New IG pool owner in Arizona

I just purchased a house in San Tan Valley AZ (far east valley of Phoenix) knowing I would be moving in I have been reading up on this forum to get me familiar with the new task I will have with the pool.

Here's my info that I know so far and a few questions.

My equipment is a Shasta 12,000 gal pebbletec pool
Hayward swimclear 5030 cartridge filter
Hayward 1.5 HP platinum flow pump
A&A in floor cleaning system
Quickchlor Salt system

I tested my water with the Leslie's brand kit that was left by the previous owner.
My numbers are.....
FC and TC both 0
Calcium Hardness is 660
CYA 100
TA 80
PH 7.6
Salt 2500.....tested with a electronic tester left by prev owner.

The SWCG is currently not running and I was told by the prev owner it wont run until the water temp gets higher (currently 56 according to the control panel) Is this true it wont run at cold temps?

He also used a floater with tabs to chlorinate. When I moved in the floater was empty and after reading here I will be switching it to the BBB method anyway.

Should I do a partial drain and fill to lower the hardness or can I manage with what I have?

The water is crystal clear right now. I have been putting a half pound of granular shock per week for the month I have been here. With moving and the holidays I really didn't have the time to start dealing with it plus it has been colder than normal so I figured my chances for algae were a lot less. I just bought my first few gallons of bleach and plan to start that process now.

Thanks for any help you can give!

First, check your fill water, esp for its CH and TA.
Which Leslie kit did they leave? Leslie kits are almost ALL re-badged Taylor kits, including a version of the K2006 kit. Is the chlorine test the FAS-DPD, or the DPD test? If it's FAS-DPD, it's the same as the K2006.

IF the fill water has a much lower CH level, I'd suggest draining half the water and refilling. This should get CH under 400 and CYA to around 50.

Since the water is cold it's inhibititing algae growth, which is good. I'd then add 3 gallons of 6% bleach (or 1.5 gallons of 12% liquid chlorine) to get FC to 15. I'd try to keep FC at 15 for a few days or a week to make sure it's clean.

I cannot answer about the SWCG, but you do need to raise your salt level to about 3000, so that when it's working it's adequate. If you drain, you'll DEFINITELY need salt. I would test with a salt drop test kit (available from the Taylor Technology web site) rather than the electronic tester. The SWCG has a good built in tester as well.

I can tell you that the SWCG produces less chlorine the cooler the water is, but where it cuts off, I don't know.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CarlD

I'd suggest draining half the water and refilling. ............... and CYA to around 50.

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Assuming your CYA really is 100. Since 100 is the highest level the CYA test can differentiate, it could actually be much higher. At any rate, Carl is right, of course, that doing a partial drain and refill could help. Don't totally drain a pool though!

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

I have the DPD complete kit from Leslie's. My re-agents are Taylor brand. I brought the FC up to 15 and had it there for 3 days and today It is now down to 4. The water remains crystal clear. I will be going out of town for 6 days so i plan on bringing the FC back up to 15 or so the morning I leave to hold it over while I'm gone. I will be doing a 50% drain when I get back to town. My tap water tested with just a hint of FC (less than 1) PH and TA are both in normal range. I also plan on breaking the filter down and cleaning the cartridges while I drain it. Is there any good indications if they need to be replaced when I have them out or will I have to put it all back together and see where the pressure ends up after cleaning? Right now it runs at about 18-20 psi.

Thanks for the replies

Tim

Sorry you didn't get any follow-up. Is your pool running OK, now?

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