Hello all just signed up today I've been a lurker reading up on the bbb method which I'm about to switch over too. Short version of my issue we just went on a 2 week vacation and I had a friend checking my pool. When I got home I found out the pump had given out and was running intermittently it's a sand 1hp doughboy setup. The place I got the pool gave me a loner pump and are sending mine back, so in the mean time I shocked the Crud out of it and have been maintaining a chlorine level higher than what my kit and strips can read which is 10(ppm?). So far since last Saturday the 4th I've dumped 5 1lb bags of shock into the skimmer, 1 128oz 12% chlorine and 6 186oz 6% chlorine jugs and to no avail the water is still a cloudy whiteish blue. I've had the pump running 24/7 I went in yesterday and brushed and vac the whole pool. I've had my floater in the whole time with 3 3inch pucks and been refilling it as they dissolve. If anything right now the ph is a little on the low side like 6.9 alk was in the 40-80ppm range. Any suggestions on what to try next. Thanks in advance!!
Help Pool pump died while on vacation pool not clearing
- Thread starter tu212
- Start date
Welcome to TFP.
The very next thing you should do is order a good test kit. We never advocate throwing things in your pool without knowing why, what they're going to do, and how much you need.
Then you need to read Pool School about the proper way to shock your pool.
If you have a full set of test results, post them.
pH
FC
CC
TA
CH
CYA
Dumping so called "shock" into the skimmer in the quantities you have indicated is a bad thing to do.
The very next thing you should do is order a good test kit. We never advocate throwing things in your pool without knowing why, what they're going to do, and how much you need.
Then you need to read Pool School about the proper way to shock your pool.
If you have a full set of test results, post them.
pH
FC
CC
TA
CH
CYA
Dumping so called "shock" into the skimmer in the quantities you have indicated is a bad thing to do.
Thank you for the reply I have a leslie test kit and some strips. The leslie kit is the lower model it was 29.99 not the more expensive one that I've heard about on here. I will get as many results as possible tonight and post back. The shock that I used was granular that I purchased from walmart and have switched strictly to bleach/liquid chlorine.
Edit this is the kit: http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Ch ... 18547.html
I should be able to have all the values tonight except for Ch and Cya
Edit this is the kit: http://www.lesliespool.com/Home/Pool-Ch ... 18547.html
I should be able to have all the values tonight except for Ch and Cya
You could order a FAS-DPD kit and a bottle of R-0013 (CYA reagent) from tftestkits and you'd have a pretty good kit.
CH isn't important in a vinyl pool unless it's too high.
CH isn't important in a vinyl pool unless it's too high.
pH. 6.8
FC 30
CC. 35
TA the strips show 20ish the kit which I did all the other tests with turned yellow after 15 drops which would be 150 but never turned red like it said it should even after 50 drops of the r-009 should I retest?
CH n/a
CYA n/a
I had to use 4/5 distilled water and 1/5 pool water to get a chlorine reading the chlorine readings were 1/5 of above. Thanks again!
FC 30
CC. 35
TA the strips show 20ish the kit which I did all the other tests with turned yellow after 15 drops which would be 150 but never turned red like it said it should even after 50 drops of the r-009 should I retest?
CH n/a
CYA n/a
I had to use 4/5 distilled water and 1/5 pool water to get a chlorine reading the chlorine readings were 1/5 of above. Thanks again!
Really before we can offer any advise, we need to know the CYA value. That is what determine the required FC level for the shock process and then daily maintenance.
I will note that your pH is likely very low since the test usually read artificially high when FC > 10ppm.
Also you are loosing a lot of accuracy having to dilute the water like that. The FAS-DPD test is what you need for the chlorine (FC and CC)
I will note that your pH is likely very low since the test usually read artificially high when FC > 10ppm.
Also you are loosing a lot of accuracy having to dilute the water like that. The FAS-DPD test is what you need for the chlorine (FC and CC)
Thank you! I am going to take a sample of water to my local pool store hopefully today and will post back the results.
edit: My wife just called back and said the pool store told her the chlorine was too high to test the water? And sold her a bottle of clarifier that was $26 said to put in doses now tonight tomorrow morning and night and bring back a sample to them towards the end of the week.
edit: My wife just called back and said the pool store told her the chlorine was too high to test the water? And sold her a bottle of clarifier that was $26 said to put in doses now tonight tomorrow morning and night and bring back a sample to them towards the end of the week.
Pool stores testing is not reliable. And clarifier has nothing to do with high chlorine levels. Sounds like they just wanted to sell you something and since they did not test (because they do not use the correct chlorine test) clarifier was the choice to try to "clear" the water. That will not kill the algae.
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That's what I was thinking I will post back when I get better results thanks again for the help
You just experienced why you should want your own tools (test kit). I would purchase a FAS-DPD chlorine test and cya test like jbliz said. Then you can take care of you pool properly and never have to get misinformation from a pool store again.
I am a newb and these guys are right you need to know the CYA.
Most likely what is happening is the CYA is too high which then makes you have to have a higher FC to keep it working correctly. You want a CYA in the range of 30-50. My guess would be yours is in the 100's.
If I was in your shoes I would get the kit ASAP. In the meantime I would try another bottle of the 186oz bleach and keep the filter running. and skim the heck out of it. A FC of 30 is pretty high. You might end up draining the pool to lower the CYA and then the FC will start to work. Good Luck and it works.
Most likely what is happening is the CYA is too high which then makes you have to have a higher FC to keep it working correctly. You want a CYA in the range of 30-50. My guess would be yours is in the 100's.
If I was in your shoes I would get the kit ASAP. In the meantime I would try another bottle of the 186oz bleach and keep the filter running. and skim the heck out of it. A FC of 30 is pretty high. You might end up draining the pool to lower the CYA and then the FC will start to work. Good Luck and it works.
I'm deciding which one to order and gonna get it ASAP. The basic leslie kit that I have some of the reagents will work with the more robust kits? Is this clarifier even worth keeping?
I'd return it if you can, find be surprised if they have a policy about not returning chemicals. Maybe they will let you exchange for liquid chlorine.
You can always go buy it again if for some strange reason we think it might help. But you are not to that point yet.
See the link in my signature for test kit comparison. TF100 gives you more of the needed reagents so you do not run out as quickly.
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You can always go buy it again if for some strange reason we think it might help. But you are not to that point yet.
See the link in my signature for test kit comparison. TF100 gives you more of the needed reagents so you do not run out as quickly.
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Just got my tf-100 today ran the tests they came back as
ph 6.8
fc 6
cc 0
ta 50
cya 90-100
didn't do the ch test.
I haven't put anything in the pool for a week now I've just had the filter running 24/7. The water cleared up somewhat still pretty cloudy but can kinda make out the liner on the bottom now. Any suggestions of what I should do to try and clear up the water? Thanks again for all the help!
ph 6.8
fc 6
cc 0
ta 50
cya 90-100
didn't do the ch test.
I haven't put anything in the pool for a week now I've just had the filter running 24/7. The water cleared up somewhat still pretty cloudy but can kinda make out the liner on the bottom now. Any suggestions of what I should do to try and clear up the water? Thanks again for all the help!
Put your numbers in the pool calculator.
You need a shock level of 29-35 and that says 477 oz of 6% chlorine. If you had zero CC you are just staying ahead of the algae. I go buy 3 big bottles of generic bleach at Walmart and dump them in and run the pump and you should be clean in day or two.
You also should try and get your ph up to 7.2 - 7.5.
I am sure some experts will chime in but the first thing is get it up to shock level.
You need a shock level of 29-35 and that says 477 oz of 6% chlorine. If you had zero CC you are just staying ahead of the algae. I go buy 3 big bottles of generic bleach at Walmart and dump them in and run the pump and you should be clean in day or two.
You also should try and get your ph up to 7.2 - 7.5.
I am sure some experts will chime in but the first thing is get it up to shock level.
Your CYA is double the recommended level, so you need to decide if you are going to reduce that to a manageable level.
Your FC is currently too low for that CYA level.
And you need to raise the pH up into the 7s ... it may be very low.
What do you use for chlorine?
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Your FC is currently too low for that CYA level.
And you need to raise the pH up into the 7s ... it may be very low.
What do you use for chlorine?
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Good point. Put you location down. In WI the season is almost over so draining and refilling the pool would not be worth it. If you are warm and can use it most of the year then it would be worth draining the pool and refilling to get a 50 CYA level.
Thanks guys I'm in nj so we will be packing it up in a month prob. Right now I've been using pucks in a floater but since the pool has been messed up I've been using the big 1.4 gallon 6 percent jugs I have one left and I have 5 10 percent gallon jugs I got at ace hardware sitting in my shed.I know I over did it when the pool was black so I let it sit the past week and didn't add anything while I've been waiting for the test kit.
If you do not want to drain now, you will have to follow the shock process at the very high FC levels since your water is cloudy. You can confirm the presence of organics be performing the OCLT.
But, you need to adjust the pH first since the pH test is not accurate when FC is greater than 10ppm.
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But, you need to adjust the pH first since the pH test is not accurate when FC is greater than 10ppm.
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My advice is use the pool calculator and dump in the chlorine it says and then be done with it in a month when you drain for winter you can fix the CYA level next spring.