Small pool, Chlorine level is driving me nuts.

[Greenfrog]

Ok ive now completely drained my pool, and started from scratch with some 6% bleach and some Sodium Bicarbonate to adjust the ALK. Here are my new readings. Should i keep adding bleach slowly, or do I need to "shock" the pool to get the FC up to 3?

FC: 1.36
TC: 1.57
pH: 7.4
Alk: 130
Cya: 7

[PoolDoc]

Don't mess with bicarb. Just use bleach to chlorinate; muriatic acid or bisulfate to LOWER pH and borax to RAISE it.

Do NOT add any more CYA. Do not worry about calcium UNLESS it is high.

Dose with bleach to 3 ppm before use; Dose to bleach to 3 ppm AFTER use. You'll have to experiment with doses. Start with doses of approximately 1 quart of PLAIN 6% bleach, and see where that puts you.

[Greenfrog]

Thanks so much, your help has been invaluable!

[Watermom]

A quart of 6% bleach should add between 3-4 ppm of chlorine to your pool, so, a cup should add approximately 1ppm.

[Greenfrog]

Well, I have drained my pool and started over. Its been 3 weeks or so and I still have concerns over my CL level.
I seem to have high Total CL, and very low Free CL. I use 6% walmart bleach to chlorinate.
Latest readings:

Free CL: .12
TotalCL: 2.95
pH: 7.5
ALk: 157
Cya: 8

Should I be concerned about the difference between Free and Total CL levels?