Taking control of my pool this year

[jilted]

Hello. I decided to post here since my original post discussed 2 issues and was moved to the cleaning forum.
I am here to learn and take control of my pool from here forward! See signature for pool info.

original post:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...ce-information.

I found the old test kit that was here when we bought the house so it has to be at least 5 years old so it may not be accurate.

It's an HTH Deluxe kit (which I am sure is not great quality) but here are the results:

FC: less than .5
TC: less than .5
pH: 7.5
Alkalinity: 40ppm
I also have an OTO kit and the result from that was just above 1

The Compu Pool wants the salt level around 3500ppm and the built in tester has been reading between 3400-3600 lately.

I am ordering a Taylor kit tonight so I can take accurate tests.

Over the weekend I put a couple 3" chlorine tables in the skimmer (left over from converting last year) and have been running the SWCG on super-chlorinate. From the looks of the tests it looks like my chlorine is already depleted. I know the level can be kept lower in a SW pool, but it sure did come down FAST!

Any input on what to do or should I wait for the taylor kit and then go from there?

thanks!
-stephen

[aylad]

The HTH deluxe kit is not a bad kit until you can get your Taylor, but not knowing how the reagents were stored, there's no way to really know how accurate your readings are. I'll let the salt experts chime in here about the salt, but just off the top of my head, I can tell you that the chlorine probably dissipated as quickly as it did because I'm guessing you have no stabilizer in the water. The trichlor will add a little, but not enough to be able to efficiently run your SWCG, so I would add enough CYA to get up to the level your SWCG manual says to use. It takes up to a week to dissolve, so I would supplement your chlorine using plain, unscented bleach in order to not burn out your SWCG prematurely. In a 26K pool, each gallon of 6% bleach will raise your chlorine by just over 2 ppm, so you can use that as a guide--if your CYA is zero, you need chlorine between 3-6 ppm at all times, which may take multiple applications of bleach during the day until your CYA registers.

Janet

[Watermom]

Do you know your CYA level? That is something important that we will need to know. It could be that it is really low and that would explain why you have a hard time keeping chlorine in the pool. For now, you should add some bleach to get some chlorine in there. In this size pool, each gallon (4 quarts) of plain 6% bleach will add about 2.3ppm of chlorine. Until we know your CYA level, we won't really know how high to tell you to take the chlorine, but for now, I'm going to suggest taking it up to about 6. You many need to add bleach a couple of times per day to keep some cl in there.

Your pH is good, your alk is low. Bump it up a bit with some baking soda. Add a couple of pounds at a time slowly through your skimmer. Test it again a few hours later and continue small additions until your alk is between 80-120. This is not critical. You can do this gradually over several days.

Do get that good kit. That will help you a lot. Post your CYA reading. (If your kit can't measure it and most likely it can't, go to a reputable pool store and ask them to test it for you. Just don't buy all the stuff they are going to try and encourage you to get.)

I am also going to move this post into the Saltwater section of the forum. There you are more likely to get good advice since you have a SWC. Hope this helps some.

EDIT -- Looks like Janet was posting as I was typing.

[jilted]

Thanks for the input. Test kit ordered. I can't measure the CYA with that HTH kit.
Please go easy on me and assume I don't know the best place to get the mentioned chemicals like the cya and the baking soda so don't feel like I would take offense to saying "go here to get this" because I do need to know my best options!
I have Lowes and Walmart withing a few miles of home but Home Depot is 30 miles away.

I manually shocked the pool Saturday with a couple tablets and some left over "super sockit" and the OTO test was dark yellow. Today is is light yellow and I have been running the pool nonstop since it was green on friday!!!
Also, the CompuPool was set on 100% output as well.

Like I said, treat me like a complete newbie! I have had the pool for a few years and I have either just kept slinging chlorine in it or getting bent over by the local store guy always saying now you need this, now you need this.

-stephen

[aylad]

The CYA is sold at Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, etc as well as the pool store. It is labeled "conditioner" or "stabilizer" or "balancer", but look at the ingredient....cyanuric or isocyanuric acid is what you want. The baking soda that Watermom referred to is plan baking soda like you cook with--available at any grocery store in the aisle with the flour and sugar.

Your best bet at this point is to go to WalMart and pick up some baking soda and several gallons of plain, unscented, generic bleach. Take a sample of your pool water and let the pool store test it, specifically for CYA--but don't let them sell you the list of stuff they'll try to convince you to buy. Come back and post that CYA number, and we can help you go from there!

Janet

[BigTallGuy]

The toll free number for CompuPool service is 1-888-798-7665. If you bought your SWCG last year, it should still be under Manfacturer's warranty. I have a compuPool CPSC24 that works great. Look into the plastic unit of the cell and see if you notice a white build up that looks like vanilla ice cream or shortening that is caked up on the electrode plates. A little is not bad and it shouldn't be too bad after one year. However, If you notice that quite a bit of the plates are covered with this calcium build up, you may need to clean your cell. Post back and I can send you the instructions. If you run your SWCG system for about 8 - 10 hours per day at 100% you should have plenty of chlorine. Ph must be watched very closely, the more you run you SWCG, the more you will need Muriatic acid to bring your Ph down. Your salt level and Ph sounds perfect, but I run my system for 5 hours a day and my pool is only 11,000-ish gallons. Your unit is bigger, but you have over twice the water. Once you get your pool chlorine under control, you can fine tune your pool and possibly cut down on the run time.

[jilted]

I have been keeping an eye on the cell. There are a few specs but no globs of calcium that look like obstructions. I would still love to see the cleaning instructions so I'll know exactly what to do. Is it better to clean it before it gets bad? Like maybe after this season?

re: CYA
what department in lowes is this usually located? Is this my best option on where to get it (versus the pool store)?

re: baking soda
Maybe I'll go to Sam's and pick up a bulk box

Thanks,
-stephen

[aylad]

The CYA at our Lowe's is in the garden department--just ask them where the "pool stuff" is, and they'll usually direct you toward it. I get mine at WalMart in the section where the spa chemicals are.

Wouldn't hurt to get a bulk box of baking soda, I guess, since you can use it for other stuff--not positive, but I believe with a SWCG you're going to want to keep your alk around 70 ish....I'm sure the SWCG experts will chime in here, but I don't think it's going to take as much as you think

Janet

[jilted]

Forgot to mention. I was digging around in the garage last night and uncovered a few pool chemicals that the previous owner left behind including a 14lb bucket of stabilizer that's close to full. Does that stuff get old and lose it's potency?

I guess I should still wait to get water tested before making any adjustments correct?

Maybe I can work on alkalinity first since I can measue that. If you are using baking soda is there a chart available on how much to use?

Thanks for all the input. I am soaking it up!

-Stephen

[aylad]

The old stabilizer is probably okay, if it's been stored in a sealed container. I would run a new set of tests on the pool water before making any adjustments at all.....but make sure while all that's happening, that you're keeping at least 3 ppm of chlorine in the pool, because you don't want an algae bloom to contend with!

Janet