Pool smells like chlorine

[Dirk]

Don't use strips. Don't use pool stores.

If you suspect your CYA is either 0 or 40, and you need to get to 70 for your SWG, that's easy, and you can kill two birds with one stone. Use Pool Math to determine how much CYA to add to your pool to get it to CYA 30. Let us know if you need help on how to add CYA. Let the new CYA mix in really well, like a day or two (while keeping your FC up) and then test using your Taylor Kit. If you get 30, then you'll know your reagent is OK and that you were really at 0 to begin with. If you get anything else, that means your CYA was originally somewhere between 0 and 40, just not enough to show up on the Taylor test, and now you'll have a testable amount. Then go back to Pool Math to calculate how much more to add to get to 70 (or whatever your target is).

It's prudent to add CYA in chunks like that anyway, taking up to a week or more of adding and waiting a day or two between additions, to "creep up" on your target. CYA can take a while to mix in and then show up on a test, and by creeping up on it you can avoid overshooting, which can only be fixed by exchanging water.

So maybe shoot for 30, then 50 or 60, then 70, like that.

 

[Dirk]

Oh, check the expiration date on the reagent. All Taylor chemicals are supposed to be dated. You don't always get fresh from Amazon. It should be at least a year away from expiration, or I'd send it back. I can't remember off hand if new CYA reagent is normally one or two years out away from expiring...

If you buy from TFTestKits, you won't have that issue. They only sell fresh.

 

[mknauss]

IF it is R0013 reagent, it should good. It is the most stable reagent we use.

 

[BKB]

It is R-0013, Cyanuric acid reagent. The best buy date is 6/22.
Based on Pool Math, I need to add 107 oz stabilizer.
I'll add that using the sock method and keep testing, it says up to a week. If still showing 0, I think I can assume the reagent is bad and send it back.
My next order will be at TFTestKits

 

[Dirk]

I don't like adding CYA directly to my pool (long story), but since you might have to move the level by a lot, that's probably the way to do it. IMO, the @kimkats method is safest for your pool and fastest. Put the granules in the sock and tie the sock off real good. Then get in the pool with the sock and walk around with it, kneading the sock as you go until all the CYA is dissolved. That will prevent any large chunk of undissolved CYA from reaching the bottom (where it can stain) and that will prevent the CYA from getting trapped in your filter. That method will cut down on the time it takes to get an accurate test result.

 

[kimkats]

Yeah I was the "test subject" for the squeezing the sock to get the CYA into the pool. I walked and walked around the pool with first one sock then another to make sure it all got into the pool asap.........I was able to test for my CYA the next morning and it tested at what I had added!

Happy squeezing!

Kim

 

[markayash]

I put on a new hair net on the skimmer and added it a little at a time. It dissolves slow BUT I do run my pump 24x7. I wouldn't try this if your pump shuts off.
Plus I only pour in a little at a time.
Wasn't sure if it would damage the hairnet but so far it held up well

 

[BKB]

Thanks to all of the fantastic guidance, my pool water is crystal clear, no drop in FC overnight and the chlorine smell (CC) is gone. The SLAM worked and I don't want to do that again You were also right about the CYA and my reagent not being bad; I didn't have any CYA in the pool. I used Pool Math and after several days the level is at 50 and maintaining. I do have a question regarding the FC and CYA though. SInce I have a SWG, if I use the ChemGeek recommendations, I wouldn't have to have the CYA at a minimum of 60 like I see stated even in Pool Math, just make sure the FC is never below 5.7. I don't see that he distinguishes whether you use chlorine or SWG to maintain you level. Am I correct with this assumption?
It seems it would be easier to stay around 50 so the FC doesn't have to be too high and I don't get too close to being over the CYA levels.
My current testing revealed:
FC 7.5
CC 0-.5
pH 7.6
TA 100
CH 225
CYA 50
Salt 3200
Thanks much

 

[Dirk]

Don'ta messa witha the recipe-a!

I use this, not sure if that is what you're referring to or not. It's what is recommended for residential pool maintenance.

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

If you're done with the SLAM, go back on the SWG. Target 70 for CYA. 60 is not recommended (check fine print!) in referenced chart. Target at least 5 for FC. Though in my pool I ignore the minimum of 3 and pretend 5 is my minimum. I want that extra 2, just in case. Mine dropped to 2.5 on a hot day with swim party... boom... algae. Don'ta messa witha the recipe-a!

If you've pulled your numbers from elsewhere, I'll have to defer to a TFP expert on that. I know the chart I referenced works, and that going off it doesn't (for my pool, anyway)...

Glad to hear you got it cleaned up! Good job!!

 

[mgtfp]

Go with the table that Dirk linked, that's where Chem Geek's original table has been evolved and simplified to.

In Chem Geek's table is a footnote for SWG:

"Most saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pools appear to prevent algae at a minimum FC level of 4.5% of the CYA level as compared with the roughly 7.5% of the CYA level shown in the "Min FC" column for manually dosed pools"

I.e. the non-SWG min-column is basically the target column for SWG-pools.