New Member & converting from Baquacil to Chlorine

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Okay - I think our conversion if officially complete.

I have some questions regarding chemicals and timing between adding and retesting.
I bought the liquid CYA at a pool store. I only added one gallon, waited 24 hours and tested. The CYA is still at zero. I thought with the liquid CYA, there would be immediate results. Since CYA can't be adjusted back down, I don't want to get this wrong.

Last night, my pH was low at 6.8; so I added three 76oz boxes of Borax last night. This morning my pH was 8.2. I had some pH decreaser from last year; so I added 2lbs of that this morning.
I also put 2 lbs of granular CYA in a sock in front of the skimmer this morning.

Every time I test the T/A it is running between 80 and 100. It was 90 this morning (so this is good).

Last two nights, I have added four 96 oz bottles of Clorox bring the FC up to about 5-6. Then during the day the Chlorine goes to zero - which makes sense since I don't have the CYA levels up yet.

Also, we may be going out of town tomorrow (will probably be back Sunday evening). So, yesterday I bought a floater and several 3" 99% triclor tabs from Wal-Mart. I thought this would be okay to use since I'm trying to get the CYA levels up anyway. I put the floater with three tabs in it into the pool this morning. Is this okay?

For measuring chemicals, I have a scale that goes up to one pound. Is this the best way to make sure I'm adding the correct amounts?

I know it's alot of questions. If I have missed something on the website that would answer these questions, please let me know. Since we changed the Sand on Wednesday evening, I've been searching through the posts on this website; but I still have questions. --- and would greatly appreciate any assistance provided!

I think overall it is okay - the pool definitely looks really good! -- the water if very clear!

Thanks.
 
When you add the liquid stabilizer/conditioner it dissolves instantly and is ready to test after an hour. One gallon of liquid CYA will raise 23,000 gallons by about 16, which is too low to show up reliably on the test.

Three boxes of borax was way too much. You should use something like the Pool Calculator to figure amounts for you and try hard not to over do chemical additions like that.

A scale is a handy way to measure small chemical additions. For larger amounts I tend to approximate, for example using about half a box/tub, rather than measuring exactly.
 
I'm wondering if I might be using the calculator incorrectly. When I tested last night and the pH was 6.8, I put 6.8 with a goal of 7.4 into the calculator. It then calculated to add 239 oz. of borax -- which would be 3.14 of the 76 oz boxes. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks.
 
Sorry, I said that wrong. I should have explained more.

When you are making a large PH change, anything over 0.2, you should add perhaps 1/2 or maybe 2/3rds of the calculated amount. Let things circulate for an hour, retest, and adjust further from there. Once you become more familiar with your pool, you will have a better idea of what to expect and can make somewhat larger changes without going by steps, but just at first you should be cautious. If any level is off, pool size, PH, TA, or Borate, the calculated amount will be off. Since none of the tests are 100% perfect, there will always be some number that is off a little, probably several, so the calculated amounts are never perfect, especially for PH.

When I enter 23,000 gallons, changing PH from 6.8 to 7.4, TA of 90, Borate of 0, I get 228 oz, or three boxes, of borax. But three boxes of borax is a lot, so you don't want to do that all at once.
 
Pool looks great! I also converted from Baquacil last year and had the same steps. I could not have been happier with using Bleach last year. This year, I opend my pool and it was crystal clear.

Everyone on his is extremely helpfull so look to the "experts" for advice!
 
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