Free Chlorine Reading Zilch

[CarlD]

OK. Do not use that algaecide any more. It's adding ammonia to your water which is making it hard for you to get an FC reading. You are fighting yourself. At the top, you said you put in a quart of 60 algaecide. If that was Polyquat, then, while it's a good preventative, it's only so-so at killing algaecide, and also makes it tough to get an FC reading (but it's more benign than ammonia).

With all the di-chlor ("shock") and the tri-chlor tabs, your CYA reading is very necessary, considering you added CYA as well. If it's gone too high you'll have to use only bleach/LC or Cal-Hypo (assuming your calcium level is low).

Carl

[dalygnus]

Started bleaching today with 2 gallons of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. My wife who got in the pool and said the walls were slimy (water is clear). Would appreciate advice on maximum daily amounts of bleach (22,000 gallon pool capacity) and suggested frequency of application (e.g. 2 gallon every 4-6 hours, 8 hours, daily?). All the algaecide that was put in (about a half gallon) was algaecide 40 and the water is prone to foaminess -- so, I'm sure I did this to myself :-(

[CarlD]

Without a decent test kit it's very hard to maintain your pool. We suggest the K-2006 from Taylor. There's a link on Ben's and Watermom's signature to Amazon that helps support our site...and the price is competitive.

Generally, for a 20,000 gallon pool (close enough), 1 gallon of 6% adds 3ppm of free chlorine. 5.25% adds 2 5/8 ppm. 12.5% adds 6.25ppm.

The object of the exercise is to not have to add chlorine more than once every couple of days, but to do that, you need to have Cyanuric Acid in your pool, called CYA, Stabilizer, or Conditioner. This helps keep the chlorine from breaking down but slows down its processing as well. But the more stabilizer you have, the more chlorine you need in you pool as a base. We have something called the "Best Guess" table. Again, see Ben's sig for that (it's free).

You should check your chlorine and pH daily, and adjust them as needed. Your ideal chlorine level is determined by your CYA level. Generally we suggest CYA between 30 and 50ppm. But with the K2006, you can measure the CYA level, so that test should be done weekly, as well as the total alkalinity test, and, you should check calcium hardness once in a while (like twice a summer) with a vinyl pool to make sure the level isn't too high.

Carl

[aylad]

Started bleaching today with 2 gallons of 5.25% sodium hypochlorite. My wife who got in the pool and said the walls were slimy (water is clear). Would appreciate advice on maximum daily amounts of bleach (22,000 gallon pool capacity) and suggested frequency of application (e.g. 2 gallon every 4-6 hours, 8 hours, daily?). All the algaecide that was put in (about a half gallon) was algaecide 40 and the water is prone to foaminess -- so, I'm sure I did this to myself :-(

If you can find out a level for your CYA, then use the best guess chart in our sigs to determing what your target chlorine levels should be. All the levels posted here are safe for a vinyl liner pool. Until you can get your chlorine to register at all, you need to target the "shock" level, and add bleach as often as possible during the day to maintain that level until you're starting to hold a chlorine residual.

Janet

[Timmy]

Glad I found this thread. I have opened my 30k gallon IG for 7 years now to crystal clear water (use a solid cover). This year, a cloudy mess with zero FC. I shocked with bleach yesterday and tested later in the day, .5 FC. Then I found this thread. Been hitting it all day today and also tested for CYA, that too was 0. I am starting to see the bottom of the pool more than before, but there is nasty looking white crap floating all in the pool now (I suppose this is the algae the FC is fighting?). In turn I backwashed twice today since pressure kept rising. I think tomorrow I am going to disconnect the filter and hose the inside out to clean that crap out (looks like boogers). Will keep hitting it with bleach tomorrow as well. I really want to put my solar cover on to help reduce the sun from killing the FC, but not sure it that will make things worse since the floating crap will end up on the cover and cause issues later.

[CarlD]

Hi Timmy,
Glad it's helping but if you want comments and advice, we'd like you to start your own thread--easier for us to remember who we told to do what ...("You told that guy with the inflatable pool to scrub his wall with a METAL BRUSH?????")

Carl

[Timmy]

Understood. My apologies to the OP, didn't mean to hijack.

[Watermom]

That's ok. We'll look for your new thread and help you out there.