HELP - Saltwater System Inital Setup - Intex 54601EG

I bought a used system and the guy didn't have the manual. I've found bits and pieces on the Internet but what I cannot find is the following, hopefully someone can help me out. Current status 16" x 48" Intex Ultra pool, I put 120 lbs of pool salt in the pool and have let the pump run overnight (still running).
1) When do I turn on the Saltwater system and how long do I run it for first time?
2) How long do I run it daily after the initial run?
3) I assume the salt water system and pump need to run at the same time, how do I synchronize the two?

Thanks in advance, not having a manual is driving me nutz!

UPDATE: Spoke with Intex and I hate to say this they were no help other than telling me I need to run the system 3 to 4 hours a day. The person I spoke to had such a heavy accent that this is all I could make out from our conversation so my questions above still apply with the exception of how long to run daily after the initial run.

I can't answer most of those questions but will tell you that you want to get your water balanced before you turn on the unit. Do you have a drops-based test kit? Can you post current readings?

Also, disconnect the copper electrode that is on the unit. Contrary to popular belief, it is not chlorine that stains pools and turns blonde hair green, it is copper!

@watermom I don't have drops but I have strips, will that work?

Here are the strip results:
TH - 1000
FC - 0/0
Ph - 6.8
TA - 120
CYA - 0

Well, we actually call them 'guess strips' around here......

The test kit that we think is by far the best is the Taylor K2006 or 2006C (better buy). Not available locally but you can get it through this link that takes you to Amazon: http://pool9.net/tk/

But, in the meantime, go to Walmart and see if they have the HTH 6-Way drops-based kit (no test strips!) and get that. If they don't, get an OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops) instead. Use it to test and then post your numbers. Also while you are at WallyWorld, get several jugs of their generic 8.25% bleach and a 2 or 3 boxes of 20 Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle).

Then, test and repost the numbers. (Do this asap. Your pH appears to be critically low and can damage your pool and equipment! Any reading below 7.0 is acidic. So...... get off to Walmart!)

Thanks! Wife's on her way to Wally World!

Here are the chlorine and pH numbers:
Cholrine - Totaly Clear so I guess that's a zero.
Ph - 7.8

Still trying to figure out how to conduct the other tests.

Here's latest update on tests. Please note my CYA question:
TH - 340 (wasn't red, more like purple prior to adding hardness titrant)
Cholrine - Totaly Clear
Ph - 7.5 - 7.8
TA - 150
CYA - Not sure I'm reading this test right. It's asking me to add 7 ml of the cyanuric acid reagent to 7ml pool water. 7 ml of acid reagent is 1/3 of the total amount that came with my kit)

Since this is a new fill, you won't have any CYA in there yet unless you have used some trichlor pucks, dichlor shock or have added any CYA separately. I assume you have used none of those?

What exactly have you added to the pool by the way -- ingredients, please? When did you fill it?

(Do you see now why we call them 'guess-strips'? ;))

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

What exactly have you added to the pool by the way -- ingredients, please? When did you fill it?

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Partially filled 5 days ago, finished filling last night. Added about 3 to 4 cups of bleach since initial fill and 120 lbs of salt, that's it.

Just checked my salt level (using strip LOL) and I'm sitting at 2,860.

Actually, using our Super Simple Startup Recipe would be a good way for you to begin. You need to get some chlorine in there asap, though. It doesn't take long for a pool to turn green! Recipe is here:> http://pool9.net/ssr/

I estimate your volume to be around 5600 gallons. In this size pool, each quart of 8.25% bleach will add about 3.7ppm of chlorine. You can use that as a resource to help you figure out how much to add. For now, I'd suggest adding a quart a couple times per day so you don't drop to zero. Until you start getting some CYA in there, you will lose chlorine fast. CYA (cyanuric acid, also called stabilizer) is kind of like sunscreen for your chlorine. Without enough, the chlorine is quickly lost to the sun. In fact, you may need to add bleach a couple of times per day. (Once you start building up your CYA, the chlorine will start lasting longer and adding bleach several times per day won't be necessary.)

Dichlor (in the startup recipe) will add CYA for you as it also adds chlorine. That is why it is a good choice for freshly filled pools. Most SWCG manuals have specific requirements for what level CYA is needed. I'm going to ask Dave, a member of our support team who also has an Intex pool, to chime in here on this thread and help with that information. (By the way, don't test for CYA again until you have been using dichlor for about 10 days. It won't change that fast and testing it too frequently just wastes the CYA testing reagent.)

Your CH, and TA are both a little high. If you add high pH to that mix, you can have some scaling issues. So, I am going to suggest that you lower your TA. Directions for doing that are here:> http://pool9.net/alk-step AND http://pool9.net/ma/

You won't want to use any cal-hypo at any time for your chlorine. Your calcium hardness is already pretty high.

Hope this helps. Come back if you have more questions. I'm going to ask Dave to walk you through the rest of the startup. He is more familiar with the Intex SWCG than I am. He'll be a good resource for you. :)

(Also, don't forget to disconnect the copper electrode on the unit.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

Actually, using our Super Simple Startup Recipe would be a good way for you to begin. You need to get some chlorine in there asap, though. It doesn't take long for a pool to turn green! Recipe is here:> http://pool9.net/ssr/

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When I fire-up my SWCG won't this make chlorine for me? I'm planning on turning it on in a couple hours for the first time. In the short term I just poured in a quart of bleach. ALSO, Isn't my pH dead on? Won't adding borax in the simple start-up recipe push it higher (sorry if I'm miss reading this, I'm new ;) )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

I estimate your volume to be around 5600 gallons. In this size pool, each quart of 8.25% bleach will add about 3.7ppm of chlorine. You can use that as a resource to help you figure out how much to add. For now, I'd suggest adding a quart a couple times per day so you don't drop to zero. Until you start getting some CYA in there, you will lose chlorine fast. CYA (cyanuric acid, also called stabilizer) is kind of like sunscreen for your chlorine. Without enough, the chlorine is quickly lost to the sun. In fact, you may need to add bleach a couple of times per day. (Once you start building up your CYA, the chlorine will start lasting longer and adding bleach several times per day won't be necessary.)

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I have something called "conditioner/enhancer" from Leslie's pool supplies. Active ingredients are Cyanuric acid 99%, Other ingredients 1%. Would this work?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

Dichlor (in the startup recipe) will add CYA for you as it also adds chlorine. That is why it is a good choice for freshly filled pools. Most SWCG manuals have specific requirements for what level CYA is needed. I'm going to ask Dave, a member of our support team who also has an Intex pool, to chime in here on this thread and help with that information. (By the way, don't test for CYA again until you have been using dichlor for about 10 days. It won't change that fast and testing it too frequently just wastes the CYA testing reagent.)

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I guess this is a follow-up to my first question about doing the start-up recipie vs. turning on my SWCG.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

Your CH, and TA are both a little high. If you add high pH to that mix, you can have some scaling issues. So, I am going to suggest that you lower your TA. Directions for doing that are here:> http://pool9.net/alk-step AND http://pool9.net/ma/

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OK

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

You won't want to use any cal-hypo at any time for your chlorine. Your calcium hardness is already pretty high.

Hope this helps. Come back if you have more questions. I'm going to ask Dave to walk you through the rest of the startup. He is more familiar with the Intex SWCG than I am. He'll be a good resource for you. :)

(Also, don't forget to disconnect the copper electrode on the unit.)

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I'll have to figure this out, maybe Dave knows.

One last question, if I follow these steps how long before we can get in the pool?

A pool without CYA isn't going to keep a chlorine reading. Even if you turn on your SWCG, you're not going to have enough chlorine to keep algae at bay. That is why you need to get your water balanced first and then turn on the unit.

You can use the conditioner. That is the right stuff. But, without knowing how high your unit needs the CYA to be, I'm not sure what amount to recommend that you add. Maybe aim for about 50ppm for now which would be around 2lbs. Put it in an old sock and hang it in front of a return jet. Give the sock a squeeze every now and then to help it dissolve faster.

In the meantime, maintain some chlorine in the pool with bleach.

It is ok to swim now.

(Turns out that I was wrong-- Dave doesn't have an Intex SWCG. Not sure why I though that.)

Thank for all your help Watermom.

I spoke with the guy who I bought the pool from (this is where the conditioner came from) and he told me he'd mix it in a 5 gallon bucket until mostly dissolved then pour it in the pool which is what I'm doing now. Hope that doesn't screw things up. I suppose this method is more like pouring liquid concentrate in.

Understand what you're saying about my SWCG being useless without CYA, especially here in Vegas.

I'll keep-up the bleach per the simple start-up. However, what about the Borax? Do you agree that currently my pH level is where it should be so adding additional would push me higher than I need to be?

Thanks again for all your help!

CYA is very slow dissolving. It can take days. I hope the granules sitting on the bottom of the pool don't hurt the vinyl.

The reason for adding Borax is because Dichlor is very acidic and will drive the pH down. If you are just going to use bleach, you may or may not need the Borax. Just test and determine based on the readings.

Good luck.

I can't think of much to add; Watermom's covered it all.

In the 5 gallon bucket, I'm guessing that the CYA made more of a white slurry than a clear solution. It's really slow to dissolve. I'd wait a few days to a week before testing for CYA, as you point out there's only a couple tests in the kit.

I suggest that you spend the first couple weeks chlorinating with bleach to learn what your pool needs then start the SWCG. Please consider defeating / removing the copper ionizer unit. Copper stains the pool and sometimes swimmers.

Do you have a K-2006 or is it on the way?

@Watermom: Perhaps you remember that I kept about 3000 ppm salt in my Intex donut just for the feel.

@BigDave - Yes, it was a white slurry solution. I let it sit in the bucket for a couple of hours and gave it a stir about ever 15 minutes. By the time I threw it in the pool the majority had dissolved. Just went out and checked on it and I'd say there's maybe 1/4 cup left sitting on the bottom so I got it to dissolve pretty quickly.

Just checked pH and Cl and I'm sitting at Cl 5 and pH 7.5. Yesterday I probably but in about 2.5 quarts of bleach.

I found the copper ionizer and I'm trying to figure out how to disconnect. I'll stick with bleach for a couple of weeks, we bought plenty. Yes, ordered the K-2006. Thanks for your input!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Watermom

CYA is very slow dissolving. It can take days. I hope the granules sitting on the bottom of the pool don't hurt the vinyl.

The reason for adding Borax is because Dichlor is very acidic and will drive the pH down. If you are just going to use bleach, you may or may not need the Borax. Just test and determine based on the readings.

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Got it! I'll sit on the Borax for now. My pH is sitting at 7.5 right now so I think that's about right where I want to be, correct?