Super High FC Level

[Scotter]

Hi.
I was out of town for a week and left a floater (2 tablets) in the pool and turned on the SWG for 1 1/2 hours a day while I was gone. I when I checked the pool water 2 weeks ago all was fine. I check it today and couldn't get a chlorine reading. I use the TF-100 kit and put in 80 drops!!!! The sample still didn't turn clear! My chemicals are less then a year old. Is there anything to worry about. I turned off the SWG and pulled the floater. My water has always been balanced.

Thanks.


Pool with spa -16,000 gallons. SWG.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

What is your CYA?

What result does the OTO chlorine test give you?.....should be orangish.

Not sure why you would use an SWG AND pucks but that's not really relevant.

 

[Scotter]

The OTO test was a dark yellow. My CYA is 50, I usually keep around 60.
I was turning off the SWG for the winter and started floating a couple puck. I just turned it back on for the 5 days I was gone

- - - Updated - - -

Also, thanks for the welcome. I've lurked for about a year, learned tons and have never had an issue.

 

[zethacat]

Welcome

 

[easttn]

http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...k-Orange-Color?p=234860&viewfull=1#post234860

If the OTO was a dark yellow then your FC is somewhere around 10-12ppm. If you had 40+ppm FC then the OTO would be a real dark orange, almost brownish.

I check it today and couldn't get a chlorine reading. I use the TF-100 kit and put in 80 drops!!!! The sample still didn't turn clear!

If the sample turned pink and stayed there, then you have FC which is conflicting with "couldnt get a chlorine reading".
http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...Kit-Directions?p=203520&viewfull=1#post203520

I suspect you did the FAS/DPD test incorrectly or maybe you grabbed the wrong reagent and didnt know it. Try it again and see what you get.

 

[Scotter]

http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...k-Orange-Color?p=234860&viewfull=1#post234860

If the OTO was a dark yellow then your FC is somewhere around 10-12ppm. If you had 40+ppm FC then the OTO would be a real dark orange, almost brownish.


If the sample turned pink and stayed there, then you have FC which is conflicting with "couldnt get a chlorine reading".
http://www.troublefreepool.com/thre...Kit-Directions?p=203520&viewfull=1#post203520

I suspect you did the FAS/DPD test incorrectly or maybe you grabbed the wrong reagent and didnt know it. Try it again and see what you get.

The OTO was a real dark yellow. I'll check it again tomorrow.

The sample did turn pink but I was unable to get a final reading after 80 drops I gave up.

I did the test twice thinking I grabbed the wrong reagent and got the same results twice. I just don't understand how it got that high.
Should I leave it a week and try again, or will the high reading mess something up?

 

[Patrick_B]

Hey Scotter, Welcome to TFP

Something is amiss. If you did put in 80 drops that would be 40 PPM FC, with a 10 mL test sample. Any time you get a test result this far out, standard procedure is to re-run it to be sure.

 

[duraleigh]

With a CYA of 60, I think you have enough protection to preclude any damage.

Since you did the tests correctly (although your OTO test should've been orangeish-brownish), I would.....

1. Stop adding chlorine until you get down to around 4-6 ppm

2. Try to figure out why chlorine got so high....2 pucks and the SWG for the period you're talking about wouldn't have gotten it there. I don't see how we can help much more than that......I could see an FC of around 20-30 perhaps if your SWG was running quite a bit more than you suggest but 40+ FC suggests another source.

3. I couldn't tell from your post which came first....out of town for a week or 2 weeks since you tested last. In any case, you really need to use your resources and test more often......particularly when you are making changes like you have been doing.

 

[ping]

I would run the FAS/DPD test with 5ml of water and count each drop as 1ppm of FC. If by chance you were using 25ml of water then you stopped measuring at 16ppm of FC and there could be a little more than that with a real dark yellow OTO test.