FC level when adding borates?

[AZLynn]

I added some bleach a few hours ago to bring the chlorine level back up to shock level and then it occurred to me that since MA and chlorine are dangerous when mixed maybe adding it to a very chlorinated pool isn't a good idea.

Hence the question, what should the FC level be when you add borates?

Does it make a difference if you are using the Borax and MA method or the Boric Acid method?

I searched but couldn't find the answer.

 

[Richard320]

Have the pool clear and balanced before adding borates. The FC level depends on the CYA level. Borates will not fix an algae bloom. Before making any big change to things, like adding borates or switching to salt, we like people to understand the chemistry and be able to keep things balanced. It reduces the number of variables.

 

[AZLynn]

So, what you are saying is the FC number itself isn't important when adding borates as long as the FC is in line with the CYA level?

I guess I was looking for a...don't add borates using MA if the FC is above 10 or something definitive like that.

I've been trying to get the pool cleaned up from winter, get the CYA level up and the TA down. I added extra bleach because on Friday (when my Taylor 2006 kit arrived) I had .6 CC. When I tested today, the CC registered 0, but there was a very slight visual change when I added a drop (just to check) so I suspected it wasn't exactly 0, but closer to .1. Maybe .1 was close enough, but I decided to add enough bleach to bring it back up to shock level one more time before calling it good. I only have 60 CYA, but that takes time to increase so I thought I would go ahead and add the borates.

It's dark now so I will have to wait. Meanwhile, I will add more CYA and continue running the SWG and checking numbers. If all goes well, I will add the borates sometime in the next week.

 

[chem geek]

The concentration of chlorine in a pool is so low that you don't need to worry about it with regard to adding concentrated acid, especially if you add it slowly over a return flow. Even if the acid converted all the chlorine in the area where you added it into chlorine gas, the amount would be rather small, but in practice that doesn't happen since you don't add the acid that quickly.