some very basic maintenance and slam questions

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vRTroublefree

0
Jul 27, 2015
7
wpg/mb/ca
Hi guys

New pool owner from July 4th. Inexperience and not paying enough attention have gotten me into the cloudy/murky green territory with my Intex 8x30" AG. Been pouring over threads here trying to get the basics of pool maintenance and slamming down. Home someone can offer some kindly hand holding.

As of tonight (July 27,2015) after reading my inaccurate HTH 6 way test strip these are approx:

FC < 0
CC 2
TA 90
pH > 7.8
cH 50
cya < 0

From reading the FAQ here on algae, I should lower my pH and raise my cYA before attempting any slamming?
should these be introducdI should purchase some HTH stabilzer? What else can be used instead of buying htc products? Should these be added separately at diff times?

What would be my shock level based on the numbers from above? the very 1st entry:
CYA (Stabilizer)Minimum FCTarget FCShock FC
20*​
2​
3​
10​
so does this mean i should be adding 10 oz of bleach into my 8x30" pool? My cYA looks closer to 0, so should I be doing 20 oz?? Should I be disconnecting and cleaning to inside of the pump also?

Thats it for now. More basic questions to follow
Thanks for any iinput
 
Welcome to TFP!

Being honest, I would not SLAM that pool. It's fine if you want too, but you'll need a special FC test kit to do it. I suggest a drain and refill. When drained, scrub out the pool with a mild bleach and water solution, then refill it and follow our seasonal pool guide in the link below. If you do want to SLAM, you'll need to order a FAS/DPD Free Chlorine Test kit. Then follow SLAM procedures to the letter. Up to you, but that's my suggestion.

Pool School - Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools
 
750 gallon it will be easier and cheaper to empty it, clean and refill :)

follow the seasonal guide and you will be back up and operational today :)
 
Thanks guys I will empty the pool and clean. What proportions of bleach to water do I use? What's the best kind of brush to use? Will I have to use a hand brush or can I go out and buy a nice brush that you wash cars with. Do I have to COMPLETELY drain the pool? I will have to scrub slime off every surface of the pool? What about the pump and filters? How do I clean the insides of the pump and hoses especially? This feels like a lot of work :(
 
I wouldn't over think it too much bud... If it was me I would drain it down to a couple inches, add a gallon of bleach right in the pool, and use your pool brush to scrub the walls and floor, then drain it all. While your filling it go ahead and rinse off your cartridge filter. Fill it back up, balance your chemicals, and you'll be good to go!
 
You're handicapped by living in Canuckistan, since a proper test kit would cost you more than you paid for the pool.

Pay close attention to how much CYA you add when you refill - and that includes any "shock" or pucks you might use. Poolmath and the Effects of Adding Chemicals down near the bottom of the page will help you figure that out.

And then use your test kit to maintain FC above the minimum. That should kill off anything that will give a rash. A good test kit is really helpful, but most of us get by just keeping pH and FC in range and that's about it. The other readings are useful for diagnostics, but just maintaining adequate FC and keep pH in range will give you a clear pool.
 
HELP!!!
Thanks so much for the kind and simple down to earth advice guys!
I've emptied the pool after pouring a gallon of bleach into it mid way and scrubbing it as best I could. I then moved it from the unleveled ground to our concrete pad, threw away the rotten old tarp it was on and began refilling the pool. I opened up the pump, yuck!
4AF1A489-A695-4638-B27E-BE1AB4E31684.jpg Photo by vrbucket | Photobucket
Bought 2 new cartridges, not gonna bother even attempting to clean that. Set the garden hose on jet wash, sprayed inside the hoses and housing of the pump, reassembled it and almost finished filling the pool only to find the pump is leaking water! Can anyone help with this, its an intek 601 pump for their 8x30" quick set pool. The rubber gasket for the upper housing is in place, it screws in tight, yet the upper housing still has play in it; i can push down on it and it gives wayI'dhttp://s99.photobucket.com/user/vrbucket/media/home%20improvement/07EE43a7D-7F60-47BE-A632-D257E61B7048.mp4.html

I'm trying to upload more video but the photbucket is killing my. Is my cartridge size wrong? I bought type "H". Is the big gasket NOT supposed to fit snugly in the ring u screw down? Why is this not fitting!!
? Please help

Sent from my NS-P16AT10 using Tapatalk
 

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vRTroublefree said:
HELP!!!
Thanks so much for the kind and simple down to earth advice guys!
I've emptied the pool after pouring a gallon of bleach into it mid way and scrubbing it as best I could. I then moved it from the unleveled ground to our concrete pad, threw away the rotten old tarp it was on and began refilling the pool. I opened up the pump, yuck!
4AF1A489-A695-4638-B27E-BE1AB4E31684.jpg Photo by vrbucket | Photobucket
Bought 2 new cartridges, not gonna bother even attempting to clean that. Set the garden hose on jet wash, sprayed inside the hoses and housing of the pump, reassembled it and almost finished filling the pool only to find the pump is leaking water! Can anyone help with this, its an intek 601 pump for their 8x30" quick set pool. The rubber gasket for the upper housing is in place, it screws in tight, yet the upper housing still has play in it; i can push down on it and it gives wayI'dhttp://s99.photobucket.com/user/vrbucket/media/home%20improvement/07EE43a7D-7F60-47BE-A632-D257E61B7048.mp4.html

I'm trying to upload more video but the photbucket is killing my. Is my cartridge size wrong? I bought type "H". Is the big gasket NOT supposed to fit snugly in the ring u screw down? Why is this not fitting!!
? Please help

Sent from my NS-P16AT10 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I can't get the video to run... However, the big gasket (a large O-ring on the ones I'm familiar with) on units like this sits between the large canister that holds the filter cartridge and the lid that goes on top. There's generally a groove for the gasket, although I haven't seen your exact model of pump. The screw-on ring just serves to apply pressure to the lid so it squashes down on the gasket. From your description it sounds as if you ended up with the gasket in the ring - not really sure how you did that - however, if that's what happened it would account for a major leak.

If I'm misunderstanding what you wrote, please clarify further.
 
singingpond, thanks so much for your quick and accurate post! The placement of the 'o-ring' gasket was my problem. I took apart the pump and didn't pay too much attention to where the ring was supposed to have been put back and assumed it was tucked into the screw in collar. I pried it out of there and placed it on top of the pump cover THEN screwed in the collar and... no more leaking!
Thanks again for your timely post. Saved me lots of grief.
As an aside, can anyone see the video link I posted previously? Please let me know if its not working as i'd like to post some updates to this thread. My pool is back up to levels, physically. I'll start taking some chemical reading tomorrow and try to do things right. If only this was the beginning of summer : _(


Sent from my NS-P16AT10 using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the update -- good to hear.

Regarding the video link, I find I can view it just fine now that I'm on a regular computer; I was unable to see it on the mobile device I was using when I read your question the other night. So, apparently a problem on my end, not with your link.
 
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