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Thanks for that pointer Marian - I wasn't proposing to take the booklet verbatim, it just provides some interesting reading and general comments regarding pool chemistry which I'm finding quite interesting and helpful in explaining what's going on.
(I was rubbish at chemistry at school - never really got the hang of it, now I find it very interesting now that there's a real world application for it!!)

Looking forward to my first test in a couple of hours when I get home from work.
Because I was vacuuming to waste and topping up and we had a hot weekend and quite a bit of rain yesterday I'm expecting to see that reflected in my test numbers.
Will be interesting to see how I go !
 
SWG is currently set at 60% - I think. I wound it down when I started the vacuuming to waste exercise as I didn't want to waste chlorine.
Once I can get reliable readings I'm planning to re-visit SWG % and pump run time to fine tune it to the point where I can keep the levels reasonably constant.

I read here somewhere that in a properly balanced pool you don't need to run your pump anywhere near as long as you think you do.
This is a big point for me as my electricity bill is enormous and I need to get better at managing that aspect of it.
I think I also read that full sunlight is a good time to run the pump, but I can't exactly remember where I read that.

Thanks for the point about CYA needing full sunlight. What other rules are there regarding best times for each test?
(I'm sure that's been done to death here too so I'll search for the topic as well)

I work full time weekdays so only have late afternoons M-F and weekends to test. Currently its light until around 8:00pm here.
Obviously the upcoming holiday will be good for me to practice - will be home every day for about 10 days so plan to practice the various tests.
 
Good that you finally have the Taylor kit Sal. It will make all the theory you read on here make more sense.

For your tests other than CYA you can do them night or day as long as you can easily see the particular endpoint for each type of test. I find it easier to to do the pH in a shaded spot during the day. It really is up to you and personal preference.

CYA is best done at waist height with your back to the sun. Remember also that you can repeat this test as many times as you like by retipping the CYA solution back from the comparator into the pouring bottle and repeating. This helps because it can be really tricky to ascertain whether the black dot really has disappeared -ie there should be no 'ghosting'. You can then average your results after so many times. Round up to the nearest '10' as well as the test is non-linear. If you haven't done so already look at the videos online they are really helpful but I wouldn't get too hung up on it just do the best you can. The more you do it the better you get.

With the Australian summer you will be really wanting to work on getting your CYA level up to 80. The idea being that if you are losing less chlorine to sunlight because you have a higher level of CYA then you don't need the pump and therefore SWG running for as long to ensure that your FC is staying above the minimum FC/CYA levels. Hope that makes sense. I am currently running at 4 hours pump time at about 80% for the SWG which seems to keep my FC fairly constant-although we haven't had temperature much above 30C so far unlike you guys over there. I find the key at this time of the year is to test daily for FC which factors in heavy bather loads and really hot weather.
 
Hi Jezza,

Thanks very much for that mate, all makes perfect sense.

I'm going to try to get into the habit of testing as soon as I get home from work.
Still plenty of sunlight then so CYA should be fine.

By the time autumn rolls around I should have a much better idea of when works and what sort of frequency I can get away with. Should also have a good view on reagant use by then too.

I'm leaving work now so first results should be up here around 2 hours from now - wish me luck !!

Sal
 
Good points. However, wait on changing anything until we know your new testkit results. I recommend testing in the evening after your pump has been on at least an hour or so. Then adjust and run the pump at least another hour or so after any addition. Letting chlorine work overnight without the sun interfering is best.

Make sure you only test CYA in full sun. Other results aren't as accurate and you don't want to waste those reagents.

- - - Updated - - -

Cross post. Full sun. I do mine on weekends so I can test at high sun.
 
Hi folks,

OK, I'm pleased to celebrate my first "grown up" pool testing exercise thanks to the good folk at TFP and Taylor Technologies - lol !

Results are in:

FC: 2
CC: 0
pH: 7.6
TA: 50
CH: 90
CYA: approx. 30

So my thinking is as follows:
FC is a little low, CC is good
pH is OK
TA is a little low
CH is probably OK - I have vinyl so less concerned about this
CYA is low

I'm thinking I need to target CYA as a priority.
SWG has been off for a couple of days due to vacuuming to waste over the weekend and with the subsequent refilling I did this explains the low FC count. Will turn the SWG on again this evening for 4 hours and test again same time tomorrow night.

PoolMath suggests I need around 1.5kg of Stabilizer to get CYA up around 75. I have 1kg ready to go, but as Marian has suggested I won't actually do anything until you far more knowledgeable folk can confirm or deny my plan !
 
Your results are not too bad and give a good starting point. Just querying the CYA-could you still see the black dot at the 30 point or was that where you couldn't see the dot- it just could be less than 30 as opposed to being 30? Once we can confirm your CYA number you would be looking at adding stabiliser as a priority. Your FC is a little low and so you would want to look at getting that up but again dependent on a confirmed CYA number.

Don't worry about the CH with a vinyl pool. Your TA is a little lower than the recommended level but I would just sit on that for a bit and just see how your pH holds up. It's also likely that as you add water into the pool due to the evaporation loss with hot weather that you will be adding TA from the tap. Good to practice with your new kit to see what your tap water has in it!
 
Hi Jezza,

Thanks for your feedback.

Re: the CYA reading - the black dot was pretty much invisible when the tube was full. The top marking on the tube is 30 so by my reckoning the actual number is between 28 and 32.
My thinking is that since I aim aiming for around 70 - 80 for CYA (I have salt) I need to up it anyway since I have a fair way to go to get there. I reckon I should probably add the 1kg of stabiliser that I have handy and then (probably wait a week) and I might be a bit closer to my ideal of 70-80 and we can make a more informed decision about fine tuning the last bit. But again, I'm not gonna react too quickly - there is much more wisdom on here than in my tiny brain !!

Pump is back on now adding chlorine via SWG so will post revised numbers tomorrow afternoon.

Looks like my Barracuda cleaner is dead though - new diaphragm hasn't helped :-(
Need a robot !!
 

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I would shoot for 50 CYA and then retest in a weeks time. It can take up to a week to register on the test after adding.

I would also like to see how your FC is holding up over a few days now that you have a decent test kit. You did say albeit with test strips that your Fc could have been 0 and that could have let some algae move in in which case you would need to SLAM. That will be much easier at around 50 than 70 or 80 CYA. This is me just being cautious but have learnt the hard way adding CYA to 70 and then having to SLAM.

If your looking at a cheap suction cleaner I can recommend the Mako pool shark. 4 years and hasn't missed a beat. I think they are $350 online.
 
You're spot on Jezza - in the back of my mind I still have a niggling feeling that I may have to SLAM and so I don't want to raise CYA too high until I'm sure I'm in a good place.

Thanks for the tip re cleaner. My Barracuda is very very old so I'm not surprised that its on its last legs. I don't really have the budget for a good robot yet so a stop-gap suction cleaner would be a good option for me. My pool shop guy tells me that in its day the Barracuda was the best you could get, but I am sure there are better options now.

My observations tonight are:
Pressure with no cleaner plugged in: 80kPa
Pressure with Barracuda connected: 0 - 20kPa
Pressure with hose connected, but Barracuda disconnected: 50kPa
Barracuda has brand new diaphragm

Symptom when Barracuda is connected is it just sits on the bottom of the pool and doesn't move. It has suction at the mouthpiece, but not enough to move across the pool floor.
 
You are so on the right track! Love the "grown up" test results! Good job!

FC and PH are you number one areas to worry about. I would work on these two for a week and see what your pool likes and does not like.

Here is a good "test" to do to see if you need to SLAM.

Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)

See what this says and go from there. Test after dark in the evening and before dark in the morning.

Here is a link to a good schedule for taking care of your pool.

Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

You will become an expert on your pool care in no time. After a while you will know what your levels are at before you even test. Of course you still need to test to see how much of what to add.

Kim
 
Kim - Good idea, I will try the OCLT tonight. Being the middle of summer here it will mean an early start tomorrow morning to do the after test before dawn, but I know its worth it :)

Dave - I don't normally vacuum to waste, but in my circumstance I wanted to get rid of the immediate dust problem so that I can now focus on properly assessing the filter. It worked, the dust has all gone so the next step is to pull the filter apart and give it a deep clean and check for broken laterals. I know you're not an advocate for replacing sand and I don't want to if I don't have to, but I'll just have to make that call once I've had a look inside the filter.
 
MarianParoo said:
For your OCLT: Remember to turn off your SWG now! Raise the FC with liquid chlorine or bleach to 12ppm or thereabouts. The OCLT is best done at or near shock level.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip Marian - I wasn't aware that the OCLT needs elevated chlorine for it to work, but that makes sense. Maybe that tip can be added to the OCLT page here?

I'm going to leave work early today so can pop some chlorine in the pool in the evening and ramp up the Cl - need to check that the missus doesn't want to swim tonight though - I think she might so I'll have to wait until she's done.
Assuming yesterday's level of FC at 2 (which may be higher now as the SWG has been on for 2 cycles since yesterday's reading - I can test that now that I have a kit!!!), how long do you think it would take to get up around 12? PoolMath is telling me I will need around 5 litres which I have, but I'm wondering about time - say an hour with the pump on, but SWG off - does that sound about right? Then how long will it take to drop back to swimmable levels? Obviously I now have the ability to test it accurately which I'll do, but I assume there are ball park numbers I can use as a guideline?
 
Sal it's safe toswim up to the shock level for your CYA level. Have you added any CYA yet? I probably wouldn't brjng it right up until later when the sun is lower. If it's going to be warm the sun will just kill the extra chlorine.
Not sure if there is any hard and fast rule on bringing up the chlorine levels for OCLT but I have seen it suggested on other threads.
 

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