Starting Conversion today 6-11-11

[mindy1978]

I verified the chlorine level was 0 at the pool store and used the calculator to figure how much bleach to add.

How do you verify that levels make it all the way to 15?

Do you wait a few minutes and test after adding bleach?

 

[JasonLion]

In the early stages of a conversion the chlorine goes away so quickly that you can't really verify that it gets to 15. Just add the calculated amount, wait an hour, and test again.

 

[mindy1978]

Ok, so I think I am making some progress. Thanks so much for all of the help.

Here is what I did today:

1:00

FC: 0

Added 5.5 jugs of 96 oz Bleach
__________________________

2:00

FC: 2

CC: 5

Added 5 jugs of 96 oz Bleach
__________________________

3:00

FC: 2

CC: 4

Added 5 jugs of 96 oz Bleach
__________________________

4:00

FC: 1

CC: 7

Added 5.5 jugs of 96 oz Bleach
__________________________

5:00

FC: 6.5

CC: 5.5

Added 3 jugs of 96 oz Bleach
__________________________

I've literally been by the pool all day today. I have been backwashing about every 1/2 hour and finally cleaned out the filter. It was a mess.

Right now I have lots of yellowish scum floating on top of the water. I try to skim it out, but I can't. Will this eventually disappear?

I also tested with a bacquacil strip and it showed low to 0 sanitizer in the water.

I have to work tomorrow, but plan to stop and get more bleach on my way home and add every hour in the evening if I can.

Does this sound pretty normal? Am I making progress?

Here are my Day 2 pics:

Shallow End:
[attachment=1:lmdkben2]day2-shallow.jpg[/attachment:lmdkben2]

Deep End:
[attachment=2:lmdkben2]day2-deep-end.jpg[/attachment:lmdkben2]

All:
[attachment=0:lmdkben2]day2-pool.jpg[/attachment:lmdkben2]

Mindy

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, things are now going very well.

Everything you describe is normal, though often the water looks far worse than that

 

[mindy1978]

So I woke up this morning to see that the baqua-Crud has settled to the bottom of the pool. Water is still cloudy but clearer than yesterday.

I am working today, but my husband is going to vacuum to waste, brush the sides and hopefully clean the baqua-goo out of the filter.

Is there anything else we need to be doing at this stage?

I topped off my bleach last night at about 10:00. Tested this morning around 7:00.

FC: 4

CC: 5

So I added enough bleach to bring the levels back up and will re-test when I get home from work and start adding hourly if need be. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't know how to test the levels.

Mindy

 

[JasonLion]

Wonderful progress!

Now that your chlorine isn't all vanishing overnight you have a choice to make. You are now losing more chlorine to sunlight during the day than is being used to get rid of the baqua. If you add chlorine only in the evenings you will be able to complete the conversion with less total chlorine used, but it will take a little bit more calendar time.

 

[mindy1978]

I am actually more interested in getting done sooner. Not too worried about the chlorine...

So if I still add during the day, should I still do it hourly or wait a few hours between?

 

[JasonLion]

If you want to be done as soon as possible, then keep testing and adding chlorine hourly for now.

 

[mindy1978]

Wow, left this morning to a cloudy pool full of baqua-Crud. Came home to this:

[attachment=1:23c97kr9]day3-shallow.jpg[/attachment:23c97kr9]

[attachment=0:23c97kr9]day3-deep.jpg[/attachment:23c97kr9]

Husband vacuumed and added about 5 jugs of chlorine while I was at work.

Tested the levels, now at:

FC: 1

CC: 2

PH:7.2

Going to keep adding chlorine hourly. Getting excited now!!

Mindy

 

[JasonLion]

That is really looking wonderful. You are past the half way point, the next step is to get the FC level to hold overnight.

 

[mindy1978]

Water is still beautiful... Crystal clear.

I tested this morning when the sun was starting to hit the water. Do I need to test earlier than that?

FC: 7.5

CC: 1.5

Will be adding chlorine when I am home today. Luckily the weather has cooled off and instead of being in the 90s every day, it has been in the 70s. Perfect week for the conversion.

We have a polaris, solar cover and floats that were in the baquacil. I know I read somewhere they I can soak them in the pool for about an hour when the FC is high. Is it better to do this at night when the FC isn't burning off so fast? With the polaris, should I run the chlorinated water through the hoses? or is just soaking enough?

Mindy

 

[JasonLion]

I'd wait on the polaris until the last stage of the conversion, after your have CYA in, and run it for about an hour while FC is high.

 

[mindy1978]

Update for today.

Tested levels several times throughout the day, but need more chlorine so I only topped it off twice.

CC levels have been around .5-1 today.

I will bring the FC levels back up to 15 tonight and see how it holds.

 

[mindy1978]

FC level was still 15ppm this morning, which is exciting!

So now I add the CYA?

Once the CYA is in, do I need to keep my FC level at 15 during the day? Or still just top it off at night?

Do I still need to be running the filter 24 hours a day?

Thanks for everything! I feel like the end is in sight!

Mindy

 

[JasonLion]

Now that the FC level has held overnight, it is time to replace the filter media and then add CYA.

Once CYA is in, you can switch to only adding more chlorine once a day in the evening. At this point you are waiting for the CC level to be 0.5 or lower two days in a row, and then you are done!

I would continue running the pump 24/7 until you pass the CC test, though it isn't as crucial at this point.

 

[mindy1978]

So once the CYA is in, I still need to bring the FC level up to 15 at night?

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, FC should continue to go up to 15 in the evening until the CC level is 0.5 or lower two days in a row.

 

[mindy1978]

Do I need to clean the filter before adding the CYA?

 

[JasonLion]

You need to do a complete breakdown and cleaning of the filter. The grids should be examined to see if they are still good. Sometimes baqgoo sticks to the grids and hardens, ruining the grids. If they look promising, you should do an overnight soak of the grids in a mixture of one cup of automatic dishwasher detergent for every five gallons of water, and then rinse them off before replacing.

After that, add CYA.

 

[mindy1978]

If I dont' have dishwasher detergeant, can I use filter cleaner and soak it in that all night?