Should/can I use cal-hypo?

[tj__r]

Looks like my CH may be low (need to double-check). If so, can I use cal-hypo for my chlorine needs? My local wally has HTH granules for $55/ 16lb bucket - ok deal? good product with no CYA? How do I use it?

Thanx as always.

 

[Vette]

You use http://www.poolcalculator.com/ to dose your pool with it. However, did you test your CH yourself or did a pool store test it? Once CH goes in, it doesn't come out.

 

[Stuamurr]

Calcium Hypochlorite is an excellent unstabilised sanitiser in areas of low calcium and/or soft water especially here in Scotland with HTH definately one of the better brands. In my money that works out as a really good price for HTH but with it being an American chemical company I would actually think you will be able to get it cheaper than that stateside. As Vette says, make sure you really need to increase CH levels before using it, if you are in a hard water area you may well get sufficient calcium from your tap water already without needing the extra expense of Calcium Hypo over Sodium/Bleach

 

[tj__r]

Got ya on pool calculator - I'm actually about 300 mi south of the pool today so can't test right now, but planning what to pick up on the way home. Looks like for each 1 ppm chlorine I need to raise, I'd add approx 1/3 gal bleach or 5 oz cal-hypo.

I don't see on the calculator where it tells how much CH a given amount of cal-hypo adds. Maybe I'm missing that. Assuming cal-hypo contains about as much calcium as CaCl, 5oz would add something like 1 or 2 ppm. I think I'm going to find my CH is down about 50 or so - I'll double check - so that's approx 12 lb CaCl.

Do I just toss in the cal-hypo granules? Mix 'em in a bucket first? Prev owners used pucks but their supply is about gone and I've got approx 50 CYA so am trying to get away from pucks.

 

[Vette]

Got ya on pool calculator - I'm actually about 300 mi south of the pool today so can't test right now, but planning what to pick up on the way home. Looks like for each 1 ppm chlorine I need to raise, I'd add approx 1/3 gal bleach or 5 oz cal-hypo.

I don't see on the calculator where it tells how much CH a given amount of cal-hypo adds. Maybe I'm missing that. Assuming cal-hypo contains about as much calcium as CaCl, 5oz would add something like 1 or 2 ppm. I think I'm going to find my CH is down about 50 or so - I'll double check - so that's approx 12 lb CaCl.

Do I just toss in the cal-hypo granules? Mix 'em in a bucket first? Prev owners used pucks but their supply is about gone and I've got approx 50 CYA so am trying to get away from pucks.

On the bottom of the page you can enter in different chemicals and it will show you the effect it has on your pool. Make sure you enter the correct amount of gallons your pool has!

 

[tj__r]

Make sure you enter the correct amount of gallons your pool has!

Yup, first time I put an extra zero in the gallons and got scared I'd need a pallet of bleach. Probably not too many quarter million gallon pools in my neighborhood.

 

[Stuamurr]

De-dusted HTH dissolves very well, but as per the instructions you should pre mix by adding to water first, then slowly add to pool.

Because it dissolves so well I usually add it straight to the skimmer, but I would never reccommend this procedure as a splash in the eye could easily result in the loss of said sight.

Stuart

 

[UnderWaterVanya]

Looks like my CH may be low (need to double-check). If so, can I use cal-hypo for my chlorine needs? My local wally has HTH granules for $55/ 16lb bucket - ok deal? good product with no CYA? How do I use it?

Thanx as always.

Check your fill water also when you test for CH to be sure that both the pool CH is low and the fill water is low - otherwise as you fill it will rise.

 

[tj__r]

a splash in the eye could easily result in the loss of said sight.

Yeah, I'm going to toss a pair of safety glasses in the pool chemical pile. Even filling the tablet chlorinator seems like you could get a facefull if you drop them in.

 

[Butterfly]

a splash in the eye could easily result in the loss of said sight.

Yeah, I'm going to toss a pair of safety glasses in the pool chemical pile. Even filling the tablet chlorinator seems like you could get a facefull if you drop them in.

Absolutely use eye protection when dealing with chems. Also, as an add'l FYI, never store MA near chlorine products. MA and chlorine don't play well together. If they mix (outside the pool) they can kaboom. Best to store MA outside by itself.

 

[anonapersona]

I just got 100 lbs of ZapIt73 from Warehouse Pool Supply for $160. 73% cal-hypo.

This is fine for general chlorine needs as long as you are just a bit low on CH, if you are really low it may not make sense to take such a long time to get back to the right range.

In my pool, 1 cup of 73% cal-hypo gives me 2 ppm FC and about 1.something CH. So that is a daily dose of chlorine, but it will take a long time to add 60 pts to CH. For that reason I find this fine to get from the bottom of the suggested range to the middle or top of the range, but it one is far below the minimum, probably better to bite the bullet and buy some calcium increaser.

I recently found that I was low on CH. I had been having issues testing, globules formed in the test, and I was not certain of the readings. Let it go for too long in these heavy rains. Pool store read 200ppm hardness, I read 170 ppm CH, I think mine is correct. I bought some calcium increaser to get to 200 ppm, about 20 lbs, and will use the cal-hypo to get up higher in the recommended range.