How long must one wait after a Chlorine shock?

[solo]

So in it's first 3 days of operation, we have used the spa so much that the total chlorine level was high enough to need a shock.  Free chlorine was 2.5 ppm, but total chlorine was high.  

So I put in a bunch of dichlor.  Tested an hour later and it wat 10ppm free chlorine.  Did I use too much?

Also, when will it be safe to get in (what free chlorine level)?

[Chad]

You can't know for sure if you added enough dichlor to reach breakpoint w/o measuring  for CC with a dpd test kit. A good rule of thumb however, if you don't have one, is to take your FC to 10ppm like you did. Imo, one should only use mps to shock with if they don't have a dpd test kit. Heck, I think the consensus here uses it  most of the time anyway, even if they do have a kit.

It's recommended not to enter the spa with a FC higher than 5ppm.

Fwiw, I shock with mps once or twice every two weeks and dichlor once a month to get that super sanitizing effect, to kill nasties that regular dosing might not be able to eliminate.

[Spiderman]

I stopped using MPS after the first month because my water went south.  I've been using strickly chlorine and have never had a problem since.  The last water change, I thought I'd try MPS again to shock and guess what, my water went bad the next day.  We use chlorine after each use and shock once a week with a slightly larger does of chlorine and have no problems.  But, everyone is different.

[Cyn]

I stopped using MPS after the first month because my water went south.  I've been using strickly chlorine and have never had a problem since.  The last water change, I thought I'd try MPS again to shock and guess what, my water went bad the next day.  We use chlorine after each use and shock once a week with a slightly larger does of chlorine and have no problems.  But, everyone is different.

What do you mean by your water went bad?  You don't shock according to the method Chad mentioned?

[Spiderman]

What do you mean by your water went bad?  You don't shock according to the method Chad mentioned?

It turned into a sesspool overnight.  I now only shock with dichlor; no MPS for me anymore.  

[tony]

Shocking should never make your water go bad.  Only lack of sanitizer would do that.  You may not be dosing enough after soaking.  It sounds like your extra dosing once per week is making up for the lighter dosing during the week.  You may not be shocking if you are not reaching breakpoint chlorination which is ten times your combined chlorine level.

[rick]

I stopped using MPS after the first month because my water went south.  I've been using strickly chlorine and have never had a problem since.  The last water change, I thought I'd try MPS again to shock and guess what, my water went bad the next day.  We use chlorine after each use and shock once a week with a slightly larger does of chlorine and have no problems.  But, everyone is different.

what he said.

you need dichlor
you need stain/scale control
you need ph up or down, depending on your water,  I always need up since I'm so acidic by nature.

anything else is fluff and not necessary,

[Vanguard]

I like MPS because you can go in right away.  I do what Chad does, keep my chlorine level good and then shock with MPS.  Then, when needed, I'll superchlorinate to make sure the nastys are gone.

I use the Ozone, MPS and silver program and love it.  I use very little chlorine and never have nasty water.

[windsurfdog]

what he said.

you need dichlor
you need stain/scale control
you need ph up or down, depending on your water,  I always need up since I'm so acidic by nature.

anything else is fluff and not necessary,

I wouldn't bother with adding any stain/scale control unless your water quality out of the tap is not good.  After almost 4 years of operation, I've not used any stain/scale control.  Once again, unless you have less than desirable water out of the tap, keeping your water balanced (pH, TA, CH) should prevent any staining/scaling.  I do recommend a tub rub for those times when your scaley brother-in-law comes over...

[rick]

i thought it was more for the pipes.

[tony]

i thought it was more for the pipes.

Stain and scale is primarily for scale from calcium.  Calcium tends to put a thin layer on heaters, pumps, etc.  Stain and scale helps keep it from building up.  It also helps if your pH drifts too high which will cause calcium to precipitate out of the water to the spa surfaces.  A good stain and scale product made for spas will do nothing negative to your water and is cheap insurance, IMO.  It is not needed if you're religeous with your pH, but doesn't hurt to use.