I'm a bit confused with what my free chlorine level should be. My Taylor test kit says it should be between 2-4 ppm. I tested today after adding 1 gal 3 cups of liquid chlorine last night (which is what the it said i should do after I logged everything on here yesterday). I just tested again and I'm at 5 ppm. I thought that was actually high but when I logged it, it said to add more so that I reach 13 ppm. By the way, yesterday was the 1st time to use liquid chlorine. Im going to start using it so my CYA levels don't keep rising with the pucks. Thanks for your help!
Questions about free chlorine
- Thread starter stacy78132
- Start date
Welcome to TFP!
The kit has the standard numbers that haven't changed in some 50 years and do not figure in the effects CYA has on chlorine. TFP calculates your FC/CYA Levels to make sure there is enough chlorine to balance out the CYA. The recommendations always seem very high at first since we are used to thinking anything over 3 ppm is insanely high, but the considerable blunting effect CYA has on chlorine means that the active chlorine actually doing work is lower than in a pool with 1 ppm FC and no CYA at all.
I'm guessing your CYA level is pretty out of control if you are being told to have 13 ppm FC? It really is difficult to manage water with a CYA over 100, you should consider replacing a portion of your water to bring that down closer to 50 ppm for a manually chlorinated pool. And congratulations on starting this journey, you can see how pucks can throw things well out of whack but you sound like you are well on your way to pulling out of that and getting everything in proper order.
The kit has the standard numbers that haven't changed in some 50 years and do not figure in the effects CYA has on chlorine. TFP calculates your FC/CYA Levels to make sure there is enough chlorine to balance out the CYA. The recommendations always seem very high at first since we are used to thinking anything over 3 ppm is insanely high, but the considerable blunting effect CYA has on chlorine means that the active chlorine actually doing work is lower than in a pool with 1 ppm FC and no CYA at all.
I'm guessing your CYA level is pretty out of control if you are being told to have 13 ppm FC? It really is difficult to manage water with a CYA over 100, you should consider replacing a portion of your water to bring that down closer to 50 ppm for a manually chlorinated pool. And congratulations on starting this journey, you can see how pucks can throw things well out of whack but you sound like you are well on your way to pulling out of that and getting everything in proper order.
Last edited:
Just a quick clarification I think - I believe @Donldson intended to say 'water with a CYA over 100' here just so we don't get confused
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,159
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
@stacy78132,
can you post your latest results so we can ensure things are going swimmingly?
Fc
Cc
Ph
Ta
Ch
Cya
Salt (if applicable)
can you post your latest results so we can ensure things are going swimmingly?
Fc
Cc
Ph
Ta
Ch
Cya
Salt (if applicable)
Whoops, thank you. Fixed.Just a quick clarification I think - I believe @Donldson intended to say 'water with a CYA over 100' here just so we don't get confused
I attached a screenshot with my numbers from yesterday. Yesterday I was told to add 1 gal and 3 cups of 10% liquid chlorine so I added that last night. Since it's was the 1st time I used liquid I t3sted only the chlorine and pH today. Free chlorine was 5 and combined chlorine was 0. My pH was 7.8. Yes cya is around 125...it was much higher about 6 months ago but I did drain some water several times. For the last 6 months or so I've be researching all kinds of stuff on here so that's why I'm finally deciding to switch over to liquid chlorine. I just paid for the app the other day so I could maintain my logs on here. Also I had phosphates at over 4000 but thanks to everything I read on here, I treated with orenda and now they are normal! Anyway, I just really want to make sure that having free chlorine at 13 is okay since it seems so high. Thanks again for your help.
Attachments
- Jun 24, 2021
- 17,102
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Absolutely. Do it now.
Read this article:
The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship
Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.
www.troublefreepool.com
How did you get 120? How are you testing your water. I would recommend that you retest starting at #8 here:
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
www.troublefreepool.com
- Jun 1, 2018
- 16,159
- Pool Size
- 26000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Good call on the poolmath
You can toggle on “sharing” in the poolmath settings and we will be able to see your logs through a link without you having to post them. (Click my avatar to see mine)
Its safe to have fc anywhere between minimum and slam level for your cya.
- "Min FC" is 7.5% of the CYA level
- "Target FC" is 11.5% of the CYA level
- "SLAM FC" is 40% of the CYA level
If there’s an algae problem its quite impractical and expensive to treat it properly (do the slam process)
&
At maintenance/target fc levels above 10ppm it skews the ph results which means you are torn between accuracy with ph and sanitary conditions.
The sooner you perform a water exchange to get cya down to a reasonable level the better as it will result in a much simpler path.
Do the diluted cya test procedure as poolstored linked to get a better estimate on how much water you need to exchange.
I tested my water using the Taylor test kit and I guessed at my CYA being 120 because it didn't get up to the 100 mark but there weren't any marks that went higher than 100.Absolutely. Do it now.
Read this article:
The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship
Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.
How did you get 120? How are you testing your water. I would recommend that you retest starting at #8 here:
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
- Jun 24, 2021
- 17,102
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Ok, lets do this. Read this ENTIRE article, then test your CYA starting at #8. Let's get an accurate CYA to know what to do next.
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
www.troublefreepool.com
Thank you so much for all the the detailed info! I'm going to read through everything that has been sent. And I just bought more chlorine so I can add it tonight. We had our pool built almost 2 years ago and over the last several months I've really been learning a lot more through this site on how to keep everything maintained.Good call on the poolmath
You can toggle on “sharing” in the poolmath settings and we will be able to see your logs through a link without you having to post them. (Click my avatar to see mine)
Its safe to have fc anywhere between minimum and slam level for your cya.
A couple issues arise with cya so high though…
- "Min FC" is 7.5% of the CYA level
- "Target FC" is 11.5% of the CYA level
- "SLAM FC" is 40% of the CYA level
If there’s an algae problem its quite impractical and expensive to treat it properly (do the slam process)
&
At maintenance/target fc levels above 10ppm it skews the ph results which means you are torn between accuracy with ph and sanitary conditions.
The sooner you perform a water exchange to get cya down to a reasonable level the better as it will result in a much simpler path.
Do the diluted cya test procedure as poolstored linked to get a better estimate on how much water you need to exchange.
Also i think i did she sharing right for anyone to see my results.Good call on the poolmath
You can toggle on “sharing” in the poolmath settings and we will be able to see your logs through a link without you having to post them. (Click my avatar to see mine)
Its safe to have fc anywhere between minimum and slam level for your cya.
A couple issues arise with cya so high though…
- "Min FC" is 7.5% of the CYA level
- "Target FC" is 11.5% of the CYA level
- "SLAM FC" is 40% of the CYA level
If there’s an algae problem its quite impractical and expensive to treat it properly (do the slam process)
&
At maintenance/target fc levels above 10ppm it skews the ph results which means you are torn between accuracy with ph and sanitary conditions.
The sooner you perform a water exchange to get cya down to a reasonable level the better as it will result in a much simpler path.
Do the diluted cya test procedure as poolstored linked to get a better estimate on how much water you need to exchange.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 17,102
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
Okay, I just read that article so I'll do that and report back.Ok, lets do this. Read this ENTIRE article, then test your CYA starting at #8. Let's get an accurate CYA to know what to do next.
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
Ok so using this method, my CYA is 90. It may actually be 100...was hard to tell for sure because the sun isn't out. I'll test again tomorrow.Ok, lets do this. Read this ENTIRE article, then test your CYA starting at #8. Let's get an accurate CYA to know what to do next.
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
Ok, lets do this. Read this ENTIRE article, then test your CYA starting at #8. Let's get an accurate CYA to know what to do next.
CYA - Cyanuric Acid Test
Cyanuric acid (CYA) is the chemical name for the product commonly called “pool water stabilizer” … Read more…
- Jun 24, 2021
- 17,102
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
LIGHT IS THE KEY. You want sunlight, even overcast is ok. Sun at your back, solution in the shadow of your body.
Test tomorrow.
Good call on the poolmath
You can toggle on “sharing” in the poolmath settings and we will be able to see your logs through a link without you having to post them. (Click my avatar to see mine)
Its safe to have fc anywhere between minimum and slam level for your cya.
A couple issues arise with cya so high though…
- "Min FC" is 7.5% of the CYA level
- "Target FC" is 11.5% of the CYA level
- "SLAM FC" is 40% of the CYA level
If there’s an algae problem its quite impractical and expensive to treat it properly (do the slam process)
&
At maintenance/target fc levels above 10ppm it skews the ph results which means you are torn between accuracy with ph and sanitary conditions.
The sooner you perform a water exchange to get cya down to a reasonable level the better as it will result in a much simpler path.
Do the diluted cya test procedure as poolstored linked to get a better estimate on how much water you need
I think i set up everything correctly but I must be doing something wrong. Yes I have the same log in. In fact, I didnt even realize there was a TFP app so I just installed it. I've been just using the Pool Math app and going to forums and pool school that way. Any other ideas of what I'm doing wrong? I did a search in the app and I think i have it set up to share.
- Jun 24, 2021
- 17,102
- Pool Size
- 29000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
I think i set up everything correctly but I must be doing something wrong. Yes I have the same log in. In fact, I didnt even realize there was a TFP app so I just installed it. I've been just using the Pool Math app and going to forums and pool school that way. Any other ideas of what I'm doing wrong? I did a search in the app and I think i have it set up to share.
Email [email protected], explain the situation and they will get you squared away..
Email [email protected], explain the situation and they will get you squared away..
I thought i typed this already but I don't see it. I didnt even realize there was a TFP app. I was just using the Pool Math app and then navigating to forums and pool school. While on the app I searched how to share the logs and thought i did it correctly but I guess not. Do you have an suggestions?
Ha ha.. I typed basically the same reply because I didnt think it went through. I'll contact them. Sorry for being such a problem child..ha