Want to learn about pool chemistry

[touchton]

I'm a fairly new pool owner and want to learn how to keep it running smooth. It's a salt water pool and it's about a year old. Here's the equipment list:

Hayward TriStar SP3215EE pump
Aqua Plus automation and SWG system
Hayward Swimclear C4030 filter
Hayward H250FD gas heater
Baja Swim Jet

The pool is 14' by 28' and is about 5' at the deepest point. It holds about 12,000 gallons of water.

The tools I have for testing pool chemistry are the Taylor TF-100 and the Taylor K-1776 Salt test kits. I've read the instructions and performed a couple of tests, but I haven't developed much confidence in my results. Actually, I'm not sure what I should be shooting for.

I would like to learn to use the BBB method for managing pool chemistry if possible. But, before I start dumping things in the pool, I want to get some confidence in my testing.

So, my first testing question; using the K-1000 Basic test kit I couldn't make heads or tails of the CL value. It should have been some sort of yellow, but the water turned more of an orange. Much darker than the yellow choices. So, I go to the Chlorine Drop test in the TF-100. The results show close to 20ppm for FC and 0ppm for CC. In the Aqua Plus has the chlorinator is set to 50% and the pump is running 24 hours a day. I'm thinking I need to set it differently. What should I set the chlorinator to and how much should I run the pump?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Thad

[PoolDoc]

Orange = chlorine greater than 15 ppm. Brown = chlorine greater than 50 ppm.

This is a reliable and meaningful result with OTO drops, if not very precise.

[touchton]

Thanks. I've turned the chlorinator down to 20% and I'm running the pump 12 hours a day now. Like I said earlier, I want to use the BBB method. I would like to get everything at a good 'base' level and get some confidence in my testing results. The results of my testing yesterday were:

pH 7.8
CL >15 using the K-1000 test kit
FC 20 using the Chlorine Drop test
CC 0 using the Chlorine Drop test
ALK 100
CH 130
CYA 50
Salt 3200 using the K-1766 test kit

Again, I'm new to this testing so my confidence in my results isn't great. From what I've been reading, aside from the FC being high, everything else is reasonable. I just need to get in a good routine of testing and adjusting as needed.

For the high FC; am I doing the right thing with the SWG by dropping to 20% and reducing the pump run time? Is there a guide for this somewhere? I assume I'll need to increase the % as we get more sun. I'm planning to get a weather station in the near future. Would measuring UV or solar radiation help with determining the proper setting for the SWG?

Thanks for your help.
Thad

[PoolDoc]

All looks fine; assuming you are algae-free, lowering the chlorine is appropriate.

Solar irradiation is a factor in chlorine use, but the mathematical correlation is not nearly good enough to improve on the results you can get by testing 2x per week, and 'getting the feel' for your pool.

[touchton]

Thanks for your help Ben. I've set the SWCG to 20% and I'm only running the pump for 12 hours a day. It's been running this way for 10 days now. The chlorine level is coming down. It's no longer orange; it's yellow but a little darker than the 5 - 10 reading. The water looks good. I'm still trying to get a grip on exactly what numbers I'm looking for.

Thad