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Thread: Cyanuric Acid

  1. #1
    Sue225 is offline Subscriber Thread Analyst Sue225 0
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    Default Cyanuric Acid

    I cannot keep chlorine in my pool. I added ProTeam Mustard and Black Magic 12 OZ, a double dose last Friday. Now I cannot keep a chlorine level, added about 20 pounds of chlorine since Friday.
    FC 1.2
    TC .7
    Combines chlorine -0.5
    PH 6.9
    Hardness 20
    Alk 110
    Cyan Acid 100

    Pool Store said to add 15 oz of PH up, 30 pounds of calcium up and 1 1/4 bag of super chlorine followed by microflock.
    What do you think. I am beyond frustrated. HELP

    Oh yea, I forgot, we have something on the bottom of our pool-brown puddles which appear to vacuum up easily but then reappear the next day!

  2. #2
    Watermom's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    First off, welcome to the forum!

    Secondly, stay out of the pool store unless you have money you don't want. Then, they'll be the place to help you out with that problem!

    Your CYA is extremely high at 100. As a result, unless you run extremely high cl levels, your pool is gonna get algae. With low cl levels like you have, you most certainly must have an algae bloom brewing even if you don't have a green pool. That is one reason why you can't keep chlorine in the pool -- it is being used up fighting something in your water.

    Give us some more info. What type of pool and what is the volume? What type of filter? Also, tell us exactly (meaning ingredients, not product names) what all you have put in the pool and when. If you haven't done so yet. don't add any of that stuff until we get some more info from you.

    BTW -- FC + CC = TC so there is a problem with your chlorine numbers. Did the pool store test or do you have a kit and if so, what type?

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    CarlD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    What do I think you should do? Well, first that pool store isn't going to help you! You have been "Pool-Stored!" (and we all have been).

    BTW, how many gallons is your pool and is it vinyl or concrete?

    What we know is your CYA is SO high that unless you raise your chlorine levels very high you'll get algae. You CAN maintain a pool that way, but for newbies, it's MUCH easier to simply drain off half your water and refill---that will lower CYA to 50, which is more manageable.

    Next: Do NOT use pucks or powdered chlorine unless it says "Cal-Hypo" or "Calcium Hypochlorite" (something like that--Calcium Chlorine is the key). The pucks are "Tri-Chlor" and the powder is "Di-Chlor". Both RAISE CYA (and yours is too high) and LOWER pH--and yours is too low. Cal-Hypo is OK because your calcium level is extremely low. If your pool is vinyl, that's not a problem. But if it's concrete or plaster you will need more calcium and the Cal-Hypo is ideal for adding it.


    pH Up! is just a very expensive version of Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (in the yellow box in the detergent section). Same chemical. But it's not a good choice as it raises TA and yours is, at 120, high enough.

    Instead, you should use 20 Mule Team Borax (may be on the shelf next to the Washing Soda!) and add THAT to raise your ph--your first goal.

    All you need right now is Borax and lots of plain, unscented bleach and Cal-Hypo powder (if you have a concrete pool).

    OK: to recap:

    1) STOP with all the pool store stuff. They will empty your wallet and fill your ear with gibberish, but NOT fix your pool. Most of that stuff is garbage or expensive. You CAN list for us what you have and we can tell you what you can use--list ingredients as the names they stick on are less than useful.

    2) get us your pool's size and liner type.

    3) Dump half your water and refill. Sorry, but you gotta do this.

    4) Increase your pH using ONLY 20 Mule Team Borax. Add 1/2 box to the skimmer, wait an hour, test pH, then add more.

    5) When pH is good, you can start adding chlorine. I'd start by raising FC to 15ppm using bleach. 1 gallon of 6% bleach adds 6ppm to 10,000 gallons of water. Adjust accordingly to get your pool to 15ppm. That's ASSUMING you've drained and refilled and your CYA is now 50ppm. If it's higher, raise your FC to 20ppm.

    6) Check pH and FC 3x a day and adjust as needed--beware: At higher FC levels your pH will look high...that's OK for now.

    7) If you have a concrete pool, start adjusting your chlorine with the cal-hypo.

    And report back test numbers. When your pool can hold the shock level and is clear, you can let chlorine drop down to maintenance levels: between 3 and 6ppm (again, if CYA is 50 or less, 5-10 if it's above 50).

    Good luck!
    Carl

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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    Watermom finished her response first!

    I got side-tracked. But our advice is the same.
    Carl

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    Sue225 is offline Subscriber Thread Analyst Sue225 0
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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    I have a 24 ft round pool 4 feet deep grading to about 5 in middle, vinyl liner. I am told that i have 15000 gallons of water. The test I listed was done by pool store. I have about 5 gallons of liquid chlorine on hand. I added 1 gallon of liquid chlorine last night. Reading is about 3. This AM my husband dumped 10 pounds of calcium up in the pool. We will not use the other 40 pounds they sold us. We will begin to dump pool this evening. Should we empty 1/2? When can grandkids swim?? How long would I keep the chlorine at 15?

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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    If the test was done by a pool store, that further validates what we are saying --- they don't know what they are doing if they give you cl readings like that.

    You do NOT need calcium in a vinyl pool.

    If you empty half, that will put your cya at a much more reasonable level that will be easier to manage. If you're gonna dump, no point in wasting a bunch of bleach. I'd wait to shock the pool up to 15 until refilled. For now, I'd just throw in a couple of gallons of 6% bleach. That should take you to around 8 ppm of cl which should kind of hold things until you get refilled. (If you don't do anything, it may turn green in the meantime and you don't want to have to fool with that problem, too.)

    Get yourself a good test kit like the Taylor K-2006. A good price for it can be found here.

    http://www.amatoind.com/taylor-k2006-test-p-555.html

    That way, you can test your own water and not rely on that pool store. They're not doing too good of a job ..........

    Repost with current numbers when you get refilled and we'll go from there.

    EDIT --- Since your pH is below 7.0, go ahead and add a little Borax to take it over 7.0. Maybe try 2 cups for now added slowly to the skimmer while the pump is running. As long as you get it over 7.0 your ok. We can tweak it later.

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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    As for "when", we won't know until we get further down the process.

    Calcium's SOLE function is to prevent the calcium in the walls of concrete/plaster pools from leeching out. Pool stores regularly tell vinyl pool owners they "need" it and sell it to them.
    Carl

  8. #8
    Sue225 is offline Subscriber Thread Analyst Sue225 0
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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    We will start to dump pool this PM. Do you know of a good technique to do this? We do have a main drain. Where do you dump this water to? Yard-street?

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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    Heck, most of the time, they'll sell you one of everything on the shelf if you seem willing to buy it. Do you need it? Doesn't matter a lot of the time. They'll still be happy to have you walk out with it.

    (Not all pool stores are like this, but too many of them are.)

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    Default Re: Cyanuric Acid

    Use a garden hose as a syphon. As long as the outlet is below the inlet water will flow.
    Carl

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