Should liquid chlorine smell just like bleach?

[dafletcha]

I haven't been using liquid chlorine that long or that often. Is it safe to assume that this stuff should smell just like bleach? Cuz what I bought today doesn't smell at all. And based on my before and after test, adding a pint or so doesn't appear to have changed my FC (10k gal pool).

I think I may have gotten a bad batch of CL at FoodMaxx. Too bad, because their price is pretty good, I think: $2.70/gal 10% strength (supposedly ), by Kem-Tek.

[aylad]

In a 10,000 pool, a pint of 10% chlorine should only raise your chlorine by about 1.5 ppm, so unless the chlorine was very evenly distributed, it's possible or even likely for you to get a zero test result. Add in the fact that higher percentages of chlorine tend to break down quicker if stored in light/heat than the lower percentages, so depending on how long that bleach has been in the store and how/where it was stored, it may no longer be 10%.

I have never used 10%, but I would assume that it would smell the same as the 6% bleach that I use. THat's a great price!

Janet

[chem geek]

I use 12.5% chlorinating liquid and it most definitely smells like very strong bleach. Though the higher concentration of chlorine does break down faster, if it is properly stored in shade and away from high heat it should last at least a month or so. The half-life of 10% chlorine at 77F is 220 days (that means it loses half its strength in about 7 months), but if it's exposed to high heat or was left out in the sun, then it will break down much, much faster.

Richard

[dafletcha]

Thanks, everyone! I checked out the second jug in the case and it, too, has very little bleachy odor. Also, it looks like it's not completely full. I'm guessing this case was lying around for quite a while. Hopefully I can exchange this stuff.

[Jakebear]

I've resorted to testing every batch of bleach I buy (I look at the lot number on the bottles).

Using 1 liter of unchlorinated water (Well --- Rain --- Distilled etc) I use a syringe from the pharmacy to add .1 ml (thats one tenth of a mili-liter) then run a FAS-DPD test ---- By doing this you will know exactly what to expect when you add it to your pool.
EDIT --- The test result is equal to the percentage of bleach.