Advice for going on vacation - Floater vs Skimmer - and how many pucks?

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FailedChemistry

FailedChemistry

Active member
Jul 4, 2013
30
St Louis, Missouri
Pool Size
11813
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
This is my first pool season using the full TroubleFreePool method and i've been thrilled.
Not a single algae problem, and beautifully clear water every day so far.
So why do i get the feeling like i'm about to blow it?!!!

i'm going on a short vacation.
It's only 4 days, but i don't have anyone that can stop by and check on the pool.

My routine is to check the FC and pH every morning before the sun hits the pool.
On average (without rain or heavy bathers), i've been losing about 1 ppm of FC each day. So as per poolcalculator, i'm adding about 25oz of bleach each morning.

(latest test results)

FC 6
CC 0
TA 100
CH 270
CYA 50
pH 7.8

So, what should i do when i'm gone for 4 days?
i've searched on this forum about the topic, and these Trichlor Floater things keep being mentioned, but there's not much discussion on how to use them.
Also, i don't own a Trichlor Floater. Should i buy one?
There seems to be some disagreement whether Trichlor pucks can just go in the skimmer or not.
Would putting tricolor pucks in the skimmer for vacations be a problem? Or should i buy a floater?

The other thing i'm confused about is, how do you know how many pucks to put in?
i've got a bucket of the big 3" pucks left over from my pre-troublefreepool days. Is there a way of calculating how long they'll last?

This is all still new to me, any help would be appreciated!
Thanks!
 
With a cya of 50, you really don't want to increase your cya much if at all. Doing so might require you to drain and replace some water, probably not much to get you back to 50. Since its only 4 days, I might consider getting a floater, put a couple of those pucks in it. And enjoy your time away. Do a FC test as soon as you get back and if every thing is ok. Pull the floater and deal with the possibly excess cya as you want. I LOVE my swg!! I had been using pucks in my skimmers before my tfp days and they'd last about 4 days. The one time I used a floater, I put in as many as it would hold think it was 5 and left for ten days. Everything turned out fine and I still had some of the pucks remaining.
 
I wasn't suggesting that he should. In fact I did suggest if anything he get a floater. I was just reporting my experience while using pucks routinely for chlorination--that's how the previous owner was doing it and I just continued it. I haven't used a puck since switching to bleach spring of 2013 except for that 10 day period later that spring.
 
For three and four day weekends (before I got my Stenner pump) I would just raise my FC, up to shock level if need be and just let it drift back down over the days I was going to be gone. It worked very well for me.

Jason has already pointed out that pucks in the skimmer are a bad idea without the pump running. When the water is still, the puck just sitting in the skimmer keeps dissolving and superchlorinates the water around it, causing damage to the plastic parts around it. Additionaly this superchlorinated water is not really good for the other parts of your system when the pump starts amd sucks this water in.
 
Ok. Pucks in skimmer = no bueno. Got it.
Thanks for all the help!

i'm gonna try tim5055's advice and just raise it to shock level before i leave, and see what happens.
i like this approach because it means i don't have to buy any new equipment that i won't know how to use, and i won't be fretting over how many pucks to put in it.
Plus, this way i won't be adding any new CYA.
 
Follow up - what i ended up doing - and my results

Just to follow up for anyone who might be interested...
Before i left on Wednesday the 6th, i bumped my FC up to shock level. For my CYA that was a 16.
Sunday the 10th when i got back the pool had only dropped to 8.5 (Still 2.5 points over my target of 6.)

And this was even after it had rained two of the days we were gone.
Plus, i didn't have to add bleach until it finally dipped below 6 on Tuesday the 12th.
So raising the pool to shock level and letting it fall could have easily worked for a 5 or 6 day vacation. For me, at any rate!

Thanks for all the help!
 
Re: Follow up - what i ended up doing - and my results

Failed_Chemistry said:
Just to follow up for anyone who might be interested...
Before i left on Wednesday the 6th, i bumped my FC up to shock level. For my CYA that was a 16.
Sunday the 10th when i got back the pool had only dropped to 8.5 (Still 2.5 points over my target of 6.)

And this was even after it had rained two of the days we were gone.
Plus, i didn't have to add bleach until it finally dipped below 6 on Tuesday the 12th.
So raising the pool to shock level and letting it fall could have easily worked for a 5 or 6 day vacation. For me, at any rate!

Thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...
Glad it worked out. Now, time to swim!:paddle:
 
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