Help closing...does the mesh cover change numbers anyway?

[Veccster]

Current numbers:
FC- 5
CC - 1
PH - 7.4
CYA - 50

Do I need to adjust these numbers before closing it up? I'm in Western PA and we have some 70 and 80 degree days coming. We get LOTS of rain in fall and winter.

I have a MESH safety cover so the rain water drains into the pool. I'll have to lower it down 5 or 6 times throughout the winter to keep it out of the skimmers. Won't all that added water affect my levels throughout the winter anyway?

 

[Catanzaro]

You need to SLAM the pool and clean it up properly, pass the overnight, then bring back up to SLAM and close up. Are you using Poly60? A mesh cover will allow more sunlight in, so if you are closing in the next few weeks, I highly recommend the algaecide.

 

[Pool_Medic]

What he said, two points however, if you get your chlorine to mid twenties you can close it and cover it. Try to let the water get below 60 degrees. Or let the chlorine drop below 10 and add poly quat 60.

 

[Catanzaro]

Thanks Pool Medic. A lot has to do with the type of mesh cover on the pool. We closed a pool with no chlorine, no CYA late last November. Opened up to a crystal clean up. A month earlier closed a pool with a mesh cover and chlorine at 28 ppm, with CYA and woke up at the same time to a green pool. All about the quality of the mesh cover as well. When in doubt, use Poly 60, especially with a mesh cover.

 

[Pool_Medic]

I close my pool every Labor Day weekend. Robot is used to insure a totally clean pool. I don’t check my chlorine. I add 2lbs MPS and poly quat 60, safety cover goes on and I’ve opened to a crystal clear pool for 28 years.

 

[Veccster]

Thank you for the help. I have a Loop Loc mesh cover - Mesh Safety Pool Covers | LOOP-LOC. It's new...just bought it last year.

I'll do a slam and try for the overnight test.

Been looking through some other posts and think I should do the Poly 60. I don't know anything about it though (amount needed, how to apply or other changes to the close that need to be done).

At this point, the pool is still open. We had some 80F days this week and I was worried about closing it up. The water is 72F. It's supposed to get colder this week so I'll watch the temp and close it when it gets down into low 60's.

 

[Catanzaro]

Cold weather is approaching real quickly. You can wait another 2 weeks and then close. You may not even need Poly60, but it is either one or the other. High Chlorine SLAM level at closing or normal CYA/FC levels with Poly60. One quart treats 20,000 gallons. You will not need more than this given your pool is only 24,000 gallons. The key is to open up early, no later than last week in April. Once opened, the pump only needs to run 2-3 hours at most, depending on circulation and with limited chlorine usage. You can even dose the pool weekly for the first month or so.

 

[Veccster]

Ok...just bringing closure to this thread. I waited until the pool was down to 62F with more cold weather approaching to close. My numbers were all ideal and I circulated 1 jug of polyquat 60 for about 24hrs. This was my first time closing but I think everything went well. Only trouble I had was reaching the return and additional supply's in the deep end. Yup...had to jump in to put the plugs in. It was cold but I got through it. Fortunately, they are all not necessary so I can open without unplugging those ports.

I look forward to an easy open to clear water (hopefully)!!!