More acid questions for new plaster

[Budman]

I searched the forums and got a bit confused on the use of acid in a new plaster pool.
The plaster company seemed to give up on my phone calls.
Plaster is about 3 weeks old and I'm having a hard time getting the PH down. I had the water tested at a local store and they said the PH is off their chart probably in the 9 range. Alkalinity is good but they didn't provide me with numbers. It's about a 15,000 gallon pool.
There has been 3 gallons of acid already added and the PH doesn't want to come down.
How much is too much acid to add?
The pool store said that acid doesn't have a long shelf life so I may be adding weak acid.
I've also been brushing a lot and the plaster still seems a bit rough in spots. Some of the areas will wipe off the little bumps.
Do you think I etched the plaster?
Thanks

[Budman]

I found this site talking about acid.
I agree that the acid i get from Lowes is more yellow in color and doesn't seem to have the potency from Leslie pools. I also noticed the strength of Leslies acid compared to the Lowes brand? and it was clear.
(broken link deleted)

[Watermom]

Hi Budman. I cannot really comment on your questions, but wanted to welcome you to the forum. It gets kind of slow around here in the winter but we do have some regular members who pop on here daily who may be able to help you as soon as your post is moved out into the general section of the forum. Hopefully that will be soon. Ben has had some family needs the past few days which he has been taking care of and hasn't had time to be on the forum. Stick around and hopefully you'll get the info you need before long.

[Budman]

Thanks for the welcoming.
I live in Arizona so we keep our pools going year round.
I finally got the PH down. Took a total of almost 6 gallons.
I need to go back to Leslie's to get a calcium reading. They said it was high but didn't gve me any numbers.
I have a 6 way test strip and came up with this.
TH= 400
FC= 0
PH= 7.5
TA= 180
CYA= 0

[PoolDoc]

The bottles that they put acid in have a shelf life -- maybe a year. But the acid itself lasts indefinitely. The potency of muriatic acid is ALWAYS marked on the bottle; the grade sold at Lowes and Home Depot is normally as strong and as pure as is commonly available. The yellow tint is not important.

Do NOT use any other kind of acid, especially not "pool acid" made from sulfuric acid.

Learn from the 'tales' you've been told; learn how trustworthy those who told you that are.

Regardless of how much it takes, keep your pH down below 7.6 all winter, and do not let it rise above that. But, don't push it below 6.8, either. Lowering your alkalinity will help. This page
http://poolsolutions.com/gd/lowering-swimming-pool-alkalinity-step-by-step.html
explains how.

Try to keep the pool algae free.

Good luck.

[CarlD]

I'm not sure but I'd guess you'd want to watch your calcium level as well and keep it in the 200-400ppm range.

I also think you need to get a proper test kit. Look at PoolDoc's signature and click on the Amazon Links for K2006 Kits and that will direct you to what we believe is the best kit you can buy: the Taylor K-2006 FAS-DPD kit. If you go via the link a small portion goes to help pay for maintaining the Pool Forum. If, for some reason, you cannot get the kit via the link, Leslies Pools, from their online site has a clone, their FAS-DPD Chlorine Service Test Kit. It's the Taylor K-2006 re-badged in a Leslies box and costs a bit more but otherwise is the same.

The Taylor will give you one of the best pH testers as well as calcium, alkalinity and stabilizer testing. Plus the FAS-DPD system for chlorine testing, by far the best for home pool owners.

Carl