We bought a 3700 gallon Intex 15 ft pool that is three feet deep. We have shocked the pool twice trying to get the chlorine up. Everything tests high but stabilizer and chlorine. Twice we had everything right but the following day the chlorine is low. I don't have a test kit so I don't know numbers. I have been adding 1-3/4 cup of liquid chlorine every night and run the filter for 10 hours. In the morning I put the chlorine puck in the pool holder. But the next morning the pH is very high. So we add muractic acid and the chlorine goes undetectable. My husband thinks we should not be adding chemicals everyday. I think we are suppose to add chlorine every night as long as the strips always show low. And I thought once we get the pH correct the chlorine will work better. The pool is clear, does not smell and nothing growing. We have had the pool two weeks. We do have well water. My apologies for the long thread.
Disagreeing about pool products
- Thread starter PCC60
- Start date
- May 3, 2014
- 62,738
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Welcome to the forum!
With a small volume pool, I suggest your read Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools and consider following the process described in it.
I suggest you read through Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool
With a small volume pool, I suggest your read Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools and consider following the process described in it.
I suggest you read through Pool Care Basics - Trouble Free Pool and even look at a few of our videos TFP-TV - Trouble Free Pool
I think you have a large part of the solution right there.
Swimming Pool Test Kits Compared
What pool test kit should I buy? Why shouldn't I use test strips? Our recommended test kits will pay for themselves in no time!
www.troublefreepool.com
- May 3, 2014
- 62,738
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Without test data we can provide no guidance. We also suggest you to read articles that can guide you in how you plan to manage your pool water chemistry. When you have question you can return and ask them.
Good luck.
Good luck.
Toxophilite
Silver Supporter
The articles tell you that as well. If you don't know all your numbers, which test strips and store testing cannot give you, one cannot know what you need to do or not need to do. The known can be analyzed and recommendations made. The unknown cannot. Test strips can easily cause you to go wrong directions.
Were you looking for an answer? Since you never asked a question I'm not sure what kind of response you expected.
Lot of people here who can help you with any problem you have, but we are all volunteers and nobody is required to answer any questions. If that reply is indicative of how you intend to treat those trying to help then you probably shouldn't expect anybody to be rushing to assist you.
Welcome to TFP! As mentioned above, I was also unsure of your question. So I went back and re-read it twice to see if I could maybe find what you were trying to ask. Didn't really find anything. First, let me point out that I am not a TFP expert, but I am learning and reading every day. If I live long enough, maybe someday I'll become a pseudo-expert.
The advice you were given was good, insofar as the info you supplied: #1. Without a reliable way of testing your own water, you are at the mercy of the Pool Store and its wall of potions, additives, magic sticks, etc. #2. The suggested articles are an excellent source of knowledge to have as a base in order to use the TFP methodology and get your questions immediately answered.
I believe you are trying to decide if TFP is for you. Maybe that is the unasked question. It will only work if you want it to. It absolutely won't work if you try to mix/match pool store methodology with TFP. Ask me how I know. Using TFP, you will know exactly what to add, when to add it, how to add it, and what to expect as far as interactions with other things in your water. No surprises! Now, armed with a proper test kit and some basic TFP knowledge, your questions will gladly get answered until you run out of questions (or just get sick of us continuously trying to help you!)
As far as a good test kit is concerned, TFP recommends a couple: the Taylor K2006C, available on Amazon and the TF100, available from TFTestKits, which is the one I use. At first glance, either kit appears pricey, compared to the kits at the pool store. Those kits generally do not allow the testing needed to let you run your own pool. Most allow you just enough testing to keep going back to the pool store to stock up on more stuff.
I recently posted that I received a sale catalogue from one of the major online national retailers of pool supplies. The first 16 pages are all additive chemicals for your pool, 110 of them. So far this year in our 24' x 52", 13,500 gallon above-ground pool, I have added four things: #1. 10% concentration of liquid chlorine (from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's True Value, etc.) About four gallons @$4.60 ea. #2. Granular stabilizer (from the same places, plus Amazon, or even the pool store. The pool store is the most expensive, BTW.) 18 oz. out of a 4-pound bag, around $23.80. #3. 20 Mule Team Borax (the grocery store!) 6# @ $5.27 per four-pound box. #4. Well water from our well. That's It! So, my cost so far is chlorine: $18.40, stabilizer: $6.00, 20 Mule Team Borax (pH-up at the pool store $7.90. Grand total: $32.30. The cost of a good test kit is way more than covered by the savings I've realized utilizing TFP instead of the pool store.
Lastly, TFP is not a profit center; we sell nothing and power our site with voluntary donations. Your other choice... well, take your water in for a (free) test, and see what they think your pool needs! I can almost guarantee you could buy a good test kit for far less money!
Hopefully, I've helped to answer your non-question. LOL. We're just waiting to see if we can help you. Now, if you should have some questions
, ask away, and we'll see what we can do to answer! NO more face, OK?
Enjoy your day!
G.
The advice you were given was good, insofar as the info you supplied: #1. Without a reliable way of testing your own water, you are at the mercy of the Pool Store and its wall of potions, additives, magic sticks, etc. #2. The suggested articles are an excellent source of knowledge to have as a base in order to use the TFP methodology and get your questions immediately answered.
I believe you are trying to decide if TFP is for you. Maybe that is the unasked question. It will only work if you want it to. It absolutely won't work if you try to mix/match pool store methodology with TFP. Ask me how I know. Using TFP, you will know exactly what to add, when to add it, how to add it, and what to expect as far as interactions with other things in your water. No surprises! Now, armed with a proper test kit and some basic TFP knowledge, your questions will gladly get answered until you run out of questions (or just get sick of us continuously trying to help you!)
As far as a good test kit is concerned, TFP recommends a couple: the Taylor K2006C, available on Amazon and the TF100, available from TFTestKits, which is the one I use. At first glance, either kit appears pricey, compared to the kits at the pool store. Those kits generally do not allow the testing needed to let you run your own pool. Most allow you just enough testing to keep going back to the pool store to stock up on more stuff.
I recently posted that I received a sale catalogue from one of the major online national retailers of pool supplies. The first 16 pages are all additive chemicals for your pool, 110 of them. So far this year in our 24' x 52", 13,500 gallon above-ground pool, I have added four things: #1. 10% concentration of liquid chlorine (from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's True Value, etc.) About four gallons @$4.60 ea. #2. Granular stabilizer (from the same places, plus Amazon, or even the pool store. The pool store is the most expensive, BTW.) 18 oz. out of a 4-pound bag, around $23.80. #3. 20 Mule Team Borax (the grocery store!) 6# @ $5.27 per four-pound box. #4. Well water from our well. That's It! So, my cost so far is chlorine: $18.40, stabilizer: $6.00, 20 Mule Team Borax (pH-up at the pool store
$7.90. Grand total: $32.30. The cost of a good test kit is way more than covered by the savings I've realized utilizing TFP instead of the pool store.Lastly, TFP is not a profit center; we sell nothing and power our site with voluntary donations. Your other choice... well, take your water in for a (free) test, and see what they think your pool needs! I can almost guarantee you could buy a good test kit for far less money!
Hopefully, I've helped to answer your non-question. LOL. We're just waiting to see if we can help you. Now, if you should have some questions
, ask away, and we'll see what we can do to answer! NO more face, OK?Enjoy your day!
G.
I suggest 3 options:
1. Hire a pool service company.
2. Take a sample to pool store and do whatever they tell you to do.
3. Order a Taylor k2006c or a TF-100 test kit. You can search this site for info on both. While you wait for it to arrive, download the poolmath app and set your pool up in the app. Add 5ppm bleach daily until your kit arrives. When you’re kit arrives, do a full round of testing, post results here, and you’ll get a ton of feedback and help. Probably more than you want
Unfortunately your initial post had nothing quantitative in it so no one knows what to tell you to do. The only thing we almost know is how much liquid chlorine you’re adding. You indicate 1.75 cups but since we don’t know the concentration we sorta don’t even know how much you’re actually adding.
Hope this helps.
Edited to add: Options 1&2 are not good options. If they were, this website would not exist.
1. Hire a pool service company.
2. Take a sample to pool store and do whatever they tell you to do.
3. Order a Taylor k2006c or a TF-100 test kit. You can search this site for info on both. While you wait for it to arrive, download the poolmath app and set your pool up in the app. Add 5ppm bleach daily until your kit arrives. When you’re kit arrives, do a full round of testing, post results here, and you’ll get a ton of feedback and help. Probably more than you want
Unfortunately your initial post had nothing quantitative in it so no one knows what to tell you to do. The only thing we almost know is how much liquid chlorine you’re adding. You indicate 1.75 cups but since we don’t know the concentration we sorta don’t even know how much you’re actually adding.
Hope this helps.
Edited to add: Options 1&2 are not good options. If they were, this website would not exist.
- May 30, 2020
- 233
- Pool Size
- 21000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-60 Plus
We really do want to help you, but you didn't tell us you had already read the articles, and your post sounded more like statements than questions so it was hard to tell what information you need from us. You say stabilizer is low, but we don't know how low it is. Did you add stabilizer separately? If not, that may be why your chlorine is not lasting very long. Without adequate stabilizer (also known as CYA) your chlorine will burn off fairly quickly in the sun. If you are adding 1 3/4 cup of liquid chlorine (assuming its 10% strength) then you have added roughly 3ppm of free chlorine. Chlorine pucks are designed to dissolve slowly over several days. 1 dichlor puck weighs about 8 ounces and in a 3700 gallon pool will add about 8 ppm of stabilizer and 9 ppm of chlorine by the time it has dissolved. The chlorine will burn off, but the stabilizer will not. You need a minimum of 30 ppm of stabilizer to protect the chlorine from burning off prematurely.
The problem with strips and the main reason we don't recommend them is that they are often wrong and the measurements are imprecise. Test strips are affected by heat, humidity, and age. They also report in ranges and anything over 3ppm for chlorine is usually reported as "high". However, chlorine and stabilizer must remain in the correct ratio to each other for the chlorine to be effective. The more stabilizer you have, the more chlorine you need. A test strip does not take into account how the different chemical levels interact with each other. In fact if you have 0ppm for stabilizer, 3ppm of chlorine is too high.
For a pool that does not use a saltwater chlorine generator you need to keep stabilizer/CYA between 30-50 ppm. We have a chart that shows the recommended ratio of chlorine to stabilizer depending on your test results. FC/CYA Levels
Test strips usually come with a chart that looks like this: Total chlorine is a combination of free chlorine (good) and combined chlorine (bad). If you have a total chlorine of 3 ppm you may think you have ideal chlorine for you pool based on this chart. If the reality is you have 1ppm of free chlorine and 2ppm of combined chlorine, you do not have enough free chlorine and the 2ppm of combined chlorine actually means you may need to complete the SLAM Process for your pool to get rid of it. Combined chlorine is a waste byproduct of chlorine oxidation. When it gets over .5ppm it can cause eye and skin irritation and a strong, harsh chlorine smell.
This strip chart also says that 100 ppm of stabilizer/CYA is ok. It is not ok, it is much too high and you would have difficulty keeping your pool clear of algae.
I understand the FAS/DPD test kits we recommend are a large investment for a small pool. HTH makes a 6 way test kit that can introduce you to FAS/DPD testing for under $40. I think walmart.com has the lowest price for now.
HTH® Pool Care 6-Way Test Kit
Quickly and easily test your indoor and outdoor swimming pool water for 6 key elements and get the most accurate results. Tests for total chlorine, bromine, pH, total alkalinity, total hardness and cyanuric acid (CYA) levels Compatible with all swimming pools
hthpools.com
Sorry for the long post but I hope this explains why we were not able to give more explicit help after your first post.