Help! Shocked last night & still no chlorine

[NCleavelin]

Attached are my test results from last night…added 17 oz of MA at the return line, brushed it, waited 40 min, and put in 128 oz of 10% chlorine at the return line

Tested tonight and it seems like there still is no chlorine showing (see 2nd picture)

Help! Have my daughter’s 7th birthday party tomorrow at 11 AM with lots of people swimming…water is clear but think I need to shock again tonight!

 

[JodieM]

Do you have an FAS-DPD kit you can try?
How old is your chlorine reagent? Maybe it needs replaced?
What’s the date on your chlorine? Could it be old and less effective?

 

[NCleavelin]

Do you have an FAS-DPD kit you can try?
How old is your chlorine reagent? Maybe it needs replaced?
What’s the date on your chlorine? Could it be old and less effective?

Not sure what that kit is - I got the TFP Pro kit just a few days ago (so all is brand new)

Not sure of date on chlorine but just bought it last night at Walmart (white bottle is from Walmart)…other one is LC I got today from Pinch a Penny pool shop

 

[JJ_Tex]

Have you done a full set of tests, including CYA, with your new kit? Once you do that, look at the Chlorine/CYA chart in my signature and determine your ideal chlorine level for your CYA and add enough chlorine to get there (tonight if possible).

For a 15k gallon pool, 1 gallon of the 10% chlorine you have will raise the chlorine by 6.7.

 

[NCleavelin]

Have you done a full set of tests, including CYA, with your new kit? Once you do that, look at the Chlorine/CYA chart in my signature and determine your ideal chlorine level for your CYA and add enough chlorine to get there (tonight if possible).

For a 15k gallon pool, 1 gallon of the 10% chlorine you have will raise the chlorine by 6.7.

I did the full set of tests last night but haven’t had time tonight. Last night I had 0 chlorine so I did a gallon of the 10% chlorine

This was my first time doing LC - had always done CalHypo before…is it possible I had just so little chlorine that the gallon of LC from Walmart didn’t do much?

I did the comparator block test (all clear - no yellow), and then just did the chlorine drop test and it didn’t ever turn pink

 

[JJ_Tex]

Ok, I just saw your other picture and you have a CYA of 30, so your target chlorine level is 4-6. If it were my pool, I would add a full gallon tonight and test again in the morning, and add more if you are below your target level.

 

[JJ_Tex]

I did the full set of tests last night but haven’t had time tonight. Last night I had 0 chlorine so I did a gallon of the 10% chlorine

This was my first time doing LC - had always done CalHypo before…is it possible I had just so little chlorine that the gallon of LC from Walmart didn’t do much?

I did the comparator block test (all clear - no yellow), and then just did the chlorine drop test and it didn’t ever turn pink

Walmarts around here usually have pretty fresh supplies of chlorine and they keep them inside. My guess is that you have algae that is starting to form somewhere and that is eating up your chlorine. I would still do a gallon tonight and re-evaluate before and after the party.

 

[NCleavelin]

Have you done a full set of tests, including CYA, with your new kit? Once you do that, look at the Chlorine/CYA chart in my signature and determine your ideal chlorine level for your CYA and add enough chlorine to get there (tonight if possible).

For a 15k gallon pool, 1 gallon of the 10% chlorine you have will raise the chlorine by 6.7.

Doing the CYA test now - will post results in a minute

Sorry still learning all this

 

[NCleavelin]

Ok, I just saw your other picture and you have a CYA of 30, so your target chlorine level is 4-6. If it were my pool, I would add a full gallon tonight and test again in the morning, and add more if you are below your target level.

Ok did CYA again and think it’s still at 30 if not lower…can still kinda see the black dot

I’ll do gallon of chlorine tonight and test again in the morning

Thanks!

 

[JJ_Tex]

Ok did CYA again and think it’s still at 30 if not lower…can still kinda see the black dot

I’ll do gallon of chlorine tonight and test again in the morning

Thanks!

Ok, at least you got consistent numbers. That test can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of it.

Also note that your CYA is not consumed and will stay fairly constant unless you add CYA or lose water, so you do not have to do that test every day.

Good luck with the party.

 

[NCleavelin]

Ok, at least you got consistent numbers. That test can be a bit tricky until you get the hang of it.

Also note that your CYA is not consumed and will stay fairly constant unless you add CYA or lose water, so you do not have to do that test every day.

Good luck with the party.

We do have some kind of leak from one or both of our skimmers (even though we had a full remodel last year and had both skimmers replaced…long story but pool company stopped answering calls/texts, so it’s still an issue)

So that may be part of our issue with some of this…so if anyone knows of any good leak detection companies in DFW area!

 

[Foxer]

I had several gallons of Walmart chlorine that barely made any difference in chlorine levels for me. I got 6 (much more expensive) gallons from Leslies and it is a huge difference. Have you tried the other chlorine? I'd give that a shot first. If you're like me the chlorine from walmart just might not be very good.

 

[Donldson]

If you're like me the chlorine from walmart just might not be very good.

Do you have any actual numbers to back up this claim? Or is this "take my word for it" advice?

 

[Foxer]

Just that the chlorine from Leslie’s seems to be doing a better job. I poured in a couple gallons into my pool and it only registered maybe .5. My pool is still brand new, so it’s possible the startup is causing weirdness

All I’m saying is it’s a possibility.

 

[kul]

Outside of the freshness date and how it’s being stored I’m not sure why chlorine from one place would degrade faster or be less effective.

 

[JJ_Tex]

So... how was your chlorine this morning?

 

[IceShadow]

Just that the chlorine from Leslie’s seems to be doing a better job. I poured in a couple gallons into my pool and it only registered maybe .5. My pool is still brand new, so it’s possible the startup is causing weirdness

All I’m saying is it’s a possibility.

Could also be that you had something consuming the first chlorine you added, and the rest of the additions raised the residual FC that you test.

 

[Foxer]

@IceShadow - yes, I agree, that’s entirely possible too.

 

[NCleavelin]

So... how was your chlorine this morning?

We were running around like crazy this morning before the party so didn’t have time to test…I’m exhausted & not planning to do any chemicals tonight but could use some advice…

I tested this evening & I think I’m just at a loss at why I can’t maintain any chlorine levels…

Last Night:
—-0 chlorine so did 1 gallon of brand new LC from Pinch-A-Penny at return line & let pump run all night

Today:
—-Had to add good amount of water in pool this AM (long story but think I have a leak in one or both skimmers despite a remodel last year incl. skimmer replacement)
—-During kids pool party today, ended up adding a lot more tap water over time through use of a water hose hooked up to a blow up water slide
—-Tonight I’m at 8.0 pH (between 8.0 & 8.2), 0 chlorine (again…), 70 TA, & I think 30 CYA? I never can not see that black dot
—-See picture for test of pH & chlorine tonight

Am I just screwed until I get this leak fixed? Probably have to add water every couple of days…is that water input giving me no chance at a balanced pool? Feel like I just can’t seem to get any chlorine to stick…

In my previous pool life, as of about last week:
—-Had some algae issues off and on so had used some algaecide (but have since stopped & haven’t in a couple weeks!)
—-Used to use CalHypo granular shock before I learned about LC

 

[JodieM]

Are you retesting within 30 min of adding chlorine? You should record some chlorine. Then add chlorine again and retest again in 30 min. Keeping the chlorine at slam level is the only thing that will help you clear up what ever is eating your chlorine.