Help balancing chlorine

[Kevin917z2]

So for the last week I haven’t been able to get my little 1200 gal pool balanced after it’s initial fill up (was balanced initially 2/2 free/total Cl. Following the advice from the other pool forums of the company intex I had been adding 2oz 10% bleach daily. They recommended more but at 6% bleach.

Now that it’s gotten really hot after a few days I had no free available chlorine after a test at Leslie’s. I did however have 10 total cl. They told me to shock it with Leslie’s “fresh and clear” 1/2 of a 1 lb bag. After a day circulating my pump 24/7 they tested again and no change. Another bag and a half and another day later they recommended more after no change again. Now after several days I’m at 4 lbs fresh and clear and finally I have 10 free/10 total Cl. I’m not doing this again, would have been more cost effective to drain and refill the pool.

What is going on with my water? The pool has been crystal clear the whole time with no build ups of any kind. The pool is on a covered patio in the shade and has had almost no debris in the water. It’s not used heavily just once or twice a day by two small children and one adult.

Perhaps the Leslie’s pool test was not correct but now I have had three readings about in the same ranges, the last one the cya ph and CH was lower but not much had changed. I assume the ph went down because of the high free Cl.

I had been monitoring the free Cl with guess strips
And testing at the Leslie’s 1/2 mile down the road from my house weekly.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

Free Cl/ tot Cl 10/10
Calcium hardness 180
Cya 10
Ta 90
Ph 7.2
Cu 0
Fe 0
TDS 900
Phos 0

[Teapot]

Get your own test kit and get out of Leslie's!
With only 10ppm CYA, your chlorine won't last long in the sun, add people to that equation and you'll need to add chlorine 3 X more frequently I would guess.
Yes if you have combined chlorine you'll need to shock but shock is a process and not a product.
It's raising the free chlorine to a level where it oxidises all the combined chlorine out.
I will have to Google fresh and clear MSDS to see what that actually is.

[Kevin917z2]

Potassium Peroxymonosulfate - 38%; Other 62% (avail. oxygen - 4%). That’s what’s on the label.

[Teapot]

Not to worry on that, its expensive compared to chlorine, it's a strong oxidiser but not a bactericide
Go back to chlorine but use a larger dose for shocking in future. The reason you are showing a level is monopersulphate doesn't degrade under sunlight like chlorine does. Now you need to build up your CYA level and run your chlorine level (which you may need to add more frequently) at 7.5% of your CYA figure. 30 CYA X 7.5% = 2.25 ppm free chlorine.
Still get your own test kit not dip strips! Avoid Leslie's as this episode has probably already cost the price of a test kit.

[Kevin917z2]

Would getting some 1” tricolor bleach tablets from Lowe’s be the way to build the stabilizer back up cheaply? Also for when I am gone a few days at a time I could add a couple tablets in a floater?

Also this pool is on a covered patio, of the 10’ across the pool only about 1/5 of the pool gets sun for 3-4 hours a day. Are you saying I should just shock with higher chlorine?

Also I can’t seem to get an answer reading on the forums about total chlorine numbers. Does it really matter if the total is high as long as there is 1-4 ppm free chlorine?

A lot of these small pools people just add 1/2 cup of 6% bleach daily and shock weekly never measuring or testing anything

[Teapot]

Yes, a floater and small tabs will do it.
Only shock when you need to, just regular dosing with tabs, if CYA get too high empty half and top up with fresh, it's only a small pool.
The total should be no more than the free or just 0.5 more, then it's all nice and clean and sanitised properly.
I can't agree with what others do, not testing, it's a health issue, to little some get ill, too much some get asthma. It would cost you more for a physician to fix the issue, than a test kit? you just need DPD 1 & 3, CYA vanishing dot type and pH, forget the others for a small pool.

[Denniswiseman]

With a CYA of 30 you can swim in a shock level of 12 ppm chlorine and should target a level of 4-6

[Kevin917z2]

Teapot can you expand on what test kit you are recommending ?

Thanks

[Teapot]

You should be able to purchase separate tests as I described on line, look a LaMotte for instance.