calcium chloride question

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J

jewilki1

0
Mar 29, 2015
54
mocksville
I had to entirely drain my pool because I had to get it resurfaced. My pool has a fiberglass gelcoat on it and it is about 38,000 gallons. I am using 10% liquid chlorine to close it. I have a 50lb bag of calcium chloride flakes and it is 77.7%.

How much do I need to add if we are assuming the level is at 0% right now? I will use my taylor kit to get an exact amount after the pool is finished filling up. I have used the pool match calculator, but it does not say what percentage the calcium chloride is in the calculator. Does the CH calculator in the pool match section assume 100% calcium chloride?

Thanks,

Josh
 
You will need to test your fill water to find out how much you need to add. The pool calculator will give you the answer you need after you have that. I believe the pool calculator assumes you are using 100% CaCl but if you are using Ice Melt or something with other additives in it, you will probably have to do the math yourself based on 77.7%. Hopefully Jason will chime in here so we have a definitive answer.
 
Ale_Brewer said:
You will need to test your fill water to find out how much you need to add. The pool calculator will give you the answer you need after you have that. I believe the pool calculator assumes you are using 100% CaCl but if you are using Ice Melt or something with other additives in it, you will probably have to do the math yourself based on 77.7%. Hopefully Jason will chime in here so we have a definitive answer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. My pool is still filling it should be done in a few hours I will take a test of my chemicals then. I just talked to my pool contractor yesterday I have a taylor kit and he told me to just look in the book that comes with it. It should tell me how much to add based on the number of gallons in my pool as well. I have not had a chance to look yet, but I would bet the book is based off of 100% as well.

I guess I will just have to do the math based on 100% then just add the different of 77.7% to that? If my CH level happens to be around 0% and I had 100% CaCl it is saying I would need 77.375 lbs. Currently I only have 50lbs and if it was only 77.7% it would be even more than than the 77.375 lbs correct? That seems like an awful lot.

I am guessing I need to dissolve the flakes in a bucket of pool water first and then throw them into the pool afterwards? I have never used the flakes in the past.
 
It is highly unlikely that you will have 0.0 in your fill water unless you have a water softener, in which case there should be a bypass on it. We can't assume anything without test results.


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Ale_Brewer said:
It is highly unlikely that you will have 0.0 in your fill water unless you have a water softener, in which case there should be a bypass on it. We can't assume anything without test results.


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Click to expand...

My pool is about 38,000 gallons

So I have tested and added chemicals last night
Right now:
FC=2
ph= 7.8
TA= 110
CH= 170
CYA=0

I still have to add stabilizer and I have some more liquid chlorine to raise the FC to the 3 to 4 range. I ran out of calcium chloride flakes I had a 50 lb bag. I will have to get some more. The pool contractor I used to resurface my pool gave me a 50 lb bag, but that was not enough. I don't really need another 50 lb bag. I will only use less than half of the bag and likely the other half could end of going bad because of possible moisture. I need more like 15 to 20 lbs more. Do any local stores like lowes, walmart or home depot have anything that will work?

I had read that ice melting products work sometimes if they are mainly calcium chloride based. Are there any bad side effects with using an ice melt calcium chloride based product?

Thanks,

Josh
 
You definitely need to get some CYA in there asap to stabilize your FC.

Copied from Pool School:
"Calcium hardness can be raised with calcium chloride or calcium chloride dihydrate. They are available in some areas as Peladow, Dowflake, Tetra Flake, or Tetra 94, often sold as a deicer by hardware stores, and some big box stores, in colder climates. Pool stores will carry either calcium chloride or calcium chloride dihydrate under a variety of names, including Hardness Plus, Balance Pak 300, Calcium Hardness Increaser, etc. Calcium products should be spread across the surface of the deep end of the pool."
 
Looks like it should work. It should list the amount of calcium on the bottle. As always, don't add the full amount poolmath tells you at once. Add some and then test (not right away) to make sure you get your level where you want it.


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Ale_Brewer said:
Looks like it should work. It should list the amount of calcium on the bottle. As always, don't add the full amount poolmath tells you at once. Add some and then test (not right away) to make sure you get your level where you want it.


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Click to expand...

We had a random warm day again above 80 here today and the free chlorine has dropped to zero. I finally got the stabilizer put in the pool with the cya level being zero the sun just sucked all the chlorine out since I did not have any stabilizer.

I only added half the amount of stabilizer that the pool math calculator recommended just to see where it goes to. I don't want to overdo it with the cya.

Do I need to wait 48 hrs for the stabilizer to fully dissolve in the water before testing the level again?

Thanks,

Josh
 

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Ale_Brewer said:
It depends on if you used liquid or granules. Give granules a week and liquid 2 days. Brush the bottom at least twice a day and run the pump a little longer than normal.


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Thanks, I did use granules so I guess I will wait about 1 week then. I actually added the granules through the skimmer basket so I don't think I will need to brush the bottom. Also, I will likely not turn the pump off much at all the leaves have starting falling and I need to keep the water filtering all the time.

We have been having terrible amounts of rain here which is making balancing the chemicals very difficult. It has already been raining for an entire week non stop. It is supposed to rain for like the next week entirely. We have a possibility of having 10 to 15" inches of rain on top of the week of rain we already had this weekend.


A very frustrating time to have a pool resurfaced and starting from scratch with chemicals because of this. Battling the leaves while trying to get the chemicals back to normal so I can actually close isn't fun. It will be at least 7 days before the custom tension cover I had made comes to be installed! My pool contractor that I got the tension cover from said all this rain has put him extremely far behind and he is having a difficult time catching back up.
 
I would advise against adding any chemicals via the skimmer in the future for the sake of the integrity of your pool equipment. In the meantime, test CYA daily and dose chlorine accordingly as suggested by the CYA/Chlorine chart until the CYA levels stabilizes.


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Ale_Brewer said:
I would advise against adding any chemicals via the skimmer in the future for the sake of the integrity of your pool equipment. In the meantime, test CYA daily and dose chlorine accordingly as suggested by the CYA/Chlorine chart until the CYA levels stabilizes.


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Click to expand...

Thanks for the help I am typically very skeptical about running anything through the skimmer baskets, but I had read a thread on here and two of the members jasonlion and duraleigh seem to think broadcasting it through the skimmer was fine. I added it very slowly over like a period of 4 or 5 minutes. The manufacturer actually said the preferred method was the skimmer basket and 2nd way was via the deep end in the pool. I do understand though not putting it in the skimmer is obviously the safest possible way.
 
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