Chlorine Lock ?

[PoolDoc]

Nobody wants to carry expensive inventory all winter.

Keep up with the bleach till you have test results from the K2006. The 6-way will help -- you can test stabilizer -- but in your particular situation, accurate measurement of FC vs CC is needed, and only the K2006 will give you that.

But, the 6-way is compatible and useful, so don't regret having both. Do post CYA results from the 6-way -- watch the Taylor video for the K2006 CYA test; it's almost the same as the 6-way.

[Watermom]

Adding two jugs this evening should have added just under 7ppm. You report only 1.5-3ppm only an hour after testing which means your chlorine is being eaten up pretty quickly. If it were my pool, and especially since there is algae, I'd add more tonight and probably more than 2 jug doses. Ben, do you not agree with this?

[mjsboone]

Well, this morning brings zip zero chlorine. I want to say that I could see a tinge of yellow in the test bottle, but not enough to register on the lowest level of the vial. Since I don't have the fancy test kit, I used the test strip to check stabilizer and it indicated it was in the "ok" range. My stockpile of bleach is now gone so off to the store again. The water is clear, thank goodness. Nothing worse than looking out your windows and seeing a cloudy pool or green pool for that matter. Now I do realize that I need a better kit, but will not have that for a while. What will actually resolve this chlorine lock and what kind of time frames am I looking at? Thanks everyone.

[BigDave]

I haven't heard of the hth 6-way drops kit anywhere but wall mart; it's not on ACE's website.

The test strips for CYA are useless - they just don't work. No one here can advise you regarding your pool without accurate measurements. I'm sorry.

The only thing you can really do without a K-2006 is keep dumping bleach in the pool and hope it stays clear - maybe take OTO reading and dose bleach multiple times a day.

Please remember: chlorine lock doesn't exist - it's just something you were told by someone afraid to say "I don't know".

[mjsboone]

Thanks. Now I am really discouraged...

[BigDave]

I'm sorry. I didn't intend to discourage you. What we know is that you have chlorine demand but we don't know why. The only thing to do is pour bleach in it - but enough bleach - too little is usually just wasted.

[mjsboone]

Please tell me how much bleach and for how long. So far I have put in 12 big bottles of bleach since Saturday. I'm not a chemist, just trying to get the pool chemically correct so it is clear and healthy. I'm sorry I do not have the very expensive test kit but it is what it is and I will continue to try to figure this out. I have had a pool all of my life and never have I had this difficulty getting the water balanced using all the typical pool store products with secretive names. Now, in the past month, none of their products have worked and their directions of add this first, wait 15 minutes, add this second, divide this in thirds, ect...have worn me out and my pocketbook out! Adding the bleach has improved the look of my pool, but I still want to know if this is going to be an every night event for the duration or will the water eventually hold the chlorine throughout the night and a maintainance schedule will keep it where it needs to be. Can anyone answer that question for me?

[PoolDoc]

Well, this morning brings zip zero chlorine. I want to say that I could see a tinge of yellow in the test bottle, but not enough to register on the lowest level of the vial.

Overnight chlorine loss almost certainly indicates that there is something in the water that the chlorine is oxidizing. The only solution to this is to chlorinate till it's gone OR to drain and refill. (Remember, most inground pools cannot be drained safely without special precautions). You can do the bucket demand test to see how much chlorine it's likely to require: http://pool9.net/bucket-demand/

Unfortunately, we can't tell you WHAT is in the water. We'd know a little more, if you had the K2006. I can tell you that your problem originated in one of two ways: EITHER, it's something the pool store has been selling you -- and yes, stores sell MANY worse-than-useless products -- OR it's partially degraded stabilizer (cyanuric acid), resulting from a period of biofilm (bacterial slime) activity in your pool.

[sabres07]

No disrespect meant here, but really the first thing you need to do is buy the Taylor test kit. Without reliable and accurate numbers, the advice you will get here is more "general" in nature which translates to more cost and time spent clearing up the problem. There is a reason why every first answer to each thread in this forum starts with "what are your numbers? If you don't know, get a good test kit".

[Watermom]

No disrespect meant here, but really the first thing you need to do is buy the Taylor test kit. Without reliable and accurate numbers, the advice you will get here is more "general" in nature which translates to more cost and time spent clearing up the problem. There is a reason why every first answer to each thread in this forum starts with "what are your numbers? If you don't know, get a good test kit".

What he said!