Switching from pristine blue to chlorine...HELP!

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L

lawndarter

0
Oct 8, 2018
10
MOBILE, AL
Good Evening-
I am a new pool owner who was suckered into a pristine blue package when I bought the pool. After spending a lot of money on chemicals, I decided to do some research and found unflattering reviews of the product and decided to switch to chlorine.
I took the advice of others and purchased a good test kit (the TF100) to see what was going on in my pool without being taken at the pool store again.
Here is my question: what do I do to switch to a chlorine regimen from pristine blue?
Here are my specs: 16k gal, 1.5hp pump w/ a 250gal filter above ground pool.

Here are my test results:
PH- 7.8
Cl- no reading
Br- no Reading
CH- 325
TA- 100
CYA- no reading (i could see the black dot till the tube was full)

Thanks for any advice you can provide- have a great night!
 
Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

Great job on the test kit!

Add 3 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine. Then add 30 ppm worth of CYA powder using the sock method. Follow the [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] once you have started adding the CYA. Once the powder is fully dissolved from the sock wait a couple days and test the CYA.

Please add a signature. Read Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post
Information in your signature will show up each time you post and it makes advice more accurate as we know what equipment we are dealing with.

I suggest you read Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Trouble Free Pool School book.

You may also want to get the Pool Math app.

- - - Updated - - -

Please use the FAS-DPD test for FC and CC. If you have been adding alot of non-chlorine shock your CC may be testing high. Not an issue, just something to check on.
 
Welcome lawndarter,

FC = Free Chlorine
CC = Combined Chlorine
CYA = Cyanuric Acid

Pool Math link, PoolMath
Use this to calculate the amount of chlorine required to raise your FC to minimum 3 ppm and also the amount of CYA to raise your level to 30 ppm.
 
I don’t know much yet but I would think with a free chlorine reading of 0. I would add some chlorine. Like half of slam level for a cya of 30 even though it’s zero. I personally would do an overnight test. And take it from there just to make sure there isn’t anything in the water.
 
Thanks for the reply- the water is clear and fine...I am just very unhappy with how long biological agents can survive in the pristine blue system as opposed to chlorine, which is the primary reason for switching.

- - - Updated - - -

Hi all- thanks for the reply...I added CYA, let the water circulate for 4 hours and added powdered chlorine. I am going to let it go overnight and test it again in the AM to see where I am at. I will post results when I get them.
I really appreciate you all taking the time to help me as I stumble through this process!
Mike

- - - Updated - - -

Yes, I have 0 chlorine reading right now. I updated below- added CYA, let it circulate, added chlorine. I am going to see where i am at in the AM...I will post results.
Again, thanks a ton for your time!
Mike
 
You said 'powdered chlorine'. What was that? We recommend using liquid chlorine.

If you have low CH, you can use Cal Hypo sparingly.
 
Good Evening -
I picked up a pound of 'power powder plus' from the local pool store and added 9oz (that is what I got from the pool math app).
By liquid chlorine, do you mean regular household bleach?
Thanks again for your time...I will post test results in the AM.
Mike
 
The Powder stuff is Cal Hypo. It adds calcium to your water that to remove you must drain your pool. Your CH is 325. It does not need to go any higher. So do not use anymore of the Cal Hypo until you need to add calcium.

Liquid chlorine is bleach. You can use plain, unscented, non splashless, no Cloromax bleach or get Liquid Chlorine, Liquid Shock, or Chlorinating liquid at Home Depot, Walmart, or Pool Stores.
 

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Good Morning-
Test results for this morning are:
CL- 1
Ph 7.8
FC- 1.5
CC- .5
CH- 300 (went down- I had to add water to the pool)
TA- 130
CYA- 50

At this point, I am thinking I need to add CL to get that 1 up a little. The ph is hovering at the upper limit...should I add acid to this or let it settle out for a bit.
Thanks for any input you can provide.
Mike
 
If u r sure about the cya level u raise ur fc level based on a liquid dosed pool in pool math. Target 5. Range 2-8 on the app for cya of 50. I stay towards higher end when I liquid doses before salt so I have a buffer zone if the day burns off more than I thought.

Right now u r below the min and run chance for algae.

For ph. I look at my csi value in pool math. I keep my pool in the negative -.3 to 0 range to keep scale down cause I have a salt cell. But I base on lowering my ph when my csi falls out of where I want it to be. So figure out ur csi level and drop the ph if need be. I don’t know ur salt level of water temp but based on ur numbers if water is 65 degrees and 0 salt u r at .3 so I would be dropping it down to 7.2 to get ur ta down a bit too cause that is high.
 
Good Morning All-
Yesterday I added 128oz of liquid chlorine to up the FC level. To my surprise, this morning's test showed a decrease in FC. Here are the full test results:
ph- 7.5 (i lowered it with dry acid).
cl-.5 (barely)
fc-.5 (barely)
ch- 275 (went down again after exchanging some more water)
TA- 130
CYA- 50 (may be closer to 60...I am still figureing this test out as to when the black dot really disappears)

Any idea why my chlorine level went down? I am thinking of adding more liquid clorine after work today, but want to make sure I am not missing anything.
Thanks for any help you can provide!
Mike
 
I wouldn't bother with the oto clorine test, the yellow test with the pH, it's just gonna confuse you or us, it has uses in other places.

Don't bother with messing with Ch right now, it's still low enough and it's best to mess with 1 thing at a time.

Water replacement will drop your FC, a little, and your cya, so at this time it's best not to mess with that as well.

You mentioned 128 oz of clorine, which means it's a jug of liquid clorine and not bleach. What is the date on the jug as this time of year clorine jugs are old and often over priced 'water'. It's typically best to stick to Walmarts 121oz jug of 6% bleach, fresh and cheap, just have to use more.

Make sure you get a really good brush on the pool
 
Good Morning All-
Thanks for the advice and help.
Yesterday evening I added 1.8gal of 6% bleach (number from the poolmath app).
This morning, my test results still WAY low on chlorine (hardly any reading).
Any idea what seems to be going on- why I can't get the chlorine up? Any recommendations for the next step?
Thanks again for your time
Mike
 
If this was me. I would add x amount of chlorine at dark. I would have pump running fast. I would then do ur chlorine test 30 mins later in dark. I would make sure I was at x level. I would go to bed. Get up in morning still dark out and test. Should be same or only .5 ppl lower. If 1 or more lower ppm from when u went to bed u fail the overnightctest and u need to slam.

Its a typical overnight test. Means there is algae eating ur chlorine at night when there is no sun. Slam.

I mean if u put in a gallon at night if it was dark and u woke up to no fc I would assume u got algae brewing.

Am am I missing something here from others following.


Jist check ur date for ur chlorine or whatever. I use Walmart pool chlorine. I check the date. Never had an issue. It’s stronger than regular household bleach. No reason not to use it if date is proper. U can use whatever as long as it’s in date. I use Leslie’s at times too. I check the date. No issues. Just make sure whatever u use u put in right numbers in pool math to make sure u know what ur fc level should be when u measure 30 mins later before u go to bed.
 

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