Questions about conversion process.

[jla]

Hello! I’m a new pool owner of a 20 year old, 11,000 gallon in ground vinyl pool with baquacil. When we moved in, the water was cloudy so we tried following our pool store’s recommendations for a couple weeks without any success, and decided we would like to just convert to chlorine. I’m guessing we have a white mold issue, and I’m tired of dumping chemicals/money into my pool and still having cloudy water. We also have some sand leaking into the pool from our filter, we are guessing it might be a cracked lateral, but we figure that if we are going to empty the filter and replace the sand, we might as well convert at this time. This site has been a great resource since our pool store is not at all helpful now that I’ve told them we are trying to convert.

I ordered a the testing kit i saw recommended here. My three biggest questions right now are 1) do I need to let the biguanides drop lower before starting the process? They are currently at 35 according to our pool stores test. I don’t see that mentioned in the TFP conversion process but i see it mentioned elsewhere on other sites. 2) I see manual vacuuming recommended to collect the baqua goo or precipitate that forms during conversion. Should I refrain from using my robot during the process? Do I use it in conjunction with manual vacuuming? And 3) My pH is at an 8 - do I need to bring this down before starting the conversion?

I hope I’m not crazy for starting this process during a heatwave in the middle of summer, but I’m a stay at home mom and can babysit my pool and keep brushing and maintain and test the FC level throughout the day. Hopefully I can get through the process relatively quickly.

Thanks in advance to anyone who reads this and might be able to help!

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum! :handshake:

Pool School - Convert Your Baqua Pool to Chlorine

I am not an expert in this but wanted to Welcome you and point you towards the Pool School article.

I know those with more experience in this will be by soon. They will want more information. Can you fill out a signature? See Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post

Take care.

 

[Donldson]

Welcome to TFP!

Yeah, pool stores that push baqua probably aren't super excited to cut off that money stream. Your ability to babysit the pool should help it go as quickly as possible. And fantastic job with the test kit purchase, it will help you not only convert but keep a trouble free pool going forward. I also like your thinking on the sand filter, as long as it isn't stopping the filter from working you should be fine to hold off until the sand replacement section of the process.

Ok, so on to the questions. I don't think you need to let the biguanide level drop. Yes, it will take more chlorine to oxidize it all but waiting for it to drop just means longer in the heat wave with a pool you don't want to swim in. I wouldn't run your robot during the conversion. The goo created by the conversion will clog it up. You will want to get the robot a good cleaning in chlorinated water and might want to replace the filters though. Someone who has converted with a robot might chime in to offer more hands-on advice on that one. Finally yes, you will want to bring your pH down to 7.2-7.4 before beginning the process. You will be keeping the chlorine level up high enough that it will be difficult to get an accurate read on it.

Other than that, follow the process to a T and ask any questions you might have. It may take some time to get through the conversion and get everything up and running with chlorine, but it is all worth it the first time you see that TFP sparkle. Best of luck with the conversion!!

 

[jla]

Thanks for the replies! After reading more information in posts here, I’m contemplating draining my pool and refilling. My husband added CDX about a month ago when we first started out with attempting to get the water clear with the Baquacil system, and I’m reading that the chemical in the CDX might cause some problems with holding the chlorine level even after adding stabilizer. I need to verify with the county that I’m reading our water rates correctly before I go about it. I also need to come up with a game plan for exactly how much water to dump, what I need for the cleaning process, and how best to do so once we’ve drained the pool.