CH is only 30--With New Pool Heater

[7Iron]

I have not paid any attention to my "low" CH as a recommended by the smart guys/gals in this forum(I have a vinyl liner)

But now I have added a Laars Pool Heater. Do I need to be concerned.

FC: 6.5
pH: 7.2 (will add 9 oz of baking soda today)
TA: 100
CH: 30
CA: 50

thanks

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Yes, some heaters I understand need some calcium for protection of the warranty or possibly the elements. Please check your heater manual and see what it says about calcium.

 

[bdavis466]

Calcium does not protect a heater. The misconception comes from other industries that use scale buildup on the inside walls of the pipes to act as a form of protection. THIS post explains in more detail.You certainly do not want scale inside of your heater. Low pH is what is detrimental to heaters and is usually caused by poor chemistry and excessive use of Trichlor (very acidic).

If your CH really and truly is 30, then consider raising it to 150 but only if you start to have issues with the water foaming.

On another note, baking soda is not the correct product to add. If you are trying to raise your pH, either wait a week and/or aerate the water to speed up the process. Your TA is already on the high side. Baking soda will make that worse and in turn, make your pH rise higher and faster.

 

[duraleigh]

20 Mule Team Borax will raise your pH and leave TA pretty much alone....but I like bdavis idea of aeration that will both raise pH and drop TA if you like.

You can also just wait if you are not experienceing pH issues.

 

[7Iron]

Thanks for the input...
But now I am more confused. I religiously use the "pool math" and follow it's answers on what to add to my pool.

I have it set for the "troublefree" recommendations .

Last week my readings were

FC: 4.5
pH: 7.2
TA: 50
CH: 30

PoolMath said I needed to raise the TA to 100 by adding 59oz of baking soda, so I did.

and now it says to add 9 oz of washing soda or 18 oz of Borax to fix the pH
and to add 170 oz of calcium chloride or 226 oz calcium dihydrate ( but ever one says to ignore if you have a vinyl liner)

So, my question is: Is 100 TA too high?
and I assume that washing soda/borax aren't "incorrect" but just not preferred to aeration method or are they "incorrect"?

thanks for taking your time and sharing your valuable insight....
dg

 

[Mr Bruce]

You can leave TA alone unless you have pH issues (rising). Then as you add acid to lower it you will lower TA. Short answer, don't worry about TA unless you have pH problems.

Don't worry about CH either.

pH of 7.2 is ok, just don't let it go any lower.

 

[bdavis466]

Pool math is trying to get you to the numbers on the Goal column. You can change the goals to whatever you'd like or just dismiss the ones that don't pertain to you.

 

[welbo]

TA and Borax both act as a pH buffer, meaning they will both slow down changes in pH, which can be good. However if TA gets too high (~>100) you will see you pH rise gradually over time and pretty fast if aerating.
In my case, water that I add from the hose is very high TA so I am always fighting it with acid as the pH keeps creeping up. You can 'kill' TA per the pool school method or raise it with baking soda. So a low pH AND low TA condition can be fixed with baking soda and aeration. But low pH/high TA can be fixed by simply aerating.

Borax is an additive that will give you great feeling water and even more pH buffer. So if you need to get your pH up anyway, it's a win/win to use borax to raise it. The only caution there is, anything you need to do to the pool that involves lowering the pH (slam, reduce TA for instance) will take more acid once you have borax in the pool.

I don't know how to link to the other posts I've referenced with this app. I'll try to get them in on a proper computer.

 

[pooldv]

The recommended TA level for vinyl is 50-90+. See here, Pool School - Recommended Levels