new pool owner trying to balance swg pool

[CarlD]

I can't see what the size of your pool is, nor whether it's vinyl-lined or concrete/tile/gunite.

If it's vinyl, take the calcium back--you absolutely do not need it.

MWSmith2 is right on every score. "Balance Pak XXX" is Biogard's way of charging you 3x as much as the stuff should cost.

I cannot imagine anyone needing 25# of soda ash...At most I use 1 four lb box of Borax when my pH is really low--on one occasion I had to use 2...

IF you need to raise pH and Alk, then Soda Ash does both. But I think 25# is excessive.

It makes me very angry when decent people are taken advantage of by pool stores. There's SO much they can sell us legitimately--why ruin it?

BTW, they will argue with you vehemently when you take the stuff back...they'll tell you that you must have calcium in a vinyl pool...uh-uh.

They also have you drop in tons of stuff at once. I much prefer to adjust one thing, and adjust it slowly, creeping up on my target, not overshooting it. The only thing I'll dump in en masse is bleach, because there's no way one jug of bleach is going to put my numbers too high...

Good pool stores are a joy. Also rare... But sometimes they have something that appeals to the little kid in me. Sometimes it's junk, sometimes it's a gem...The PoolBuster was a real risk: $200 for something that might be a total waste of $$$---turned out to be SURPRISINGLY useful and effective. I only use the Dolphin and the PoolBuster--I never even pull out the vacuum anymore.

[mwsmith2]

I cannot imagine anyone needing 25# of soda ash

You're getting the 100 and 200 confused

3lb (smallest they had) of balance pak 200 to put in 1 lb to adjust ph, and 25 lb balance pak 100 to raise alkalinity.

So they wanted her to put in 1# of 200 (soda ash) and 25# of 100 (baking soda). Easy to get confuzzled with all those darn numbers flying about!

Michael

[cathy404]

38k gallons. It says in the goldline aquarite book that the levels need to be 200-400 calcium, 80-120ppm alkalinity and 7.2-7.6 ph. Does it affect the salt cell longevity if they are not in those ranges? It is vinyl.

[mas985]

I also have a Goldline swg and I try to keep my numbers such that the saturation index is close to zero. This is where the numbers come from in the goldline book. If you let the SI get too high, scaling occurs on the cell. If the SI gets too low then is starts to dissolve the plates in the SWG and shortens the life of the cell. I have had mine about 9 months now and by keeping the SI close to 0, I have managed to keep the cell pretty clean.

Here is a good online calculator for SI: http://www.advancedh2o.com/technical.../langlier.html

or just use the table in the Goldline manual. Good luck!

[cathy404]

thanks mark. that was really helpful. It does say that in the book so I guess I will follow that. I wondered do you use the mineral springs program? Or do you find it a waste and unneeded? Also what do you do as far as maintenance goes? Test once a week? Add chemicals and if so how often? how many times a year? I live in GA and have a lot of leaves which may not matter but fyi.

[mas985]

No, I don't use the mineral springs program. I think they simply add CYA and some buffers to the salt and charge you a lot of money for it. You can do it all separately which is cheaper and probably better since you have more control over amounts.

I test the PH & CL once a week, yes some do it every day but I don't. I add about 1 pint of muriatic acid per week to keep PH within +- .1 of optimum SI. I check alkalinity every other week or when I feel like it but I have not had to do anything for that yet. As for salt, I add that when the controller reading drops below 2800, only one bag so far this year. Other than vacuuming and brushing once in a while, not much else. I think I have been lucky and not had to do much in terms of maintenance.

[cathy404]

My salt meter reads 4000. I thought I'd just leave it and not bother trying to change it. Is there any reason it matters much that it's a little high?