Going on vacation and using tablets for the first time...

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texasAUtiger

Well-known member
Jul 10, 2021
94
Waco, TX
Pool Size
15600
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
My 15.6k gallon pool uses 2-3 ppm FC daily this time of year. We are going to be away for several weeks so for the first time in my 3 seasons of pool ownership, I am going to have to bite the bullet and use tablets. We do have an in-line feeder for 3" tablets, but I've just never used it so I have some questions. Also, I have someone who can come by 1-2x a week to check things, but not more often than that, so sticking with straight LC isn't an option.

I am most concerned about run-away CYA levels while being gone for 4 weeks. My CYA is 50 now, but on the advice of this forum, I have raised it as high as 70 to help with the especially hot Texas summers and it has worked. So I feel like I have at least 20 ppm CYA headroom. But I also don't know how many tablets I will use per day or week when I'm gone. (I hope to experiment this week to find out, but time is short before departure.)

Looking at the "Effects of Adding" in the Pool Math app, it says 8 oz of trichlor (I am guessing this is the weight of one 3" tablet) will raise FC by 3.1 and CYA by 2.1 (yikes!). If I go through one tablet a day (is that crazy?---I don't know---I run my pump about 5 hours a day at 1400 rpm) to get my 3.1 ppm FC, then I'll raise CYA by about 2.1 x 28 = 58.8 in 28 days! Am I interpreting this correctly?

If so, I obviously need an alternate plan. I thought about alternating trichlor tabs with cal hypo tabs (once the feeder is completely empty of course) to try to balance chlorination needs with runaway CYA, but cal hypo tabs are actually hard to find (especially in time before I leave).

Any advice, suggestions, or corrections to the above are welcome! Thanks!

PS Needless to say, this only makes me want a SWG even more!!!
 
Well, a bit of a pickle. The tabs won't dissolve in one day, but they will in a few days depending on how long the pump is running each day and your feeder setting. Exact dissolving rate is a bit of a coin toss, but you don't have much room for CYA. I wouldn't risk mixing tabs. That could be a disaster. I would say if you MUST use tabs, factor-out how many MAX you could afford to see consumed each week. Not much since your CYA is already on the higher end (70). I wouldn't want the CYA to get over 80, so you might only be able to use five or so tabs. Keep the feeder on a low setting and have that visitor add chlorine twice a week. Have the amount of chlorine programmed out for them for easy dosing so they can keep the FC somewhere between the top end of your ideal range and SLAM level.

The only other option I can think of is to exchange some water now to lower the CYA which will give you more flexibility with the tab feeder.
 
What is the plan to add tabs while gone? You probably need someone to add Trichlor once a week (might be able to get to 1.5 weeks). Do you have anyone that can add LC instead?

I've been keeping my CYA low in anticipation of being gone for about 8 days. It's at 50 now, but it will probably be 60ish when I get back. I'm thing the same thing about draining your water before you leave.
 
mfifield01 said:
What is the plan to add tabs while gone? You probably need someone to add Trichlor once a week (might be able to get to 1.5 weeks). Do you have anyone that can add LC instead?

I've been keeping my CYA low in anticipation of being gone for about 8 days. It's at 50 now, but it will probably be 60ish when I get back. I'm thing the same thing about draining your water before you leave.
Click to expand...

I have someone who can come by 1-2x a week but not more. I figured they could reload the tabs and/or add LC.

My feeder would probably hold 6 tabs at a time. I just didn't know how quickly it would go through them.
 
Texas Splash said:
Well, a bit of a pickle. The tabs won't dissolve in one day, but they will in a few days depending on how long the pump is running each day and your feeder setting. Exact dissolving rate is a bit of a coin toss, but you don't have much room for CYA. I wouldn't risk mixing tabs. That could be a disaster. I would say if you MUST use tabs, factor-out how many MAX you could afford to see consumed each week. Not much since your CYA is already on the higher end (70). I wouldn't want the CYA to get over 80, so you might only be able to use five or so tabs. Keep the feeder on a low setting and have that visitor add chlorine twice a week. Have the amount of chlorine programmed out for them for easy dosing so they can keep the FC somewhere between the top end of your ideal range and SLAM level.

The only other option I can think of is to exchange some water now to lower the CYA which will give you more flexibility with the tab feeder.
Click to expand...

My current CYA is 50, not 70. I've had it as high as 70 in the past.

So, I have about 10 tablets worth of headroom to get from 50 to 70. I just don't know how quickly I will go through one tablet.
 
texasAUtiger said:
I have someone who can come by 1-2x a week but not more. I figured they could reload the tabs and/or add LC.

My feeder would probably hold 6 tabs at a time. I just didn't know how quickly it would go through them.
Click to expand...
I've kept some records on Trichlor consumption, but I only use it about 4 weeks throughout the year (all vacations). Notes below from May. The problem is that temps are so much higher now. I'm hoping 6-7 tabs will hold for a week.

  • 5 tabs in an inline chlorinator from May 5-17th.
  • The ambient temps were 60-90.
  • Water temps were 70-82.
  • PH of pool was 7.9 on May 6th.
  • PH of pool was 7.7 on May 16th.
  • FC of pool was 5 at start.
  • Set the inline chlorinator to 4.
  • Maintained 5 FC until May 18th.
  • Probably dissolved on May 17th.
  • CYA went up about 10 from 50-60.
 
mfifield01 said:
I've kept some records on Trichlor consumption, but I only use it about 4 weeks throughout the year (all vacations). Notes below from May. The problem is that temps are so much higher now. I'm hoping 6-7 tabs will hold for a week.

  • 5 tabs in an inline chlorinator from May 5-17th.
  • The ambient temps were 60-90.
  • Water temps were 70-82.
  • PH of pool was 7.9 on May 6th.
  • PH of pool was 7.7 on May 16th.
  • FC of pool was 5 at start.
  • Set the inline chlorinator to 4.
  • Maintained 5 FC until May 18th.
  • Probably dissolved on May 17th.
  • CYA went up about 10 from 50-60.
Click to expand...

This is helpful. I think I am going to get a tablet in there ASAP to see how long it takes it to dissolve.
 
For reference, I just got back from an 8 day vacation. I added over a gallon of LC before I left. Then I put 7 tabs in the chlorinator and set it to 5. It looks like it used about 6 of the tabs. I pulled out the left over clump when I got home. It maintained about 5 FC. I had my dad dump the skimmers after 5 days. He tested with strips and said the chlorine looked good. I have additional notes if you want to see them.
 

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I'd raise to SLAM before you go and then have the person stopping by pour in a gallon of LC the 1-2x per week they come by. This would allow you to use less pucks and not have to worry about the impact on Ph or TA.
 
Second about the raise to high levels and have person pour in each visit. They don’t need to be perfect as no one is swimming in it… and you can go all the way to slam without danger to stuff/people
 
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