Help! I'm ready to pull my hair out!

[madwil]

the shotglass method will work for now to test FC, keep the FC at shock levels as consistently as you can and keep filter on 24/7...
Yes, keep your water level filled when you vacuum- if it is starting to clear, you can possibly even vacuum through filter instead of to waste to conserve water/chemicals...
DE is Diamataceous Earth (spelling?), you can add a cup at a time to your skimmer, wait 15-20 minutes and check pressure on your filter- when your pressure raises 1 psi, you've added enough- it fills in gaps in your sand, creating a finer filter media to filter out more suspended crud from your water; then it will be removed along with the crud when you backwash, so you add it again, the same amount as you determined the first time by the cup method!

[mortimay]

Back to square one. I busted my strainer lid last night and had to shut the pump off. Still haven't gotten it up and running, having issues with leaks. Not been a good day. Anyway, I took a sample to the pool place and here's where my numbers are now (or at least this morning before the sun hit it):

FC 6.9
TC 7.6
pH 5.0
Alk 135
Stab 18
TDS 1400
Iron .12
Copper .74

She told me to add 3 lbs pH increaser and 2 lbs Stabilizer and I did buy the Metal free and she told me to add half of the 33.9oz bottle.

I havent' done anything yet except work on getting my pump running again. Figured I'd ask what you all thought I should do before doing anything.

Thanks!

[PoolDoc]

FC 6.9
TC 7.6
pH 5.0 <==
Alk 135
Stab 18
TDS 1400
Iron .12
Copper .74

Something is seriously wrong here -- I actually looked in your registration to see if you'd included a phone number -- but there are three possibilities:

1. Your previous test results were all wrong, or
2. You added a BUNCH of acid, but didn't mention doing so, or
3. This most recent test is bogus and should NOT be trusted!

Pools don't mysteriously go from pH 7.6 (next to last test) to 5.0 (last test) for no reason. A pH of 5.0 *can* damage your liner. But if you didn't add acid, it's almost a certainty that the last test result is bogus, and should NOT be trusted. This means you should NOT add all that pH UP.

Ben

[mortimay]

How do I add my phone number?

The two tests came from the same pool store with the same lady running the tests?? I did add 1/3 of a bottle of acid because she told me I needed to bring it down because the chlorine would bring it back up? I added 10 bottles of 10% chlorine Friday night and then another 8 bottles Sat night because I did the shot glass test and it showed my chlorine to be at 6. I was thinking it needed to be above 12.

I think I'm getting all the different advice confused??

[mortimay]

I ran a couple more tests using my cheapie kit and test strips. These are my results

Cheapie drop kit:

Cl 15
pH between 6.8 & 7.2
Alk 130


Test strip:
Cl dark purple over 10 (highest it goes)
pH between 6.2 & 6.8
Alk 120

[aylad]

You need to get that pH up. Chlorine, in bleach form, may temporarily raise your pH, but it is for a very short period of time, so don't adjust your pH down just for that. Chlorine in trichlor or dichlor form will drastically drop your pH. So....You need to add some Borax, I'd start with about 1/2 box, slowly into the skimmer with the pump running, breaking up clumps, wait a couple of hours to circulate, retest, then add more if you don't have a pH above 7.0.

Just want to caution you that taking advice from the pool store and from here will get you into trouble and be VERY confusing. You really need to either stick with advice from here, where we are driven to help you get your pool under control, or stick with the pool store's advice, where they are driven to make profits for the pool store. Trying to do both will end badly, I promise!

Janet

Edit: After re-reading the thread, I see that you already have pH up, which you can use if you want instead of the Borax. It's the same stuff, only more expensive.

[mortimay]

I don't have the PH up, didn't buy it from them. I do have lots of borax so I will add that and then retest in a couple of hours and will post the results here.