Sue from FL in Baqua-heck

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Soidum percarbonate will also kill pink slime, btw.

Once the sodium percarbonte had dropped the biguande level to 0 ppm then add your chorine. Once the chloirine levels are 15 ppm change the sand, and add your cyanuric acid and balance the pool.

If I am not mistaken Leslie's Fresh and Clear is NOT sodium percarbonate but is potassium monopersulfate (MPS, the normal non chlorine shock that is sold everywhere) and will NOT successfully convert a biguanide pool to chlorine. If you cannot find sodium percarbonate locally and you do not want to order it online and you do not mind taking a drive to St. Augustine then PM me. We do stock System Support where I work.
 
Just waiting on UPS now. The sodium percarbonate and my TF100 test kit should be here today.

For those who are interested, I ordered 3, 2lb. packs of the the sodium percarbonate from The Chemistry Store and it came to $29 shipped. I also stocked up on chlorine, baking soda and borax for later. Still need to get filter sand, but won't need it for a few days.

Still have a few questions before I start...

My pool is 8500 gallons, so I figured I needed just under 5lbs. of the SP, but I had to buy 6lbs. Should I go ahead and put it all in?

I am assuming it is a powder... should I dissolve it in a bucket before dumping it in? And do I put it all in at once or spread it out?

While the sodium percarbonate is doing its thing, I guess I would just run my filter continuously. Will there be a need to brush or vac or backwash?

Any last minute tips or advice would be welcome!
 
I would put in 4 1/4 lbs. The lower your biguanide levels before you start the faster the conversion will go. Leave the pump and filter on the whole time. Just broadcast it into the water. Test your biguanide after 24 hours. If it is NOT at 0 ppm then circulate for another 24 hours. It should be at 0 by then. IF not add the rest of the sodum percarbonate and circulate untill the biguanide is at 0 ppm.
Once the biguanide is at 0 ppm add chlorine to bring the level up to 15 ppm. Any remaining percarbonate will destroy the chlorine so it might take a few times before it holds. Change your sand, balance the water and add stabilzer and you are good to go.
 
When you say test your biguanide, do you mean the oxidizer or the sanitizer? I know the oxidizer level was already very low or zero, but the sanitizer was high (40-50 PPM). At least as far as I can tell using the goofy test strips.
 
Just an update... After 24 hours, the sanitizer level has dropped slightly... maybe from 50 to 30 according to the test strips. pH and TA were off the chart. Visually the water looks the same. I backwashed a little but it didn't seem very dirty. Will wait another 24 hours and test again.
 
Well this morning the biguanide level had not changed from last night so I added the other 1/2 bottle of percarb. I tested again late this afternoon and no change. The sodium percab does not seem to be doing anything anymore and I've used it all. I also had a new layer of algae on the bottom which I brushed as best I could. I feel I should do something as it has been the hottest week of the year and the water temp is over 90 right now. Should I put chlorine in tonight?
 
In my opinion, you should start using the bleach method. I dont know anything about the other chemical so I cant help you with that one.

Start pouring enough bleach in to bring the chlorine up to 15ppm, and check it 3-4 times a day if possible and put more in to keep bringing it up to 15ppm. Once the 15ppm holds overnight, and the water is crystal clear, you have completed the conversion and need to change your filter out (sand, cartridge, whatever).
 

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YOur biguanide levels were pretty high when you started. The sodium percarbonate got you a head start on killing the biquanide. If you don't have any left you can start on the bleach. I would make sure you cirulate for 24 hours after the last addition of sodium percarbonate so it can do whatever it's going to before you hit it with bleach. You are going to need a lot of bleach so you might want to check the prices on poolstore chlorine and if it's stronger (usually 10 or 12.5%) If it's stronger and less expensive then go with it.
 
Bleach is in! It turned green right away but not as bad as some of the pictures I had seen. It was a clear green where you could still see the bottom steps.

I tested again after letting it circulate 2 hours. Here are those results:
FC=10
CC=2.5
Added bleach to bring it back up to 15. I'll test again first thing tomorrow.

I have a feeling my Baquacil test strips were wrong. I found an old package that was still within the expiration date and they were showing the sanitizer levels much lower--almost nothing. So I really have no idea what it was or is.

I still need sand so I was planning a trip tomorrow for that and more bleach. I only have 4 and a partial bottle on-hand.
 
From this afternoon to this evening my FC did not drop and my CC is very low (like 1). My water is still green, but it never got so green that I could not see to the bottom. Is this good or bad?
 
Ugh... I am still at it. It is SO hot and miserable here... this is torture not being able to swim.

I wondered if putting my Aquabot vacuum in might help things along by circulating more from the bottom? But I'm not sure if the high chlorine levels would cause damage to it? Any thoughts on that?
 
Okay!

I posted some pictures of the progress. They can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/sue.chastai ... ToChlorine

My husband went to get more chlorine today and the store was closed earlier than we thought. Arg! I have a feeling the last of what I have will go in tonight and then I have to get more first thing tomorrow when they open.

Crossing my fingers for clear water in the morning...
 

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