Recieved my Kit - FIRST RESULTS!

[mkfmedic]

OK Folks,

I received Ben's PS234S kit and was able to finally see what all the "hub-bub" is all about. This kit exceeds any others I have seen, and was worth the wait. Having said that, I still have a question or two, so please be patient.

Here are my first results:

These results were taken today at 5pm. My pool is approximately 10,500 gallons (15' X 21', 7' raised spa with spillway, 3' - 5' deep, uses SWCG (Jandy 1400, set at 30% output), a DelOzone II system, Jandy DE 60 filter and the water is circulated through a 2 HP pump, which runs 6 hours a day. I also have 6' of sheer descents which automatically turn on for two hours each day.

Water Temp - 83f
FC - 4
CC - 0.5
TC - 4.5
pH 7.8
ALK - 100
Cal - 400
Cya - 28
Salt - 3400

O.K., I think that is everything, now for your patience with my inexperience and questions?

My chlorine seems high, especially with my SWCG only operating at 30%? However, I did add about a half bottle, a little under a half-gallon, of bleach after a particularly busy weekend of swimming, but nothing else in the last week.

Is my CYA lowat 28? Especially for a SWCG pool?

Is the Cal to high at 400? I'm not sure of the acceptable range.

As I have mentioned in previous thread, I seem to be battling a constant rise in pH. Should I add more acid at 7.8 or see if it stabilizes? I added acid yesterday morning and lowered it to 7.5 or so, using my old Taylor kit.

Anyway, the pool is clean, causes no irritations of any sort, and is great fun on weekends. I am adding water every three or four days, not due to dramatic water loss, but what seems to be normal evaporation.

Thanks for your input, I know I am going to really enjoy using this kit, Thanks Ben! It is my goal to keep my pool, which is new and a major investment sparkling clean, safe, and as good as new for years to come.

Best Regards,

Mike

[mkfmedic]

Oh, shoot, I forgot a couple a questions about the testing process. When testing the Cal, and you are adding the drops from Cal 3 bottle, do you stop when the water is clearly blue from the side, or when you can see blue from the top?

And the instructions indicate for those people using Ozone to add two drops of the #3 bottle before the 5 drops from the #2 bottle. Is this if you are only using a ozone system, or does it include those like me who are using both a SWCG & ozone system?

Thanks and sorry about the goof,

Mike

[halefmly]

When testing the Cal, and you are adding the drops from Cal 3 bottle, do you stop when the water is clearly blue from the side, or when you can see blue from the top?

And the instructions indicate for those people using Ozone to add two drops of the #3 bottle before the 5 drops from the #2 bottle. Is this if you are only using a ozone system, or does it include those like me who are using both a SWCG & ozone system?

I have only had my kit for a couple of months. I have a SWCG and a Nature 2 cartridge, so I add the two drops of CAL#3 before the five drops of CAL#2. I found that it doesn't work right if I don't do that. And I keep going until it is blue when viewed from the side. I am no expert, so if I'm wrong, I would like to read about it here.
Thanks,
Larry

[waterbear]

Oh, shoot, I forgot a couple a questions about the testing process. When testing the Cal, and you are adding the drops from Cal 3 bottle, do you stop when the water is clearly blue from the side, or when you can see blue from the top?
The test is done when one additional drop causes no more color change (don't count the last drop) . For example, you add 20 drops of reagent #3 and the color starts to turm purplish, On 21 drops it turns blue-purple, on 22 drops it turns blue, and on 23 drops the color doesn't change anymore. Your endpoint is 22 drops.
And the instructions indicate for those people using Ozone to add two drops of the #3 bottle before the 5 drops from the #2 bottle. Is this if you are only using a ozone system, or does it include those like me who are using both a SWCG & ozone system?
You are referring to step 5 on the instruction inside the lid of the case. It has nothing to do with ozone. (I think you might be confusing an ionizer, which adds metals to the water, with an ozonator.) It is to combat any interferance from metals in the water. The instructions say:
"5. On pools with ionizers, 'mineral tabs', Nature2, Pristine Blue, or copper algaecides, add TWO drops of CAL#3 BEFORE adding CAL#2. Include these drops in your count."
This is to chelate any copper that might be in the water that can interfere with the test. Iron can also cause a similar interferance. Instead of a distinct blue endpoint the color changes to a purplish color and might have purple 'floaties' in the blue solution. By adding a small amount of the third reagent first you tie up the metals and prevent this. I have used up to 6 drops of the third reagent in this manner when testing with excellent results. The color change is much more distinct. Remember to count the drops added before the indicator solution as part of your total!
Thanks and sorry about the goof,

Mike

Hope this helps.

[mkfmedic]

Thanks again everyone for your replies. I did my second "thorough" test today and everything seems great. Todays numbers were taken at 2:00pm with a water temp of 83F.

FC - 5
CC - 0.5
TC - 4.5
pH 7.8
ALK - 100
Cal - 340
Cya - 40
Salt - 3400

All the number are virtually the same with the exception of my free chlorine being a tad higher. The pH seems to be steady at 7.8 without any additional acid being added since my last post on the 1st.

The difference in Cal is probably user error on my first test. During todays test I added drops until the color changed back to blue and then stopped counting drops as soon as there was no longer any color change noted. Is that correct?

I added approximately a pound of conditioner and bumped the Cya from 30 to 40. I am leery of adding more conditioner without any firm range that will be effective for my SWCG and situation. I have read how difficult it is to remove, basically drain your pool, and because of that I don't want to go overboard with the Cya. My water is crystal clear, I seem to have good chlorine production at 30% cell operation, and the numbers seem to be consistent five days later, is there really a need to add more conditioner? Any thoughts?

I hope that everyone had a pleasant holiday and thank you again,

Mike

[duraleigh]

My water is crystal clear, I seem to have good chlorine production at 30% cell operation, and the numbers seem to be consistent five days later, is there really a need to add more conditioner? Any thoughts

Those are pretty good numbers. Add to that crystal water and a 30% setting...........I agree with your thinking to leave stabilizer alone. Happy Swimming.

[Simmons99]

Instead of a distinct blue endpoint the color changes to a purplish color and might have purple 'floaties' in the blue solution. By adding a small amount of the third reagent first you tie up the metals and prevent this. I have used up to 6 drops of the third reagent in this manner when testing with excellent results. The color change is much more distinct. Remember to count the drops added before the indicator solution as part of your total!

I don't use metals in my pool - but the purple floaty things is what I get when I test for Calcium - should I have my water tested for metals . I use Jack's purple stuff already as required by my pool builder for warranty - but this worries me - all fill water is city tap water.

[waterbear]

I don't use metals in my pool - but the purple floaty things is what I get when I test for Calcium - should I have my water tested for metals .

In my experiece 'purple floaties' might be interference from metal or might just be from the magnesium (which is part of the total water hardness). I have found that using 6 drops of reagent 3 first instead of just 2 drops helps to often reduce or eliminate them. The biggest problem with them is they make it difficult to see the blue endpoint of the test unless you look very closely.
It is entirely possible for city water to have metals so that IS a possiblility but if you are using a seqesterant you should not have any problems. If you want to make sure you can have a sample of your fill water tested for metals....Your pool water has seqesterant in it already so metals might not show up on a test. Hope this helps.

[SUNNYDAYS]

I am surprised that no one told you to shock your pool. Most of my reading on this site has told me to shock my pool when you have .5 CC.

[duraleigh]

Hi, Mike,

First test results are my favorite posts. There seems to be "light turned on" (A long time ago, my English teacher taught me 'epiphany', but rednecks like me are a little squeamish with that word )when that kit gets used and it puts you in a common language with most of us on the forum.

My chlorine seems high, especially with my SWCG only operating at 30%? However, I did add about a half bottle, a little under a half-gallon, of bleach after a particularly busy weekend of swimming, but nothing else in the last week.

The chlorine is just right, IMHO (Alk's fine, too)

Is my CYA lowat 28? Especially for a SWCG pool?

Probably so. Most SWCG folks use 60-80

Is the Cal to high at 400? I'm not sure of the acceptable range.

Perhaps on the high end but not enough to bother about unless you start experiencing some problems with precipitation. Watch carefully around the descents.

As I have mentioned in previous thread, I seem to be battling a constant rise in pH. Should I add more acid at 7.8 or see if it stabilizes? I added acid yesterday morning and lowered it to 7.5 or so, using my old Taylor kit.

Most all SWCG users experience that constant rise. I'd suggest a range of 7.2 - 7.8 so you don't have to add so often.

I can't answer your questions about testing w/ozonator....I don't have any experience.

Sounds like you're set up and running well.......nice work