chlorine lock?

Hi all,

Bought a house with existing gunnite pool approx 40 K gallons. switched to aquarite SWG. running 8 hrs /day at 100% output. Test strips show 0 chlorine. took water to leslies and here are the #'s.

FAC 0.5
TAC 5.0
PH 8.0
TA 120
Cal 130
salt 2800

I just realazed they skipped cyanuric test. RED Flag popping up.

Well the girl behind the counter said i have "chlorine lock".
said I need 8 bags Fresh-n-Clear to " break up chlorine.
also gave me 25# hardness plus, 10# dry acid and said i neede 138 LBS salt to bring to 3400 ppm.

Well the salt is bull b/c the aquarite will generate at 2600 ppm and I am at 2800 ppm.

$260 later and I am thinking I just got rolled by some teenager half wit. especially in light of no cyanuric test

Googled CL and various answers from its a myth to you need 5000000 lbs of chlorine to break it. So by chance i stumble across this site or what i belive is the archive because i am stuck in newbie corner after registering.
Anyway, I need help and guidance and I need to get a quality kit to test my own water. came across some posts touting a PS234S by Ben. Does that exist and is it available? or should i get a taylor k-2006 from Amazon?

I didn't use any chemicals except for 5 lbs of acid to drop the ph. But maybe that was a mistake? anyway, looking forward to being released into the general forum and some advice and guidance to get my water right.

Thanks

PS234 was a nice kit, but thanks to my business sense, it's gone. It was mostly based on the K2006, and had evolved from that. You can get the 2006 from Amazon, using the links in my signature. Just make sure the seller is Amato Industries -- we have had problems with other sellers substituting the K2005.

Regarding SWCG -- use them once your pool is up and running; not when you are having problems. The FC=0.5 vs CC=4.5 is not a good sign, but it may be a test error. So:

#1 - Order the K2006
#2 - Add 10 gallons of plain 6% house hold bleach (~10 ppm, on your pool) tomorrow, to keep your pool out of trouble.
#3 - Get your store to test your CYA.
#4 - Read the Best Guess page, linked in my sig below, to explain why #3

I'll let others advise you further on the SWCG.

I'll just add ---- while you are at the pool store getting CYA tested, don't let them sell you anything else. In fact, if they'll take the Fresh-n-Clear back and give you a refund, return it. Sounds like you are doing your homework and reading here on the forum and on Pool Solutions. Good for you!

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

ok, here's where I'm at.
Added 10 gal 6% bleach on 7/1. Took SWG out of service. Ordered k-2006 from amato and received today. went out to pool to get water sample. Pool walls are greenish. We were away for the weekend so nobody used the pool.
Took sample about 2 feet below surface to test. I didnt get chance to have leslies retest water so i hope i did it right.

Did FC and CC at both 10 ml sample and 25 ml sample.
no pink for FC barely any pink for CC. 1 drop cleared it up

FC= 0
CC=0-0.2 ppm @25 ml sample
PH= 7.8
TA=110 ppm
CH=140 PPM
CYA=<30 no cloudy solution after mixing. saw black dot clearly with sample tube filled to top.

Funny thing about CYA is the test strip shows ideal level. could Taylor R-0013 be bad?

I guess thats why i never show any chlorine in pool.

The saturation index, if it means anything is .1 @ 84 degrees F.

Got 10 more gallons bleach going in tonight. will put some hardness and some more acid and will retest tomorrow evening and post results. I will also take water to leslies in morning to retest


So looks like the chlorine lock is false. I think the leslies employee did a ph test thinking it was a CC test.

Recomondations?

The CYA test in the K2006 is pretty bomb-proof. The CYA tests on strips are notoriously unreliable.

You'll need to adjust your PM doses upward to levels that leave you with at least 5 ppm in the early AM, after working overnight, in order to make headway with the algae.

Also, if you can buy some dichlor, and use it to maintain some chlorine during the day, you'll be raising your CYA at the same time. With a 40K gallon pool, you might want to look at a 50# container of dichlor from Sam's. Here locally, they are $110, which is cheaper than I can buy it wholesale. But do NOT buy the mixed or blended shocks!

If you do get some, you might want to do something like broadcast 5# of dichlor (about 10 ppm FC on your pool), brush your walls, and then add 12 gallons of bleach just before dark.