Got pool dialed in, but going on vacation

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bbrock

bbrock

Well-known member
Apr 15, 2014
848
Livermore, CA
Pool Size
19000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
After my partial drain/fill, done simultaneously, my levels are: FC 7.5, CC 0, pH 7.0-7.7 (reducing it to 7.0 to bring down TA to 60; was 180 at peak), TA 150, CH 900 (was 1500), CYA 50 (was >110+ most likely). I am familiar with the Pool Math site and have been using it. After getting my TA to 60, I will have balanced water by keeping a pH range of 7.2-7.7.

I thought I would be able to say goodbye to the floater with trichlor tablet, but I understand and read some use them when they go on vacations. I read some posts about about maintaining your water and vacations such as http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/29999-Need-help-w-vacation-plan or http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/35254-Going-on-vacation-what-to-do-to-prep-the-pool. Also, was trying to read about trichlor tablets and CYA in case I had to float those again http://www.troublefreepool.com/threads/10357-How-much-CYA-do-trichlor-tablets-add. This vacation will only be 3 days, but I have others planned over the summer for about 1-1.5 weeks.

My plan, at least for this upcoming shorter vacation, is to raise the FC to shock level of 20, based on the aforementioned levels. I don't have a solar cover/blanket, and my pump is controlled by an intermatic mechanical timer. I have it set to run about 4.5 hr from approx 1100-1530 for the solar on the roof. This past weekend temps hit 102 F. I calculated that I lost up to 3.5 ppm of FC; ranged from 2.5-3.5. Yesterday and today, with temps cooler, I only lost 0.5 ppm of FC. FWIW, I don't know anyone who can come over and dump bleach into the pool, or top off the water. But, I think if I bring the water up, it should be okay with evaporation.

Couple of questions:

1. Will this work to maintain my FC level?
2. At the links included in this post, during vacation, people discuss running their pump 24 hr when they bring their FC up to shock level. Is this necessary, or can't it just be run for the standard 4.5 hr I have it set at?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have worked way too hard replacing the water and balancing it to let Mr. Algae come over and swim. Thanks for helping me get my pool where it's at and encouraging me to get rid of the pool guy anyway.
 
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I would bring it to shock level and call it a day. Personally, if it were my pool, I wouldn't even run the pump and filter if no one could at least check in on it daily to make sure it wasn't sucking air or something. It will be fine. Concerning your other, longer trips later in the summer, I would see if you could find a pool sitter to at least check on it.
 
Right on. Tx Casey. I didn't think about not running pump/filter at all. Even though I would bring to shock level and algae couldn't take hold, I thought it was necessary to run pump/filter to help circulate the water to aid with the algae prevention.
 
So far my pool loses roughly about 1 to 2 ppm FC per day, depending on weather & usage. If I was going on a vacation for a week or more, and I may not be able to find someone to come by, how can I manage if I don't want to use pucks nor do I cover the pool because it is an irregular shape and there's a raised step in the back which makes it very inconvenient to cover. Can I just add chlorine above the shock level?

FYI, my CYA is 50 and the range for my FC is 4 to 8. I add daily and keep it at 8. I base the amount I need to add daily off of my weekly FAS-DPD test. If on the testing day I needed to add an amount because I was down 1.5 ppm, then that is the amount I will add daily for the following week. Or, if the pool is using let's say 1.5 ppm/day, can I just take what the amount needed is times the amount of days I will be gone and then add a cushion to manage while we r gone?

For the first little vacation I went on I left the pump on so that it would come on based on the timer, but as for this longer one I'm not sure if I should do that. Opinions?
 
I have a similar setup as yours. I'm around 45 CYA, 14k gal pool, and run a pump timer. I also general lose about 1.5 ppm per day. However, I've found that this # loss is proportional to your FC level. That is, the higher your level, the higher your loss. The only reason the pool only uses 1.5/day is because we keep our pool's normal FC number low. Watching the FC levels 'drift' down after a SLAM, I can tell you that the first few days of a SLAM your FC number drops radically:

Mon 6-23 6:10 AM
19 FC

Tues 6-24 6:40 AM
12.5 FC

Wed 6-25 6:45 AM
9.0 FC

Thurs 6-26 6:50 AM
6.5 FC
8:00 PM
5.0 FC


You'll notice that my FC number drops about 30% per day. I've noticed overcast days it doesn't drop as much, and full sun days I get a bigger hit. But you can see that your precious bleach is at the mercy of the sun at higher FC levels. Basically, based on the numbers from my pool journal, SLAM level would've dropped to below my minimum FC number before a week's time. Would be much better to have somebody drop in pre measured bleach bottles every other day, or use those darned pucks.

Also note I do use a solar cover, no clue to the true pros/cons to that as it relates to FC usage.
 
I recently went on an 11 day trip. I brought the pool to shock level and covered with an opaque winter cover to block the sun. I also ran the pump daily for a few hours during the afternoon to circulate the water and prevent the top layer of water from heating up too much. I also have a solar cover and if I leave it on during the day when it's sunny without running the pump, the top 2" of water get extremely hot while the rest of the pool is cool. I didn't think this was good so I ran the pump to help even out the temperature. When I came back from my 11 day trip FC levels were still above minimum and water was clear.
 
I agree with crimsondr, bring it to shock levels, cover it with an opaque cover, and call it a day... week+.
This is exactly what I have done while on vacation. Works great!

I understand it's difficult to cover your pool, could you maybe post pictures and we can possibly come up with some helpful ideas from them, by putting our heads together for you? :)

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
 
I'll try to post some pictures. Thanks.

When you're talking about an opaque cover, would something just like a tarp that could be purchased at a big box store work? I ask because if there was someway to cover the pool during vacation, I probably would just use something like that as the cover would not be used at any other times. If I could find someone to come by, which is no guarantee, then I guess the cover method would not be needed, right?

Y_not, I was looking at the link for slamming in your signature line. I have looked at the slamming page before. While I do not need to slam at this time, I was curious though, and I could post this separately if no one sees it in this thread, is it truly necessary to run the pump 24/7 during the slamming process? Just curious because it seems like a lot of energy usage while I do not have a variable speed pump, rather a single speed 3/4 HP pump.
 
I wonder if I don't cover or can't figure out a way to do it, if I have someone come by on day 3 or 4 and just add 3 gallons of 10% bleach. Going off of what you broke down Dirtyrat91, if I bring my pool up to shock level of 20, maybe on the a.m. of day 3-4, the FC would hopefully still be at least 4, and 3 gallons could just be added to bring it back up towards shock of 20. For that first short vacation I went on, after I was already back, I tested on what was the 4th day after shocking to 20, and the FC was 9. Yes there are a lot of extraneous variables that affect things such as u as the air temperature at the time, was it sunny or overcast?, etc. If FC is 8 or greater on day three, and that's when someone comes by, 3 gallons of 10% bleach per Pool Math will send my FC greater than 20. Could this be a problem? The slamming page states that over chlorination could damage the pool/equipment.
 

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Per Y_not, I was tring to post some pics. Can't seem to get it working, even though I was able to post some pics on another thread mnay mo. back. Can anyone help?
 
Let's see if this works. Here are some photos of my pool. It is kidney bean shaped w/ a raised back platform. Not sure how I could cover this, and if it was covered, would I use a semi-transparent bubble type cover or some opaque winter cover? Ideally, I don't want to spend a lot on a cover b/c chances are it would be uncovered a lot. The idea of moving a cover on and off all to just go swimming/dive in is a real downer. I hate to say it, I would rather keep dealing with topping the pool off d/t evaporation and frequent netting d/t a couple of shedding pine trees nearby. I guess the cover would more so be for when we go out of town, but not even sure if that is practical to have a cover and have to store it then when not in use. Not to mention, our gate seems like it poses a challenge.

Please take a look and let me know if you can come up w/ any ideas. I recently met a neighbor and he showed me his pool. He bought an oversized semi-transparent bubble cover and cut it down to size. But, he doesn't have a safety gate or the shedding tree problem as I do (at least not as many trees).

Appologoes - I was trying to fix your images but the flicker permissions are a bit off. - Karmabiker

- - - Updated - - -

See what I mean? I have no idea why it won't work. I followed the "Posting Photos" link and uploaded to my Flickr account, but still it won't work. Arrrrrgh!!!

- - - Updated - - -

Let's try this again.


Guess you can't do it through Quick Reply, rather it has to be a full post. Let's see if this works.

- - - Updated - - -

I think I am just going to throw my dang computer in the pool. ARRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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Flickr tends to be slightly more tricky for attaching photos. You might wish to check the privacy level set on the photos as well.
bbrock said:
14661472719_072e896f17.jpg


14661472089_cc9c104cb5.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Tx Abigail, how did you do that? Plz teach me. For the life of me, I could not figure out how to attach photos by way of Flickr.

Anyone of you original posters still reading this got any "cover" ideas?
 
I think I may just add pucks. But, if I did that, how many would I add to the floater? Fill it with as many as it will take? And, how high could I expect the CYA to rise?

Right now the CYA is appro 40. Was 50, but somehow dropped to 40, or either tester error. Also, is the amount of chlorine the pucks would release sufficient to sanitize my pool, or do I stilll need to have someone come by to pour in chlorine, or either bring the chlorine level up to shock?

If I don't get responses to these questions in this post, sorry, you will also see it as a separate post.
 
Resorting to using tri-chlor pucks while on vacation?

Hi you all,

We are going on another vacation this summer, only that this one will be longer (approx. 8 days). I am going to put some feelers out to see if anyone could come by and add chlorine & check the water level. Also, I even emailed the old pool guy if he would come by and do it, for which I offered him some cash for ea. visit. I won't be covering the pool. The current CYA is 40; was 50 for last 1.5 mo. or so (maybe user error when I read the latest CYA level).

The latest plan was that I think I may just add pucks. But, if I did that, how many would I add to the floater? Fill it with as many as it will take? And, how high could I expect the CYA to rise?

Also, is the amount of chlorine the pucks would release sufficient to sanitize my pool, or do I stilll need to have someone come by to pour in chlorine, or do I either bring the chlorine level up to shock?

Tx for any help.
 
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Re: Resorting to using tri-chlor pucks while on vacation?

It is best if you can get someone to add bleach while you are gone.

If that is not an option, then you can go with the pucks as I have had to do on occasion. Before adding the pucks and leaving town, I would use bleach to bring your pool up to shock level. Then I would add a total of 5-6 pucks...3 in the in-line chlorinator (if so equipped) and 2-3 in a floater. If no in-line chlorinator, then added them all to the floater (or split them between 2 floaters). This is what I did last year when I was out of town for 8 days (# pucks adjusted for your 19,000 gallon pool). When I got back, only about half to 2/3 of each puck was used. I saved the partially-used pucks, let them dry, wrapped them in plastic and put them back in the bucket. This kept the pool properly chlorinated without raising the CYA all that much. I use the partial pucks when I need to top off my CYA level.
 

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