We are new SWG pool owners. It’s only a couple of months old. We had the pool professionally closed for the winter but kept the spa open. We have been noticing that we smell very strongly of chemicals when we get out of the spa. Our pool guy told us to shock it and explained the whole chloramine thing. We shocked and let it sit for 2 days. Today we tested with our Taylor kit. FC is coming back clear but my hand stunk like chemicals. The guy is saying that’s the chlorine is so high that is essentially bleaching out the color. Is this true? I thought clear means zero. How could it mean two things?
Is FC so high that the Taylor test is coming back clear?
- Thread starter Ilovepools
- Start date
High chlorine can bleach out the reagents.
Do you have FAS-DPD or OTO or just regular DPD liquid reagents?
FAS-DPD or OTO will not bleach out as easily as regular liquid DPD reagent..
Do you have FAS-DPD or OTO or just regular DPD liquid reagents?
FAS-DPD or OTO will not bleach out as easily as regular liquid DPD reagent..
- May 23, 2015
- 24,477
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
R-0001/R-0002 is DPD (pink test) and it will bleach out if the FC is far over 10ppm. The test strips are worthless. If your FC is over 10ppm, your pH reagents won’t work well either. TFP suggests you get the Taylor K-2006 kit that uses the DPD-FAS titration test for chlorine that can handle FC up to 50ppm.
Thank you all! I am starting to understand this. What would you suggest for the time being? Does it need to be uncovered to let the chlorine evaporate?
- May 23, 2015
- 24,477
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Can you please fill out your signature with your equipment info and explain to us HOW you are running the spa? Many automation systems automatically change the SWG output to a very low percentage when in SPA mode. If you are running your SWG at high output with such a small water volume, you could easily be spiking your FC way too high.
Also, please provide a full set of test results -
FC
CC
pH
TA
CYA
CH
Salt
Also, please provide a full set of test results -
FC
CC
pH
TA
CYA
CH
Salt
So after we discovered the strong smell on Thursday, pool guy said to shock it and leave it alone for two days. We left it for three days and stupidly went in it last night without testing first. Smell was strong. So Us being newbie idiots and not understanding this fully, thought we still had a problem with chlorimites and ran the chlorinator at 50% for 12 hours.
Today, we tested for FC which turned pink for 2 seconds and then bleached out and is off the charts.
The wireless control panel is saying the salt is 3000ppm.
We are running at 0%.
Question is what do we do now?
Today, we tested for FC which turned pink for 2 seconds and then bleached out and is off the charts.
The wireless control panel is saying the salt is 3000ppm.
We are running at 0%.
Question is what do we do now?
I would probably drain and refill if it's safe to do so without floating the spa.
Draining can sometimes cause a pool or spa to pop out of the ground.
Draining can sometimes cause a pool or spa to pop out of the ground.
You can wait for the chlorine to drop on its own or use a neutralizer.
I would probably try adding 2 quarts of 3% hydrogen peroxide to lower the chlorine.
Maybe try 1 quart and then retest and then add a second quart if the reagent is still bleaching out.
Give it about 10 minutes to work before retesting.
I would probably try adding 2 quarts of 3% hydrogen peroxide to lower the chlorine.
Maybe try 1 quart and then retest and then add a second quart if the reagent is still bleaching out.
Give it about 10 minutes to work before retesting.
- May 23, 2015
- 24,477
- Pool Size
- 16000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Are you running your IC60 using an automation system like the IntelliCenter or EasyTouch? How are you running your pool equipment?