Began yesterday around 6pm. Have been monitoring the FC frequently trying to maintain 15 ppm. So far I have gone through just over 13 gals of bleach. People at Wally-Mart are freakin' out over the quantity of bleach I've been buying. Have backwashed several times with quite a bit of yellowish discharge. Here are a few pics.
Began the conversion to BBB
- Thread starter dwdickson
- Start date
Thanks for that info bigwhitebeast. Overnight FC went from 15 down to 8.5. I've used 16.5 gals so far and I guess I still have a ways to go.
With some of your FC remaining overnight you now have a decision to make. At this point, if you maintain FC during the day you will be losing a lot of chlorine to sunlight. You can save chlorine by only adding chlorine in the evenings, but doing so will make the entire process take a little longer.
Thanks JasonLion. I think I'm going to keep going full force for at least today and then back off when I have to go back to work tomorrow. The family is interested in getting the pool opened for business asap. We're having heavy cloulds and light rain with no sun. I assume these conditions will help keep the FC from dissipating during the day right?
Yes, clouds will reduce the amount of chlorine lost, but there will still be lots of chlorine lost even with the diffuse light.
I'm just thinking ahead to when I need to add CYA. The pool calculator says I'll need 54 oz to go from 0 to 30. I reading that the best method is to put the CYA in a sock and hang it inside the skimmer basket. I'm pretty sure 54 oz isn't going to fit into a single sock and even if it did, my skimmer basket isn't that big. Should I just add the 54 oz in several smaller increments that will fit?
I did it as suggested on the bottle by slowly dumping it in the skimmer. Make sure the skimmer is really clean, I had some cottonwood fuzzies in mine and it made it hard for the CYA to go through. The one thing about dumping it in the skimmer is it says not to backwash the filter for at least 48 hours.
After you have the conversion complete remember to change out the sand in your filter. Down at the end of my conversion thread there are pictures of my filter http://www.troublefreepool.com/my-conversion-has-started-t30971.html
After you have the conversion complete remember to change out the sand in your filter. Down at the end of my conversion thread there are pictures of my filter http://www.troublefreepool.com/my-conversion-has-started-t30971.html
That method sure sounds a lot easier than the sock thing. And I see your CYA was 40 so it must have worked. How long after you dumped into the skimmer were you able to measure 40 on the CYA? I still need to pass the overnight FC drop test so I think I'm still a few days from changing out my sand.
Adding to the skimmer does have it's challenges. You need to pour really slowly, over five to fifteen minutes or more, so the skimmer doesn't get completely clogged up with CYA, and you can't backwash the filter for a week afterwards.
Regardless of how you add CYA, you should wait a week before testing the CYA level.
Regardless of how you add CYA, you should wait a week before testing the CYA level.
Thanks Jason! I'll go slow. As for backwashing, I'll try to resist but I have a problem with my filter in that when the pressure builds up to over 20 psi (normally seems to run about 16.5) it tends to blow the big o-ring between the multi-port valve and the filter body. This causes water to leak out of the pool and the pump cavitates until I notice it. I then turn off the pump, remove the valve, re-seat the o-ring and refill the pool. I'm noticing many people with similar AGP have smaller pumps. Is it possible my pump is too big for the filter? Kind of off topic but I'd appreciate your feedback.
Yes, your pump is certainly too big for your filter. It's not the end of the world, but it does create challenges, some of which you have already seen. The filter is also much more likely to get channeled (stop filtering out much of anything) with a large pump.
If backwashing is going to be an important issue, you can instead put the CYA in a sock or stocking and hand that in front of a return jet. Then you can backwash freely.
If backwashing is going to be an important issue, you can instead put the CYA in a sock or stocking and hand that in front of a return jet. Then you can backwash freely.
Interesting. I'm kind of ****** at the pool store for setting me up with this pump/filter combo. Oh well. I think I'll do the CYA sock at the return then.
I thought I was getting close to passing the overnight FC drop test. Monday night I measured 16 and this morning it was 14. When I got home this evening around 8:30 the FC was 0. I added the specified amount to get it back up to 15 (420 oz) and then measured about an hour later and it was at 7. I thought that perhaps I hadn't allowed enough time for mixing so I measured again about an hour later and it was down to 5.5. The FC is dropping like a rock in the dark. The water is very clear and has been for a couple of days but I am noticing a slight oily feeling to it. Any suggestions on what I should do? I just dosed it again to try to get it back up to 15 before going to bed. I'll check it again in the morning.
Ok. I just dosed to get up to 15 before going to bed and I noticed in the dark quite a large mass of gunk at the bottom of the pool in the center. This is a new development. I'll scoop it out in the morning to see what it is. Something is not right.
Perhaps it's "fallout" or something that was overlooked 'til now. Regardless, scoop/vacuum it out as much as you can as it will continue to consume chlorine as long as it's there. :-D
Scoop the gunk out and keep maintaining the FC level. You are making steady progress, even if it doesn't always feel that way.
FC is 6 this morning. Gunk doesn't scoop well so I'll have my wife vacuum today. I've been adding bleach only in the evenings for the past couple of days. If the FC goes to 0 during the day, does this open the door for stuff to grow? Should I go back to maintaining 15 or at least some chlorine during the day? I've had past problems with pink slime/mold when on baqua. Pics of the gunk below.
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As long as you bring FC up to 15 each evening it is fine for the FC level to go to zero during the day. Since you are maintaining some FC overnight, it is more efficient to only use bleach in the evenings, even though it takes a little more total time.