Opening

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JEM31

Well-known member
Jul 13, 2020
58
NJ
Got an early start this year. Opened our pool on Saturday. It was very clear. Filter has been running with an automatic chlorinator. Started getting a little cloudy that. Tested water, here is what I got.

FC 5.5
CC 1.0
ph 7.2
TA 50
CYA 40
Pool temp 74 degrees

This is the first time in 3 years that the pool is clear when opening. Thanks for all your help these past 2 years.
 
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AK- said:
I have to ask. What do you mean by “automatic chlorinator”?
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It gets hooked up to where the water comes out of the filter before going back into the pool and you add 5"ish chlorine tablets to it. So when the filter is on, the water gets chlorinated as it goes thru the filter. Ours is the inline hookup.
 

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With 40 CYA the “Chlorinator” is not an immediate issue, but make sure you keep an eye on your CYA.

Do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test. A CC of 1 without a clear explanation (like heavy bather load) can be an indication something is already going on.

BTW, your definition of opening early is way different than mine. :)
 
Ohio. April 15-30th.

BTW, we here at TFP really want people to understand what they are putting in their pools and why. The vast majority use liquid chlorine or have a salt water chlorine generator. We reserve the usage of pucks for when we might want to raise CYA levels, or we go on vacation and have no other way to chlorinate.

The primary reason is that pucks add CYA (cyanuric acid) to the pool. As you add more CYA to the pool, you need higher levels of FC to maintain a sanitizing level of HOCl. Read this: FC/CYA Levels. When your CYA level gets high enough (mine was 70 when I got my algae outbreak and was pool stored), you will get algae because the pucks can't add enough FC. Unfortunately, when you have high CYA, the ONLY way to get it out is to drain a portion of the pool and refill (or exchange some water).

For a liquid chlorine pool, we recommend between 40-50 for your CYA levels. If you use pucks on an ongoing basis, your CYA will get too high and you will have to exchange. Few here do that. But, they know it is going to happen.

You might do a bit of reading here:
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
 
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Building upon what @PoolStored said. It is OK to deviate a little from the recommendations, but you must be fully aware of the consequences of what you doing and have a plan to deal if them.
I had an one of those in-line chlorinators (removed to open space for my SWG) and I used it in some occasions. Last year my cya was dropping too much due to excessive rain and I put in some tables exactly because I wanted to bring my CYA up. It is common place to use tablets when away/unable to care for the pool, but that extra CYA will have to be dealt with by either increasing the FC or doing a partial drain/refill.

BTW, I open mid-April (15-20) and I close mid-Oct (I close at SLAM level). In April when I open I still have quite some chlorine and absolutely no algae.
 
AK- said:
Building upon what @PoolStored said. It is OK to deviate a little from the recommendations, but you must be fully aware of the consequences of what you doing and have a plan to deal if them.
I had an one of those in-line chlorinators (removed to open space for my SWG) and I used it in some occasions. Last year my cya was dropping too much due to excessive rain and I put in some tables exactly because I wanted to bring my CYA up. It is common place to use tablets when away/unable to care for the pool, but that extra CYA will have to be dealt with by either increasing the FC or doing a partial drain/refill.

BTW, I open mid-April (15-20) and I close mid-Oct (I close at SLAM level). In April when I open I still have quite some chlorine and absolutely no algae.
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Do you have a heater in your pool? Mine is way too cold even now at 74 lol. I didn't know that about the pucks. Will probably not use them this year. Do you use liquid chlorine?
 
At TFP we recommend you open/close based on water temp and not date.
You want to open when the pool water temp hits 60º, so if any problems require addressing they will be done before warm sunny weather arrives.
You want to close when the water temp goes down to 60º because this assumes you've managed the pool and maintained it clear and sparkly and then close it with cold water.
Algae grows even in cold water.....just very, very slowly.

Maddie :flower:
 
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JEM31 said:
Do you have a heater in your pool? Mine is way too cold even now at 74 lol. I didn't know that about the pucks. Will probably not use them this year. Do you use liquid chlorine?
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Yes, I have a heater. It is quite an undersized heat pump that I have to plan days ahead. We swam Sunday and Yesterday (Saturday we had some thunderstorms). Right now my pool temp is 84F down from 89F last evening but on its way up to 88F. We won’t use the pool Thu and Fri due to forecasted rain, but I need to keep it heated if I want to use it in the weekend.

I was on LC. Switched to SWG this spring. Still have to use LC because SWG only works when the water temp is above 65F. So opening and closing are LC.
 
So last night the Fc was 7.5 CC 0.
This morning FC is 5, CC 0
There were a couple of pucks in the floating chlorinator/thermometer that was in the pool. I didn't see it yesterday.
 
YippeeSkippy said:
Do you cover your pool between uses to help maintain heat?
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Not sure if you are asking me or the OP. Since it is useful information I’m going to answer any way. Yes I do and on a sunny day I get up to 120K BTU out of the solar cover. I hate the CC smell when the cover comes off, but it is usually gone in about an hour.
 
JEM31 said:
So last night the Fc was 7.5 CC 0.
This morning FC is 5, CC 0
There were a couple of pucks in the floating chlorinator/thermometer that was in the pool. I didn't see it yesterday.
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A loss of 2.5 ppm of FC over night is a very strong indication something is growing on your water. So time to start a SLAM Process
 
AK- said:
A loss of 2.5 ppm of FC over night is a very strong indication something is growing on your water. So time to start a SLAM Process
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So I checked out the CYA/FC chart. At a CYA of 40, the FC should be at a minimum of 5, which is 5.5, so I don't need to add any liquid chlorine now? Correct? Just keep checking the FC and make sure it doesn't go below 5. The app used to show you the numbers for the SLAM process but it doesn't look like it's there now. Seems like the app changed a little? Do I need to upgrade to the premium to get the SLAM calculator?
 
JEM31 said:
Do I need to upgrade to the premium to get the SLAM calculator?
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No. The upgrade is for keeping track over time of your logs. BTW, it totally worth it.

On the dashboard click on FC And toggle the SLAM switch. It will give you the option to select the % of the LC and give you the amounts to add. Make sure your pool size is properly set.


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So I sham the pool this week. It was taking about a quart of LC each time I checked, to keep it at SLAM level. Did the overnight chlorine test and chlorine was good..no loss. Pool is clear. I tested for FC though and there is no FC. Not sure why or how to fix that. Thank you. Fc right now is 7.5, CYA is about 36.
 

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