CYA level and chlorine level and pool store recomendation

[aylad]

There are pucks without stabilizer in them, but they are cal-hypo and are NOT going to work for what you want. They used to make a good one that was encased in plastic like a medicine capsule, and they worked great, but for some reason they did away with them and the ones they have now just go to mush after a day or so. Won't last long enough for you to do what you want to do.

Keeping the tabs in the chlorinator while you're away, but using bleach while you're at home, is a reasonable plan. Just make sure the floater is tethered so that it can't float over near the pool edge and park itself there--you'll end up with bleached liner from concentrated low pH and high chlorine. I would also consider raising your pH just a bit before you go, just to make sure it doesn't drift below 7.0 while you're gone. If the CYA gets too high, then you can either backwash/refill some of the water to lower it, or just up your chlorine levels to compensate. If you're only using them occasionally, though, I don't think you'll have a problem. The other option would be to add a dose of Polyquat 60, give it a day or so on recirculate, then shock the pool and cover it up--that's what many folks around here do when they're closing for the winter. The worst case is that you may have a little algae when you come back, but that's easily dealt with. My concern would be leaving the pump running for two weeks with no one to check and make sure the skimmer isn't plugged up with something, the water level isn't too low, etc....

Janet

[Fishcrazy]

Thanks for those thoughts Janet. I am planning to cover the pool but leave the pump on when I leave it for any extended time due to the fact that the leaves and pine needles WILL clog the skimmer for sure. Is there any reason I am missing in this thought process to disuade me from doing this? I know that if I developed a slow leak that droped the water down below the skimmer I would be hosed. Maybe a low water switch to cut the pump off in that case? Any ideas out there on the switch?

Maybe I should just do what you suggest with the polyquat 60 and raise the Cl to shock level and shut it down for the time Im away. The other possibility is the neighbor could look after it. I have not approached him about it but they would enjoy having a pool for a couple of weeks Im sure. Just dont know if I should impose on him so much.

Oh well. Any of you that have similar issues I would sure like to hear from you.

[chem geek]

When we go away for more than just a few days we usually have someone stay in our house and we have them add chlorine to the pool. With our mostly opaque electric safety cover, they only need to add chlorine about twice a week.

If we didn't have that option or a neighbor to help, we'd just use Trichlor pucks in a floating feeder. For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6 ppm. So for a week, that's not too much CYA. The Trichlor pucks won't last for much more than a week anyway. If you go on vacation for more than one week, you pretty much have to have someone look after the pool. Those with automatic dosing systems such as The Liquidator or peristaltic pump or saltwater chlorine generator (SWCG) can sometimes go for at least a couple of weeks depending on capacity and whether they use a pool cover.

[Fishcrazy]

Thanks for the info chem geek. This floating feeder Im using is the cheapest thing I have bought for the pool so far. I wonder id there are better ones than this floating turtle or are they all this cheap. Anyhow in one day and a half the Cl level has increased 0.5 ppm. I have the floater set for a 10,000 gal pool and I hav e a 18,000 gal pool. I dont know how much control this adjustable floating dispenser will afford me but if Cl continues to rise at this rate I may have to do something different. Maybe it will not continue to rise but will reach an equilibrium at some acceptable point. We shall see in time. I plan to check the Cl levels daily.

I have read about The Liquidator and think that it may be a good solution. I however have not found a source to purchase one online or otherwise. Could you provide a link for the unit? Thanks so much for your help!

[chem geek]

If the pool is exposed to any sunlight, then the chlorine will reach an equilibrium rather quickly since the amount of chlorine added by the Trichlor is fixed but the amount of chlorine lost from sunlight is proportional to the FC level (for a given CYA level).

As for The Liquidator, you can buy it with the very much needed upgrade kit at PST Pool Supplies.

[Fishcrazy]

Well the last two days ahve FC =3.5 and seems to be holding there. I have the floater diled down to a 10000 gal pool size in this 18000 gal pool. The pucks seem to be lasting quite a while at this setting. Be interesting to see how long three of them will last in my pool. Do they suddenly get soft and dissolve faster or are they consistant till they are completely gone? Wondering if these last a week say if I could expect to be able to just go to 6 tabs for a two week period? My pH seems to be steady at 7.2 and I have not tried to raise it any. If I did raise the PH would that change anything with the amount of chlorine that I am using?

On another note I am about to install a timer for the pool pump. I have been running the pool filter 24/7 but dont feel that this is necessary. Any suggestions for a scheule for a 27 round 52 inch pool. I was thinking about 16 hours a day. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

[chem geek]

Trichlor tabs dissolve fairly slowly and fairly evenly. They usually don't fall apart. The rate of dissolving will slow down somewhat when they get much smaller since that rate is roughly proportional to the surface area. The pH should be dropping given your fairly low TA of 50 that you last reported. Is the pool covered or uncovered? If you were to add 10 ppm FC to the pool using Trichlor and that chlorine was used/consumed at about the same rate it was being added, then the pH would drop from 7.2 to as low as 6.8 except for carbon dioxide outgassing. So normally you have the pH start out higher when using Trichlor and usually have the TA higher as well. Even if you started with a pH of 7.7, with the low TA the pH after 10 ppm FC would end up at around 7.0 if there were no outgassing.

As for pump run times, you usually figure on one turnover per day but can adjust to keep the water clear. The right amount depends on your circulation. If it's really good, you can sometimes go shorter; if not, then longer; but one turnover per day is pretty typical. Note that an above-ground pool often has terrible bottom circulation since there aren't usually many returns and there isn't a floor drain. Pointing a return diagonally downwards sometimes helps with circulation.