Clearing algae

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Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

i know people say there is no such number, but my chlorine got down to 2.5. i think i have my pump turn on at 10p. could be 11pm but i'd have to check. it's not quite as low as 2 and not quite as high at 3 the way i see it. that's my old test kit. now with the new test kit which so far seems harder to read, at least at night. be right with u.
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

with new test kit seems like a minimum of 5. that's a big difference. i'd think that one's more accurate although i'm not as used to it and it is dark out. i was standing by the light to get the best light. i could smell chlorine on the towel after swimming in the late afternoon (5pm) which I've never smelled before with our salt pool. I'll add another 1/2 gallong of chlorine now and i'll wait on everything else til morn like u suggested, Proavia. another busy day for us tomorrow with family in town... but i'll do my best to get some numbers posted. do i try to do the whole kit or are there only certain ones i need to check? thanks everyone and any tips for before i dive in to the kit otherwise i'll just dive in as best i can with the bit of time i'll have in the morn. thx!
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

needsajet said:
I'd be interested to see, and can help if you have questions about the testing. I'll avoid the recommendations since you already have good cooks here coaching you along!

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An article on scaling can be found here Pool School - Calcium Scaling
Click to expand...
i skimmed it and will look at it more closely later. thanku needsajet! I didn't realize that scaling, if it's what I'm understanding to be calcium build-up can be under water, on pebble... we have started to see a bit of calcium build up on the tiles and i imagine i'll choose the route of using a pumis stone to take it off initially and as i follow the method I'm hoping I won't need to worry about scaling on my pebble or tile?!
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

proavia, i know u said to concentrate on just the algae, but i can't help myself a bit if that's ok. i like to address some things as they come up otherwise i'll forget. Interestingly, when the tech said that he could tell that my DE filter needed to be changed because my water pump wasn't clear as if there wasn't water in it. It didn't stay clear for much longer than a day or 2, so we either had plumbing clogged so badly that it needs to be backwashed, again, or he was wrong (or somehow we got air in there in the meantime). I don't think we need to backwash since the needle is still only at 15 since he cleaned it. interesting.
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

couldn't help myself, again. seemed as if brushing after adding chlorine sounded like a good idea, especially while I had the lights on when i can see all of the imperfections in the pool. i'm still really disappointed at the amount of stuff in the pool that I have to sweep to the drain. my son must've had a piece of paper in his pocket or something. that white stuff has been there since yesterday. there was still the powdery white subtance when i brushed. saturday night fun and a bad habit I"m starting with staying up late. i look forward to the time when the pool isn't so much work! thanku :)
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

We will get you to where the pool is Trouble Free.......until they stick with it.

Run through all of the tests. Do them one at a time. Have you seen the videos? If not here they are:

https://www.youtube.com/user/tf100testkit?feature=results_main

Tips:

Once you get the FC test to clear stop there. It might get a pick tint after a min or two if you let it sit. That is normal and does not mean any thing.

TA test-it will flash red but do not stop until it stays reddish

-CYA-fill the to the first line (100), GLANCE in. If you still see the dot fill to the next line, GLANCE in, keep going until when you GLANCE in you do not see the dot. If you stare you WILL see the dot LOL.

Give yourself about 30 mins for your first set of tests. It WILL get faster and easier once you have done it a couple of times.

Kim:cat:
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

Kim, That's all helpful info to know. If I can do it in 30 min I'd be proud of myself as this looks complicated. Videos are great. Going to try to do it now unless I get interrupted as church was the plan this morn but I have child that was sick yesterday so we'll see how the morn goes. Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there!
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

Another thing, as I watch the video about the CYA test, I don't see a bottle with a black dot at the bottom. I'll try it with the bottle that comes with the mixing bottle and see if it turns black. Also in my kit it said I should have 2 Graduated Cylinders. I only see one cylinder and it says "CYA View Tube." I emailed TRTestKits regarding this when I opened the kit yesterday.
 

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Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

You can do all the tests inside at the kitchen counter (with kitchen lights on) - except the CYA test (outside, full sunlight, back to the sun, test tube held at waist height and don't "stare" into the tube. Pour solution back into squeeze bottle and do again to get an average.)

Kim's method of testing CYA about filling to line and glancing is excellent!
So, if you can barely see the black dot at the 40 mark and it's totally gone at the 30 mark, it's somewhere between 30 and 40. In the case of the CYA test we always round up - so use 40 for CYA in the example I cited.

For the other tests, some use a white paper/plastic plate to slide in and out behind the testing cylinder to better determine the colors.

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The other clear cylinders usually have a reagent bottle inside them to save space in the kit.

Since you have the Speedstir, use that cylinder for TA and CH. Use the cylinder marked "CHLORINE ONLY" for FC and CC.

Fill the cylinder as required with pool water first, then put the magnetic stir bar in and set on the stirrer.
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

with the CYA test (and all of these) how perfect do we need to be? i see myself dumping out and retrying to get "to the line" just right. This is going to be more than 30 minutes for me. if i need to start over i will but i went over the line with the solution for the CYA test already. also, all of the labels on the bottles say danger... do u pour the testing solutions back in the pool or in bermuda grass u are trying to kill...? thx!
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

CYA-off the charts I can see the black dot even though I fill the whole tube. should i do it again since i added a bit too much R-0013 or is this more reason to believe I have no CYA in the pool?
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

You need to be as perfect as possible. Do you have an old water testing bottle from Leslies? That's what I use to get a sample. Then use that bottle to fill the vial. When filling the vial, when looking into the side of the vial, the pool water curves up at the sides of the vial and is lower in the center. You want the vial filled to the lower, center water level. You can practice this over and over to get a better feeling for it - without adding any testing reagent.

CYA isn't "off the charts", it's low or non-existent. Is the pool water/R-0013 mixture completely clear or is it slightly cloudy in the testing tube? In either case, you will need to add some to get to 30. Let us know the answer to the previous question and we will guide you on how much to add and how to add it.
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

Slow and steady when measuring. Be as methodical as possible. You'll get the hang of it, your testing will be more accurate and you will save time in the end.
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

Kim's my hero cuz I'm still at it a couple of hrs later. :( i'm on the calcium hardness test and the video's directions are different than the instructions given on the card that came with the kit. the video says when it's clear u have your number of drops like any of the tests. the card says when it turns blue u have your number. i'll go with it turning blue since it's on the card that came with the kit.

plus the video says 25 ml mark. the instructions say 10 ml. i notice the video is a few years old so maybe they've changed this one?
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

FC =18
CC =.5
PH =7.5-7.8 (old tester said 7.8. new tester seemed i between). old tester says add 1-1/4 p. new test+pool math says add 1c4tsp to get 7.5
TA =160 (16 drops was where it turned pink but then i kept adding drops to see "red." i'm testing on a red table cloth with white paper under the testers and I was trying to compare it to the table cloth. AFter 40 drops never turned red so I"m assuming they meant pink
CH =625
CYA =0
Salt =4400

I can't believe how long it took me but I wanted to get it right and did a few tests a few times, watched the videos... Glad it's done! now to see what my panel says I have for salt. that test was a bit difficult as there are different colors for brick. i learned that when I was looking for what I thought I wanted "old Chicago brick." It was way more yellow than what I think of as brick from New England. I think I got it right tho

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my panel says we have 3300 ppm salt. i was looking for a darker new england color brick perhaps. :)
 
Re: main drain has dirt and debri sitting in the bottom-no suction?

What size sample did you use for the FC test? 10 ml or 25ml? How many drops of R-0871 did it take to go clear?

When FC is above 10, the pH test reads unreliable high. So don't test pH if FC above 10. Actually, if you adjusted pH to 7.2 PRIOR to FC being above 10, then you may not need to worry about pH until SLAM is complete.

TA is high - and that's why the pH rises kinda quickly. We will address that after the SLAM though - you can't SLAM and adjust TA at the same time.

CH is a little high, but to be expected with our hard water. This test also takes a few times to get comfortable with - and with additional methodical testing you just might see that number come down a little. Next time you do the CH test, after the first 10 or so drops - let the Speedstir mix a bit longer between drops.

Salt - are you using strips or the drop test for getting the 4400 number? I've heard it said here many times, if the salt cell is happy you don't need to be too concerned about the salt reading. And your cell or panel will let you know if it isn't happy.

Are you holding the reagent bottles completely vertical and allowing the drops to drop about 1 per second? Let the drop become well formed on the bottle tip instead of squeezing them out too fast. This will provide much more accurate results too.

Remember, the TA test can be affected do to static electricity on the tip of the R-0009 reagent for the first maybe dozen tests. This applies to this reagent only. Wipe the tip between drops with a damp cloth or paper towel. Not doing so will cause the drops to be smaller and also "jump" off the tip prematurely.

Endpoint on these tests is to continue to add until the last drop doesn't change the color - then subtract the last drop from your count. So, if drop number 11 doesn't change the color any further your endpoint is 10 drops.

The red tablecloth in your vision field may skew your results slightly also. A more neutral or whitish background with white paper on top might work better.
 

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