Overwhelmed

[wilsol4]

Trying to test pool for first time. Very good circulation. Testing as far down as I can reach. Not sure what readings are telling me.

Using K-1000 kit first.
chlorine is at or above 5 ppm
pH is Avg of 7.35

About to work with K-2006 kit.

All this is for 7,000 gallon above ground pool. No problems. just getting going on the right foot after filling pool after new liner and pump installed. Uses Cartridge filter.

[PoolDoc]

Reaching down is not so critical. Avoiding surface water may matter, if the pool is dirty or has oil skim (from lotion, etc). What is critical is avoiding the return stream of water, if you have any sort of chlorinator or SWCG present.

[wilsol4]

Are there guidelines for what my readings should be, posted somewhere?
Secondly, is there instructions for K-2006 somewhere? Correction, SIMPLIFIED instructions?

[PoolDoc]

No, but I'm working on a rewrite of their manual.

For now, just use the instructions in the lid of the kit, and ignore the book. If you're confused, the Taylor videos here can help:
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6uoMdT1vO11pgLbOSl99CY_BQXE1Jx6s

[Themadczar]

The instructions on the underside of the the lid are pretty simple to follow. Most of us here use the 10ml sample for chlorine tests (saves on reagents plus accuracy within 0.5ppm is good enough). Also, if your sample turns pink after adding one dipper of the dpd powder, adding a second is unnecessary. Test chlorine and ph daily until you learn your pool's behavior, then you can relax to every other day or so (unless you are dealing with a problem of some kind). Finally, the cya test is a little tricky to read correctly. You want bright, indirect light. So ideally stand in sunlight with your back to the sun (your shadow directly in front of you) and view the dot in the comparator by holding it at your waist. You can also pour the sample back into the bottle and retest a second or third time to verify your results.

Oh, and make sure you check out the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in Ben's signature... This will tell you what your chlorine levels should be depending on your cya readings.

[CarlD]

I think I did a write-up simplifying the K-2006 instructions on a similar thread about a month ago....Let me see if I can find it. May be a good starting point.

Found it!


I don't know if this will help but it may:
Read the Taylor instructions for HOW to run the tests, and ignore their interpretation of the results.
1) FC and CC:
Fill tube to 10ml mark.
a) FC
Add one scoop of powder. Add another if it doesn't turn deep pink. Swirl to mix.
Add one drop from the brown bottle. Swirl. Each drop represents .5 ppm of Free Chlorine.
Keep adding drops one at a time till the water goes clear. The # of drops / 2 = your FC
b) CC (Combined Chloramine)
Add 5 drops of #3 bottle to same water. If it doesn't go pink, your CC = 0.
If it does, again add drops from brown bottle, one at a time and swirl until water clears.
CC = # drops / 2, again.
If you only add one drop and it goes clear, you don't have .5 ppm of CC, you have AT MOST .5 ppm of CC--and probably have less. Don't worry.
c) TC (Total Chlorine) = FC + CC

2) pH
a)Fill the tube to 44ml and add 5 drops from bottle #4, compare to color chart for pH level
I like to take my time with this, and make sure I have something white behind the tube and the chart.
b)Alternatively: If you have the K1000 OTO/pH kit (In my humble opinion the best simple OTO/pH kit you can get), you fill the pH (red) tube to the line and add 5 drops from bottle #14.
Color match as above.

3) TA-T/A Total Alkalinity.
Fill the tube to 25ml
Add 2 drops from the #7 bottle (chlorine neutralizer) Swirl
Add 5 drops from #8 Bottle (Dye) Swirl.
Add 1 drop at a time from #9 Bottle and swirl.
When water turns red, multiply # drops by 10. That's your T/A level.

4) CH Level Calcium Hardness.
Fill tube to 25 ml
Add 20 drops from bottle #10 Swirl.
Add 5 drops from bottle # 11 (dye) swirl.
Add 1 drop at a time from #12 Bottle and swirl.
When water turns blue, multiply # drops by 10. That's your CH level.

5) CYA-Stabilizer-Cyanuric/Isocyanuric Acid
Fill squeeze bottle half full with water, half full from Bottle #13. The amount of each is less important, just that they are 50/50.
Shake for 30 seconds, minimum.
Hold the tube with the dot at your waist, facing the sun.
Slowly add from the squeeze bottle until the dot disappears.
Read the CYA level on the tube. Remember: Halfway between 40 and 50 is NOT 45--it's a log scale.
IMPORTANT!
Repeat test by first pouring the water from the tube back into the squeeze bottle and then repeat the test.
You can do this as many times as it takes you.
Always do this test the same way so any changes are clear.

6) Acid and Base demand tests--don't bother with them.

[wilsol4]

OK, here are my pool readings.....any advice is appreciated

Free Chlorine 6.4 ppm (two readings to confirm)
Combined Chlorine 0.4 ppm (two readings to confirm)
pH 7.4
Calcium Hardness 40ppm

Please advise.

[wilsol4]

After watching the videos on YouTube, I was later able to follow instructions on lid. It was just at first, like reading hieroglyphics for some reason! The Videos were a GREAT HELP!

[CarlD]

OK, here are my pool readings.....any advice is appreciated

Free Chlorine 6.4 ppm (two readings to confirm)
Combined Chlorine 0.4 ppm (two readings to confirm)
pH 7.4
Calcium Hardness 40ppm

Please advise.

Have you gotten a stabilizer reading? (also called CYA). Your Free Chlorine's effectiveness depends on your stabilizer level.
Your pH is fine--don't try to adjust it.

You really only need to measure your FC and CC using the 10ml mark, not the 25ml one, which wastes your reagents.

Without the CYA, I can only guess what you should do, which would be to shock the pool to get rid of the CC. But, without the CYA level, I'm guessing at how much.

But, for future reference: 1 gallon of 8.25% bleach will increase your FC by 11 3/4 ppm. 1 gallon of 6% bleach will add about 8 1/2 ppm of FC. If you want to add only 4ppm, use a half-gallon of 6%. etc.

[wilsol4]

I am a newbie. I am testing with the K-2006. What is CYA?

[Watermom]

CYA is cyanuric acid, also called isocyanuric acid or sometimes stabilizer or conditioner. It is kind of like sunscreen for your chlorine. If you don't have enough, then your chlorine is quickly lost to the sun. Your needed chlorine level for your pool is dependent on what your CYA level is so it is an important reading for us to know to give you good advice. The CYA test is not one that you need to run very often unless you are either adding CYA directly or are using a stabilized form of chlorine such as trichlor pucks or dichlor shock powder. If you haven't already done so, take a look at the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below. Hope this helps.

[wilsol4]

I will test my stabilizer, CYA, when I get home, if it isn't storming. Is the CYA test part of the K-2006 kit? I don't know why I would have done it if it was listed. Maybe bc I didn't know what CYA stood for.

Why do I want to get rid of CC, combined chlorine?

I have been using a combo of Dichlor and Bleach. Some one day, some another.

What is the function of Borax?

Thanks a bajillion for all the help from all of you!

[Watermom]

The CYA test is part of the K2006.

You want to get rid of CC because in simple terms, it is chlorine that has already been "used up" and is no longer available to sanitize your pool.

It is ok to use dichlor for awhile if your CYA level isn't too high since it adds CYA as well as chlorine. This is one reason we need to know your CYA level. It is also acidic so if your pH drops below 7.2, you'll want to raise it by adding some Borax.

Don't worry about asking so many questions. That's why we are here!

[CarlD]

OK. CYA or Stabilizer is like sunscreen for Chlorine, BUT it slows Chlorine's action down. So the levels are a balance.

Yes, you have a CYA test in your K-2006 It consists of a small squeeze bottle with a line in the middle and a line near the top, a tall thin tube with a black dot on the bottom, and a bottle of R-0013.
You fill the squeeze bottle to the lower line with pool water,
fill to the upper line with R-0013.
Then shake for 30 seconds.
Now hold the tube with the black dot at your waist or belt and face the sun.
Look down into the tube and slowly squeeze the fluid from the squeeze bottle into it.
Concentrate on the black dot at the bottom as you add fluid.
When the dot disappears (the fluid is cloudy if there's CYA), stop.
Now read the level on the side of the tube.

If you aren't sure, carefully pour the fluid from the tube back into the squeeze bottle and do the test again.
You can do it as many times as you like without using more pool water or R-0013, until you are pretty confident.

CC is irritating to the skin and eyes, and gives your pool that "chlorine smell". It also doesn't sanitize any more.

Dichlor adds chlorine and CYA. Bleach adds only chlorine. That's the difference.

Borax raises pH, making the pool less acid. It doesn't have as much effect on "total alkalinity" as do other pH raisers. You can use pool store "pH Up!" or other brand names to raise pH but you'll be paying $3 - $4 a pound for what is basically Arm&Hammer Washing Soda (NOT, NOT, NOT Baking soda!) and costs about $1/pound.

But most of us prefer to use Borax to raise pH.

For now, don't worry about total alkalinity. Just worry about FC (and CC), pH and CYA.

[PoolDoc]

Cyanuric acid = "stabilizer" = CYA = "conditioner" (mostly in Calif.)

Solar UV, or high powered UV 'sanitizer' systems rapidly degrade free chlorine into salt via photolysis. Cyanuric acid greatly reduces the rate at which this happens.

[wilsol4]

My CYA is 40

[PoolDoc]

Looks good!

[wilsol4]

So here are my readings, all in one location:
Free Chlorine 6.4 ppm (two readings to confirm)
Combined Chlorine 0.4 ppm (two readings to confirm)
pH 7.4
Calcium Hardness 40ppm
CYA 40 ppm

Looking at the chlorine best guess chart, it appears my free chlorine level is too high.
How do I get rid of combined chlorine?

[Themadczar]

It's not too high... Just a little higher than your normal operating range, but there is no harm in that. It will come down on its own as the fc is used to keep the water sanitized. It looks like you are still testing chlorine with the 25ml sample instead of the 10ml sample. This is your choice, but you will use up your reagents much more quickly, and the accuracy of the 10ml sample is plenty good for our purposes here.

As for cc, uncovering the pool will help eliminate it... This allows the uv from the sun to break it down and the gasses to escape the water. However, 0.4 is acceptable. If it goes above 0.5 you should shock the pool (assuming it has been uncovered).

[CarlD]

Yup! That's right. Readings look good!

You have a vinyl pool and your Calcium Hardness is SUPER low--which means if you want to use Cal-Hypo to chlorinate, you won't have to worry about it going too high for a long, long time.
In fact, unless you use Cal-Hypo a lot, I wouldn't bother testing Calcium Hardness again until you close the pool.

Do NOT add calcium just to add calcium or because the pool store guy tells you that you "need it". You don't. Low calcium is harmless in a vinyl pool.

Otherwise, other than using the 25ml instead of the 10ml line to test chlorine levels, you look like you are doing fine.

[Watermom]

I agree that your numbers look good. My only comment is that if you find, once the heat of summer gets here, that you are having trouble keeping chlorine in the pool through a hot sunny day that you might want to bump your CYA up some. You may not need to but just keep it in mind if you start ending up with your chlorine level below the needed minimum (per the Best Guess Chlorine Chart) at day's end.

Good job!

[BigDave]

Looks like you're not so Overwhelmed any more. Congrats! Have fun!

[wilsol4]

Yesterdays readings are:

FC 5 ppm
CC 1 ppm
Alkalinity 7.6 pH
CYA 42

Please advise.

Also, someone stated raising stabilizer. How do I raise that again?

[PoolDoc]

40 ppm CYA is OK.

5 ppm FC is OK. 1 ppm CC is probably a testing error, unless you are 'smelling' the pool.

You can raise CYA by dissolving cyanuric acid into the pool -- a sock works well for soft side pools -- or by using dichlor or trichlor, which add almost a ppm of CYA for every ppm of chlorine.

[wilsol4]

So should I add just one "dose" of dichlor? or two? and should I ALWAYS do equal amounts of BORAX?

[PoolDoc]

You add dichlor to raise chlorine. It also raises CYA.

You add borax to raise pH.

You only do either, when you want to affect the particular pool factor. I usually try to size 'doses' to give them a reasonable amount to add at one time. But, that's assuming a 'test, dose, retest' approach, that corrects pool factors gradually.

[wilsol4]

I am super appreciative for all of the help. You guys and gals are awesome!

[PoolDoc]

Glad things are working well for you . . .