I just need some reassurance and any advice as I am becoming quite frustrated converting from Baquacil to chlorine. We had successfully used Baquacil for 19 years and after opening with it this year, hit a wall. Anyway the conversion process is now entering it's second week and my kids and grandkids are really wanting in the pool. I am looking for any advice to speed up this process. In a nutshell -- above ground 21-41 oval pool, about 28000 gallons, sand filter with new sand this year. When we started conversion had a Baquashock level of 0 and a Baquacil level of 9, CYA-0. We have kept the pH and alkalinity balanced. We first shocked with non-chlorine shock and then 12 days ago began shocking every night with chlorine shock 4 lb of hTh Super Shock. Currently FC is holding till about noon of the day after shock before it is gone. CC is still fluctuating greatly from 0-15. Pool did turn some funky colors in the very beginning, but only for a very few hours. Since that time went to cloudy greenish to cloudy blue. Has been cloudy and very blue for over a week. It clears a bit till we shock again and then gets cloudier. One thing I have not seen specifically in reading much about this conversion, is can we shock again as soon as the FC drops or do we need to wait 24 hours from last shock? Does the type of shock we are using work as well as liquid or bleach or would we be better with one of those? I am just really getting impatient, had accepted the fact it would take 7-10 days total conversion, but we are in total over two weeks and it is really getting hot here! Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice!
Baquacil-Chlorine Conversion Frustration!
- Thread starter tablpa
- Start date
Welcome to TFP tabpla. You came to the right place! Click on the "Pool School" link on the top right hand side of this page and read up on converting from Baquacil to chlorine. You need to be using liquid chlorine or bleach instead of store bought products. It's also extremely important to have a good test kit. We recommend the TF100 from www.tftestkits.net. I've been through the conversion process myself. It's not bad at all once you get on the right track. I'm sure others will chime in and offer you plenty of help and advice.
Welcome to tfp, tablpa 
As Samantha suggested read the pool school article on the conversion process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/baqua_chlorine_conversion I does not sound like you had followed the tfp process for converting, but we know it works from the many success stories on here.
As Samantha suggested read the pool school article on the conversion process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/baqua_chlorine_conversion I does not sound like you had followed the tfp process for converting, but we know it works from the many success stories on here.
Liquid chlorine/bleach is best.tablpa said:
Per the above link, you want to get your FC up to 15 ppm and keep it there, adding as often as you are able...you definitely do not want to wait 24 hours (every hour if you can), but you will need to be able to test FC to know how much it has dropped.tablpa said:
I know we sound like a bunch of kit pushers, but having a TF100 will save you a TON in the long run. No way I'd swap without one.
So I really need to add almost 7 gallons of bleach and can do this several times a day to keep the FC above 15! All this chlorine after shocking daily for the past 12 days? This seems like an amazing amount of chlorine. All the money we have put into chemicals this summer is really a shame, starting out with Baquacil and then all the shock just so far, and still not able to use the pool. I know we can't give up at this point, but it is hard for the kids to look at the pool (cause it is still somewhat cloudy, but very blue) and not be able to swim. I wish our pool people and the printed instructions we were given told us we could shock more than once a day. Those were our instructions. Hopefully we can kick it in gear and get this conversion over with soon.
I'm watching this thread carefully - I'm going through the conversion from Baqua to chlorine myself. Good luck tabpla!
Yes, it takes an amazing amount of chlorine to do a baqua conversion. Typical conversions range from 40 to 120 gallons of bleach, with occasional ones going higher than that.
If you haven't already, take a look at the conversion instructions in Pool School. They run through the whole process in some detail, and we are happy to talk you through it as well.
If the water has gone back to blue, it sounds like you might be hearing the midway point. I suggest you do an overnight FC loss test tonight to get a sense of how far through the conversion you are.
If you haven't already, take a look at the conversion instructions in Pool School. They run through the whole process in some detail, and we are happy to talk you through it as well.
If the water has gone back to blue, it sounds like you might be hearing the midway point. I suggest you do an overnight FC loss test tonight to get a sense of how far through the conversion you are.
Have ordered the Taylor K-2006 test kit but it hasn't arrived yet, so I am at the mercy of HTH test strips and the 6 way test to test the FC and CC. Put in the 7 gallons of bleach last night when both FC and CC were 0. Early this morning the FC is 10+ and the CC is way over 5 as the tube turned the brightest yellow it can, much more yellow than any of the scale beside the water tube. We did brush well last night also so I am thinking the CC is from the bleach working on the baqua that was on the walls, etc., could this be right? Just tested again (3 hours since last test) and nothing has changed, but it is still before noon and the heat of the day here. We are going to vacuum to waste the sand looking debris that is on the bottom and just periodically test and brush today. Of course by vacuuming to waste we will have to add some new make up water. Anything else we should be doing?
Still going. Of course with the weekend still waiting on the good test kit. Keep adding bleach when FC drops, is dropping quickly during the day and more slowly overnight, but the CC is still above the 5 that the HTH drop kit I have goes to. Is it normal for the CC to hold that high for so long? In the beginning the CC would raise, but drop quickly. Also heard that it might be helpful to go ahead and put tablets in the floater, does anyone agree with that?
Don't do that....it's not particualarly helpful and pretty much sidetracking your focus of adding chlorine and testing as you should be.
Are you following the article in Pool School? If I was doing a conversion, I would follow that process to the letter. It has a proven track record of working and keeps things simple and as cheap as possible.
wetchem
0
As suggested in other threads;tablpa said:
Get some nice bottled water (or if you have a water softener - do a test to see if it as chlorine in it... shouldn't but who knows)
Dilute your pool water by half with the bottled water. Now take your results and multiply by 2.
This will help to ball-park your FC and CC until your K2006 arrives and will save you some testing chemicals.
-wc
I am trying to follow the directions in pool school. Thanks for the tip to get better results from the test kits I am using. Didn't find this forum til had started conversion with instructions from pool store and baquacil website and was using granular non-chlorine and then chlorine shock for10 days and only shocking once a day per their instruction. Just kind of concerned it is taking so long and that the CC is staying high all the time for the past 3-4 days.
wetchem
0
tablpa... I well understand needing a little support - that is exactly why I started participating here!
I may be a chemist; however, I've not dealt with pool chemistry by myself and the support I received and have seen here is great!
pictures would be nice
-wc
ps:
I should mention that the dilution will work for the FC/TC/CC - NOT for pH - you'll need to do that with the straight pool water. Also, once the FC gets above 10, unless one the guys in the know asks, don't waste the pH chemicals as they don't work with the FC that high.
I may be a chemist; however, I've not dealt with pool chemistry by myself and the support I received and have seen here is great!
pictures would be nice
-wc
ps:
I should mention that the dilution will work for the FC/TC/CC - NOT for pH - you'll need to do that with the straight pool water. Also, once the FC gets above 10, unless one the guys in the know asks, don't waste the pH chemicals as they don't work with the FC that high.
Thanks! Support is needed as this is quite an experience. We used Baquacil quite successfully for 19 years. I know that is a rarity, but it worked for us and was great with no worries about kids tracking in the house or maybe getting into some chemicals, but when we hit a wall this spring we hit a wall hard. We haven't taken pictures, but I don't think that would be too helpful as since about the third day the pool has been blue, sometimes bluer than others, but blue. However it is cloudy most of the time. Have see the bottom a couple of times prior to brushing and vacuuming. I am hoping after two weeks the end will come soon. The kids and grandkids really want to get in too as we are currently having some really warm weather.
Unfortunately, baqua conversions take a bunch of chlorine and time. You will appreciate it when you are done, but I can understand it is dragging on right now. In reality, you have only been doing the tfp method for 3 days, so compared to other baqua conversions, you are still on the very short end. You comments and test numbers suggest you are making good progress...measuring CC means the chlorine is doing it's job.
It's Mon morning and of course I don't have the good test kit yet cause I ordered it on Friday, bad timing. Anyway with my strips and HTH 6 way, the FC held over 10 overnight, but the CC is still over 5 this morning (by using the dilution test suggested above I am putting the FC at 12 and the CC at 10). So what does it mean when the FC holds overnight but the CC is still so high?
Off to work and there won't be anyone here to test for 8 hours, and I hate that cause it's supposed to be over 90 here and I'm sure it will need more bleach before we get home.
Off to work and there won't be anyone here to test for 8 hours, and I hate that cause it's supposed to be over 90 here and I'm sure it will need more bleach before we get home.
Ok! Received my test kit today and of course I wasn't able to be home to test till around dark. Here are my values:
FC: 10.5
CC: .5
pH: 7.4
TA: 210
CA: 380
CYA: lowest reading on tube scale is 30 and it was less than that.
Will top the FC up before retiring. Any other suggestions?
FC: 10.5
CC: .5
pH: 7.4
TA: 210
CA: 380
CYA: lowest reading on tube scale is 30 and it was less than that.
Will top the FC up before retiring. Any other suggestions?
For now no need to test anything but FC and CC. Unless you added your cya should be zero.
Keep bringing up FC to ~15 ppm as often as you can.
Keep backwashing when your pressure goes up 25% from clean and keep brushing.
Next step you are approaching is:
Keep bringing up FC to ~15 ppm as often as you can.
Keep backwashing when your pressure goes up 25% from clean and keep brushing.
Next step you are approaching is:
THINK MAYBE WE ARE GETTING CLOSE! After testing FC 10.5 and CC .5 last night, added 2 gal of bleach to bring up to 15. This morning FC was 14 and CC was 1. At work all day and away from pool. When I just got home FC 1, CC 0.5. I will be home tomorrow to watch more closely. My thought was to bring back up to 15 tonight and double check in the morning. If FC and CC hold will we be ready to add stabilizer?