Low chlorine

[jnojr]

My pool was just recently drained and refilled. I have four tabs in my chlorinator, and the last test says 2.5 PPM. Also, very little stabilizer / cyanuric acid... yesterday was the first time a test showed above 0 ppm. The tabs I'm using now say stabilized, so I assume they're slowly adding stabilizer. I've held off on adding stabilizer, since you can't take it back out... my local pool place suggested leaving it be while the weather's cold, and when it starts to warm up see how much we'd need to add then.

At some point, I'll probably install a salt system. For now, I'm trying to figure out the best way to get my chlorine up and keep it up.

 

[ajw22]

What FC level do you want?

Tabs add CL and CYA slowly and take a week to dissolve. If you want your FC or CYA to be higher immediately you need to add it separately.

At a CYA of 0 a FC of 2.5 is fine. See [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]

I am not sure what you want to do or what your concerns are.

 

[Texas Splash]

jnojn, on your other thread about determining pool volume, you also asked which test kit to use. That is key to answering your question on this thread. To know how much chlorine (aka regular bleach) to add, you need to know your current CYA (stabilizer) level. That is a critical test to perform at home with one of those recommended test kits. Once you know your CYA, you can balance using the chart Allen provided above.

I will say this though. Since you just refilled, did anyone add stabilizer/conditioner other than the pucks you have floating right now? If not, then you can use the PoolMath tool to add stabilizer via the sock method for a winter goal of about 30-40 ppm. Then you'll know what FC to maintain base on that [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA].

 

[AUSpool]

... my local pool place suggested leaving it be while the weather's cold, and when it starts to warm up see how much we'd need to add then.

If it was my pool I wouldn’t wait till it warms up, I would take control sooner than later. AZ has mild winters and you have a heater, its easier to maintain FC/CYA than it is to SLAM if you end up with an algae bloom. The pool shop would love to sell you stuff to treat an algae bloom.

 

[jnojr]

If it was my pool I wouldn’t wait till it warms up, I would take control sooner than later. AZ has mild winters and you have a heater, its easier to maintain FC/CYA than it is to SLAM if you end up with an algae bloom. The pool shop would love to sell you stuff to treat an algae bloom.

Yeah, good point. I'm a little nervous about stabilizer since it's a one-way street. What PPM should I aim for? And can you get unstabilized chlorine to not continually add more?

 

[ajw22]

Yeah, good point. I'm a little nervous about stabilizer since it's a one-way street. What PPM should I aim for? And can you get unstabilized chlorine to not continually add more?

30ppm of CYA should be your minimum.

Solid CL pucks include either CYA or CH. CL is a gas and they need something else to bind to make it solid.

That is why many of us have a SWG or use liquid chlorine.

 

[Divin Dave]

As long as you don't continually use pucks or powder forms of chlorine with CYA as the stabilizer, there is no need to be worried about your CYA level as long as you have a proper test kit and maintain the CYA at recommended levels.

Unless you have a SWG, Liquid Chlorine is the only reasonably accessible source of chlorine for our home pools which does not add stabilizer.

As for your comment below. Im not sure what you mean by this. No matter what, you'll continually have to add more chlorine in order to maintain the ratio of FC to that of CYA. Some of us do it by hand using bleach, others like me use a SWG, and others use an automatic dosing system to dispense liquid chlorine into the pool.

And can you get unstabilized chlorine to not continually add more?

 

[jnojr]

As long as you don't continually use pucks or powder forms of chlorine with CYA as the stabilizer, there is no need to be worried about your CYA level as long as you have a proper test kit and maintain the CYA at recommended levels.

Unless you have a SWG, Liquid Chlorine is the only reasonably accessible source of chlorine for our home pools which does not add stabilizer.

Thanks. I am looking into a SWG. I'm ordering a test kit and will quit the pucks (my wife paid $40 for a few pounds of the darn things!) and use liquid chlorine as needed.

As for your comment below. Im not sure what you mean by this. No matter what, you'll continually have to add more chlorine in order to maintain the ratio of FC to that of CYA. Some of us do it by hand using bleach, others like me use a SWG, and others use an automatic dosing system to dispense liquid chlorine into the pool.

I was worried about continually adding CYA, not chlorine I know I always need chlorine!

 

[AUSpool]

You don’t need to trash the pucks just yet, you can continue to use them until you reach your target CYA. BUT, very important, you need to know when to stop. Either by testing or theoretical level from Poolmath. Unfortunatly the CYA test is the most ambiguous of them all but with practice you do get the hang of it. If you know how many pucks you’ve added from your refill you can calculate you theoretical CYA level from Poolmath by using your pool volume and the affects of adding chemicals down the bottom of the page. I would use both.

Once you’ve reached your selected CYA level your best option without a SWCG is bleach but don’t use the new cloromax. You need standard uncented bleach with no additives.

I believe you’ve already been offered a recommended CYA level at 30 - 40ppm and you will find the recommended levels hear https://www.troublefreepool.com/content/134-recommended-levels