Can the Taylor chemicals be contaminated?

[WBW]

For the past several years, my FC numbers have always been within normal limits. Two months ago, for some reason, my FC jumped up to 15+! I might have put too much liquid chlorine but I have a hard time thinking I poured that much to make my FC jump this high. (Only have 6000 gal)The FC is down to 10 but its been a slow process. My water is in the 60's. Could my Taylor DPD powder or R-0871 be contaminated for some reason? Could my vial be contaminated? I tried a different DPD powder container and R-0871 but got the same results. For the past two months, I went to Leslie's twice to see their FC results and both tests were much lower, 8 and, yesterday, 5. I never trust Lesie's test results but in the past, when I did check, their results were never off by this much. Maybe I did pour too much Liquid chlorine??? And just move on!

 

[Bperry]

For the past several years, my FC numbers have always been within normal limits. Two months ago, for some reason, my FC jumped up to 15+! I might have put too much liquid chlorine but I have a hard time thinking I poured that much to make my FC jump this high. (Only have 6000 gal)The FC is down to 10 but its been a slow process. My water is in the 60's. Could my Taylor DPD powder or R-0871 be contaminated for some reason? Could my vial be contaminated? I tried a different DPD powder container and R-0871 but got the same results. For the past two months, I went to Leslie's twice to see their FC results and both tests were much lower, 8 and, yesterday, 5. I never trust Lesie's test results but in the past, when I did check, their results were never off by this much. Maybe I did pour too much Liquid chlorine??? And just move on!

Are you tracking how much chlorine is being added? If you download the poolmath app you can track the test results and chlorine additions so you never need to wonder what the issue might be.

But yes, anything can become contaminated. If they are more than 2 years old then best to get replacements.

 

[ajw22]

You test 10 and Leslie tests 5 sounds normal.

 

[WBW]

Are you tracking how much chlorine is being added? If you download the poolmath app you can track the test results and chlorine additions so you never need to wonder what the issue might be.

But yes, anything can become contaminated. If they are more than 2 years old then best to get replacements.

The chemicals were bought within one year but not sure the expiration. Yes, I always have tracked chlorine by pool math.....but I'm not ruling out a mistake by me.

 

[Obecalp86]

Could simply be the effect of low water temp and less sunshine => slower FC consumption.

Same happened to me 1-2 months ago when water temp dipped below 60F - FC jumped from 8 to 15 ppm and took 2 weeks to get down to 9 ppm after I removed the chlorine source.

 

[JamesW]

If the cover is kept closed, then the FC does not get used by the sun.

Automatic covers and high FC

I was searching on this website if there are any problems with an automatic vinyl cover and having high FC. This is our first year with our pool and auto cover, reading several articles online, I found there "could" be some damage to the vinyl cover with high FC. Although I couldn't actually...

www.troublefreepool.com

Try an OTO chlorine test.

 

[JamesW]

https://www.taylortechnologies.com/fa/page/152/recognizing-a-compromised-reagent

PSA : Check your Reagent Expire Dates

So yes, it can happen to even the most seasoned of us.... This morning I was out by my pool testing my water using my K-1004 "Troubleshooter" test kit after making some adjustments the day before. It's nice because I can easily do pH, TA and FC/CC tests with it. The chlorine test is a color...

www.troublefreepool.com

https://www.taylortechnologies.com/en/Image/GetDocument/588

 

[Newdude]

You can test the reagents to see if they reflect a chlorine addition correctly.

Test the FC
Add 4 ppm per poolmath (effects of adding)
Test again.

If it gets the +4 ppm within 0.5, chances are it's reading the baseline correctly.

If it is reading correctly, welcome to winter poolcare which may go weeks between needing FC additions.

Let a water sample warm up to room temperature and run a CYA test. Report back because that may be contributing to the low loss.

 

[proavia]

Clean your test vials with rubbing alcohol, dry, rinse well with pool water and do the tests again.
Stay out of Leslies - their "results" will only confuse you more.
With cooler water temps and a cover, FC will drop slowly.

What reading are you getting with the OTO test?

 

[Bperry]

The chemicals were bought within one year but not sure the expiration. Yes, I always have tracked chlorine by pool math.....but I'm not ruling out a mistake by me.

If you click the “share” option in pool math it’ll share the logs with the website so others can review and see if there’s anything you might have missed.

 

[WBW]

Could simply be the effect of low water temp and less sunshine => slower FC consumption.

Same happened to me 1-2 months ago when water temp dipped below 60F - FC jumped from 8 to 15 ppm and took 2 weeks to get down to 9 ppm after I removed the chlorine source.

Fantastic! Thanks for your reply and opinion. So, my situation sounds similar and btw, I have an automatic cover! So zero sunshine, zero getting into the pool, and zero even opening it but to check chemicals. Ok, good explanation! Thanks

 

[WBW]

You can test the reagents to see if they reflect a chlorine addition correctly.

Test the FC
Add 4 ppm per poolmath (effects of adding)
Test again.

If it gets the +4 ppm within 0.5, chances are it's reading the baseline correctly.

If it is reading correctly, welcome to winter poolcare which may go weeks between needing FC additions.

Let a water sample warm up to room temperature and run a CYA test. Report back because that may be contributing to the low loss.

CYA at 40

 

[Newdude]

CYA at 40

Ok so thats not slowing down the FC loss even further with a sky high CYA.

Its all from the cover and the low sun angle with short days.