Just began the conversion

[Can Opener]

I made the run to Costco yesterday (Sunday) for the bleach. Just picked up 8 large jugs. Two 182oz jugs for $5.54. Ran by the pool store for a Taylor K-2006 but they were closed. I began last night to take advantage of the evening.
8/9
2100- Add first bleach, 2.8gallons (two jugs)
2230- 2 jugs
2345- 1 jug

Today: 8/10
This morning the pool looked like a PHMB pool. Just a little cloudy. No color.
0800- 2 jugs
0930- 1 jug
out of bleach and off to the pool store for the test kit.
Picked up 20 large jugs.

1400- 2 jugs

1st test at 1500

FC: 27ppm posting.php?mode=post&f=44#
CC: 3ppm
pH: 8

RETEST with a 10ml 1/2 diluted test at 1545

FC 27
CC: 3

At this point, I'm not sure if my test was off or if I've added too much bleach. My bad for not testing each and every time. It took 54 drops of 0871 at the 10ml level. I'll test again in another hour.
History of the pool. I opened the pool last year in Aug. Added Soft Swim PHMB. Closed the pool in Sept for the winter. I opened the pool in June this year. The pool has had 32 oz of PHMB (Soft Swim B) and 6 gallons of H2O2 added this year. As of yesterday, all the PHMB chemicals were low. Is it safe to assume I don't have a large build up of chemicals in the pool?

 

[JasonLion]

Can you give us some details about how you are testing the FC level? The FC level should be falling very rapidly on the first day of a conversion, so I suspect some kind of testing error.

 

[Can Opener]

I have the Taylor K-2006. I put 10ml of pool water in the vial, 2 scoops of power and the water turned pink and then cleared up. Instructions said to add 1 more scoop of power. Then, while swirling, it took 56 drops of 6071. FC of 27. I retested a short time later by adding 5ml of RODI water and 5ml of pool water. 1 drop of reagent should = 1 ppm of FC. It took 27 drops of 6071 reagent for the vial to turn from pink to clear.
I thought the first day would consume a lot of FC also???

 

[Can Opener]

oops... I meant R0871. I just did a 3:1 test diluted test to save on the reagent. 7.5ml of RODI and 2.5ml of pool water. One scoop of powder and 11 drops of 0871. Wouldn't that yield a FC of 33ppm?
I may be doing something wrong. I'll wait another couple of hours and test again. There is no cloudiness or color in the water. Pool has 14.2 gallons of 6% bleach in the past 18 hours.

 

[JasonLion]

When you are doing a 3 to 1 dilution, you multiply the result by 4. 11 drops becomes 44 drops, each of which counts as 0.5 of FC. That gives an FC reading of 22. Other than that, it sounds like you are doing the FC test correctly.

I suggest doing a CYA test. If your CYA level is really high, it might account for what you are seeing. That is just about the only thing I can think of that could account for your results.

 

[Can Opener]

2030 test
FC 20
CC 3
pH 8
TA-120
CYA- 0
The pool looks cleaner and clearer than ever. It has a sparkle it's never had. I'll wait till the morning to retest and see what's happened. Have you ever heard of a conversion taking 24-48 hours? Assuming I had very low residual of Baqa/Soft Swim, maybe it's possible.

 

[Can Opener]

8/11
0900 test
FC 14; added 20 oz bleach to bring up to 15
CC 3
still no significant color change

 

[Can Opener]

1330 Test
Mostly cloudy weather today.
FC- 8 Added 1 gal, 2 cups to bring FC to 15
CC- 2
pH 7.4
Should I be concerned with pH fluctuations while converting? Last pH was 8.0 but the FC was really high.

 

[JasonLion]

The PH will read higher than it actually is when the FC level is very high.

 

[Can Opener]

Tested last night at 2130
FC 13 Added 41 oz to bring FC to 15
CC 2

It rained most of the evening.

This morning at 0830;
FC 11
CC 2
pH 7.8

Rained on and off most of the night.

 

[JasonLion]

Good! With an FC loss of only 4 overnight, you are get towards the end of the conversion.

At this stage it isn't always worth maintaining the FC level during the day. Adding chlorine during the day will speed up the conversion, but it will also take a lot more chlorine than if you only add chlorine in the evenings.

 

[Can Opener]

Thanks Jason for following the progress of my conversion. The pool clarity looks incredible. One day this summer, I thought my pool sparkled with the addition of $50 of Soft Swim chemicals. Boy was I wrong. And the clarity only lasted one day. I may be able to do the BBB method for just the cost of the amount of water I had to backwash daily with Soft Swim.
last test at 1230
FC 10 I brought the FC to 15
CC 1t.
From now on, I'll wait for sunset. It's not been great swimming weather this week anyway.