cal hypo pucks?

[planker88]

Had pool for 1 month now. Trying to get balanced. Filled with 28k gallons fairly soft water from the local reservoir + pool water company. Now using the chlorinator and 3" trichlor tablets and noticed I need to increase pH, TA and CH. I have used my Taylor test kit 2 times so I am no expert but it seems to be working right.

I have read some helpful threads about cal hypo vs. Trichlor vs. Bleach (BBB).

Four questions -

1) Once balanced can I just alternate month to month in the feeder betw cal hypo and trichlor pucks, to maintain balance?

2) Does cal hypo come in nice big cheap 3" pucks like trichlor?

3) If I use bleach, do I need to worry about the added salt that some of the experts have mentioned?

4) If I don't measure any CC's do I still need to shock or superchlorinate?

Thank you, great site.

 

[257WbyMag]

Welcome to TFP!

1.) You should not use the feeder for anything other than trichlor really. Mixing chemicals, even when only a residue exists, can result in bad things happening. You can use calcium hypochlorite tablets (in a floater) though as long as you are prepared to change out water when your CH gets high enough to be a problem. There are no free lunches really.

2. yes, although they are uncommon

3. no

4. not unless the CC level is greater than 0.5 ppm

 

[Bama Rambler]

Welcome to TFP.

1. NEVER put cal-hypo and trichlor in the same container. They are not compatible in their concentrated form. Did I mention NEVER!
2. Cal-hypo doesn't come in tablets like trichlor does. They're not as compressed as trichlor and dissolve faster.
3. No. I use bleach constantly and never worry about the salt building up. It averages between 1500 and 2000 ppm in my pool.
4. If you follow the recommendations here and never let your FC get below the recommended range and your CC never gets higher than .5ppm you will never have to "shock" or superchlorinate. I have never "shocked" my pool.

 

[257WbyMag]

http://www.northtowncompany.com/cch_chl ... blets.html

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, planker88

Take a look a this pool school article, it answers many of your questions: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/types_chlorine_pool

4) If I don't measure any CC's do I still need to shock or superchlorinate?

If you do measure greater than 0.5 ppm CC, then you need to do the SLAM process. However, CC readings below 0.5 ppm does not mean there are not organics in your pool, although as mentioned above "shocking" is not a normal part of the tfp method of pool care.
With that said here are the things I look for:

• Water is crystal clear
  CC is 0 or clears with one drop of the R-0871
  FC level has not gotten below the minimum for the pools Cyanuric Acid (cya) level
  FC loss is reasonably low each day (<50%, but depends on cya level)

Make sure you also take a look at this article: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_water_chemistry

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP

Looks like I am a little late for the party, but I will throw this in anyway just to confirm what has already been said:

Four questions -

1) Once balanced can I just alternate month to month in the feeder betw cal hypo and trichlor pucks, to maintain balance?
NO! You cannot use cal-hypo sticks in the same feeder as trichlor. Long story short cal-hypo and trichlor do not mix without potential for injury causing results.

2) Does cal hypo come in nice big cheap 3" pucks like trichlor?
There are cal-hypo sticks but they dissolve quickly and use binders to hold them together, they generally are not a good replacement for trichlor pucks.

3) If I use bleach, do I need to worry about the added salt that some of the experts have mentioned?
Salt is benign and won't cause problems. People with SWG chlorinators run salt levels in the 2000-4000 ppm range without any significant effects, the amount you would add from liquid chlorine is far less than that.

4) If I don't measure any CC's do I still need to shock or superchlorinate?
Read This article on the SLAM process. Short answer is "No, unless...", Long answer is "Yes, if..."

You are looking at your pH and TA, have you looked at your CYA? CYA is what makes trichlor a less-than-perfect choice for chlorination, it is added but cannot be removed without replacing water. Have you tested your CYA at all?

 

[CUTiger78]

2) Does cal hypo come in nice big cheap 3" pucks like trichlor?

I've never seen it in 3" tabs, only 1" tabs.

You can, however, find it in 1lb. bags, sold as shock. Read the label, though, 'cause you don't want dichlor.

I use cal hypo. I've got a gunite pool and my calcium hardness is low. I keep an eye on it, though, 'cause I don't want it to get too high.

 

[planker88]

Thanks all for the speedy replies. I had added some chemicals to balance it a couple days ago and now here are the results:

FC 9.4 ppm

pH 8.0 (this was at 7.0 last measurement, I think I added too much Soda Ash but I think the trichlor will lower this to 7.8 soon(??))

TA 110 ppm (this was at 30 first measurement)

CH 60 ppm (this was at 20 first measurement) - I just added 5 more lbs calcium chloride tonight to get this up a bit higher.

CYA 75 (I added some stabilizer when I first filled the pool and was only using liquid chlorine, now that I'm using trichlor this is getting high, so once the current batch of trichlor pucks is used up I'll switch to bleach)


The pool gets full sun from 10 am to sunset - we are keeping the pool at 84 degrees for now - we are in Southern NH.

Thanks

 

[linen]

Your cya is already too high, so I would stop using pucks now. They keep fine if you keep them dry, so you might be able to use them during a vacation in the future. Trichlor is acidic and will lower your ph. If you decide to stop using the trichlor, then use Muriatic Acid to lower.

No need to raise your CH since you have a vinyl pool

 

[duraleigh]

now that I'm using trichlor this is getting high, so once the current batch of trichlor pucks is used up I'll switch to bleach

I would stop using them right now.

The pucks will never go bad and you can use them next year when your CYA is lower. Your CYA is as high as you should go and elevating it more with pucks only demands more chlorine to keep your pool sanitized.

 

[Dmsattelberg]

The name brand Sustain had slow dissolving 3 inch pucks(68% Calcium Hypo)... extremely expensive.... Since I have switched my Father-In-Laws pool from that to BBB, I have 18 pucks I will gladly sell you if you are anywhere in Southern Delaware :-D

 

[planker88]

I guess I don't understand the point of the tablet chlorinator if it is only good for trichlor pucks and they are guaranteed to increase CYA to an unacceptable level, and there is no CYA lowering chemical. Sounds like SWG or liquidator are the only decent options?

 

[duraleigh]

Sounds like SWG or liquidator are the only decent options?

Liquid chlorine has virtually no side effects whatsoever.

You can also learn to manage your pool through accurate testing to control your CYA level. Simply monitor the use of pucks until your CYA reaches 40 or so then switch to liquid chlorine.

 

[planker88]

Ok thank you - here are todays results. Been adding 1 jug of walmart bleach each evening since I pulled the trichlor pucks. Todays numbers are:

pH 7.8
TA 110
CH 90
FC 10.2
CYA 80

Deck gets poured today and they wash it with muriatic acid a week later, assuming that will get in the water and lower pH so do I need to scramble to lower pH now or can it wait a week?

I assumed the CYA would take months to build up. Does the sun chip away at CYA level? Is 80 a problem? My test kit says 30-50 ideal but 10 min and 100 max.

Thanks

 

[duraleigh]

Ideal CYA for a pool like yours in your climate would be 40-50. You are too high and will need to keep your FC in the 6-9 range as a result.

CYA only goes away through drain/refill...sun has no affect.

 

[linen]

You can keep an eye on ph and if it goes up to 8 drop it a little, maybe down to 7.5 or so...most likely it will come back up in a week anyways since you TA is a little on the high side (don't worry about it though).

How does your water look? Your FC/chlorine usage is a little higher than I would expect for that high cya. You might want to do an OCLT to check for algae.

 

[planker88]

thanks linen -

i specifically upped my TA to match the taylor test kit recommended level of 100-120. too bad that doesnt match the TFP guide. does TA drag pH up? how does that work...

the water has looked great ever since it was filled over a month ago. i did not realize the trichlor tabs added CYA until i found this website.

anyway today they poured the concrete deck and now the water is gray, we will need to do some serious cleaning and get all the pebbles out by hand, and then i'll probably drain a bit and re-fill, not sure how the well water will test out.

after all that nonsense i get to re-test and hopefully balance out better. :-D

in the good news department, the deck looks great, thanks for all your helpful comments. i have read every article in the pool school section finally. great site.

 

[linen]

does TA drag pH up? how does that work...

Basically. Most pools that use bleach/liquid chlorine or swgs benefit from a lower TA otherwise ph will climb. When you were using Trichlor a slightly higher TA made sense since the trichlor is acidic.

 

[planker88]

Thanks for all the helpful replies and info on this site. Two more questions:

Should I add any trichlor pucks to the feeder for the winter - while pool is closed and there is no circulation?

Does anyone know why they don't make some type of chlorine pucks without CYA? Not possible? Because well, that sure would be nice.

 

[jblizzle]

IF there is no circulation, then you should not leave pucks just sitting there.

Chemically not possible to make solid chlorine without a binder ... most common being CYA, but cal-hypo uses calcium and there are some that use lithium that are expensive. We would all love to solve this issue and become millionaires.