First time balancing!

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moreira85

Well-known member
Nov 8, 2015
190
Boston, MA
Just had our new vinyl pool opened up tgat we installed in the fall. I plan on getting it balanced then converting to swg.
I used my taylor 2006 test kit and here are my levels.
18x44 IG pool. about 29,000 gallons

Free Chlorine reading- couldnt get a reading, when i added the dpd the color would not change to pink. Im assuming be ause the chlorine is so low.

Ph- 7.0
alkalinity- 30 ppm
ca hardness- 20ppm
cya- low. I mixed the reagent and when i poured it in to the small comparator the black dot was visible even when i filled the comparator to the top. This was a reading of 0

so now what?? Im off to the store to get all the necessary supplies that pool school recommends. What and how much do i add?
 
Okay, first thing is to get stabilizer going right away. Start for a beginning target of 30 ppm. To increase CYA via granular stabilizer, simply place the required amount as calculated by the Poolmath calculator into a white sock and suspend it near a return jet. Probably best not to allow undissolved granules to rest directly against the pool surface though. You can squeeze the sock occasionally to help it dissipate. Once dissolved, consider your CYA adjusted to that programmed (target) level, although the test readings may take anywhere from 24 hours to a few days to fully register. Confirm CYA in about one week before adding any more stabilizer/conditioner.

Next is FC. Use enough regular liquid bleach to bring the FC up to about 3 ppm on day one. After that, keep it around 5ppm.

You can use borax, soda ash, or aeration to raise ph to the mid 7s, and baking soda to raise TA to perhaps the 50-60 range for now. CH will be N/A for your vinyl pool. That should get you going. Later, make sure to stay current with the links you see in my sig below. They'll help to keep you straight. :) Have a nice day.
 
Plugging 29000 gallons into poolmath, I see

Just over one full 121oz jug of 8.25% clorox will get your FC to 3. That's to match the 0 CYA. Tomorrow your target will be 5. Buy a couple gallons to get you through a few days.
35 ounces by weight of washing soda aka soda ash aka pH Up. One box should cover it.
4 lbs of baking soda
7¼ lbs of stabilizer Cyanuric Acid granules.

The bleach can come from the grocery store. So can the washing soda. So can the baking soda. The CYA comes in 4 or 5 lb. canisters. Buy two. Some big-box hardware stores and walmart will have it. You might not even have to go in the pool store.

This will get things close. You might need to fine-tune things in a few days, and the chlorine will be needed daily.

In the future, we'll expect you to figure this out on your own using poolmath. Pool School - PoolMath explains it well. Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals will tell you what does what and how to add it.

- - - Updated - - -

moreira85 said:
Perfect, do i bring up the cya first before moving on to FC?
Click to expand...
Nope. Take your pick between Soda Ash, Baking Soda, or bleach and add that first. Then monkey around with the CYA granules and the sock. By the time that's rigged, add the next of the first three. Wait fifteen minutes or so with the pump on and add the third. Brushing the whole pool helps mix things up good. You won't see the CYA until it's all dissolved, which will take a day or two at least. But the rest of it can be rechecked and fine tuned tomorrow. Just assume the CYA is all there and use 5 as your target FC until you have a good CYA reading.
 
I added a gallon of bleach yesterday and 3 lbs of cya and some baking soda.
Todays test:
FC: 0? I couldnt get it to turn pink no matter how much dpd i added
ph:7
TA:50
CYA: 0 maybe 10

today i just added another gallon of bleach, some ph increaser, and 2 more lbs of cya


any thoughts? I was surprised i didnt get a chlorine reading after adding a gallon yesterday. How long to run pump tonight?
 
Let's make sure of something .... is this NEW water? Or has it been sitting for a while? If it's old, then do the following (have lots of bleach ready):
1. Begin a SLAM and dose FC up to SLAM level. If your CYA test is showing as zero (perhaps already converted to ammonia), use a SLAM/Shock FC of 10. Do not add additional CYA at this point.
2. Retest FC at 10-minute intervals.
a. If FC loss is greater than 50%, add FC to bring back up to SLAM level and continue retesting FC @ 10-minute intervals.
b. IF FC loss is 50% or less, add FC to bring back up to SLAM level. Go to Step 3.
3. If CYA is below 30 ppm, add enough CYA to bring level up to 30 ppm.
4. Continue SLAM as directed in the SLAM article until the SLAM Criteria of Done are met. Test as directed in the SLAM article - no longer need to test FC at 10 minute increments at this point.

If the water is new, please understand that adding one gallon of bleach (yesterday) with very little to no stabilizer reading could also give that same indication. You do need a minimum of 30 ppm of stabilizer to hold the FC through the day.

So to be safe, I suggested the 10 minute drill above. One heaping scoop should be plenty to turn the power pink, so perhaps try again and reference what I noted above. Hope that makes sense to you.
 
Well then, the water was "kind of new", but if it's been sitting since Nov, then it's old now. :) To be safe, I would do the 10-min drill just to make sure there is no possibility for ammonia. If there is none, the drill will go fast, but if you have ammonia, then it may take an hour or two to hold FC by at least 50%. But once done, you can safely add stabilizer and FC knowing you can perform the SLAM accurately. But make sure you keep a clock handy and follow those steps. :)

If you have any questions about the FC test, please let us know. We want you to push through this quickly as well. Good luck!
 
I didnt do a slam like u said yet. Didnt add anything today. I checked the levels today and now we are getting somewhere.

FC 8 today checked it twice
ph 8
TA 70
cya 30

FC kinda high and ph a little high. Do i just wait it out for the FC to conedown to 3?
 

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Todays tests
FC. 3 yesterday it was 8.
Ph 7.8
TA 70
CYA 30

i added 89 ounces of bleach today.
Question, i know i want an FC of 3-5, tyically about how often should expect to keep adding bleach manually? Daily?
When weather warms itll b swg.
 
You will need to add bleach daily. Just like a pet, your pool needs to be fed each day. At some point later, your SWG will take care of that job for you, but for now, manually add bleach each day. Now here's the important part ..... You hope to ideally lose about 2-4 ppm of FC per day - no more. Lose anything more than 4 FC and we begin to think you have an algae problem. You seem to be on that edge, possibly because your water sat for a while. I would still recommend that you perform an overnight test as noted on the Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT) page. Just make sure your FC is at least 3 ppm - maybe bump it up to 5 to 6 for tonight in case you are losing FC in the dark. Follow those OCLT instructions carefully. If you lose more than 1 ppm of FC overnight (in the dark) then you need to "SLAM" via the link below. That's important to do now, and not wait until your SWG is operational. If you have any questions, please let us know.

And don't forget, we still need you to input all of your pool info into your signature please. Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post.
 
I did the overnight test. 3 days ago I added 89oz of bleach as pool math said. then 2 days ago without testing the water I just put the remaining 30oz from the gallon in the pool. I checked it at 8pm last night and fc was 13, holy snike! Guess I put too much. This morning I got up and tested at 7 am and fc is 12. at 7 am its been light for an hour but no sun as its a dreary day. Had a 1ppm drop.
Any input?
 
If you only lost 1 ppm overnight, that's a good thing for sure. How is the water condition - clear? You should also be able to see very clearly to the bottom in the deep end. You also should have no more than .5 CC. If those are all true, then you should be able to let the FC drop back down to its normal target level today, and eventually maintain it around the 3-5 range if your CYA is still around 30. Just make sure those 3 things are true and you're in great shape.
 

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