18 x 48 Intex Ultra Frame Chlorination?

[jenn8504]

I'm having trouble keeping the chlorine level up. Using liquid chlorine from Wal-mart but that's usually gone in a little over 24 hrs. I bought a chlorine floater today w/ 3" tablets.

My questions:

1) Will the tablets break off in little pieces and damage my pool? & if the floater sits at the edge of the pool will it damage it?
2) Will the combined use of chlorine tabs and a gallon of liquid chlorine keep the chlorine level up in my pool?
3) Lady at the pool store said just to throw in granular chlorine. Won't this damage my pool? I know one time a relative threw in liquid chlorine and it made a light/thin spot on the bottom of the pool (which is why I had to throw out the pool last year after patching it).
4) How many tablets should I put in the floater at a time?

My pool is around 6400 gallons.

 

[Charlie_R]

I'm having trouble keeping the chlorine level up. Using liquid chlorine from Wal-mart but that's usually gone in a little over 24 hrs. I bought a chlorine floater today w/ 3" tablets.

My questions:

1) Will the tablets break off in little pieces and damage my pool? & if the floater sits at the edge of the pool will it damage it?

Not likely for them to break apart. but yes, can damage the liner if it sits in one place too long.

2) Will the combined use of chlorine tabs and a gallon of liquid chlorine keep the chlorine level up in my pool?

In a way, maybe. More on this later.

3) Lady at the pool store said just to throw in granular chlorine. Won't this damage my pool? I know one time a relative threw in liquid chlorine and it made a light/thin spot on the bottom of the pool (which is why I had to throw out the pool last year after patching it).

Can I be mean and tell you to spank her for giving out very bad advice?

4) How many tablets should I put in the floater at a time?

You could put 3 or 4.

My pool is around 6400 gallons.

Let's start with the basics. What are you testing with? If it is test strips, I'd like to tell you to throw them as far as you can, then go pick them up and throw them even further. Test strips have a VERY VERY short life before they go bad. Most are already bad by the time you buy them. You should at least have a basic OTO 3 way kit (yellow and red drops) Best is to order the TF-100 as discussed in the Pool School.

The most probable reason your are losing chlorine is not having stabilizer in the water. Second most probable is you have the beginnings of an algae bloom. Since you are having trouble keeping chlorine in your pool, algae is inevitable. It will happen to you.

Give us some test results, even if they are from strips or pool store, and we can go from there.

 

[CeeElGee]

I'm having trouble keeping the chlorine level up. Using liquid chlorine from Wal-mart but that's usually gone in a little over 24 hrs. I bought a chlorine floater today w/ 3" tablets.

My questions:

1) Will the tablets break off in little pieces and damage my pool? & if the floater sits at the edge of the pool will it damage it?
2) Will the combined use of chlorine tabs and a gallon of liquid chlorine keep the chlorine level up in my pool?
3) Lady at the pool store said just to throw in granular chlorine. Won't this damage my pool? I know one time a relative threw in liquid chlorine and it made a light/thin spot on the bottom of the pool (which is why I had to throw out the pool last year after patching it).
4) How many tablets should I put in the floater at a time?

My pool is around 6400 gallons.

I think you need to find out what amount of CYA you have (if any) and what the ratio of that is to your FC. You and I have the same pool and I started out with this information: Guide For Seasonal/Temporary Pools Because, let's face it, that's what the Intex is considered, although plenty of us plan on them being more permanent. I added 3-4 cups of bleach while it filled to the inlet and outlet, and once I had the pump and skimmer working I inducted 13 oz. of dichlor the first two days. After that I tested and my FC was 18.5 and my CYA was 20. The water was crystal clear and we were swimming as soon as the water was bearable! I've since used small doses of dichlor to gradually bring the CYA up and will switch to liquid bleach as soon as I reach 30 CYA.

 

[jenn8504]

Intex 18x4 Pool Chlorination

How often/how much chlorine should I add to shock and for maintenance? The pool is around 6500 gallons. I use liquid chlorine from Wal-Mart and chlorine floater. If the chlorine level is still good should I go ahead and shock? I keep a solar cover on it at all times.

 

[linen]

Re: Intex 18x4 Pool Chlorination

How does your water look?

If you follow the method taught here at tfp, you should not have to do regular shocking. I would start by reading this pool school article paying close attention to the FC section: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_water_chemistry

Use poolcalculator.com to calculate your dosing amounts.

 

[y_not]

I added 3-4 cups of bleach while it filled to the inlet and outlet, and once I had the pump and skimmer working I inducted 13 oz. of dichlor the first two days.

Please, don't ever add pool chemicals to the pump inlet/skimmer. This can damage the pump impeller, the filter, heater and so on with the extremely high concentrations of chemicals.
Always pour slowly in front of a return jet, with the pump running, brushing to lift it off the bottom of the pool.

Keep up the good work though.
Also, as an alternative to dichlor, along with straight bleach as your chlorine source, you can simply use CYA powder in an old sock tied to the ladder placed next to your return line/jet from the pump.
Saves you from having to buy dichlor that'll mostly just sit around after your initial startup.
Just a thought, since you have to go the bleach route in the end anyway.

 

[jenn8504]

I have been adding a gallon of liquid chlorinator every 7-10 days but the day after, the chlorine level is too high to swim.

 

[y_not]

Re: Intex 18x4 Pool Chlorination

jenn8504,

I don't think anyone has officially welcomed you to the forum.
So... Hi jenn8504, welcome to TFP!
We're glad to have you here.

I thought I would point out that you have asked questions much along the same lines in another post you made around a month ago, here: 18-x-48-intex-ultra-frame-chlorination-t63644.html

It's best to keep all questions regarding the same sort of inquiry to the same thread. This way we can better help you, as we know what has already been asked and answered. It also keeps confusion down.

As linen suggested, read PS, then I suggest... read it some more. The link linen provided is a wonderful place to start, just explore from there the rest of PS as you deem fit and your curiosity leads you.
Keep in mind that pool shock, or "shocking" is not a product you buy at the store & just dump in your pool, walk away and expect it to be all sparkly and fine again. But instead, it is a process, one in which we refer to as SLAM here @ TFP. That stands for "Shock Level And Maintain".
You can read about it here: pool-school/shocking_your_pool
As well as here: pool-school/defeating_algae
But really, you don't need to worry about that right now, nor, as far as we know with your pool at this point, even perform the process.

It looks like you have been using pucks for around 1 month, going off of your other thread. Depending on how many pucks you have used & what type, your CYA level may likely already be within our recommended range.
You need to get one of our recommended test kits, see my sig, then test your CYA along with a full battery of the other tests. Then report back here and let us know your findings.
At that point, you need to stop using those pucks ASAP!! All they're doing is making life more difficult believe it or not. They're adding more & more CYA with each new puck, as that CYA goes up, the chlorine levels have to go up as well. Unfortunately, the pucks aren't that smart. They put in a fixed level of each, pretty soon.... too much CYA & not enough CL. BAM! Pool problems!!
If you get CYA TOO HIGH, you have to drain the pool and refill it with fresh water. You want to avoid this & the TFP method will help you do so.

1. By educating you as to how your pool water chemistry works.
- *Which starts with Pool School "PS".
2. Armed with that information, how to then maintain it in the simplest, most economical trouble free way.
3. Keeping you out of the pool store & Walmart type places for your pool needs and instead in the grocery aisles where things are cheaper.
*The only thing you'd have to buy @ a pool store, or pool section at a big box store would be CYA.

If you have any questions at all and I'm sure you will.
Don't hesitate to post back, we love to help people here @ TFP because we love seeing people with sparkly pools and saving money as well as eliminating stress in the process.
We all do it, so we want to help everyone else get there too and it's not anywhere near as hard as it looks. It's 1st year of school level stuff. If you can read, follow directions and take corrective action... you can join our super secret private club. Shhhhh..... don't tell anyone. :tongue:

 

[CeeElGee]

I added 3-4 cups of bleach while it filled to the inlet and outlet, and once I had the pump and skimmer working I inducted 13 oz. of dichlor the first two days.

Please, don't ever add pool chemicals to the pump inlet/skimmer. This can damage the pump impeller, the filter, heater and so on with the extremely high concentrations of chemicals.
Always pour slowly in front of a return jet, with the pump running, brushing to lift it off the bottom of the pool.

I finally switched over to liquid chlorine a week or two ago, as my CYA has risen to the 40-50 range (still fairly uncertain when it comes to performing this test; might consider getting some of the 50 ppm baseline solution). I'm pouring it into the pool in front of the return and allowing the pump to run another 30 minutes before shut down.