20k gal pool in Sol Cal. .....needs to be drained.

[pmaru77]

I'm draining the pool as we speak. and need to know how to deal with the stabilizer, and how much. I'd like to use up the pucks, can I load the puck carrier with pucks and liquid chlorinate? or shoud I get stabilizer, and what kind and how much?

[PoolDoc]

1/2 gallon of 8% in a 20k pool would only yield with 2 ppm. How is that enough when the FC will surely drop to 0 during the day, especially with no car.

2 ppm is quite a lot, in fresh unstabilized water. Adding it in the evening allows it to clean the water thoroughly, before it's lost to sunlight the next day.

I'd like to use up the pucks, can I load the puck carrier with pucks and liquid chlorinate? or should I get stabilizer, and what kind and how much?

By all means, go ahead and use up the pucks you have. Continue using bleach each evening, until your chlorine lasts through the day.

But before you go buy new stuff, list everything you have, so we can figure out how to use up as much as possible, without messing up your pool. Be careful: it's not safe, and usually not legal, to put chlorine or some other pool chemicals in the trash!

When you list chems, include maker, product name, and % chemicals listed.

[BigDave]

Don't put liquid chlorine in with the pucks.

16lbs of pure trichlor in 20,000 gallons should give you about 50 ppm CYA after using it all up. When you say puck carrier do you mean a chlorinator that's plumbed in or a floater?

As PoolDoc said, starting up with the trichlor should work pretty well for you especially in a feeder. If it takes a day to fill, add bleach (or liquid chlorine) and mix it with a brush so it doesn't go green while filling.

- Sorry PD, I think I was posting at the same time as you - Dave -

[pmaru77]

Don't put liquid chlorine in with the pucks.

16lbs of pure trichlor in 20,000 gallons should give you about 50 ppm CYA after using it all up. When you say puck carrier do you mean a chlorinator that's plumbed in or a floater?

Floater.

==================================

In stock:

3" Tablets of stabilized chlorinator made by Pool Time, active ingredients- trichloro-s-triz....... 99%, avail chlorine 90%. I have 3/4 of 25 lbs. (HomeDepot)
Muratic acid from Kemtek HCl 14.5%, 1 1/2 gal (HomeDepot)
Liquid chlorine from Kemtek, 10%, 1 gal (Home Depot)

Where can I get trichlor (brand?) this weekend, and what would be the method of using it?

[PoolDoc]

BigDave was correct to caution that trichlor and bleach should NEVER come into direct contact with each other; bad things happen if they do!!

+ If you've got 15+ pounds of trichlor on hand, why do you need more right now? Use them in the floater if you have one.
+ Use the bleach you have same as 8% store bleach -- actually because the store bleach is probably fresher, it may be stronger, so use up the Kem-Tek first.
+ You probably won't need the acid for now. Be careful how you store it; tiny leaks can release enough fumes (hydrogen chloride gas) to cause SERIOUS corrosion to wiring, tools and equipment if you store the acid in a garage or other enclosure. Bagging in a garbage bag is always good. BUT . . . the 1/2 strength acid you have fumes MUCH less than full strength (31%) acid.

As far as future purchase, you probably need some borax to keep your pH up, while using the tabs: Walmart is good. Given your test results on the tap water, you really don't need to use washing soda (soda ash, pH Up) or baking soda (bicarb, Alk Up) since both increase your carbonate alkalinity.

I haven't seen undiluted Pool Time trichlor in several years, but if it's available to you, that's fine. The best prices I know of, for most of the country, are the Pool Brand dichlor (50#) or trichlor (40#) sold by Sams Club in many areas. The last time I checked, Costco was selling only diluted products, that should be avoided.

[pmaru77]

"Don't put liquid chlorine in with the pucks"

I have a floater, so if the pucks go anywhere, it's in the floater.
If I put liq. chlorine in the pool. I pour it in at the deepest part of the pool slowly with the pool pump on for at least an hour, same with muratic acid.

I guess I don't understand how you could put liq. chlorine in with the pucks? Is this with an in line puck holder?

[PoolDoc]

I guess I don't understand how you could put liq. chlorine in with the pucks? Is this with an in line puck holder?

The most common way, that causes problems, is when pool owners have chlorine tabs in the skimmer basket, and pour bleach or add cal hypo through that same basket.

Some years back, a PoolForum user reported doing this. He turned his back and started to walk away, only to here a KAPOW! When he turned back, his neighbor was pointing up in the air. When he looked up, he saw a small white skimmer lid that was beginning to fall back! Or at least, that's how I recall it. I believe that post may have been before 2006, so it would have been lost in the forum crash I had.

[BigDave]

Sorry for the confusion, I read this:

... can I load the puck carrier with pucks and liquid chlorinate? ...

and became concerned that you might fill a feeder (plumbed in kind) with trichlor pucks and then top it off with 12% bleach. Hypochlorite in direct contact with stabilized chlorine can become quite energetic. (Boom!).
Sorry, it didn't make a lot of sense but I wouldn't want it to blow up in your face - actually blow up in your face. So... sorry if I insulted you but I'd sooner risk hurting your feelings than hear you'd been hurt.

[pmaru77]

I'm not that sensitive, I hope. I was not aware they even had plumbed in feeders until a day ago. I talked to a friend that was/is a chemist and he has the in line feeder also. So that means he uses pucks, but he dumps 1/3 of his pool water every 3 years.

To compound and confound things even more, the wife wants to resurface the pool because she doesn't like the looks of it. We had a dark blue pool, and now it's bloched with light streaks and spots. I think it looks cool, no pun intended, but she thinks it's flawed. I said this is not a good time to be saying this, waaaaa!

[PoolDoc]

If you want it resurfaced, I'd recommend refilling now, and resurfacing in the fall. There's a good chance if you do it now, you'll loose a lot of the swim season.

Also . . . if you want to avoid streaks, you probably need to go with white. If you go dark, odds are you'll get streaks again. If you want dark, you definitely need to wait till fall: it will probably take you that long to find a plastering contractor with a history of successful non-streaked dark plaster jobs!