experts please verify something for me
- Thread starter bonanz
- Start date
Thanks everyone!
I must admit....I floc'd it after passing overnight test.
A couple of things just for the random noob that may come across this thread. I don't want to make it seem like a little bleach and a week can take care of that bad of a pool. chemical-wise that's true (well i floc'd).
First I had a second pump i mentioned in the first post and rigged up a bootleg second filter during the SLAM to maximize debris removal. I took a tupperware bin, drilled some holes and and ran the water through some poly fill from some old dog beds we had in the garage that we we were going to throw out. This helped remove so much debris in a minimal amount of time.
with this setup, I brushed and vacuumed with my bootleg secondary pump multiple times a day always making sure FC was at slam level all while the main pump ran 24/7. stockings in the skimmer frequently replaced and main pump trap and filter cleaned frequently.
Got to point where FC didn't drop very much but still very cloudy. decided I'd try some floc cause I wanted to expedite it. honestly it probably would have been a month total if I just let the filter do its job with as much gunk was in there.
Floc'd it with Alum from leslies. let it set 24hrs and was so excited about the result (that's the picture posted previously).
Yesterday used my spare pump and carefully vacuumed the muck out into the yard. dropped about 6 inches. refilled a little with hose and then serendipitously it started pouring so I turned off the hose.
Today came back and took some levels again and will get to balancing and there's some staining I'll need to figure out how to take care off...hopefully its all organic and just fades with brushing and bleach. Still running the pump around the clock and washing out filter frequelntly cause residue floc-iness is really getting caught up. Trying to get most of it before I replace the filter.
But now I can see the bottom surfaces and can brush and balance and vacuum for a little longer while it clears.
Then it will be seeing if the SWG is working and figuring out if I need to replace the cell so I don't have to add chlorine manually anymore.
I'll post a couple more pictures when i get back to my computer
I must admit....I floc'd it after passing overnight test.
A couple of things just for the random noob that may come across this thread. I don't want to make it seem like a little bleach and a week can take care of that bad of a pool. chemical-wise that's true (well i floc'd).
First I had a second pump i mentioned in the first post and rigged up a bootleg second filter during the SLAM to maximize debris removal. I took a tupperware bin, drilled some holes and and ran the water through some poly fill from some old dog beds we had in the garage that we we were going to throw out. This helped remove so much debris in a minimal amount of time.
with this setup, I brushed and vacuumed with my bootleg secondary pump multiple times a day always making sure FC was at slam level all while the main pump ran 24/7. stockings in the skimmer frequently replaced and main pump trap and filter cleaned frequently.
Got to point where FC didn't drop very much but still very cloudy. decided I'd try some floc cause I wanted to expedite it. honestly it probably would have been a month total if I just let the filter do its job with as much gunk was in there.
Floc'd it with Alum from leslies. let it set 24hrs and was so excited about the result (that's the picture posted previously).
Yesterday used my spare pump and carefully vacuumed the muck out into the yard. dropped about 6 inches. refilled a little with hose and then serendipitously it started pouring so I turned off the hose.
Today came back and took some levels again and will get to balancing and there's some staining I'll need to figure out how to take care off...hopefully its all organic and just fades with brushing and bleach. Still running the pump around the clock and washing out filter frequelntly cause residue floc-iness is really getting caught up. Trying to get most of it before I replace the filter.
But now I can see the bottom surfaces and can brush and balance and vacuum for a little longer while it clears.
Then it will be seeing if the SWG is working and figuring out if I need to replace the cell so I don't have to add chlorine manually anymore.
I'll post a couple more pictures when i get back to my computer
Ok guys.
A couple more days of running the filter and balancing the water is crystal clear now. Can see straight to the bottom!
I need help figuring out hose to deal with these stains though. Should I attempt to deal with these stains before getting the SWG going?
Also, I've been brushing my ace off, with a poly steel blend brush (SweepEase SS/POLY BLEND Brush AquaDynamic Pool Brush, 18-Inch) but doesn't seem to be lightening up.
What is the best course of action for these stains? Any Help appreciated please.
Oh also, can anyone tell if those drain caps are the currently compliant with that regulation for drain covers?
A couple more days of running the filter and balancing the water is crystal clear now. Can see straight to the bottom!
I need help figuring out hose to deal with these stains though. Should I attempt to deal with these stains before getting the SWG going?
Also, I've been brushing my ace off, with a poly steel blend brush (SweepEase SS/POLY BLEND Brush AquaDynamic Pool Brush, 18-Inch) but doesn't seem to be lightening up.
What is the best course of action for these stains? Any Help appreciated please.
Oh also, can anyone tell if those drain caps are the currently compliant with that regulation for drain covers?
Yew, the fact that you have two drains makes it compliant, they are tied together under the pool.
Are you on a well? Have you ever had the pool store test for iron or copper? Used a mineral system? Added algaecide with copper in it?
Put a vit C tablet on a stain to see if it is metals. If it doesn't make the stain fade in 3-5 minutes then try a trichlor puck to see if it is organic.
Are you on a well? Have you ever had the pool store test for iron or copper? Used a mineral system? Added algaecide with copper in it?
Put a vit C tablet on a stain to see if it is metals. If it doesn't make the stain fade in 3-5 minutes then try a trichlor puck to see if it is organic.
thanks for the response,
on city water. no pool test for iron or copper. I'm not sure what a mineral system is, so i'd have to say no. I never added copper algaecide, but can't confirm it was never added before I took over this pool.
I'll try the vitamin C/trichlor. I feel like the vitamin C thing hasn't worked for me before. I have a bad spot in my current pool that is from a construction staple falling in the pool and resting on the bottom. I let that sit with vitamin C and scrubbed it and and rubbed it and it did not alter it at all. so I know that was from metal, and vitamin C didn't move it...I'll give the vitamin C vs trichlor puck tomorrow, but is it possible that vitamin C would have no effect on a known metal stain?
on city water. no pool test for iron or copper. I'm not sure what a mineral system is, so i'd have to say no. I never added copper algaecide, but can't confirm it was never added before I took over this pool.
I'll try the vitamin C/trichlor. I feel like the vitamin C thing hasn't worked for me before. I have a bad spot in my current pool that is from a construction staple falling in the pool and resting on the bottom. I let that sit with vitamin C and scrubbed it and and rubbed it and it did not alter it at all. so I know that was from metal, and vitamin C didn't move it...I'll give the vitamin C vs trichlor puck tomorrow, but is it possible that vitamin C would have no effect on a known metal stain?
That is odd about the staple, how long did you leave it on there? Some folks have tried leaving it for an hour or two. You can also get one of these ID kits, Jacks Magic Stain Identification Kit JMSTAINID at Sunplay
Be careful that the vitamin C tablet isn't one of the nifty coated ones. They take a while to react. In the past I have crushed up a few and dumped them into a thin sock to try the test with. A staple stain should be exactly the thing that vitamin C would clear up...
Ah!!!! I put some vitamin c tabs on these and the stains turned black and look worse! Help.
I put trichlor tab on first but it didn't seem to do much so i moved on to dropping a couple tabs on a stained area and now im freaking out!
I put trichlor tab on first but it didn't seem to do much so i moved on to dropping a couple tabs on a stained area and now im freaking out!
here's a pic you can the stain got darker around the vitamin C tabs. they dissolved and it's still like that.
How do I deal with these stains if the AA turns it black and the trichlor tabs don't do anything?
How do I deal with these stains if the AA turns it black and the trichlor tabs don't do anything?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,798
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
I suspect that means your stains are from copper. Vitamin C works on iron stains, but it makes copper stains worse. The best treatment for copper stains is to never get them in the first place (i.e. algaecides, degraded heater coils, etc). They can be very difficult to remove. Often times they require a full drain and manual acid wash.
Here is a previous discussion about removing copper stains: Copper stain removal off plaster.
Here is a previous discussion about removing copper stains: Copper stain removal off plaster.
I remember that this happened to a member, last year. The black went away and took the stain with it. It took a day or so. I'll try to find the thread...
Thanks for the reply. Any more info would be appreciated. Should i go ahead and put in some sequestration agent now regardless. I saw in that link above that someone used a garden sprayer with muriatic acid under water. I had thought of this earlier today before the tabs turned it black. I was worried about pressurizing muriatic acid in the tank, would there be any issue with that?
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,798
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
wha'ts the cheapest way with the stuff I have?
I don't want to be 15 dollar'd to death if possible. I have 2 jugs of muriatic, i have an unused garden sprayer thing, I have some citric acid powder I used for some project to remove rust from the stuff. I have more of the black staining vitamin C tabs.
I don't have any dry acid to try so I'd have to buy that. there's a pretty good amount of staining so it'd probably take a good bit of time to "sock" it all, but I will if I have to if the dry acid works.
I don't want to drain as I suspect I'm below a safe water table.
if the AA turned it black it's copper no? I've read reviews of people having trouble getting a definitive answer with the stain kit. leslies or PP don't sell the jacks stuff? I'm dying to get this pool nice and pretty and waiting for stuff in the mail kills me
I don't want to be 15 dollar'd to death if possible. I have 2 jugs of muriatic, i have an unused garden sprayer thing, I have some citric acid powder I used for some project to remove rust from the stuff. I have more of the black staining vitamin C tabs.
I don't have any dry acid to try so I'd have to buy that. there's a pretty good amount of staining so it'd probably take a good bit of time to "sock" it all, but I will if I have to if the dry acid works.
I don't want to drain as I suspect I'm below a safe water table.
if the AA turned it black it's copper no? I've read reviews of people having trouble getting a definitive answer with the stain kit. leslies or PP don't sell the jacks stuff? I'm dying to get this pool nice and pretty and waiting for stuff in the mail kills me
Here is the post I remembered from last year (post is from earlier, but I read it last year...). Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains
I'm a little nervous because it's been almost 24 hours and they look roughly the same as they did after they first turned and I started panicking. Like 30 minutes later it didn't seem to get better like that post (thanks for the link). I definitely related to that post's "OMG WHAT DID I DO" moment. Maybe I should put some more and give it another couple of tabs on it and see if a longer or more intense session turns it super white?
in that link he mentions using "metal out" and "stain out". are those sequestrants? should I add one now regardless because if I do something that get's the stains up, I don't want them to re-settle into the pool floor.
ugh i'm a little confused and lost about how to proceed with this stains like an non-TFP person would be if they went in to a pool store asking for how to kill their algae bloom.
I'm going to carefully try a sock of my citric acid later today and see if that yields anything different than the AA tabs did. I wish I knew someone who'd let me borrow a sock of dry acid because the price is so different between sizes at leslies. if it works I'll probably need a lot to sock a lot of stains and don't want to buy multiple of their smallest most expensive size, but if it doesn't I don't want a huge bucket of it.
I'd order that jacks tester, but I feel like I see people doing the tests with the little packets on the steps. my steps are largely fine, and I just feel like I'm gonna have an issue taking my small sample packs and getting them to land just right in the deeper area of the pool on the stains to do these tests and I will have futzed around with money and time lost and no new info. although it could work...ugh that "try this" pool store feeling right now...
in that link he mentions using "metal out" and "stain out". are those sequestrants? should I add one now regardless because if I do something that get's the stains up, I don't want them to re-settle into the pool floor.
ugh i'm a little confused and lost about how to proceed with this stains like an non-TFP person would be if they went in to a pool store asking for how to kill their algae bloom.
I'm going to carefully try a sock of my citric acid later today and see if that yields anything different than the AA tabs did. I wish I knew someone who'd let me borrow a sock of dry acid because the price is so different between sizes at leslies. if it works I'll probably need a lot to sock a lot of stains and don't want to buy multiple of their smallest most expensive size, but if it doesn't I don't want a huge bucket of it.
I'd order that jacks tester, but I feel like I see people doing the tests with the little packets on the steps. my steps are largely fine, and I just feel like I'm gonna have an issue taking my small sample packs and getting them to land just right in the deeper area of the pool on the stains to do these tests and I will have futzed around with money and time lost and no new info. although it could work...ugh that "try this" pool store feeling right now...
haha, I saw an ancient post from chemgeek just above the one pabeader linked to where he asks
"I'm curious as to why one doesn't add metal sequestrant before the ascorbic acid. I would think one would want the sequestrant there to capture the metal as it gets reduced and goes into solution. I suppose that the lower pH from the acid is enough to prevent it from falling out of solution again, but would having the sequestrant in the water first be a problem?"
"I'm curious as to why one doesn't add metal sequestrant before the ascorbic acid. I would think one would want the sequestrant there to capture the metal as it gets reduced and goes into solution. I suppose that the lower pH from the acid is enough to prevent it from falling out of solution again, but would having the sequestrant in the water first be a problem?"