cannot raise CYA level

[vaman]

We opened our pool three weeks ago.
Two problems.
First, the level of free chlorine remains at 0.13 ppm, despite my adding seven gallons of Clorox and two bags of shock.
Secondly, the CYA level remains at 25ppm, despite my adding 16 oz of CYA powder and one gallon of "stabilizer".

This is the tenth summer that we've owned the pool and nothing like this has happened before.
What's up with this strange lack of reaction?

 

[DrewLG]

What's up with this strange lack of reaction?

Maybe this: Ammonia - Further Reading

 

[cdadams1223]

We opened our pool three weeks ago.
Two problems.
First, the level of free chlorine remains at 0.13 ppm, despite my adding seven gallons of Clorox and two bags of shock.
Secondly, the CYA level remains at 25ppm, despite my adding 16 oz of CYA powder and one gallon of "stabilizer".

This is the tenth summer that we've owned the pool and nothing like this has happened before.
What's up with this strange lack of reaction?

Do you have a reliable test kit…either a TF-Pro or Taylor 2006C? If so can you post full results for everyone to look at?

FC - ?
CC - ?
pH - ?
TA - ?
CYA - ?

I’d stop adding stabilizer for now and use either 10% or 12.5% liquid chlorine (LC) in lieu of bags of shock. I’d add at least 5ppm LC, check it in 30 minutes, and if it drops significantly hit it again until it holds.

As @DrewLG mentioned, read up on ammonia being your potential foe. If so, you’re gonna have to hit it with a lot of LC.

 

[Bperry]

We opened our pool three weeks ago.
Two problems.
First, the level of free chlorine remains at 0.13 ppm, despite my adding seven gallons of Clorox and two bags of shock.
Secondly, the CYA level remains at 25ppm, despite my adding 16 oz of CYA powder and one gallon of "stabilizer".

This is the tenth summer that we've owned the pool and nothing like this has happened before.
What's up with this strange lack of reaction?

Retail pool store testing isn’t very accurate as you’ve discovered. That’s like the reason for why adding CYA but the test not showing it. This is why TFP recommends using one of the Taylor kits mentioned above rather than pool store testing.

 

[vaman]

Thank you for these comments.
Testing has consisted of two trips to a store as well as daily use of test strips and DPT chlorine testing. In this case, at least, the store results agree with my personal testings.
After reading your suggestion about ammonia as an explanation, I used the test kit that I have for my koi pond and found the ammonia level was 0.12 ppm. So should I conclude that ammonia is not the reason for my problems?
And finally, as suggested, I'll post the results from the recent store test.
Many thanks for your interest.

 

[Newdude]

After reading your suggestion about ammonia as an explanation, I used the test kit that I have for my koi pond and found the ammonia level was 0.12 ppm

The reliable way to test is to add 10ppm FC and mix for 30 mins. If you lose most of it, it's ammonia. If you still have most of it, you can move on. .12 leaves questions. If you add CYA with ammonia, the ammonia turns that into more ammonia, requiring more chlorine to get rid of it.

The cure is to repeat the 30 min cycles until you hold most of the FC.

 

[tikoh]

The reliable way to test is to add 10ppm FC and mix for 30 mins. If you lose most of it, it's ammonia. If you still have most of it, you can move on. .12 leaves questions. If you add CYA with ammonia, the ammonia turns that into more ammonia, requiring more chlorine to get rid of it.

The cure is to repeat the 30 min cycles until you hold most of the FC.

I was going to say this too, ammonia is most likely scenario.

Distant 2nd would be the mystical CYA eating bacteria.

Either way, the solution is the same, MOAR BLEACH

 

[BoringDamo]

Thank you for these comments.
Testing has consisted of two trips to a store as well as daily use of test strips and DPT chlorine testing. In this case, at least, the store results agree with my personal testings.
After reading your suggestion about ammonia as an explanation, I used the test kit that I have for my koi pond and found the ammonia level was 0.12 ppm. So should I conclude that ammonia is not the reason for my problems?
And finally, as suggested, I'll post the results from the recent store test.
Many thanks for your interest.

Just because 3 things agree doesn’t make them right. We’ve plenty of examples of people experimenting with pool stores and people taking the SAME water to different pool stores and getting wildly different results. Guess strips are also not an answer.
A quality test kit will save you hundreds of dollars in even the short to medium term by not chasing problems that don’t exist and focussing on those that really do.
It would be a wise investment.
This site can’t recommend any course of action from pool store results, they aren’t trusted, and so any advice given could be wrong. That would then dilute the power of the guidance / advice which pretty unanimously works with a good test kit.

 

[vaman]

I'll do the timed chlorine test.
Please advise: How do I "add 10ppm FC".
Do I dump in either shock or Clorox until I read 10ppm on a test strip?

 

[cdadams1223]

I'll do the timed chlorine test.
Please advise: How do I "add 10ppm FC".
Do I dump in either shock or Clorox until I read 10ppm on a test strip?

How many gallons is your pool? Also, when you get a chance add as much information as you can to your signature such as pool type, pool volume, pump, filter, etc.

 

[proavia]

I'll do the timed chlorine test.
Please advise: How do I "add 10ppm FC".
Do I dump in either shock or Clorox until I read 10ppm on a test strip?

You really can't accurately do the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test without one of the recommended test kits.
Test Kits Compared

Test strips are as inaccurate and inconsistent as pool store testing.

You can use PoolMath to determine the correct dosing.
But without proper testing, you would get impreccise results with test strips or pool store testing.