Water temperature for salt to be added.

[PoolDoc]

You need to tell us what sort of kit you have: most likely, you have no chlorine and need more. But some kits (DPD tablets) will read zero if the chlorine is zero, but will ALSO read zero if the chlorine is high!

You can get a cheap Walmart OTO kit (drops turn yellow) and test with it -- it's not super accurate, but it is super reliable, and will always give you some indication of what you've got (yellow = typical chlorine range; dark yellow to orange = high chlorine, to really high; brown = too high to swim.

Ben

[SS1304]

The pool kit that he gave us does have the yellow and red liquid to test the chlorine and the PH. The test that I did today didn't show any chlorine after putting in 3 gal of liquid CH on friday night.

The test kit just says test kit nothing at all else on it. I'll have to look at those kits to see what they have. I know that there is a pool center just down the road that will test the water for everything and give you a print out for free. They are however closed today or I would run out there and have them run a test on it.

I was thinking about putting two gal of liquid CH back in and then start adding the salt and turning on the SWG?.?.?.?

[Watermom]

Any idea what your cya was when you closed last year and also, have you had it checked this year? What did you use as your source of chlorine last year? Go ahead and put the bleach in this evening after the sun is off the pool. Test it again early in the morning and see how much you lost overnight and report back. I'll let someone else address your questions about the SWC.

[SS1304]

We just filled it up last year and put algeside <sp?> in and something else. This is our first year opening it.

[PoolDoc]

You can go to the pool store, and get their test. But do NOT buy their stuff, with one exception. If they show that you have stabilizer (CYA) below 50 ppm, you can let them sell you enough to raise your pool to 50 ppm.

They will want to sell you all sorts of other things -- that's the purpose of those testing program; to sell chemicals, including many you do NOT need, and some that will actually make your pool worse. We even have a word for what they'll do to you: "you'll get 'pool-stored'!". So, let them test, but just say no to the rest!

(Don't tell them about visiting our site, or using bleach -- with many pool people, it will set them off on a rant if you do. And, you'll need your pool store for parts and some chemicals, so don't burn your bridges there.)

So let them test -- take fresh sample in a closed bottle, with no air left in it. Do NOT let the sample sit in the car. Buy your CYA if you need it. (Testing does cost them something.) Then come come and test your pH and chlorine levels, and post BOTH sets of results here.

Meanwhile, add 5 gallons of 6% bleach to your pool, this evening if possible.

Ben

[SS1304]

Ok, Good advise thanks Ben.

I added two bottles of liquid chlorine it says it is like 12% so thats close. I'll run a sample out tomorrow or Tuesday and see what everything is sitting at.

On a side note how long does this "restricted" status stick around and moderating my post prior to posting.. lol trying to answer in a quick fashion isn't working well.

[PoolDoc]

You can exit restricted status in two ways:

1) Subscribe
2) Post successfully a number of times. (No recipe given -- spammers apparently find, and share such recipes.)

Ben

[BigTallGuy]

What is the temperature of your pool water? I had a "Low Salt" light when my water temp was approx 45° F over the winter. It sounds like you're doing the right thing, add a little at a time and TEST, TEST, TEST.