Pardon me for jumping in on this thread, but I believe I'm having bromine/chlorine problems. Reading this thread has been helpful, as it seems to touch on those problems, so it seems a natural place to continue bromine/chlorine discussion.
For various purposes, this year I ended up buying my closing kit from a different source, and in all essence it's a bromine kit. But from what I can see, when all is done, it looks to me as if bromine, chlorine, and sunlight have all duked it out in my pool, and I've closed with only a trace of bromine/chlorine left as measured by an OTO kit.
I'm wondering where to go from here, because I think I'm potentially in real trouble in the Spring, if I understand my test kit readings.
Does OTO really read either bromine or chlorine?
Should I believe the low readings I see?
It has been suggested that I add polyquat 60 and more chlorine, as suggested in a "Pool Closing Procedure", either a thread here or a thread referenced from here. (troublefreepool.com ?) Is this a problem, adding these chemicals to a covered pool, since there can be no significant air exchange. I have a small pump that can probably do some circulation - is it necessary? - is it sufficient? My lines are already blown out, the equipment inside, the pressure valve disconnected and dangling inside the heater, open end down. It would be truly annoying to reconnect. The leaves are falling and there's quite a bit on the cover - it would be even more painful to get air exchange. I might almost prefer coping with soup in the Spring, at this point. I'd rather do something under the cover.
I normally run something like BBB during the summer, though this Summer I noticed my calcium hardness was low, so I ran calcium hypochlorite pucks in the skimmer, and added additional shock occasionally to keep the chlorine level high enough. I don't normally have algae problems, though there was a small bloom when we were away and the neighbors watched the pool, and it cleared up with a simple shocking.
I looked closer at the closing kit after following directions. The first chemical removed calcium (darn!) and iron. The second chemical was sodium bromide, and the third was a persulfate to activate the bromide. After all chemicals were added, I left it to circulate the recommended time, then ran shy of teflon tape while blowing out the lines. Full closing was delayed a few hours while I had lunch and got more tape. It was fair sun, not terribly strong, some shade.
Again...
Should I believe that OTO test that there's practically no bromine or chlorine left in the pool?
Can I add polyquat and more chlorine under the cover, as-is?
Do I need to circulate, and will a small auxilliary pump suffice?
Thanks for any suggestions.