no chlorine

Chlorinating, maintaining the right chlorine levels,
chlorine problems. Dichlor, trichlor, cal hypo, bleach,
granules, chlorine pucks and chlorine sticks.
newpool1
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My Pool: above ground roughly five and a half feet in height and a diameter of 21 ft obviously round. 10000 gallons. Sand filter.
Location: england

No chlorine

Postby newpool1 » Mon 04 May, 2009 16:05

Hi
I am new to this site and the pool business, and was after some help on a couple of things if possible.
My testing strips have four tabs Chlorinity, Alkalinity, Stabliser and ph these work great the problem being with the results. Two are in spec but the other two being Chlorinity which is reading slightly higher than zero and Alkalinity which is the opposite being too high at 240.
Ph and Stabaliser are fine.
I have shocked the pool by the way.
ANy suggestions ???
Thanks Rich


Me...
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Joined: Thu 26 Feb, 2009 11:11

No chlorine

Postby Me... » Mon 04 May, 2009 16:48

Strips are ok for quick tests but if you really want accuracy get a drop test kit like a Taylor 2005 or such. Expensive on its own, but a small price to pay for the help it will give you.

You are going to have to get the Alkalinity down by adding acid. Post your pool type and gallonage and I am sure Chem Geek will pop in and tell you exactly how much to add. In fact do a search (he seems to know the URLS to all the info) and you find 50 posts telling people how to do it. His ideas differ from mine a but until he chimes in go dump a cup of acid in the pool in one spot. Wait a few hours and repeat as needed. I have no idea how big you pool is so I have no idea how much you need.

Get the chlorine up to maybe 2-3ppm for now

You don't even mention calcium hardness and its important. Get a test for it.

Post your reading please and not just that they are in range.
chem geek
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no chlorine

Postby chem geek » Mon 04 May, 2009 20:15

If you are going to get a new test kit, spend more and get the Taylor K-2006 at a good online price here or the TF100 kit here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so less expensive "per test". These tests have a FAS-DPD drop-based chlorine test that will measure to within 0.2 ppm and up to 50 ppm. You can see a demo of the chlorine test here.

Though you can lower your TA by following the procedure in this post, since your pH isn't high and you don't know your other water chemistry parameters and haven't described any problems, I'd wait to get a full set of water chemistry parameters before proceeding further. If you want to lower your TA at least some, that's OK, but we won't know how far to go until we see what else is going on. By the way, what kind of chlorine are you using? Trichlor pucks/tabs? Cal-Hypo granular? Chlorinating liquid or bleach? Something else? You say you shocked the pool -- why? Do you have algae? If you have the latter, then read Defeating Algae, though it will be hard to know what Free Chlorine (FC) level you need to get to since we don't know your Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level.

Richard
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XtremelyTropical
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Joined: Fri 27 Feb, 2009 09:53

No chlorine

Postby XtremelyTropical » Tue 05 May, 2009 21:15

Have you tried using liquic chlorine?
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Spudwrench

No chlorine

Postby Spudwrench » Mon 11 May, 2009 07:10

You have what is called a chlorine lock. If I recall correctly, you have to drop the Ph level to release it. You can chlorinate ALL you want and it won't register on your test kit. Depending on the volume of water, drop the Ph below 7.0 ppm and I THINK you will be all set, then adjust it back.
chem geek
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no chlorine

Postby chem geek » Mon 11 May, 2009 21:10

There is no such thing as "chlorine lock" and lowering pH won't help. There is sometimes an insatiable chlorine demand. If one has algae, then that takes chlorine to kill it. If one lets their pool go, say over the winter, and it had Cyanuric Acid (CYA) in it, then soil bacteria can grow and convert some or all of the CYA to ammonia (and intermediate products) as described technically here.

The only way to get rid of the ammonia and byproducts, if they are present, is to oxidize them and that may take a lot of oxidizer (such as chlorine). One can do a bucket test to see how much chlorine it takes before it starts to register. 1/8th of a teaspoon of 6% bleach in 1 gallon is 10 ppm.

If, on the other hand, one has an algae bloom, then if the CYA level is very high, it's better to do a partial drain/refill to lower the CYA level than to have to add a lot of chlorine to raise the FC high enough to kill the algae quickly.

Richard
kd

Algae problem

Postby kd » Sat 16 May, 2009 09:24

Ok, I have a algae problem, my chloride level is good according to the test kit. I had the water tested and was told I have zero phosphates.
I just put in 5lbs of alkalinity rise becuase that was a bit low...... My pool is deep green.... The filter is on 24/7 the aquabot is in there 24/7....
I'm at a loss.
Please help....
chem geek
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no chlorine

Postby chem geek » Sat 16 May, 2009 13:02

You said "chloride" level, but I believe you meant "chlorine" level. If your pool is a CLEAR deep green, not cloudy murky dark green that looks like algae, then you could have a lot of copper in the water. Did you have the water tested for metals?

Otherwise, if it's algae, then it is unlikely for you to have any Free Chlorine (FC) though could have Combined Chlorine (CC). You really should get your own good test kit, either the Taylor K-2006 you can get at a good online price here or the TF100 kit from tftestkits.net here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is less expensive per test.

If you do have algae, then read Defeating Algae.

Richard
Bob PA

No chlorine

Postby Bob PA » Wed 20 May, 2009 07:31

new owner wrote:I have had problems with my pool not registering any chlorine, I have had my water tested (leslie's pool supply) every 3 days for 3 weeks, they tell me everything else looks fine but no chlorine, I have shocked my pool 4xs over the past 3 weeks put over 16lbs of shock, and still no chlorine registering. I have a chlorinator and the tabs are disolving about every 5 days. Please give some help its driving me crazy and dont know what to do!!!!

Thanks

New Pool Owner


I have an in-ground pool and have had the same problem. I have been a pool owner for 18 years. The chlorine lock was broken a couple of times by adding liquid chlorine (two 5 gallon containers).
One time it did need stabilizer.
Your pool company that you go for the water testing should be advising you on what to do.

I hope this helps.
bullyrider
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Joined: Tue 02 Jun, 2009 11:48
My Pool: 16 x 32 inground. concrete deck, sand filter.
Location: Newnan, Ga

No chlorine

Postby bullyrider » Wed 03 Jun, 2009 06:01

This is "chlorine block", super shock you pool with about 7-8 pounds of shock and you should be good to go. :thumbup: I had this problem last year when I opened mine.
PattyB

No chlorine

Postby PattyB » Mon 08 Jun, 2009 15:04

I also have no Chlorine registering in my pool. Above ground pool, 28 foot round, 20,000 gallons. The hardness is 400 - which shows accurate per my test kit, The PH is at 7.2, The alkinity is 180 - slightly high, the stabliizer is 0. The water is slightly cloudy, it is clearing up. In the past week I have added 7 gallons of liquid chlorine to the pool along with two floats that are always in the pool filled with chlorine tablets. Can someone tell me how do I get the chlorine to register on the test strips? I have tried 2 different packages of strips and nothing is showing. Thanks!
chem geek
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no chlorine

Postby chem geek » Mon 08 Jun, 2009 20:58

Many test strips as well as less expensive chlorine tests (DPD chlorine tests that show pink/red intensity when chlorine is present) will bleach out at high chlorine levels above around 10 ppm. So you could have chlorine in the pool and not know it.

Or you could have a high chlorine demand and possibly a high Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level that makes chlorine less effective (test strips are notorious at measuring CYA incorrectly). I suggest you get yourself a good test kit, either the Taylor K-2006 you can get at a good online price here or the TF100 kit from tftestkits.net here with the latter kit having 36% more volume of reagents so is less expensive per test.

Or it is possible your test strip is correct and that the CYA level is zero in which case chlorine will get broken down by sunlight very quickly -- half of the Free Chlorine (FC) will get lost every half-hour in direct noontime sun. However, with two floaters likely containing Trichlor pucks/tabs, I doubt that your CYA level is zero unless you let your pool go over the winter with zero chlorine (in which case bacteria could have converted CYA into ammonia that then takes a LOT of chlorine to get rid of).
Patty B

No chlorine

Postby Patty B » Wed 10 Jun, 2009 16:54

Thanks for your help. The CYA level is zero from my test strips. The strips I am using is the HTH brand. Everytime I have taken my water to the pool store, this is the same thing they use. From my understanding I have to add stabalizer? We live in IL and have properly closed our pool over the winter. The water color is great, slightly clouldy but I can see the bottom very clearly.
chem geek
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no chlorine

Postby chem geek » Thu 11 Jun, 2009 00:09

Yes, you can add some Cyanuric Acid aka stabilizer or conditioner to the pool. This will protect chlorine from breakdown in sunlight.

By the way, just because the pool store uses test strips does not mean they are accurate. I still suggest you get your own good drop-based test kit.
dwhunker44

No chlorine

Postby dwhunker44 » Sun 14 Jun, 2009 07:00

I also am struggling with a ZERO free chlorine reading. I have had my 28000 gallon pool open for 4 weeks without ever having a free chlorine reading yet. First I was told that a 500 reading of phosphates was the c ulprit. So I bought phosphate and then shocked again a few days later. No more phosphates but still no reading. Then I was told to use see klear mustard algae killer (2 lbs) with calcium hypochlorite (5 lbs). The pool got REAL CLEAR two days later but still no reading. I waited 12 days because I was told this could "mask" a free chlorine reading. I just added 3" pucks for normal maintenance. Finally, the pool turned very cloudy. Now, from my original shocking using 18 lbs x2 times of shock, my CYU was high ~180 and I was told that was my problem. I drained & filled alot of water and now CYU is around 30. PH is 7.2 and ALK is 120 ~ 150. I have a total chlorine reading but still no free chlorine. I pulled out 1 gallon of water and it takes (5) 1/2 tsp of 6% chlorine bleach to change the strip to purple. I read where this means I need to add 100 gallons of chlorine bleach. This seems crazy! Please provide some good advice!! Thanks!

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