Can really high chlorine levels damage pool equipment?

[dswansonsb]

Started the SLAM process yesterday and messed up with my ounces to gallons conversation and ended up putting twice as much chlorine in the pool than I intended? Will 60 ppm free chlorine damage my pool equipment (variable speed pump & quad DE filter)? What about solar pool heater? Pool is in ground plaster. Should I add a chlorine neutralizer? If I do should I be worried about the sodium in Leslie's Chlor Neutralizer (sodium sulfite)?

My numbers prior to the chlorine addition :

pH 7.3
TA 100
CYA 50

Thanks,
Dave.

 

[Texas Splash]

Dave, hi and welcome to TFP! This isn't the way we're suppose to meet - crisis situation. Still, I suspect on this rare occasion you will be fine. Very high chlorine levels (with NO CYA protection) can cause metal corrosion, but should not affect plastic. You have a healthy dose of CYA so that certainly helps. Chlorine really isn't an issue for copper at levels you might encounter in a pool, and with your CYA, chlorine levels can be dramatically higher and you still won't have any corrosion. Still, you don't want to make a habit of it right?

Let the sun do its job and burn it off. The excess FC should decrease fairly rapidly.

Oh, and just some "FYI" about reducing FC from another resident expert:

I would suggest first turning off the SWG if you have not already done so. As for lowering the chlorine level in a hurry, either in a pool or in a spa, one can use a chlorine neutralizer (sodium thiosulfate). Alternatively, you can use hydrogen peroxide (especially for the spa since the quantities are far lower) where a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution neutralizes approximately the same volume of 6% bleach. So to neutralize 10 ppm FC in 10,000 gallons, it would take around 26 cups (1.6 gallons) of 3% hydrogen peroxide in 10,000 gallons or about 1 cup in 350 gallons. You can get stronger hydrogen peroxide for the pool, though usually one just uses sodium thiosulfate instead at a rough rate of 2.6 ounces weight of sodium thiosulfate to lower 1 ppm FC in 10,000 gallons.

 

[dswansonsb]

Thanks for the reassurance Pat. I didn't add any neutralizer, the sun came out (it's been foggy and didn't see the sun at all yesterday), and the chlorine level has come way down.