When to shock?

[Tominthedesert]

I am not sure if i should shock my pool. Not sure how high the CC should be before one shocks?

TC 3.47
FC 3.07
CC 0.4
pH 7.4
salt 3800 ppm (pool pilot SWG)
cya 80
TA 70
15,000 IG

Thanks

[duraleigh]

Hi, Tom,

Greater than .5 is when most folks consider shocking. As long as your water looks good and you're not getting too much chlorine smell, I'd leave it alone for now.

[CarlD]

I disagree. I think you need to shock your pool ASAP--assuming those pool store numbers are right.

TC=3.47??? How do they come up with 100th of a part per million???

But assuming your TC is 3.5 and your CYA is 80, you FC should ALWAYS be between 5 and 10ppm. Since you are below that and have some CC, I'd shock it up by at least 4ppm, maybe more. You may simply be good to go by raising the level on your SWG.

Since you spent between $800 and $1500 on your SWG system, go out and spend another $80 to $100 on good test kits so you don't have to rely on pool store measures.

You can get the Taylor K-2006C or the Leslies FAS-DPD service test kit on-line. Then get a separate salt test kit from either of them. Both are the same--Leslies is made by Taylor. You may get them for less.

Most of us here use either of those or Ben Powell's PS-232, PS-233 or PS-234 kit. These are chemically the same as the Taylor and Leslies but are a little easier to use. Unfortunately, Ben is not selling them at this point. There's another pool forum that sells a similar kit as well. I haven't seen the kit but the description is of all the right components.

Don't be fooled into buying a DPD test kit. The FAS-DPD and DPD tests are completely different.