Ugh, chlorine dropped to .5!

[D_Nyholm]

I opened my pool a few weeks back and the water was extremely cold. I have been keeping a solar cover on it and testing the chlorine level about once every 3 days. It was always above the max on the Taylor test kit that came with the TF 100 and my CYA is about 20. I was using pucks in the automatic feeder to maintain my chlorine and also to slowly bring up my CYA until swimming season really begins. The pucks have taken so long to dissolve and my FC has maintained above 5 this whole time so everything was working out great.

Fast forward to today. I am having a party on saturday so I wanted to get the pool at least looking good even though it is still too cold to swim (water temp 68). I pulled the solar cover off last night and this morning dropped my robot in there to clean things up. I had to leave for a few hours and came home and checked out the pool. The robot did a great job cleaning everything up, but I noticed the water was not as clear as it usually is. I grabbed my test kit and checked the FC and it was .5! I quickly grabbed a jug of chlorine and brought it up to 5 to be certain there was enough and also checked my automatic feeder and added some more pucks (it was empty and that caused the FC to go down).

Is there anything that I really need to worry about? I mean, the water is really clear (I can read the label on the robot when it is in the deep end), but just not as CRYSTAL clear like it was. I am hoping that I caught it in time and by bringing the FC back up quickly everything should be ok. I am going to try to go out and do full test results now, lets hope I can see this stuff in the dark!!

 

[spidey07]

Raise fc to shock level for your cya. Cross fingers.

The cover likely added organic material so keep you FC at shock level And you should be good

 

[BoDarville]

D_Nyholm:

If you have the TF 100 kit, it includes the FAS-DPD chlorine test (the one that uses the powder). That test will allow you to test for FC and CC. If your CC is greater than 0.5 ppm, you will need to go through the shock process. If you test CC and it is 0.5 ppm or less, then just keep the FC within the target maintenance range and you should be fine. You could also run an OCLT (link in my sig).

Depending on how long the FC was below the target maintenance range, the colder water might have given you a little extra margin of safety from algae or other organics from setting up shop.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Ran the full test to be sure:

FC 5
CC 0 YAY!
TA 80
CH 80
CYA 25

So it looks like I MAY have caught it in time. It still had a little chlorine in it and I bet with the cover off and the really warm weather we had today the chlorine just burned off. Just gotta make sure I maintain it higher than 3 while it is uncovered for the weekend!!

Maybe I should bring my CYA up a little so I dont have to worry about this, huh? I still have some stabilizer left, maybe i'll bring it up to 40 so that I still have some wiggle room to use some pucks every once in a while...

 

[Richard320]

Ran the full test to be sure:

FC 5
CC 0 YAY!
TA 80
CH 80
CYA 25

So it looks like I MAY have caught it in time. It still had a little chlorine in it and I bet with the cover off and the really warm weather we had today the chlorine just burned off. Just gotta make sure I maintain it higher than 3 while it is uncovered for the weekend!!

Maybe I should bring my CYA up a little so I dont have to worry about this, huh? I still have some stabilizer left, maybe i'll bring it up to 40 so that I still have some wiggle room to use some pucks every once in a while...

You let it drop to .5??? :grrrr:

Raising the CYA sounds like a good plan. Also note how low your CH is. Is that correct? Because if it is, you'd be a good candidate for chlorinating with Cal-hypo.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Ran the full test to be sure:

FC 5
CC 0 YAY!
TA 80
CH 80
CYA 25

So it looks like I MAY have caught it in time. It still had a little chlorine in it and I bet with the cover off and the really warm weather we had today the chlorine just burned off. Just gotta make sure I maintain it higher than 3 while it is uncovered for the weekend!!

Maybe I should bring my CYA up a little so I dont have to worry about this, huh? I still have some stabilizer left, maybe i'll bring it up to 40 so that I still have some wiggle room to use some pucks every once in a while...

You let it drop to .5??? :grrrr:

Raising the CYA sounds like a good plan. Also note how low your CH is. Is that correct? Because if it is, you'd be a good candidate for chlorinating with Cal-hypo.

Haha, first time with a pool!! I plead the fifth!

Yeah, i've tested the CH with the test kit twice and still came out with the same numbers. I was under the impression that CH is unimportant on a vinyl pool? I know nothing of Cal-hypo, is that another form of puck? I know we have very soft water here and I just filled it up a few weeks back from getting a liner replacement. That is what our tap water has in it.

Ugh, more reading to do now...Cal Hypo

 

[Richard320]

Haha, first time with a pool!! I plead the fifth!

Yeah, i've tested the CH with the test kit twice and still came out with the same numbers. I was under the impression that CH is unimportant on a vinyl pool? I know nothing of Cal-hypo, is that another form of puck? I know we have very soft water here and I just filled it up a few weeks back from getting a liner replacement. That is what our tap water has in it.

Ugh, more reading to do now...Cal Hypo

You ought to fix your signature. It just says IG.

Calcium is not necessary for a vinyl pool. You can go higher without fear, so crunch some numbers and see if bleach or cal hypo is cheaper. Right now there's a lot of pool stuff on sale everywhere.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Haha, first time with a pool!! I plead the fifth!

Yeah, i've tested the CH with the test kit twice and still came out with the same numbers. I was under the impression that CH is unimportant on a vinyl pool? I know nothing of Cal-hypo, is that another form of puck? I know we have very soft water here and I just filled it up a few weeks back from getting a liner replacement. That is what our tap water has in it.

Ugh, more reading to do now...Cal Hypo

You ought to fix your signature. It just says IG.

Calcium is not necessary for a vinyl pool. You can go higher without fear, so crunch some numbers and see if bleach or cal hypo is cheaper. Right now there's a lot of pool stuff on sale everywhere.

Done. Still learning here!! Soon enough i'll be able to put my filter info in there, just haven't really looked at it except it is DE with a 1.5 hp pump

Is Cal Hypo only at the pool stores?

 

[Richard320]

[quote="D_Nyholm":2sw5jmam]Haha, first time with a pool!! I plead the fifth!

Yeah, i've tested the CH with the test kit twice and still came out with the same numbers. I was under the impression that CH is unimportant on a vinyl pool? I know nothing of Cal-hypo, is that another form of puck? I know we have very soft water here and I just filled it up a few weeks back from getting a liner replacement. That is what our tap water has in it.

Ugh, more reading to do now...Cal Hypo

You ought to fix your signature. It just says IG.

Calcium is not necessary for a vinyl pool. You can go higher without fear, so crunch some numbers and see if bleach or cal hypo is cheaper. Right now there's a lot of pool stuff on sale everywhere.

Done. Still learning here!! Soon enough i'll be able to put my filter info in there, just haven't really looked at it except it is DE with a 1.5 hp pump

Is Cal Hypo only at the pool stores?[/quote:2sw5jmam]No. I've seen it on the shelf at the hardware store. Be sure to read the label to be sure its not dichlor or trichlor. http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1340551Not a great price, even though it is a 6 pack.

 

[D_Nyholm]

Pool looks great this morning. I guess just a case of a new pool owner not knowing what to do. Just wanted to thank everyone for the super quick replies to my problem. You all rock!