jtran69's New Pool

[jtran69]

Hi,

I'm also new and trying to take care of an Intex above ground pool, 12x24ft 52in, using salt water system filtration.
After adding salt from HomeDepot, it's been running for 2 weeks now -- 5 parts test stick is showing low in chlorine and free chlorine.
Pump capacity rating is 2000 gal/hr and it usually runs for 4 hours per day. Beside adding salt, I also added HTH Salt Saver Cell.
HOW CAN I BRING THE CHLORINE AND FREE CHLORINE LEVEL TO NORMAL?

[jtran69]

Anyone available to help me on this low chlorine issue in salt water?

Is the cell not working properly or do I need to run the pump longer than 4 hours/day?
Can I add chlorine to reach normal level?

Any comment is appreciated.

[PoolDoc]

Use bleach to get your pool going; there's a sticky on Intex start-up in the section I'm moving this thread to.

SWCG's (Salt Water Chlorine Generator) really only work well when everything is up to par; when it's not, you need to run manually.

[jtran69]

I see the thread, "Super Simple Pool Chemistry Recipe", and will follow it right away when I get home tonight.
The pool had been in that condition for more than 2 weeks and I'm hoping that it's not too late to start the recipe.
Ths much!

[jtran69]

I bought some bleach and borax at Walmart.
It does not have dichlor but has trichlor.
Adding bleach to pool water in a bucket did not change color so I poured about 1.5 gal in the pool.

Can I substitute HTH® Chlorinating Tablets (trichlor) f from Walmart for dichlor?
Here's the composition.
TRICHLORO-S-TRIAZINETRIONE 87-90-1 94.5 -
ZINC SULFATE 7446-19-7 3.5 -
Aluminum Sulfate 17927-65-0 1.5


please add this to my previous thread.
Homedepot has Pool Time 25 lb. 3 in. Stabilized Chlorinator Tablets having Trichloro-s-triazinetrione 87-90-1 > 99 %
Will this work same as dichlor since I can't get the real dichlor right away?
HOw about Pool Shop 4-Way Pool Test Kit from Homedepot while waiting for K2006 kit?

[PoolDoc]

The 4way OTO kit (really, 2 way!) is OK for now. Do NOT get either the of the tablets. The HTH tablets are a mess and 25lbs of trichlor is too much for your pool, at the end of the season -- you'll end up with a bunch of REALLY stinky tablets that you have to use up next spring.

Use bleach instead, till you can get some dichlor. And, then use bleach + dichlor occasionally, once your stabilizer level is up. Can't you get into a nearby Sams on a guest pass or go with a friend? The bagged dichlor keeps well.

[jtran69]

After 3 days of bleaching the pool, I noticed that the slipperiness on the side of the pool is hardly noticeable which is a huge turn around.

I've managed to find Kem-Tek dichlor at OSH nearby vs. Sam's Club at 50 miles away. Early afternoon, Poolshop test kit show that chlorine<0.6 and pH=7.6. Soon I added 1 dose (1.5cup) of dichlor, 1 dose of borax, and 4 doses of bleach to the pool while setting the pump to run for 3 hours. At 10pm, the good news was chlorine=3.0 and pH=7.6 and I was feeling a big relieve.

Please let me know what to do to continue improving the water quality.

Also my cat fish vac is not holding the charge long enough to clean the bottom of the pool. Is there such a filtering attachment between the brush head and the hose that I can use while waiting for the cat fish vac to charge?

Thanks much!

[jtran69]

What are your thought about adding a Intex Krystal Clear 1,600 Gallon Sand Filter ($129 at Walmart) in series to my existing pump+filter setup? I was thinking that in long term that it cost about the same for 10 filter cartridges.

[PoolDoc]

In series? No.
In parallel? OK, but you have to do extra piping. Keep in mind the cartridge pumps won't drive a sand filter, and putting pumps in series is hydraulically tricky.

[jtran69]

On the 5th day, Poolshop test kit shows that total chlorine=3.0 and pH=7.6
Should I continue bleaching, dichloring, and boraxing for 2 more days?

[PoolDoc]

To some degree, the recipe is in lieu of having valid test results . . . which you don't.

If the "Pool Shop" kit is an OTO / phenol red kit, the OTO reading is meaningful, but not particular accurate. The phenol red results may not be meaningful. We're seeing some really dilute phenol red solutions, and some rather poor color comparators. Without meaningful, accurate, and complete test results, I can't really tell you what to do . . . except that if you follow the recipe AND if your gallons figure is accurate within 15%, it should all work out.

I wrote that recipe to get people started, without overwhelming them. Some new Intex owners have a fairly low tolerance for new information delivered at a high rate. But if you want to KNOW what's going on, you have to get the kit.

I just started the Pool Chart, this season (You can fill it out using the link below, and we'll put the data in your signature). I've already discovered that we haven't been pushing test kits as hard as we need to . . . and we've been pushing them pretty hard. But the correlation between folks who have continuing problems and folks who haven't gotten a good kit is very high. (Other events highly correlated with problem are over-cleaned cartridges, filling from well, small sand filters in use for more than a year (no sand!), and of course, letting pool stores sell you everything they can think of.)

So, all I can really tell you is . . . follow the recipe, and if you want to know more, or want more help from us, get a good testkit.

Ben

========================================


+ It's much easier to answer your questions, when we have the details about your pool in one place. We often 'waste' the first few posts back and forth collecting information. So, please complete our new Pool Chart form -- it takes about 30 seconds, but will save much more than that.
Pool Chart Entry Form (http://goo.gl/cNPUO)

+ Get a cheap OTO (yellow drops) / phenol test kit, or if available at YOUR Walmart (check availability (http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-6-Way-Test-Kit/17043668)), get the HTH 6-way DROPS test kit, which is compatible with the Taylor K2006. Test the pool as soon and you can, and post the results. If you get the 6-way kit, ALSO test the water you FILL the pool with, especially if it's a well, and post THOSE results as well. (The HTH is the best available kit you're likely to find locally, but it's not the K-2006. It can only provide rough measurements chlorine levels above 5 ppm, and it measures "TOTAL" hardness, rather than "CALCIUM" hardness, which is not ideal.)

+ Having a good test kit makes pool care easier for EVERYONE, but is an ESSENTIAL tool for pools with problems. A good test kit means a kit that can test chlorine from 0 - 25 ppm, pH, alkalinity, calcium hardness, and stabilizer with reasonable accuracy. Test strips (AKA 'guess-strips' ) do NOT meet this standard. Some pool store testing is accurate; most is not. The ONLY way you'll know whether your pool store is accurate or bogus, is by testing accurately your own self. On the other hand, pool store 'computer' dosing recommendations are NEVER trustworthy -- ignore them. They are designed to sell more chemicals than you need, and WILL cause many pool problems.

+ We recommend the Taylor K-2006 test kit, which meets the requirements above, for many reasons. The HTH 6-way drops kit is a great starter kit, and is compatible with the K2006 (it's made by Taylor). There are a few alternatives; for example Lamotte makes an FAS-DPD kit that's OK -- but it costs 3x as much. But, we're not aware of any test that is better, and since we are all familiar with the K-2006 (and can help you with it) we recommend it exclusively ( Test kit info page (http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?16551) )

One caution for the 2012 season: Amazon does not stock the kits directly. So when buying at Amazon, Amato is our current preferred seller. However, they often don't list enough stock to last the whole day, so try order mid-morning. You should expect a delivered cost under $60 for the K2006A and under $95 for the K2006C. If you can't find that, wait a day.

+ Here are links to the kits we recommend (you can check local availability on the HTH kit, using the Walmart link):

HTH 6-Way Test Kit (http://www.walmart.com/ip/HTH-6-Way-Test-Kit/17043668) @ Walmart
Taylor K2006A (3/4 oz bottles) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002IXIIG/poolbooks) @ Amazon
Taylor K2006C (2 oz bottles) (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002IXIJ0/poolbooks) @ Amazon

[jtran69]

My Taylor kit should arrive this weekend and I'll post the test result afterward. Thanks for your quick response!

[jtran69]

Here's the water test result from my new Taylor 2006 kit.
FC=5, CC=0.8, TC=5.8
PH=7.2
TA=90
CH=12-
CYA<30

I started using a new Intex .95hp SWGC sand filter since I sold the old setup.
The sand filter is working pretty good so far since I'm learning how to use it.
Please comment on my test result and recommend any weekly dichlor/borax/bleach addition would be wonderful.
Thanks much!

[PoolDoc]

Not too bad, but you need to add dichlor nightly. Your CC is high-ish, and your CYA is still low. You can skip the dose, if the FC is above 10 ppm. But, read the Best Guess page, linked in my blue signature block.

A reasonable dose (4 ppm) would be 1/2 gallon of bleach or 1/2 lb of dichlor.

[jtran69]

It`s time to startup the pool for the kids. Pool had been covered over the winter. Is there a link to 'how to start up ...?