TriChlor puck lifetime

[KirstenHW]

I have a half-full 25lb bucket of AquaChem 3" trichlor pucks leftover from 2009. The bucket has been in a shady spot on the deck outdoors since 2009. Bucket was water tight . . . how do I determine if the pucks are still any good? BTW - lost my sense of smell 5+ yrs ago, so the old wafting test does nothing for me . . .

Also - opened on Sat. Zero CYA - been shocking with bleach only. At what point should I drop in my trichlor floaters?

Thx everyone!
K

[Watermom]

I'll let someone else answer your question about the shelf life of trichlor.

But about your other question, I'd wait to drop in the trichlor until you can hold a FC reading overnight meaning can go from sundown one evening til sunup the next day without losing more than 1ppm of cl. Any idea what your CYA level was upon closing?

Glad to see you back this year, by the way!

[KirstenHW]

Thanks! When we closed on Oct 25, 2009 these were our numbers (did not open pool in 2010):
FC 9.5
CC 0
TC 9.5
pH 7.4
Alk 55
CYA 40

When I opened this Sat 6/19:
FC 0
CC 0
TC 0
pH WAAY less than 6.8 (yellow)
Alk 10
CYA 0

As of Mon eve 10pm:
FC 8
CC 0
TC 8.5
pH 7.1 (?? Still looks yellow on test block after8+ lbs Borax since Sat)
Alk 40
CYA too low to test - used no pucks - added 1 tab in floater in evening and added 1.28 gall bleach.

As of this morning 9 am 6/21/11 (had a 3ppm drop in TC overnight):
FC 5
CC .5
TC 5.5
pH still < 6.8 (I think)
Alk 40
CYA not showing - added a second floater with puck, added 8.96 gall bleach.

Have not yet retested today - was raining earlier. Collecting photo timeline since opening - will post momentarily. THX!!!

[aylad]

Your trichlor is probably still okay to use, if you've opened the container and found dry pucks. You may have lost a little of the chlorine strength, but that's okay--and the safest way to dispose of them is in your pool, anyway. However, the trichlor will drive your pH down anyway, so I wouldn't use them until you know you have the pH under control. If you've lost more than 1 ppm chlorine overnight, then you need to shock the pool up to 15 ppm and try to hold it there until you're NOT losing any chlorine at night. Then you can let it come down and start adding CYA.

Janet

[KirstenHW]

Thank you both - off to Target to buy out all the bleach . . . ;o)

[KirstenHW]

Some photos from the opening - listed in reverse order though . . .
http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/a...pening%202011/