Anyone having trouble with Salt test?

[Jeffski]

Thank you for that great response. You guys are so helpful.

Here are the stats from my water test:

FC 0.7 - I think this has been steadily dropping because the SWG isn't running.
TC 1.5
TA 181
CYA 70
PH 7.5
TDS 3100
Temp 84

Here in Michigan we lower the water level in the pool a couple feet in the winter. The snow fall and rain fills it back up by the time we open in the spring, but it makes sense that every spring I should have to add salt due to draining a couple feet off in the fall, right?

I will get those test strips for the salt and check back with you guys. Thanks again.

[waterbear]

Thank you for that great response. You guys are so helpful.

Here are the stats from my water test:

FC 0.7 - I think this has been steadily dropping because the SWG isn't running.
TC 1.5
TA 181
I would lower this to around 80-90 ppm (or even lower). Several people have reported much less acid usage and much better pH stability with a lower TA when using a SWG. Once you do this you should have good pH stability if you keep your pH at aroun 7.6.
CYA 70
PH 7.5
TDS 3100
TDS is going to be the sum of your salt level and anything else dissolved in the water. I would suspect that yoursalt level is too low and you need to add salt. I suspect that your actual salt level is below the low salt cut off point of your unit. This is probably from winterizing your pool. What kind of filter do you have. If it is a sand or DE filter you also lose salt and stabilizer each time you backwash so the levels do need to be checked on a regular basis to maintain them.
Temp 84
I noticed you did not include a calcium test. Even if you have a vinyl pool where calcium is not an issue it is a parameter that needs to be watched with a SWG because calcium can also come from your fill water and if it is high you can get scaling on the cell, especially if you don't keep close watch on your pH.
Here in Michigan we lower the water level in the pool a couple feet in the winter. The snow fall and rain fills it back up by the time we open in the spring, but it makes sense that every spring I should have to add salt due to draining a couple feet off in the fall, right?
Exactly!
I will get those test strips for the salt and check back with you guys. Thanks again.

I suspect that when you test your salt you will find it is low!

[Jeffski]

AquaCheck strips said my salt was about 2400. This would explain why the SWG is not working. Not sure why the pool store said 3000 but I will not be going back there.

I added 50 pounds of salt yesterday at about 5pm. By 8pm the salt was testing at about 3000.

As of 9am today the SWG is still off and showing salt level <2500. How long will it take the SWG to catch up and realize the salt level is high enough?

I do plan on adding 50 lbs more but would like to see the SWG kick on first.

[waterbear]

Have you powered the unit off and then on? Sometimes that works. Give it about 48 hours with the pump circulating and brush the pool thoroughly to mix the salt during this time. If the SWG still reads low you have a problem somewhere with either improper installation or a defective unit. Call the manufacturer for help.

Pool store reading might have been off for several reasons. First and most likely is operator error in the test if it is a chemical test (including if they used a strip). Second and just as likely, if they used a meter it has not been calibrated recently.

[nater]

Jeffski,
With a TC of 1.5 and FC of .7, I'd get some bleach in the water pronto while you sort out the SWC issues. You don't want a green mess on your hands. You can use bleach to get a shock level in your pool according to the best guess chart and your CYA level. Maintain that until your TC = FC, then go to the maintenance level for FC.

[Jeffski]

Builder is going to send someone out to look at the SWG. After 100lbs of salt the pool is testing consistently at 3300ppm. Unit still doing nothing.

FC down to almost zero. How many gallons of bleach should I add to shock it? If I do that this morning, how long before the kids can swim?

[Jeffski]

Update:

FC 0 - adding bleach today until SWG is fixed
CYA - 35
PH 7.5
TA 180
Salt 3300

Does it make sense that my CYA would drop like that? It was 70 two days ago (or at least that's what the pool store said). These results are from my drop test kit.