We do not recommend adding pucks to the skimmer, it creates acidic conditions and can damage equipment. In addition, stay away from the pucks and just use bleach to do the shocking process.kristiejow said:
Duely noted. However, I have a bucket of them that I purchased from the pool place for about 75 bucks and I don't want them to go to waste. :blah: Any way they can be used to help??? Not trying to be difficult...just trying to use all of my resources that I have w/out spending more money.
Worry about using the pucks AFTER the pool water is clear. Right now - you need to kill algae and filter it out (and backwashing your filter when the PSI guage goes up 25% over startup - i.e. if your "just cleaned filter" PSI is 16 PSI, then back wash when it gets to 20 PSI). Also keep the water level up where it should be. If you aren't using bleach as these guys are telling you, the pool store equivalent is "chlorine shock", possibly combined with Yellow Out.
You should also get something else to put the pucks in - either a floating dispenser, or an inline dispenser.
Good luck.
You should also get something else to put the pucks in - either a floating dispenser, or an inline dispenser.
Good luck.
Great!!! I actually have a floating dispenser! Yay!!! But I'll wait till its nice and blue to use em. I am using bleach.....Not sure that it is working because my pool still seems awfully green...but the FC number is coming up.....scooperhsd said:
Richard320 said:
Soooooo, I've added about 12 gallons last night and today, not much change in the water. FC up to 20.....keep going???
Yep keep adding enough chlorine to get up to 12 ppm FC. The more ofter you do this, the quicker the shocking process will go.
New Numbers. Note: these numbers are crappy test strip numbers, but it is all I have at the moment.
CYA---> Below 50
Tot---->Chlorine 2
Free Chlorine-----> 3
ph----> 6.8
Total Alkalinity-----> 40
Just making sure that I need to keep pouring the bleach to it........
I keep having to reassure myself because I don't see much of a change in the water. When do I stop wtih the bleach and start adding the other B's????
Making me CRAAAAZZZZYYY!!!!!!
CYA---> Below 50
Tot---->Chlorine 2
Free Chlorine-----> 3
ph----> 6.8
Total Alkalinity-----> 40
Just making sure that I need to keep pouring the bleach to it........
I keep having to reassure myself because I don't see much of a change in the water. When do I stop wtih the bleach and start adding the other B's????
Making me CRAAAAZZZZYYY!!!!!!
Those test strips are not helping here too much. Since TC=FC +CC, you can not have TC less than FC as your strips are indicating.
Since it is all you have, and at some risk to your pool, keep raising your FC up to 16 ppm (from poolcalculator.com the shocking level for 50 ppm cya). Measure before you redose the bleach, using the poolcalculator.com to calculate how much to add to get back to 16ppm FC. Repeat until you pass the three criteria simultaneously in the Shocking Process (also in my sig). This can take from a day to several days depending on how much algae you have and how often you redose chlorine.
Since it is all you have, and at some risk to your pool, keep raising your FC up to 16 ppm (from poolcalculator.com the shocking level for 50 ppm cya). Measure before you redose the bleach, using the poolcalculator.com to calculate how much to add to get back to 16ppm FC. Repeat until you pass the three criteria simultaneously in the Shocking Process (also in my sig). This can take from a day to several days depending on how much algae you have and how often you redose chlorine.
SERIOUSLY!!!!! Is it supposed to get WORSE before it gets better???? My water is more green that it was on Friday when I started this process. If that is normal.....great. But I have my doubts. Did I mention this totally makes me want to pull my hair out???!!!
My test strip looks exactly like it did last night, with the exception of the Total Chlorine being a little lighter pink.....not quite "white" but almost.
- Jun 14, 2012
- 2,668
- Pool Size
- 13500
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool Edge-40
kristiejow said:
SERIOUSLY!!!!! Is it supposed to get WORSE before it gets better???? My water is more green that it was on Friday when I started this process. If that is normal.....great. But I have my doubts. Did I mention this totally makes me want to pull my hair out???!!!
My test strip looks exactly like it did last night, with the exception of the Total Chlorine being a little lighter pink.....not quite "white" but almost.
First - re-read Pool School and the section on Shocking.
I think you are not getting enough bleach in there. www.poolcalulator.com is your friend and can provide an estimate of the amount of bleach you need to add. Remember that you should only buy bleach that is labeled with the % of Sodium Hypochlorite on the label, is plain unscented/regular scent, and is not thickened; 3%-6% are pretty common, and 6% weighs less so it is what I buy. You can possibly buy liquid chlorine "shock" from a pool store which can be 10% or even 12.5% sodium hypochlorite - but availability varies and the store may try to sell you other things you don't have to have. Whatever you buy - make sure you setup PoolCalculator correctly with the right %.
If there is no way to get a test kit right now you can try putting in the amount of FC that your test strip is reading into poolcalculator.com and then add what it suggests to get to 16ppm and see if the results seem to agree. My strips have a 10ppm and 20ppm and so it's hard to be really accurate this way but you could try. Remember that it takes up to an hour to mix in. Test it at that point and see what it looks like. Eventually you'll need a test kit to see if your over night chlorine loss is within tolerances because that's really hard to do accurately any other way.
Also don't forget that while you may put in enough to reach the target FC level - an hour or two later it could be lower than that due to the activity of the Chlorine and the Algae - so the first couple of days you'll need to add more several times or shoot slightly high and try to keep it from falling below the shock target value. I know it's a lot of work - but it's going to pay off with a clear pool if you stick to it.
If you keep your FC level at the shock level, it is only getting better regardless of how the water looks, since the chlorine is being used up sanitizing the bad stuff. Keep up the good work!