Start-up with chorine after 2yrs of Baqua-yuck

[PoolDoc]

Glad the forum helped!

You might want to add the acid, or at least some of it. Your pH is on the high end of what most testers can measure, which means your pH is not "7.8 exactly", but "7.8 or higher". High pH is hard on liners, though 7.8 is OK if it really *is* 7.8.

Otherwise, add some CYA -- 0 is too low. ;-)

And, keep your chlorine up. Current levels are OK, with no CYA, but follow the best guess chart as your CYA rises.

Best wishes,
Ben

[csupp]

Quick follow up question...

I'm shocking with cal hypo (HTH Super Shock N Swim) to get my chlorine up, but I'm also putting trichlor tabs in the skimmers to raise both chlorine and assist with CYA. I probably should have asked here before doing this... But is there any problem with using both types of chlorine at once? (I'm pre-dissolving the cal hypo in 5 gal bucket before distributing in deep end.)

I added half a gallon of muriatic acid to bring down the pH. And I slow poured 4# of stablizer in the skimmer last night to dose the CYA.

I bought a cheap HTH 5-way test kit to hold me over until the Taylor K2006 arrives. I will post numbers later today.

[madwil]

if you added stabilizer, I wouldn't use the trichlor any more for a week maybe and get a good CYA test; trichlor adds CYA, and to much can complicate your pool! It will also drop your pH over time...
The cal-hypo adds CH, your fine now if vinyl or need a little more for concrete, but eventually you'll want to use bleach for Chlorine so you don't overdo the CH

[csupp]

I have ditched the trichor tabs because I found out they were the "dual action" w/ the copper. Hopefully I got them out before my pool became too polluted with copper. Green cast to the water this morning, but by afternoon it has cleared up for the most part.

Still trying to figure out the home HTH kit. First test I did showed pH around 7.0 range and chlorine was inaccurate because I shocked the pool with 3lbs of cal hypo again this morning. I did get another pool store test reading (somewhat limited because their printer was down).

CL - 1.5
PH - 7.2
TA - 145
CH - 182

The CYA isn't showing up on the test yet, since I just put stabilizer in the filter last night.

Pool store doesn't like that I'm using the cal hypo to shock and chlorinate because of "inert materials that will clog up the sand filter".

[madwil]

you mean the inert materials that dissolve in the water and pass through the filter? lol
Pool stores- they don't understand their own products, much less someone doing it different!

[csupp]

Like everywhere else, lots of storms here. Rain might be lowering my pH, so I may hit it with Borax soon.

Ran the HTH 5-way test. Still scratching my head a bit.

Chlorine is reading in the 5 box. So I'm max out on the kit, unless I go to the distilled water method. Until the Taylor kit arrives. But I'm scratching my head because the pool store read the chlorine at 1.5 yesterday. Would 5# of HTH Super Shock N Swim juice the chlorine that much in less than 24 hours? It's only 49% cal hypo with all those darn "inert materials".

(I'm very new at this, and failed chemistry, so I'm at a disadvantage here.)

My pH is reading 7.2 on the kit, so that jibes with the pool store.

Water is clear as glass. But a definite shade of green in the deep end. Which I'm very concerned may be the copper.

[Watermom]

Doesn't the bag of cal-hypo tell you how much so much quantity should raise the cl per amount of volume. i don't use cal-hypo, so not sure. Al (Poconos) uses cal-hypo and he says that his guess is that it easily would give you that much of an increase. That is a pretty hefty dose