How often do you shock?

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htownjeeper said:
It dropped down to 1.5ppm FC one day last week and I immediately bumped it back up. I've been trying to maintain at 5 but it has gone down to 2.5 and 3 over the last week. Sounds like I need to shoot for 7 at night and let it fall down to 4 or so the next day? Am I understanding right?
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Yes. That's a good plan.

If you fell below minimum, I'd hazard a guess that's why something is going on right now. The minimum is minimum for a reason... :~}

Do let us know how it goes.
 
Normally, you'd expect around 2ppm per day loss. Unless something out of the ordinary happened (big pool party, etc...)

First things first, go ahead and bring it to shock, tonight and do a OCLT.

If you lose more than 1 FC, then you know you have to deal with some organics and shock as described in the how to shock article.
If you lose 1 or less, then the loss is due to something else, such heavy use, or lots of sun.
 
As far as have .5cc everyday. That is still fine. Remember CC's are constantly be created and broken down by your chlorine. Some pools, once balanced will never see and measurable CC's, others, will almost always have them. As long as its .5 or less and there are no other extenuating circumstances (green water, cloudy water, etc...) you're fine.

There are a few things you can do to help, like bump your chlorine levels, to accelerate the break down, maybe add borates to slow algae growth or just accept, that your pool always shows a small amount of residual CCs
 
htownjeeper said:
It dropped down to 1.5ppm FC one day last week and I immediately bumped it back up. I've been trying to maintain at 5 but it has gone down to 2.5 and 3 over the last week. Sounds like I need to shoot for 7 at night and let it fall down to 4 or so the next day? Am I understanding right?
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Hey htownjeeper,
I haven't needed to shock since the first time in early May this year then I shocked TFP way with my TF-100 XL kit.
I got a 1 CC reading 2 weeks ago :| after a VERY LATE pass the bottle Sat. night swim! :party: Everyone in the pool, even the dogs!
I just hit it hard in the morning up to 12 FC (Sunday) and vacuumed real good, left the pump on for 16 hours that day and no problem as I passed OCLT on Mon night/tues morning. :whoot:
I have mine set at 40 CYA and I have a big swing from the sun, swimmers everyday, high heat, over 90 everyday for the last 3 months here in central Fl. So I'm going up to 7- 7.5 then let it fall to 3.5 before going back up to 7- 7.5.
It has fallen to 1.5 a couple of times but wasn't there but maybe a few hours if that.
Your most likely OK, but testing for OCLT is what we all do when we think we have breached our cya/cl #.

Chuck
 
Chuck, sounds like we have a very similar heat/swimming situation including the late night pass the bottle swims. I'm taknig everyone's suggestions to heart and I'm indeed shocking. I'll do the OCLT overnight and see what happens. I'll definitely report back in the morning.
 
frogabog said:
Wouldn't you be suspicious if you ALWAYS saw .5ppm CC? I know I would. I'd likely shock and see if that reduces it to at least 50% of the time. Never seeing 0 CC would cause me some angst...
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Yes, I would/and have been. Those times I mentioned doing the OCLT usually came after multiple/constant 0.5 CC readings over a few days. Always passed...so I theorized three things:
1. I was doing the test wrong...but I read and reread the extended directions...I think I am doing it right.
2. As Puffin mentioned, even with normal pool usage there are still organics to be oxidized, therefore production of CC must occur.
3. Fuzzy on this one: the solar cover keeping the CC level a bit higher than not having it on?
 
Ok everyone, I'd appreciate some feedback on this because I'm seeing both sides here...

Technically, I passed the OCLT. Water is beautiful, I lost .5 FC overnight and my CC barely turns a slight hue of pink. One drop easily takes care of the CC test. I wish I could figure out where it is between zero and .5, because I just know it's not .5.

So, technically I passed..pool looks great. BUT, my CC is not zero like almost everyone else in this thread.

SO............

a) Should I continue shock process until I get it to absolute zero?
b) Should I be happy that I caught a potentially big deal in the nick of time and did the right stuff and passed the OCLT?
 
htownjeeper said:
Ok everyone, I'd appreciate some feedback on this because I'm seeing both sides here...

Technically, I passed the OCLT. Water is beautiful, I lost .5 FC overnight and my CC barely turns a slight hue of pink. One drop easily takes care of the CC test. I wish I could figure out where it is between zero and .5, because I just know it's not .5.

So, technically I passed..pool looks great. BUT, my CC is not zero like almost everyone else in this thread.

SO............

a) Should I continue shock process until I get it to absolute zero?
b) Should I be happy that I caught a potentially big deal in the nick of time and did the right stuff and passed the OCLT?
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Your done! Congrats. I'd move on and be happy. FC loss is 1 or less, cc is .5 or less, water is crystal clear. Don't worry about having some cc (.5 or less) its not uncommon, you're fine. Here is a link to a thread where this topic comes up where others have experienced the same thing, and Jason, mentions its fine as well http://www.troublefreepool.com/new-pool-owner-my-story-t11993-20.html

If you're still worried, you can use a bit more chlorine, to see if that helps. But you don't need to. Remember, chlorine loss to sun light is a percent, so the more you use, the more you'll lose.

Speaking of sun light. How much do you get, full sun? How much chlorine do you lose a day on average? If it's alot, you can try bumping your CYA a little. I've read if your CYA is really low it can contribute to CC as well.
 

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I shocked the one time, because I could see that inside the main drain it was sort of olive green. Yes, the water is clear enough to see through the openings through eight feet of water. It made no difference. Turns out it was superfine silt that settled in there, from diverting a raingutter downspout into the pool to dilute astronomical CH and CYA.

I also had a big family party including small children in swim diapers and the water got a little cloudy, so I got heavy-handed with the bleach afterwards, but nowhere near shock level.
 
Brushpup said:
Getting a 0.5 or 1 drop to clear your CC test is not a need for alarm. I was curious because I almost always do. It is always faint pink, but there. I asked the question about it recently. See what chemgeek says about here: do-you-ever-get-a-complete-0-0-cc-t37814.html
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Next time I get 0.5...I am going to try the 25 ml sample (I don't think I have done this before...should be fun). Thanks for the link!
 
htownjeeper,
Sounds like your fine and have a good plan, :cool: Now you've been through this... The panic stage is over! :shock:
I don't panic anymore now...

My pool really is a trouble free pool, It gives me back my time to come here! :whoot:

Chuck
 
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