Please help!!! No chlorine presents in the pool

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newbie_pool

Well-known member
Oct 30, 2013
74
Houston, TX
Pool Size
18200
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Please help me as I don't know what to do to get the reading of chlorine in my new pool. It is about 24,000 gallon pool and no matter how much I shock, no chlorine shows up in the test. I even brought to Leslie for water testing and everything are great except zero in both FC and TC. The water is as clear as it can be so I don't know what else to do here.

Here is the result from Leslie:

Calcium Hardness - 240 (after added 35 lbs of Hardness Plus)
Cyanuric acid - 60
Total Alkalinity - 90
pH - 7.6
Total dissolved solids - 600
Phosphates - 100

My chlorinator works properly as I can see the tablets are being dissolved. I added 4 full cups of powder type shock a day after major rain, still no chlorine. Three days later, adding another 3 cups still showed no chlorine even after tested a few hours later. Should I need to add more? Just a month ago, that's all I need to add to get a good chlorine reading.

Is this possible that I have chlorine lock? Or there is no such thing? Could there be something in my pool that takes away the chlorine? Please help as this is very frustrated. Because of no chlorine, could it be possible that I see a few of black slimy look-a-like slugs in my pool recently? But it is another topic to discuss.

Thanks.
 
There is something in your pool consuming the chlorine. Chlorine has to be added every day, and whatever is in there, the tablets can't keep up with, especially since your CYA is at 60. Honestly you need to stop using powders and tablets and stick with bleach for awhile... Sounds like you have been doing some reading here... continue with that ;-)
No there is no such thing as chlorine lock. You're just not reaching SLAM level on your FC, which you can find on the CYA chlorine chart. No more powders. Stick with liquid chlorine. Get your own test kit. Stop listening to the Pool Store, they're gonna get your money....

What kind of pool is it?
 
Thanks for your quick reply. So how do I test to find out what is consuming the chlorine? Is CYA at 60 good or bad? When you say liquid chlorine, do you mean regular bleach by a gallon type that I can get at any store? So powder and tablets are not dissolving quick enough?

My pool is the in ground pool with pebble tec finish. I am having my own basic test kit but not Taylor brand that everyone is talking about.
 
Powders add things you don't want and they are ridiculously expensive. Yes liquid chlorine from the pool store or regular bleach Clorox or Generic.

When you have organics in your water, they consume the chlorine as fast as you add it. Tablets just dissolve to slowly to get ahead, that's why we recommend a SLAM with liquid.

How new is new? (the pool)

You need one of the test kits we mentioned, either the TF100 by TF Test Kits or the Taylor 2006.
 
I only have the pool for 2 months. So to add liquid chlorine, is this something I have to add daily? Here is my newbie question, what do you mean by SLAM? You mean shock? My understanding is that I only need to shock after a big swimming or a big rain. Otherwise, the tablets should do it. That's not the case?

So you recommend to use liquid chlorine for both shock and daily maintenance?
 
It sounds like something is in the pool that is not "normal" and that's why the tablets can't keep up. Plus, once your CYA gets that high, it's very difficult for tablets to keep up. We recommend a CYA of 30 at the start of the season when using tablets.

I never shock my pool. (SLAM is the shock process). Yes I add about 1/4 a jug of liquid every day or other day depending on usage (every pool is different).

We recommend daily testing and "getting to know your pool". The average pool uses 2-4ppm of chlorine every day so it needs to be added routinely. Under normal situations, tablets can do that, should one choose to use them. However, if organics were some how introduced into the pool, they simply can't. Again, your CYA is higher than it should be, which compounds things.

Yes, we recommend liquid for daily maintenance and shocking - if it's ever necessary. It should not be necessary after a rain or heavy swimming. Bump it up as a precaution, sure, maybe 2-4 ppm but not a full SLAM/shock. Which for you would mean raising it to a SLAM level of 24. Does your test kit test that high? Mine does ;-)

- - - Updated - - -

If it's only been 2 months I'm guessing there was a point when the "min" free chlorine level (see the CYA chlorine chart) was not maintained and organics took hold. You've likely been staying 1 step ahead with whatever chlorine you have been adding and if you stopped any chlorine additions for a couple days the pool would cloud over and turn green.
 
No way around it, you need to do some reading. Start here in pool school : http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/165-getting-started

They don't say "shock" here, it's SLAM. Here is the how to: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

When you go to SLAM your pool you'll want to know the CYA level and use this table to figure out what level of FC you need to maintain. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock

If you start to follow the TFPC recommendations here you will not be needing or using the tablets (guessing you are talking about the 3" chlorinating tabs). http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/4935-TFPC-for-Beginners

Her is a link to the calculator to figure out how much of what to add to your pool to get it blue and keep it sparkling. http://www.poolcalculator.com/

Link to the recommended (and less expensive) chemicals to use instead of the $$$ pool store stuff: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/139-recommended-pool-chemicals

If the pool is maintained you shouldn't need to shock. What you do is:
Daily
Look at the water, notice the clarity and color.
Test the chlorine level and adjust if needed.
Test the pH and adjust if needed.
Examine the skimmer(s) and clean if needed.
Use a leaf rake to remove any surface debris.

That should get you started. From here on out, when in doubt ASK !!
 
You are right. Somehow the "min" free chlorine level was never there to begin with. Every time I brought my water for Leslie to test, the FC was never there. Could it be the tablets adding CYA, that's why mine is always high? Is there anyway to low the CYA? Stop the tablets and use liquid instead? Can I SLAM with liquid chlorine to get rid of whatever organics in the pool?

Unfortunately, my test kit doesn't go up as high. I guess back to your suggestion to get the Taylor or TF kits? So the next step as I am understanding here is to do Full SLAM to get rid of whatever organics with liquid chlorine and then continue routine with liquid chlorine until it's stable and hopefully I can go back to tablets?
 
kiss4afrog said:
No way around it, you need to do some reading. Start here in pool school : http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/165-getting-started

They don't say "shock" here, it's SLAM. Here is the how to: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

When you go to SLAM your pool you'll want to know the CYA level and use this table to figure out what level of FC you need to maintain. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock

If you start to follow the TFPC recommendations here you will not be needing or using the tablets (guessing you are talking about the 3" chlorinating tabs). http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/4935-TFPC-for-Beginners

Her is a link to the calculator to figure out how much of what to add to your pool to get it blue and keep it sparkling. http://www.poolcalculator.com/

Link to the recommended (and less expensive) chemicals to use instead of the $$$ pool store stuff: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/139-recommended-pool-chemicals
If the pool is maintained you shouldn't need to shock. What you do is:
Daily
Look at the water, notice the clarity and color.
Test the chlorine level and adjust if needed.
Test the pH and adjust if needed.
Examine the skimmer(s) and clean if needed.
Use a leaf rake to remove any surface debris.

That should get you started. From here on out, when in doubt ASK !!
Click to expand...
Thanks, these are very useful. It looks like liquid is the best way to go. I will do a full slam first thing tomorrow. Hopefully this will be it and I wouldn't need to drain my pool.

And of course, get a proper test kit as my PB provided me with a very basic one.
 
next step is to get a good test kit, and stop using powdered/dry sanitizers, almost all of them contain CYA and will compound your problem. Every time you add a puck, you add CYA, eventually your CYA becomes so high that the chlorine that is released from the puck does no good. That is why we recommend using just straight bleach (in the highest concentration you can find that is cost effective) and set your CYA level using just CYA and the test kit. This way you always know what your effective FC level should be at. As long as you don't use any dry sanitizers, your CYA level won't change much and you can just focus on keeping FC in the proper range for your given CYA level.
 

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To lower CYA you need to drain water. You can look at the pool calculator and it will tell you how much for your level of CYA.

Where are you located ?? Might want to add that to your profile. For chlorine Fleet farm sells it by the case, 4 gals for 9.99 at 12.5% Best I've found in my area.
If you go into your "profile" and find your "signature" you can add your pool and equipment like you see others do. That way someone doesn't have to jump back to your first post or ask to find out what you have. Easier for you and for us ;)
 
Thank you guys for all your advices here. Look like we found out the reason why my CYA was high due to using powdered sanitizers and apparently, not enough chlorine as my CYA keeps going up. And probably the same reason why the tablets couldn't keep up due to high CYA level. So my next question is to getting bleach such as Clorox brand. According to the chart, to do a full slam, I would need 7 gallons of them. Are there higher concentrated ones out there? I found chlorinating solution gallon from Home Depot but not sure what the percentage of concentrating is. My local pool store such as Leslie doesn't sell the liquid ones.
 
jblizzle said:
You would need 7 gallons to get to SLAM level, then you will need more to keep it there until you pass the 3 criteria to stop.
Click to expand...

7 gallons at what percent ?? Best deal I've found is at Fleet Farm for pool shock (liquid bleach) 4gal to a case and 9.99 a case. It's 12.5%
Best to shop around and always find out the percent.
Here is a calculator to help you figure how much per oz of chlorine you are paying. It's such a pain for all the different jug sizes and different percentages of chlorine. Calculator makes it so much easier: http://poncatechsquad.com/Dan/Chlorine/
 
Did you order a test kit yet? You need one of the recommended kits to be able to test properly during the SLAM. The kit you have will not help.

Also, pool store testing is notoriously incorrect. I wouldn't trust the CYA test of 60, it could be significantly higher. If it is, the shock level will be really high and you will need a lot of liquid chlorine to clean it up.

Order the kit today, once you get a good set of tests everyone here can help you move forward.
 
rick6668 said:
Did you order a test kit yet? You need one of the recommended kits to be able to test properly during the SLAM. The kit you have will not help.

Also, pool store testing is notoriously incorrect. I wouldn't trust the CYA test of 60, it could be significantly higher. If it is, the shock level will be really high and you will need a lot of liquid chlorine to clean it up.

Order the kit today, once you get a good set of tests everyone here can help you move forward.
Click to expand...

I started the SLAM this morning and I am searching where I can get the Taylor 2006 kit or TF ones. I can't find any store locally that would carry that. Is there any other good brand that I can get at local pool supply store (Leslie's)? Would any other Taylor kits work? I found Taylor K2005 at Leslie's.
 
newbie_pool said:
I started the SLAM this morning and I am searching where I can get the Taylor 2006 kit or TF ones. I can't find any store locally that would carry that. Is there any other good brand that I can get at local pool supply store (Leslie's)? Would any other Taylor kits work? I found Taylor K2005 at Leslie's.
Click to expand...

No, those will not work, you need a kit with the FAS-DPD test so you can test levels of chlorine higher than 5 and precisely.
I recommend the TF-100, because that's what I have but either one will work.

You can get the TF-100 Here
 
Update - So I SLAMMED the pool yesterday morning using 7.5 gallons at 8.25% chlorine to be at 24 ppm shock level according to the chart. Anyway, I got the Taylor K2006 kit just now. I went ahead and test the FC and CC. It took me 23 drops of R0871 to get the water clear. So after the calculation, that brings me 11.5 ppm. However, the sample remained clear after I added 5 drops of R-0003. What does this mean? My CC level is zero. Am I done? Do I need to add more liquid chlorine to bring back up to SHOCK level?

I couldn't do the OCLT this morning but so far my CC is 0.5 or lower and the water is as clear as it can be.
 
Having low CC is only 1 of the 3 criteria to stop. If the water is clear that is 2. Now you have to verify with the OCLT.

I would raise the FC back up to SLAM level until you do the OCLT.
 

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