined chlorine (CC).
Formula: TC-FC=CC. For combined chlorine: See dosage chart for
adjustment.


poolnooob said:
The acid demand test took me 2 drops to come down from 8.3 to 7.8. Using the ph dosage chart, I believe I need to add 1.72 pints. But I dont know how to use the chlorine dosage chart.
Click to expand...

Acid Demand tests are nice but you can use Poolcalculator.com (as mentioned earlier by another poster) to approximate this or confirm the recommendations. I'm not sure what you mean by a Chlorine Dosage Chart - I did not see anything like that in the instructions from Taylor for that kit.
 

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UnderWaterVanya said:
poolnooob said:
I cant for the life of me remember how the chlorine portion works. The test kit says my FC us in the 1-2 range.
Click to expand...

Detailed Instructions here: http://www.taylortechnologies.com/produ ... umber=5817

Basics:
Chlorine (Free, Combined, Total)/Total Bromine Test

1. Rinse and fill chlorine/bromine cell to mark with
water to be tested.

2. Add 5 drops R-0001 and 5 drops R-0002. Cap and invert to mix.

3. Match color with color standard. Record as parts per million (ppm)
free chlorine (FC) or total bromine. For chlorine: See dosage chart
for adjustment. For bromine: See manufacturer's instructions
for adjustment. For total chlorine, see Step 4.

4. Add 5 drops R-0003. Cap and invert to mix.

5. Match color immediately. Record as ppm total chlorine (TC).

6. Subtract FC from TC. Record as ppm combined chlorine (CC).
Formula: TC-FC=CC. For combined chlorine: See dosage chart for
adjustment.


poolnooob said:
The acid demand test took me 2 drops to come down from 8.3 to 7.8. Using the ph dosage chart, I believe I need to add 1.72 pints. But I dont know how to use the chlorine dosage chart.
Click to expand...

Acid Demand tests are nice but you can use Poolcalculator.com (as mentioned earlier by another poster) to approximate this or confirm the recommendations. I'm not sure what you mean by a Chlorine Dosage Chart - I did not see anything like that in the instructions from Taylor for that kit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'm reading up on it. Here are all the test results that I can provide at this time.

TA 100
FC 1
TC 2
CC 1
PH 8.2 (comes down to 7.8 with 2 drops)
CYA 50 (or so the nice lady at the pool store says)

My plan, unless otherwise instructed, is to add 2.5 gallons of chlorine and 1.72 pints of muratic acid.
 
Add the acid first, give it half an hour to mix into the pool water with the pump running, test the PH again, and continue adjusting the PH if needed until it is around 7.5 or 7.6.

After adjusting the PH, add the chlorine. You may well need more chlorine than that, but maybe not, again the idea is to add the amount you think you need, this time give it an hour to mix into the pool, test again, and continue adjusting the FC level as needed. Also, if your FC level doesn't go up much at all when doing that you may need to shock the pool.
 
Typically we recommend starting the shockinghttp://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool process if you have CC > 0.5 which you do.

Not sure what Jason has in mind, but I would follow his advice until he weighs back in.

What percentage chlorine did they sell you?

Assuming it is 12.5%, 2.5 gallons in a 16K pool would raise FC to 13 which I'd well shy of the 20 FC needed for just reaching shock levels. Much more than that would be needed to maintain shock levels as well.

Also with a DPD not FAS-DPD, you may see false zero results. If you get a zero, dilute the sample with distilled water and retest. At higher FC levels you might have to dilute the sample more than 1:1 to get a reading.

Sent via Tapatalk...
 
Different Jason, but I would recommend lowering the pH. Maintaining an elevated/normal FC level assuming the CYA is correct ... under 10ppm so you can keep the pH in check.

Then when your GOOD test kit arrives, post a full set of test results to see where you are truly at. Then possibly start the shock process.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Ok, I added 26 ounces of muriatic acid, and the ph level came down to 7.5. TA is 90. I will begin adding chlorine until I get to 4ppm, is this correct? My cya is at 50' so I'm told.

FC test still shows 1.

I've been reading up a bit in the pool school, but I'm not understanding something. If my ph, FC, cc, tc, and ta are ok, why do I need to shock it?
 
poolnooob, you need to shock if there is visible algae, CC is above 0.5, or you can't maintain an FC level. Some of your earlier test results suggested that CC was above 0.5, and it has yet to be seen if you can maintain an FC level.

UnderWaterVanya, Always adjust PH before chlorine. As for shocking or not, I am optimizing things, quite possibly too much :) . There isn't enough information here to be sure shocking will be required. FC seems to be above 0, so quite possibly the CC level will simply go away the moment more chlorine is added. The standard rule of going straight to shock level is safer and more consistent, but if an initial dose of chlorine gets a reasonable FC level and CC goes to 0.5 or lower right away, shocking can be skipped with a substantial savings in chemical usage.
 
jblizzle said:
Different Jason, but I would recommend lowering the pH. Maintaining an elevated/normal FC level assuming the CYA is correct ... under 10ppm so you can keep the pH in check.

Then when your GOOD test kit arrives, post a full set of test results to see where you are truly at. Then possibly start the shock process.
Click to expand...

The other Jason (Lion) has clarified the shocking question which makes sense to me also. Great info!

To the OP: Remember that the closer to 10ppm (or greater) your water is the more likely the DPD test reads falsely low (bleaches out) so just try to avoid overshooting your target for now. If you dump an entire 2.5 Gallons of 12.5% you could overshoot and see a false zero result with the DPD test - if you see that try 1:1 dilution and test again. Until you get a better handle on how accurate your volume is you might want to add less than you think you need and measure to see what the impact is rather than overshooting and perhaps bleaching out things. The DPD test is only intended to measure up to 5ppm; 1:1 dilution can be used to extende this to 10ppm but it's not very accurate when used this way. It is helpful however when you want to try to validate that you have > 0-1ppm when the test seems very light and you are anticipating higher results.
 
Great, thanks for everyone's input. Its starting to sink in.

I have another question. From what I've read so far, a higher cya level will require more chlorine to be as effective as less chlorine in a low cya pool. So common sense tells me to keep the cya on the low side, to save on chlorine. So why on earth would the pool store say "your cya is DOWN TO 50"?

...and then sell me 4 lbs of cyaniarwhatever acid to raise my cya...?

Well, I guess they are in the chlorine selling business...
 
Most pool stores do not understand the FC/CYA relationship because Trichlor/Dichlor manufacturers don't disclose this information and indeed claim the opposite that for algae prevention CYA doesn't matter and only FC matters (which is, of course, wrong and known to be wrong since at least 1974). Also, if the CYA is too low, then you lose too much chlorine to sunlight.
 
CYA is a balancing act. Lower CYA levels mean maintaining lower FC levels, but more total chlorine used. Higher CYA levels mean maintaining higher FC levels, but less total chlorine is used. It is counter intuitive.

By the by, I have no idea what the pool store is thinking. Without a SWG, we recommend CYA be between 30 and 50. If you had a SWG, then CYA would be too low. We recommend CYA be 70 to 80 with a SWG.
 

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