Some Questions Using Bleach

[waterbear]

First year with a pool. Since getting everything balanced, I've been using the 3" Chlorine pucks to maintain chlorine levels. I'm reading some negative things about them on this site, like that they can mess with your CYA levels and/or mess up the Free to Total Chlorine levels.

So, since I'm out of pucks, I think I'm gonna switch to bleach.

So, I downloaded BleachCalc and ready to go. Here are my questions:

1. Everyone agree that getting rid of the pucks and switching to bleach is the right way to go?
IMHI, yes.
2. On a 24,000 gallon pool, it seems that to raise my chlorine levels 1 ppm using 6% bleach, I use about a 1/2 gallon of bleach, correct?
Closer to 1 1/2 quarts but in the ballpark. 5.25% bleach will be just under a half gallon for the same (about 1 3/4 quarts). This results are from BleachCalc.
3. How long after adding about a gallon of bleach can I hop in the pool?
If your FC is under 10 ppm and your CYA is in normal range (30-50 ppm) you can swim. If the CYA is higher you can actually go in when the FC is a bit higher with no problems.
4. Do I dilute it first (it's a vinyl pool) and dump it in the deep end, or do I add it through the skimmer, or do I dump it in undiluted?
If you have an inline feeder for your trichlor do not put bleach in the skimmer even if the feeder is empty. You can walk alround the pool and dribble the bleach in or you can slowly pour it into the stream from the return so the water stream carries it around the pool. Brush after you add it to help it mix.
5. Since the pucks slowly dissolve, and the bleach is added all at once, does the chlorine level maintain (assuming all your other levels are balanced). In other words, if I get it balanced on a Sunday, am I still probably good until the following weekend?
You really should test the chlorine daily to see where it is and add bleach to bring the FC back to where it should be. That way you will learn how much and how often you have to dose your pool. Some people have to put some in almost every day...some people only have to dose a couple time a week. Every pool is different and there are a lot of factors that influence this like bather load, amount of sun, etc. Once you learn what your pool needs it becomes very easy.

Thanks!

Hope this helps.

[NullQwerty]

Hey,

Thanks for the great response. I don't have a feeder for the pucks. I ussually have 2 floaters (one puck in each) and maybe a puck in the skimmer. But I'm sure your answer still holds true.

Thanks again!