Yet another Baq conversion in progress

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R

russ657

0
Apr 23, 2008
26
Mass
I open my pool two days ago, vacuumed and cleaned it. The water was very clear. Water temp was 59. I started my conversion to Cl from Baq yesterday. I have a 24 foot round above ground with a DE filter. My pool is currently a nice shade of green with a light brown goo floating on the top. Looks like green beer with a head. My starting TA was 100, PH was adjusted to 7.3. I am currently using 5.7% clorox in 1.47 gal jugs. Got about 30 gallons pretty cheap at COSTCO. I just located a store that has the 5 gallon 12.5% refillable for $19.99 so I picked 10 gallons and will switch to that once the clorox is gone. I have been doing the FC drop test every hour or two and adjust back to 15 by adding more chlorine. I have not tested PH again, should I worry about that right now? It is about to rain and should continue through tomorrow. I hope this helps keep the chlorine longer as there will be no sun for a while. I have recharged the DE six time and have twice tore the filter down and hosed it out. The goo clogs it up in no time at all.

I have a question about using Borax to raise the PH.... How do you add it? Broadcast over the pool? drop it in front of the return? other?

I've been reading the other posts of folks going through this process and it has been a big help. It seems the most important ingredient is patience. Boy, do I wish some had come in the TF-100 test kit.

Thanks for hosting this forum.
Russ
 
Hi, Russ,

Welcome to the forum!!. You're off to a great start...we'll help a little with the patience.....it's a big project you've taken on.

Disregard pH 'til your conversion is over. pH will not test accurately in high chlorine levels and you're not adding anything that will change pH much anyway.

When you get ready, (conversion complete) the best way to add borax is thru the skimmer. That said, both of the ways you mentioned are acceptable, as well. In fact, I add EVERYTHING thru the skimmer except acid....it's what works best for me.

Ask all the questions you can think of. That'll help with the patience a little and there's plenty of good folks here eager to answer them.

(BTW, thanks for the kit order!! :lol: )
 
My neighbor just stopped by and saw the pile of empty chlorox bottles near the pool and asked what I was doing. I told her that I had added about 25 gallons of bleach to the pool and would be adding about 50 more over the next few days. She said she had some of her kids gym socks she couldn't get clean and wondered if she could put them in the pool for a while. Not a bad idea... If this conversion thing doesn't work, I could take in laundry.

In 1.5 hours the FC dropped from 15 to 7 so I boosted it back up with 2 gallons of bleach. Now I'm off to change the DE yet again. Bumping it only gets me about 5 minutes before the pressure is high again. I already feel like a highly qualified FC tester. I think I'll add it to my resume along with Baquasil hater.

Too the pool... Russ
 
PROGRESS!!! I can now see the bottom of my pool. It is a clear light green color. Just this morning I could only see down 12 inches. The only problem with being able to see the bottom is that it looks like someone baked a pancake on it. About 3/4 of the pool bottom is covered in the tan colored solidified gunk. I started to vacuum it. I vaccuum for 7-8 minutes, then spend 20 minutes replacing the DE and starting again. I got about half vacuumed but it is getting dark and it is raining and the ballgame is starting on TV. Can you say lounge chair and beer?

I topped off the bleach, flushed the filter and replaced the DE so good night pool. I hope there is a little FC let in the morning.

Russ
 
russ657 said:
PROGRESS!!! I can now see the bottom of my pool. It is a clear light green color. Just this morning I could only see down 12 inches. The only problem with being able to see the bottom is that it looks like someone baked a pancake on it. About 3/4 of the pool bottom is covered in the tan colored solidified gunk. I started to vacuum it. I vaccuum for 7-8 minutes, then spend 20 minutes replacing the DE and starting again. I got about half vacuumed but it is getting dark and it is raining and the ballgame is starting on TV. Can you say lounge chair and beer?

I topped off the bleach, flushed the filter and replaced the DE so good night pool. I hope there is a little FC let in the morning.

Russ
Click to expand...



"Good night pool...." One thing I've learned about a pool is that they are hard to 'kill'. 8)

Guess we'll talk w/you tomorrow :wink:
 
Noon day 3 ... I spent all morning vacuuming the yellow gunk off the bottom of the pool and brushing the sides clean. The pool water is clear with a light blue green color. Looks like the Florida Keys except my water temp is 55. Not a bad color to look at. My FC was 3 overnight. I've boosted it up once at 9am, then tested at noon it was 9. I just boosted it up again. So far I've used 28 gal of clorox 5.7% bleach. I read on one of the links that I have to replace the DE filter grid once this process is complete. I have a Starbright DE50 filter. Do you all agree to replace the grid? And when do I make that change?

Russ
 
Russ,

I'm not a DE pro but I don't think purchasing new grids is mandatory. You certainly have to replace the DE powder and get the whole insides cleaned up....yuou don't want any of the 'goo hanging around.

Typically, that's done when you are able to hold FC overnight...indicating all the 'goo is gone and your conversion is complete.
 

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It is now 5pm and I have a sparkling clear pool!!!! It looks great. No color at all, just clear water. I'm amazed how fast it cleared. My FC dropped to 6 so I boosted it back to 15. I'll check again about 8pm and adjust it to 15 and see how it does in the morning. I checked the Ph and it is 70. Am I to wait to adjust the PH until the FC holds at 15 overnight?

Also, would there be a problem if I put the solar cover on the pool? The pool temp is 59 and I would like to start to get the sun to warm it up but if it would hinder the conversion, then I will wait.

Russ
 
russ657 said:
It is now 5pm and I have a sparkling clear pool!!!! It looks great. No color at all, just clear water. I'm amazed how fast it cleared. My FC dropped to 6 so I boosted it back to 15. I'll check again about 8pm and adjust it to 15 and see how it does in the morning. I checked the Ph and it is 70. Am I to wait to adjust the PH until the FC holds at 15 overnight?

Also, would there be a problem if I put the solar cover on the pool? The pool temp is 59 and I would like to start to get the sun to warm it up but if it would hinder the conversion, then I will wait.

Russ
Click to expand...

Hi, Russ,

Nice work!! :lol: If it was my pool, I'd leave that 7.0 pH alone and see which way it started to drift (It'll surely go one way or the other). When it does, I'd adjust accordingly. You're okay at 7.0 amd it may well drift upward.

I would have to nix the solar cover for a bit. Any remaining combined chloramines are burned off readily by the sun so I think I'd let the sun help me out for another day or so.

See how your FC holds tonight...it sounds like you are virtually converted! :lol: :lol:
 
9am Sunday morning... I checked the FC and it was down to 3 overnight. The water is nice and clear... looks great. I will break down the filter and clean it well to get rid of any goo still hiding there. My question now is... do I continue keeping the FC at 15 during the day when the sun will dissipate it or wait until dusk to up the FC?

By the way, happy Mother's Day to any moms out there.

Russ
 
It sounds like you are getting towards the middle stage where the reaction slows down and it isn't really worth adding chlorine during the day. The chlorine does some good during the day, but you lose much more of it to sunlight. If you can do several chlorine test/additions each evening that will use less total chlorine and still move things along at a reasonable pace.
 
Monday morning... FC dropped to 6 overnight. Pool water is still clear and beautiful. I will wait until this evening to put more chlorine in the pool so the sun wont get a chance to eat it up during the day. I'm now using the 12.5% bleach. So far I've used 32 gal of Clorox 5.7% and 5 gal of the 12.5% chlorine. Those 5 gallon drums are a bit harder to use. I've been filling one of the gallon Chlorox bottles and using it to add the chlorine to the pool. I've spilled a bit and it is hard on my old back filling the bottle. The advantage is that it is 12.5 % and I don't have all the bottles to get rid of as the store takes back the empty 5 gal drum to refill.

Anything I'm forgetting to do???

Russ
 
Agreed on the 5 gal jugs being tough to handle.

I have eased the pain somewhat by siphoning the Cl out of the 5 gal directly into the pool.

Don't know if that'll work for your setup but thought I would mention it.
 
Tuesday morning... The FC level held at 11.5 overnight. Getting closer to that magic 15 number. The water is crystal clear. I'll boost it up to 15 again tonight and see how we do tomorrow morning. Now I need to look into solar heating to get a bit longer pool season. I'm in northern Mass on the NH border and we seldom get very far into September before it is too cold and we often can't get in it until mid June. Right now the pool temp is 59 - great for polar bears.

Russ
 
Picture - Day 1

Here is the pool on Day 1, 2 & 3. I have more picture uut I have to resize them in order to upload them here.

I just went out to test the pool at 6pm. The FC was 2 and CC was 3. I went back to the garage to get the chlorine and when I returned there were 2 ducks in my pool. You guys did not warn me that if I made the pool too clean, ducks would now pay a visit :lol: It never happened with Baquasil. I took their picture and will try to upload it.

Russ
 

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