Question about shock and chlorine

[CarlD]

Actually, the OP can start by filling the pool and adding nothing but bleach. A fifth of a gallon should bring his pool with new water to 3ppm of chlorine....and if no rash develops, it's not the chlorine. THEN you can adjust pH and think about CYA. It's the same as the bath tub test. For all you know your child is allergic to the vinyl in the pool!

I was in WalMart the other day to buy the 6Way Kit and it's the same as the old 5-Way kit but without the fancy box. They now descrive the Chlorine and Bromine test (one test with 2 scales) as 2 tests.

[BigDave]

...Dichlor alone is very, very unlikely to cause problems...

Ben, I'm concerned that the dichlor the OP has may be part of the problem. He lists:

--AquaChem Shock Plus (58.2% dichlor and 41.8% "other ingredients")

earlier in the thread. All the dichlor I buy is 99%.

[donovan.lambright]

I'm at work and haven't had time to digest Ben's long and informative post yet but regarding the chlorine: My plan was to start with regular bleach as outlined in the Intex 7-day plan. After that, I will swing by Sams Club and pick up the Kem-Tek dichlor listed in the Intex plan.

Having said that, I do have this big bucket of tablets that, according to the label, are 99% trichlor. Could I use those up safely before moving on to Kem-Tek dichlor or would that be a bad idea?

I understand that I need to use one or the other for a time to get the CYA up. After it hits 40-50 ppm, I would go back to using plain bleach with dosing based on the Best-Guess Chlorine chart so that the CYA doesn't keep going up.

I'm planning to start draining over the weekend (hopefully Saturday) but might not start filling until Sunday. My wife works weekends so much will depend on how good (i.e. staying out of my hair) the kids are. I want to be able to focus my attention. Trying to manage the 4 and 6 year-old on my own contributed to my overdosing with the questionable AquaChem Shock Plus in the first place.

[aylad]

You can use the trichlor safely in the pool-- as long as your child isn't sensitive to it-- it's one more thing i would test for...

[PoolDoc]

There's nothing in trichlor is different from what's in dichlor EXCEPT increased acidity. The problem with both dichlor and trichlor is that trying to use those ALONE is likely to end up with pH too low (low enough to be irritating) BEFORE you finish testing. That's why I'd like to clear borax, if possible, BEFORE you start. That way, if the pH drops, you can add borax, without worrying that you may be creating a problem.

Of course, I still think the most likely explanation is the 'voodoo goo' in the Shock Plus.