Crunchy Saying Hello

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Crunchy

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Aug 17, 2015
62
Queensland Australia
Hi All

Great site, lot's of helpful people! Recently purchased a house with salt water pool, first pool I have owned and I like to DIY so willing to learn what I need too to keep my pool safe for the kids and looking good. Pool water looks good but I am currently using a pool shop for testing and while they are helpful I can't help thinking I'm coming out with products I don't really need???? First visit there I spent $300 on chems and today another $100, so my objective is to learn how to maintain the pool without using or paying for excessive branded pool products! So far I've been sold, Salt Pool Sparkle, Optimiser (Expensive! I now know it is simply broax), Polysheen, Stabiliser, Algecide (Green liquid), salt, Stain & Scale control, something else too I can't recall - (all BioGuard products)

Todays test results (From pool shop)

FC - 3.6
TC - 4
PH - 7.8 (Just added 1L of HCL)
TA - 124
CH - 370 (Purchased BioGuard "Salt pool stain & scale control based on shop rec.)
CYA - 31 (Assuming that is "Stabiliser" on the test report - looks like it could do with a boost coming into summer?)
Salt - 4620ppm (Target is 4000 with max 4800 according to SWG manual)

So all good so far? Just recently I have noticed a white sediment on the pool floor which looks like snow flakes and dissolves down a bit like salt when rubbed between fingers but has no taste or odour, reading about it here the thought was nappy absorber but doing some googling other options were a build on the SWG element so I cleaned that in dilute acid and seems to have rectified the problem.

Next step is to purchase a good testing kit and learn what I need and don't need as far as chemicals go and how to replace those expensvie branded ones for generic options!

Cheers
Crunchy
 
Hi Crunchy, There are 3 options from what I considered a)order the TF-100 which you need to organise through a US Mailbox service (They won't post directly to Australia) This seemed a messy option to me but didn't really look into it b) Order a K-2006 through an American online company. I used this one 2 times (Buy Automatic Pool Cleaners and Parts. Fast Shipping!) personally and had no hassles and it was relatively prompt in delivery. If you go this option then make sure you order some extra refills of a larger size while your at it especially the FAS DPD (R-0870 powder, R-0871 reagent for chlorine), the R-004 for PH and R-0013 reagent for Cya tests- you will go through these really quickly and the postage from the USA for refills is pretty expensive (looking at $30-$40 postage alone). C) There is a company in Queensland (NQ Pool Test Kits - Australias Home of Pool Water Testing) who do an Australian version of the TF-100 but I have yet to try them as yet so can't comment as to how good they are compared to Taylors. I find that Bunnings is generally the cheapest for pool supplies but I have bought Liquid chlorine from Masters as it is cheaper by the volume than Bunnings. Let me know if there is anything else you want to know but getting a decent pool testing kit is the best move you can make in the 1st instance, then post some test results and the really helpful people on this site will be able to help you out. Good luck.
 
Jezza said:
Hi Crunchy, There are 3 options from what I considered a)order the TF-100 which you need to organise through a US Mailbox service (They won't post directly to Australia) This seemed a messy option to me but didn't really look into it b) Order a K-2006 through an American online company. I used this one 2 times (Buy Automatic Pool Cleaners and Parts. Fast Shipping!) personally and had no hassles and it was relatively prompt in delivery. If you go this option then make sure you order some extra refills of a larger size while your at it especially the FAS DPD (R-0870 powder, R-0871 reagent for chlorine), the R-004 for PH and R-0013 reagent for Cya tests- you will go through these really quickly and the postage from the USA for refills is pretty expensive (looking at $30-$40 postage alone). C) There is a company in Queensland (NQ Pool Test Kits - Australias Home of Pool Water Testing) who do an Australian version of the TF-100 but I have yet to try them as yet so can't comment as to how good they are compared to Taylors. I find that Bunnings is generally the cheapest for pool supplies but I have bought Liquid chlorine from Masters as it is cheaper by the volume than Bunnings. Let me know if there is anything else you want to know but getting a decent pool testing kit is the best move you can make in the 1st instance, then post some test results and the really helpful people on this site will be able to help you out. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Wonderful, thanks Jezza! Yes I tried to order the T100 only to find no "Australia"in the drop down box :-( will look into the other options you mentioned.

This morning there was more of that white crystal suff then ever, looks like it is coming from the SWG....
 
Crunchy probably still calcium flakes but hard to start to diagnose without proper test results as it is tied up with PH, CH and TA levels, and as you have probably realised there is not much creedence put into pool store results. If these aspects of your water chemistry have been mostly high this can lead to the calcium flakes that you have described. Have you thought about how you might get a good test kit yet?
 
Yes thanks Jezza, I have ordered the NQ Pool test kit you mentionjed above, hope it wil arrive beofore the W/E so I can become familiar with it and get onto some testing. The salt test from the pool shop went from 6800 to 4600 in the space of a month and I didn't think salt levels changed much unless you top up the pool and dilute which I havent done, so yes I do wonder about the pool shop testing, one staff memeber seems to always be able to come up with two or three things "I need"
 
Yeah that's the way they suck you in with free pool testing only to tell you that you need all these 'extra things'. At the end of the day most of them make their money out of selling you unecessary chemicals which often makes things worse and/or for overinflated prices. You can get nearly everything you need (the basics) from Bunnings or Masters -usually much cheaper and without the pressure to buy stuff from the pool store. The only way that you lose salt is through splash out from people jumping in and out of the pool and backwashing/draining-so unless you have done a lot of either then the pool store testing speaks for itself.
Interested how you get on with NQ Pool kits as a recent member is having issues getting their test kit from them after ordering a while ago. (Sorry only found this out yesterday)!
 
Ahh yes, just got an apologetic e-mail from NQ Pool TK, they been taking orders on their website but have no stock and have a big backlog, blaming the "web sales guy". As I oversee an interweb shop myself I understand these things can happen, but its how they deal with it now (I.e. refund or move through the backlog quickly) that will determine how they stand with their customers, I just have to wait and see at this point but looks like be back to the pool shop again next week :-(.
 
welcome crunchy,
my pool is at my rental
so i had to total chemicals costs for tax purposes
last year less than $100 for the whole year (swg)
tfp is the best
i buy my test kit and reagents from poolvacparts and they arrive in about one week
buy the k2006c as it is more economical when you include shipping than buying 2006 and then top up reagents
 

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Crunchy, the K 2006C is definitely a good option but compare the cost of getting the K2006 with the following refills in larger sizes the FAS DPD (R-0870 powder, R-0871 reagent for chlorine), the R-004 for PH and R-0013 reagent for Cya tests- These are the ones that you will always use.
 
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