Chlorine lock on swimming pool?

[kenmac]

I had to use something in mine this year called flocculant. to help get rid of the algae
I only buy chlorine from Leslie pool store. I have found their chlorine is the highest rated of any I could find anywhere else. Sams, lowes, etc, Has cheaper chlorine ,but doesn't contain as much available chlorine as Leslie's.
I believe Leslie's contains 73% available chlorine

 

[rustyshakelford]

Here's my take on this. First and foremost, don't take any of this advice mentioned so far recommending adding anything....mine included until you get accurate numbers. Adding stabilizer (cya) is the absolute worst thing you can do right now.

I'd be willing to bet your CYA is very very high. Only way to fix that is a drain and refill. If your using tabs, over time your cya will increase and create the "chlorine lock" basically as your cya increases, the amount of chlorine needed increases until you reach a point that you can't keep the chlorine high enough to slam the pool. Go to troublefreepools and start reading. Basically once your cya is set, you manage your chlorine with bleach. Cya is like a sun screen for your bleach. It's protects it during the day. Sunlight and organic matter are the two big killers of bleach. However, to much of a good thing becomes a very bad thing. At troublefreepools, they sell an awesome test kit or you can buy the Taylor k-2006 kit. Don't mess with test strips or count on the pool company. Get a good kit and know the real numbers, then go from there

Brett

 

[rustyshakelford]

I had to use something in mine this year called flocculant. to help get rid of the algae
I only buy chlorine from Leslie pool store. I have found their chlorine is the highest rated of any I could find anywhere else. Sams, lowes, etc, Has cheaper chlorine ,but doesn't contain as much available chlorine as Leslie's.
I believe Leslie's contains 73% available chlorine

Walmart sells 12.5% bleach, I believe the highest at Leslie's is 13-13.5%. Two gallons are 6.77 at Walmart

Brett

 

[kenmac]

Walmart sells 12.5% bleach, I believe the highest at Leslie's is 13-13.5%. Two gallons are 6.77 at Walmart

Brett

couldn't tell you about bleach. I have never used it for my chlorine. I use the 73% available chlorine packs to boost my chlorine levels.
I also have a chlorine feeder that continuously feeds chlorine into the pool

 

[rustyshakelford]

couldn't tell you about bleach. I have never used it for my chlorine. I use the 73% available chlorine packs to boost my chlorine levels.
I also have a chlorine feeder that continuously feeds chlorine into the pool

Those would be great if they didn't have the other stuff. Cya causes more problems than people realize when just using pucks. If they could make a tab that was just for sanitizing the pool with nothing else it would be great. Check out troublefreepools, it's a great wealth of pool knlowledge.

Brett

 

[kenmac]

Had this pool installed 20 yrs ago ,and only had problems this yr.
I had algae I couldn't get rid of. I put alot of chlorine and it didn't help. Went to the pool store and he sold me this Baquacil Flocculant (1.5 lb) offered by Pool Geek Followed his directions (not what's on the bottle) and within 24 hrs All my algae was gone. I couldn't believe it.

I have sold this home with pool anyway. Moving next month. Next year it will be someone else's problem:dance1:

 

[ustmd]

Here's my take on this. First and foremost, don't take any of this advice mentioned so far recommending adding anything....mine included until you get accurate numbers. Adding stabilizer (cya) is the absolute worst thing you can do right now.

I'd be willing to bet your CYA is very very high. Only way to fix that is a drain and refill. If your using tabs, over time your cya will increase and create the "chlorine lock" basically as your cya increases, the amount of chlorine needed increases until you reach a point that you can't keep the chlorine high enough to slam the pool. Go to troublefreepools and start reading. Basically once your cya is set, you manage your chlorine with bleach. Cya is like a sun screen for your bleach. It's protects it during the day. Sunlight and organic matter are the two big killers of bleach. However, to much of a good thing becomes a very bad thing. At troublefreepools, they sell an awesome test kit or you can buy the Taylor k-2006 kit. Don't mess with test strips or count on the pool company. Get a good kit and know the real numbers, then go from there

Brett

+100000000000000

I highly recommend you consult trouble free pools:

Pool School - TFP Home Page

Think of tractorbynet, but for pools. No one is trying to sell you anything there.

 

[KubotainNH]

+100000000000000

I highly recommend you consult trouble free pools:

Pool School - TFP Home Page

Think of tractorbynet, but for pools. No one is trying to sell you anything there.

Rusty and USTMD have my vote. I only use straight liquid bleach in my pool and never had an issue. The last couple years I have used a Salt Water Generator (SWG) which converts salt in the water to pure chlorine, talk about the easy pool life. CYA builds up when using pucks and most if not all powdered store chemicals, please post a picture or link of what is in your normal chlorine add. You may find that every time you add it you are adding CYA which is basically used so the sun does not burn on the chlorine quickly but never dissipates. The best thing you can do for yourself is get a real test kit like the big Taylor one and use the TFP website. That site has saved my butt and I post stuff on there to help others. Pool stores often mess up the numbers, especially on the CYA test. Also, forget about test strips.

 

[kenmac]

had my pool and used regular shock in bags and use the 3'' tablets in the feeder for 20 years. If I ever had a problem with CYA. I never knew it. 30,000 gallons would be a lot of water to drain and refill .
That said, I hope to leave this pool with someone else at the end of next mo.


Leslie's Pool School - How to Lower CYA in a Swimming Pool - YouTube

 

[MossRoad]

I switched our 24' above ground pool (12,500 gallons) to salt water about 5-6 years ago. Each spring I remove the winter cover, and top off the water. Then, I use:
- About 3 pounds of CYA.
- About 120 pounds of salt.
- 6 gallons of bleach or 3 gallons of liquid shock, depending on what's cheapest each spring (shock is about 2X times regular bleach).
- And a weekly dose of algaecide.

And I don't touch it again until fall.... unless a squirrel drowns in it, then I shock it with a couple gallons of liquid shock. That grosses me out! Or we have torrential rains that overflow the pool, and that requires re-balancing the salt and CYA.

Evaporation isn't a problem with salt water pools, since salt doesn't evaporate. I just top it off weekly in drought conditions.

I'll second the test strips... they are super easy to use. I do it twice a week just because I'm curious.
I like these because they test everything but the salt level...