First taylor readings

[resp215]

Hey guys. Ok so the pool is clean. After being drain cleaned and filled with new water the filter is on. I used my Taylor just now and here are the initial readings:


Ph 8.0
.5 ppm fc
No tc
Ta 80 ppm
1200 ppm calcium hardness

Sorry if I am posting them a bit weird. The dot test the dot never disappeared. Sorry I forget the test name.

As a reminder the pool is 24ft above ground. I just added 4 gallons of bleach a few moments ago. Any suggestions would be great. I have some bubbles coming out of the return but I think it's just an air leak via the seal on the pump. I'll take a look tomorrow when it's brighter out.

[madwil]

starting from scratch... and you already added bleach- good!
assuming 4 ft depth, you have about 13k gallons- 4 gallons bleach may have been a bit much, but it will go out quickly until you get CYA in...
the next step is to get your pH lowered- but you won't be able to get an accurate pH reading if your chlorine is at 20+ like I believe you would have now...
retest FC and pH in an hour... if pH stil 8 or more, add 1 cup muriatic acid. retest in another hour, repeat dose til pH is below 8 then wait til your chlorine is below 10 to make final pH adjustments.
If FC is not 20+, we need to figure out where it went...

Later, we'll look back at your CH- 1200? I think this might be a typo... 500+, especially at your pH, I think would be really cloudy!

[resp215]

Sorry for the late reply. I just took some readings

6ppm fc
No cc
Ph 8.0
80 ppm ta

With such a high cl level how do I get cc? I am going to buy som m acid today and try to get throb down. I though 7.8 was ideal but I overshot it apparently.

The pool isn't crystal clear. It's not cloudy per say. Maybe because it rained a bit yesterday.

The return bubbling is something I have to remember to look at and try to remedy. I remember reading about aerating the water to adjust levels... Maybe ph or ta... I forget.

[SalemCastles]

6ppm is not really that high a chlorine level and you don't want to "get" CC. CC is combined chlorine which is the result of the chlorine doing it's job and giving itself up to kill or oxidize a pollutant. When CC becomes .5ppm or higher you will need to shock the pool with a dose of 15ppm or so to "break" the combined chlorine. When you begin the test you are testing for TC or Total Chlorine, if you then get a CC reading (bad) then you subtract that from the TC to get your FC or Free Chlorine. It's only the FC that is available to work as a sanitiser and is what is important in keeping the water free from germs and algae. PH is important in allowing Chlorine work to it's best potential, bather comfort, and in equipment longevity, as well as preventing other elements from coming out of suspension and clouding your pool water. Total Alkalinity TA is a buffer that keeps the PH levels more stable and resistant to wild fluctuations.

The dot test is for the amount of CYA (Stabalizer), depending on where your pool is located and how much sunlight it gets will determine your target level however that said you should aim for 30 ppm to begin with. The CYA prevents the UV rays of the sun from consuming your chlorine. With no stabilizer the sun can eat all of the chlorine within minutes and leave none left to sanitize the pool. You might as well just throw your money directly in the pool and save the trip to the store :) Conventional wisdom is to add chlorine at dusk so all of it's energy is used in
cleaning and not in fighting the sunlight ...this is true even after you get the CYA level up. Go slow in adding stabilizer as it takes awhile to dissolve completely ..so aim first for 20-25 then redose as required.

The bubbles won't affect your PH levels when the PH is that high so don't worry about that right now.

Where did get the fill water for the pool? Can you confirm that your CA is 120 and not 1200 as first stated.

Cheers,

[Watermom]

Actually, bubbling water at the return jet is aeration and will cause a rise in pH.

[resp215]

Thx for the information . So this is actually one of those times I should hit the pool store and buy stabilizer. I guess some things can't be substituted.

[aylad]

You can get stabilizer from the pool store, from WalMart, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. It's often labeled as "conditioner", "balancer", but if you'll look at the ingredient label, cyanuric or isocyanuric acid is the right stuff.

Alternately, since you already have a high pH issue, you can use dichlor powder for chlorination, which will add your chlorine, add stabilizer (and very quickly, I might add--generally for each 10 ppm chlorine you get, dichlor also adds 8 or 9 ppm CYA), and also tends to drive pH downward. You won't be able to use it forever, but in this case, for now it would be a good choice.

Janet

[SalemCastles]

Actually, bubbling water at the return jet is aeration and will cause a rise in pH.

hmm ... I understood from a post by Ben that only a PH down closer to 7.0 will rise due to aeration and that at 8.0 it has no affect?

[madwil]

the effect is reduced at higher pH- the lower pH changes the balance equation of the carbonic acid vs CO2 vs... Some will happen higher, just not enough to really matter...
I think the point being made was aeration causes rise, while resp needs to decrease pH.

[SalemCastles]

I think the point is moot as it's "just not enough to matter" which is why I said don't worry about it right now.

[resp215]

So far all is well but I think I may have to look at my filter/pump setup.

There is very low psi as a general rule. I added some de to my sand filter slowly. Only 1/4 cup, and it bogged the output down. Another time I added some stabilizer for the cya and it bogged it Down bad. Both times I had to backwash after a half a day to try to regain some pump filter effectiveness. I don't even know where to bgin on this one and I'm hesitant to call a pool company because who knows how honest they will be.

[resp215]

Ok so I figured the filter issue. The o ring on the pump trap was on wrong which allowed an air leak and lowered the psi. The trap was filled so I cleaned it and it's running great.

Taylor levels
Fc 8.0
Ph 7.2
Cya around 50...ish
I didn't test ta I forgot.

What is ideal fc anyway? With the Taylor it doesn't mention it.

And man the pool clouded up a bit after two days of straight torrential rain. Come on fc and pool filter!

[Watermom]

With a CYA of 50, you want to keep the chlorine between 3-6. But, since you had a lot of rain and the pool clouded up, you may want to go ahead and shock the pool up to about 15ppm for a couple of days. Run the pump 24/7 while you are working to clear it.

Keep an eye on the pH. You're ok at 7.2, but don't want it to go lower.

[resp215]

Thx watermom!

[resp215]

Hey guys woke up and the pool is milky cloudy. I think the filter is defunct
. We have had itfkr two years this is our second summer w it. Before us the house was not in use due to foreclosure. So the filter is at least five years old and I don't know how they took care of it. Also the fact that all the functions are jumbled and I have no real idea which is circulate or filter etc. I'm going to buy a new filter.the pump is new from last summer. I don't recall size. Maybe 1.5hp. Any suggestionon filtersize for a 24ft pool. The sizethere now I think is a 300 pd filter. Omw to the poolstorenow. Thx

[CarlD]

You did backwash, didn't you? Can you backwash now or is it all jammed up?

It sounds like all you probably REALLY need is a new multivalve, as long as the "laterals" in your sand filter are OK. It also sounds like you are sized correctly (re, pump to filter, but your pump is really probably too large, so the 300# filter is a good idea to compensate), just possibly plumbed wrong or have damage to the multivalve.

But, before you just throw money at the problem, put the valve to "circulate", not filter, and see if you get strong suction at the skimmer and a strong flow at the return. If you do, your problem is in the filter or multivalve, but NOT in the pump or the lines.

If not, it may STILL be in the multivalve and you'll have to find a way to cut the valve out and see if the pump is actually pumping, like connecting the return line directly to the pump. If that still doesn't work then, it's not your filter or multivalve, but in the pump or the lines. You can even just disconnect the pump from the filter and turn the pump on for a few seconds--it should be like a fire hose! (I have quick-connects everywhere so it's easy for me to do)

You have to figure out how to isolate each possible source of the problem and show it's working, then move on to the next.

if your filter has the correct amount of sand and hasn't been moved, the odds are, yet again, the problem is in the multivalve. Take it out and look for obvious signs of damage-mangled spider gasket, broken chamber walls, etc.

A new multivalve is a lot cheaper and easier to set up than a whole new filter. Plus, just because your pump is new doesn't mean you don't have to prove it's working. You do, or replacing the filter/multivalve may not fix it.

A little detective work....

Carl

[resp215]

Hey thanks for the tips . The problem is I don't honestly know what is what on te filter multiport. Where it says is filter seems to be backwash and I'm assuming where backwash was is now filter. It's all fubar. Do you guys know if a way for me to test what position it's I. And figure what is rinse recirc etc. Maybe it's not filtering because it's simply not onfilter position. I am pretty sure I figured out the backwash position. Maybeeee it's waste... But it went from dirty to clean water after a minute.

[Yeggim]

So far all is well but I think I may have to look at my filter/pump setup.

There is very low psi as a general rule. I added some de to my sand filter slowly. Only 1/4 cup, and it bogged the output down. Another time I added some stabilizer for the cya and it bogged it Down bad.
I would say that when this happened you were in the "filter" position. Sounds like your filter is working. Lay off the DE and run the filter. Your psi should slowly rise if your filtering properly.


Both times I had to backwash after a half a day to try to regain some pump filter effectiveness. I don't even know where to bgin on this one and I'm hesitant to call a pool company because who knows how honest they will be.

I would bet the ranch that when that happened, you were in the "waste" position. It shouldn't have took more than a minute of two to regain a good flow and lower psi if that was the "backwash" position.

[resp215]

Hey yeh thx for chiming in. The low psi was found to be from the pump gasket print thing not being on properly. Readjusting it gave great psi and eliminated the bubbles.

The return has a very powerful flow now. But i can't be sure it's on filter and not recirculate.

[Yeggim]

Hey yeh thx for chiming in. The low psi was found to be from the pump gasket print thing not being on properly. Readjusting it gave great psi and eliminated the bubbles.

The return has a very powerful flow now. But i can't be sure it's on filter and not recirculate.Let it filter awhile. You could hook up and vacuum. If the bottom is dirty, the psi should rise if you're actually on the filter setting. You could throw in another 1/4 cup of DE to see if the psi bumps up but if the bottom needs to be vacuumed, I'd go with the vacuum test first. If it's on "recirculate", you'll see the dirt going right back in the pool as you vacuum.