CYA dissolving and other balancing

Jump to latest Follow Reply
G

gorocket1981

0
Jun 8, 2018
163
Montreal, Canada
Hello! Many questions today.

I did my first test of the season yesterday after pool was cleaned and refilled.

I added liquid chlorine yesterday night with a calculation for 3 ppm.

With the test I noticed that I had 0 CYA. I would need like 1.3 kg of CYA to get to 30. Because that is a lot, I am adding half of this using the sock since this morning. Water temp is still cold here. It is taking forever to dissolve even if I play with the sock at regular interval. Even with this, I am not sure if it is fully dissolving. I think that some parts of the chunks are passing through the small holes of the sock because I see white powder at some place in the bottom of the pool that was not there before.

So is that normal and OK that it takes forever? Do I just continue like this until dissolved completely? When it is done, I will also have to do the 2nd half.

If it is not done dissolving by the end of the day, can I still add liquid chlorine in the pool safely this evening?

Also I have to raise TA and Calcium. Can I put these stuff in the pool right now even if there is the sock with CYA in it?
For calcium, I usually dissolve the pellets in a 5 gallon of hot water. That is what I did in the previous year. Yesterday I read somewhere on the site to not do it. What should I do then? I don’t want the pellets to lay on the floor.

Thanks again to everybody.
 
If you are dissolving a small amount of CYA, move the sock to the skimmer. That way any solids that escape your sock go to the filter.
 
You can add calcium and baking soda whenever you like.
Do you have your test results you can post?
 
mknauss said:
You can add calcium and baking soda whenever you like.
Do you have your test results you can post?
Click to expand...

Ok. Thanks. I was under the impression It was bad to put stuff in the skimmer and it could block the filter and have too high acidity directly on equipment. I’ll try this then if it is a possibility.

I can also put Chlorine later tonight even if CYA not fully dissolved?

Yes results of yesterday are:
FC 0
pH 7
TA 50
CH 125
CYA 0

and water is clear.

I did not do the OCLT yet as I wanted to try adjusting CYA first.
 
Last edited:
As poolpop states, no need for calcium in your pool type. If you bought it, see if you can return it.

No real reason to add baking soda either. If you must, add no more than 20 ppm TA worth.

You can add liquid chlorine any time.

The CYA is not overly acidic and it should be pretty much dissolved and gone within several hours of pump run time.
 
Ok. Thanks. Calcium is because of my heater. I read some threads in the forum talking about this when there is an heater. Conclusions I understood is that it would be better to have calcium near of 200-250 because of this even if it is not a specific requirement for the pool itself.

Did I misunderstood??
 
The Ca will not hurt anything I just do not know that it is necessary, even with a heater. Other folks who have heaters on their pools may be able help with that. If you want to add Ca it is fine to dissolve it in water before adding it to your pool. I'll do some research on the Ca thing because I would hate to give you or anyone else bad advice.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gorocket1981
I was wrong about the Ca in a heated pool you can bring it on up to around 250ppm. Also found this post about adding Ca to your pool.

CH – Calcium Hardness

Calcium hardness can be raised with calcium chloride or calcium chloride dihydrate. They are available in some areas as Peladow, Dowflake, Tetra Flake, or Tetra 94, often sold as a deicer by hardware stores, and some big box stores, in colder climates. Pool stores will carry either calcium chloride or calcium chloride dihydrate under a variety of names, including Hardness Plus, Balance Pak 300, Calcium Hardness Increaser, etc. Calcium products should be spread across the surface of the deep end of the pool.

Mixing calcium in water will generate a lot of heat. Do not mix calcium in a bucket of water before you add it to the pool.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Some manufacturers of pool heaters still show a CH requirement that comes from steam boilers. Apples and oranges. But you can add calcium if you like.
 
I just added 5lbs of CYA to my pool when the water was about 50°F. It took about 24-30 hours to fully dissolve, even with regular squeezing.
 
I’ll never understand “putting it in a sock in the skimmer for days” or “putting it in front of a return for a day” thing. I put it in some pantyhose in my skimmer for 1-2 hours like I did Today. I go out with some gloves on and SQUEEZE it out of the sock. DONE. Get on with pool life...
 
Bvacchiano said:
I’ll never understand “putting it in a sock in the skimmer for days” or “putting it in front of a return for a day” thing. I put it in some pantyhose in my skimmer for 1-2 hours like I did Today. I go out with some gloves on and SQUEEZE it out of the sock. DONE. Get on with pool life...
Click to expand...
I’m willing to bet your pool water isn’t commonly 40-50°F. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mknauss
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply