Even though my pool is not totally cleaned out and is still a little dirty should I shock it and balance the chemicals?
Shock
- Thread starter mkdsk101
- Start date
We don't shock pools, we follow the SLAM process and only do that if required. Post up a full set of test results.
Chlorine is .5 to 1
PH is 7.2
Alkalinity 30
Hardness is 50
Cyanuric is over 30 if I did it correctly
PH is 7.2
Alkalinity 30
Hardness is 50
Cyanuric is over 30 if I did it correctly
Since you say the pool is dirty and your FC is low, I would raise it up to SLAM level for at least a day and do the OCLT to see if something is living in the pool.
What I mean by dirty is that there is small particles of "dirt" floating around the pool that I am having a hard time vacuuming up.
During the winter the heavy ice that sat on the pool raised the water up and when I took the cover off of the pool the water level was very low so I filled the pool back up with water and now have to balance the chemicals.
Definitely get the chlorine level up ASAP!
If it's just suspended dirt particles in the water, wait for the filter to catch up. But don't let the pool go green by letting FC dip too low while you wait!
If the pool is cloudy or greenish, then you need to perform the Shock Level And Maintain process - the SLAM. In your particular case, that means raising FC up to 12 and rechecking it and adding more to keep it at 12FC every couple hours.
It probably wouldn't hurt anything to actually start the SLAM; If you don't actually need it, it'll pass the three tests after one day; If you do, you'll have a day's head start.
Just curious, which test are you using to measure your chlorine? The OTO test (yellow color matching), DPD (pink color matching), or FAS-DPD (powder and drop test)?
That is not going to work to SLAM or do the OCLT. You need the FAS-DPD test included in the recommended test kits.
Since you already have most of the tests that are included in the TF-100, you can get the FAS-DPD test here. The OTO test only measures total chlorine and only up to 5 ppm without much accuracy. You need a test that can measure FC and CC, and the FAS-DPD does that very accurately up to 50 ppm.
Similar threads
