1 year old pucks still OK to use?

[CandyMoss]

I have a whole bucket full of pucks from last year. They've been stored outside, in Phoenix AZ (hot), but not in direct sunlight. The bucket was never opened because I do BBB.

I'm going on vacation for 3 weeks and have succumbed to using pucks for the duration I'm gone.

As I'd hate to waste this $80 bucket of pucks...Are these pucks still usable?

Thanks!

[drband]

should be good for at least 2 years if sealed and unopened... maybe longer.

I've done the same thing!

[CarlD]

If no water got to them, they should be fine.

Be sure to check your CYA before you go...It WILL rise and pH will drop. If you are leaving floaters of pucks for 3 weeks, I would raise pH to nearly 8 prior to leaving--it will probably be low when you come back.

I did that once: Left 4 floaters full of pucks, set wide open. Came back to a clear pool but CYA had gone from 30 to 60, and pH was below 6.8--I rushed to get 2 boxes of Borax in--I think it took 4 boxes to get the pH back to the mid 7's.

I'd probably go with less floaters than that....

[CandyMoss]

Thanks guys.

CarlD
I will have the neighbor kid watch the pool and maintain it so I won't have to put several floaters to last 3 weeks. Just one floater which the kid will check and fill up as needed.

Do I still need to raise the PH to 8, or was the PH dip in your case a result of having all those pucks in the pool at the same time?

Thanks!

[CarlD]

Wellllll, sorta both. If your pool pH tends to trend upward, don't worry about it. If it trends down, you may want to raise pH in advance. If it's stable, just make sure pH is sort toward the higher end of the range--7.6-7.8

[CandyMoss]

yeah - my PH tends to drift up pretty quickly and and usually have to pour acid in ever 10-12 days so hopefully I'll be OK. I'll let you know if disaster struck

Thanks!

[CarlD]

I'm about to go on vacation too.

I leave a set of gallon jugs of chlorine with instructions to my father-in-law to add one every other day.

I've found I recycle less by collecting enough bleach jugs to refill from a carboy--half tap water, half LC. The stuff is rated as 12.5 % but whenever I test it, it's 14%. So I assume I have 6.5-7% in the jugs I make up. Besides, my FIL will recycle the empties anyway...

I tend not to worry about too-high chlorine--my CYA is 50 (normal for me for late summer--I push it up to that in the hotter weather) so it can safely go to 15ppm, the shock level, as nobody's swimming.