On my way from Pond to Paradise; finally discovering the TFP way!

You can do a OCLT in the rain BUT if it is a gully washer it might skew the results some. I will let YOU be the judge of it-sprinkles? No problem..........heavy downpour? Might want to wait.

I decided to wait....I'm not sure I 100% trust my husband's technique anyway. He wasn't 100% sure he counted the drops right :rolleyes: My perfectionist personality is telling me to do it myself. Haha

SO, I raised FC to shock level for my CYA before going to bed this morning and then again tonight. I will check it again when I get home tomorrow and raise it again. I will do the OCLT tomorrow night as I don't work. Good news: I finally used up all my granular "shock" I had and I'm off to shop for liquid chlorine when I get out of work tomorrow! Yay! :D

Oh, and I was SO excited tonight...my Father in law commented on how nice the pool looks!! He doesn't give out compliments often so this was a biggie for me! My husband says "that's all Michelle, she's been working hard on it". I'm so happy to have it looking so nice! Now if I can only pass the dang OCLT, we'd be in business...
 
Oh, and I was SO excited tonight...my Father in law commented on how nice the pool looks!! He doesn't give out compliments often so this was a biggie for me! My husband says "that's all Michelle, she's been working hard on it". I'm so happy to have it looking so nice!

That makes my heart smile! WOW!

When you are shopping for chlorine/bleach make sure you go apples to apples. Here is a chart someone made to help. Look at the % and the date code. Don't buy if it is over 3 months old. BUT it also has to be from a place that is easy for you to get to when needed. I have a pool store that has a better price by a few pennies than the ACE Hardware I get mine from BUT it is a "trip" for me to get there instead of on the way home. The one on the way home wins!

Chlorine Price Per Ounce Calculator


Kim:cat:
 
Ooooh! Thank you!!! That is SOOO helpful! Has anyone heard of this?? Yay or Nay? It looks like 12.5% chlorine to me, but the word "SHOCK" is throwing me
 

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Awesome, thank you!!

I'm keeping my levels at SLAM value again today and doing the OCLT tonight. I feel like I read this somewhere, but can someone please confirm....it's OK to swim during a SLAM as long as the numbers aren't HIGHER than SLAM level? Or should we stay out? It's just SOOO nice outside! Haha....:sunny: (Hey, I'm from Maine, our summers are SHORT! :cool:)
 
Quick update: we've had torrential downpours/T-storms since yesterday afternoon. So no OCLT done yet. Because of that, I have been testing twice a day and keeping my chlorine level up to shock just in case there might still be something brewing in there (though I'm thinking I'm probably in the clear by now since my CC has been 0 the last couple times....but I'm not taking any chances). Weather looks clear today so I should be able to do the OCLT tonight....my pool is looking amazing, though, so thank you SO MUCH for all the advice so far! I'm excited to move on from this and enter a regular maintainence schedule!
 
Mimi, Make a note of the storm in your testing log just as a FYI. I like tracking weather on my log so I can see what my pool does after each event........super sunny=needs more chlorine, STORM=everything gets check if my pool overflowed, etc.

I love how you are really getting it! You are on easy street now!

Kim:cat:
 

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:whoot:I PASSED, I PASSED!!!!

You guys have have NO IDEA how exited I am. Actually, you probably ALL know how excited I am!!

My FC didn't change at all overnight: 9.5 at 10pm and 9.5 at 5:15am! CC went from barely 0.5 (I counted 0.5 because there was the faintest bit of pink, but in experience from testing before with a 0.5 that was more pink, it was probably even less than that) and a beautifully clear 0 CC this morning! YAY!!!

SO, correct me if I'm wrong, but my next step is to do a full set of testing again and start adjusting my other numbers, rightt? And I let my FC fall back to maintainence which would be 3-7 with a 30 CYA. Do you guys like to keep it on the higher end of the range or the middle? I'm thinking I should shoot for 7 since it will fall a bit during the day from the sun?

Also, I have a TON of tablets leftover from my pre-TFP days (last week :rolleyes:). I'm going to try to sell the unopened bucket, but I still have half of an opened bucket....Since my CYA is low, can I use those for awhile to help maintain chlorine level and raise CYA? I know the biggest issue with them is that overtime my CYA will get too high, but I'm thinking I could use them until my CYA was at a better level than 30? And what's should my goal be? I was thinking 50, but remember, I'm in Maine, so the days of direct HOT sun on the pool are limited to several weeks a year.....

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!
 
Great job! Now it's time to check and adjust everything else. Let your FC fall back into target range. I usually shoot for 1ppm above target on the Chlorine/CYA Chart. I'm paranoid that I'll drop below minimum because my pool gets non-stop sun all day.

How about some pics of the beautiful waters?

Edit: You can use some of the tablets if you want to up your CYA, someone else will have to chime in on how many ppm each tablet adds though. Or you could just add one and then test your CYA after it's completely dissolved to see for yourself. I imagine you'll not be able to use up the whole bucket though.
 
You can save the tablets for vacations, they last for years if kept dry and in a cool place in the shed/garage
If you use the tablets to raise your cya still check your chlorine as they may not keep up with FC demand.

Bottom of the poolmath page has an 'effects of adding chemicals' part so you can see what they will do to your water

As I cant buy CYA by itself here I use them when I open my pool. I predissolve them in a bucket of water for a few days to get the amount of CYA I require and use it for my opening slam, cheap liquid CYA :D
 
For some reason it's not letting me post another picture? It says I've reached my quota....Anyone know how to fix this? I've posted a few pictures in this thread already without issue.....

The rest of my numbers this morning:
FC 9.5
CC 0
pH 7.4
TA 90
CA 175
CYA 30

My plan (if someone can just confirm I'm on the right track...please? :cool:):

1. Let the chlorine fall naturally and then add a couple pucks to my floater to help maintain FC and raise CYA. I will check FC each night and add the required amount of bleach to get FC to 6-7 (to allow for some wiggle room for a drop during the day). I will check CYA once a week and when I'm between 40 and 50 I will remove pucks.
2. I will add 2 cups (16 oz) of borax to raise pH slightly
3. Pool Math wants me to raise TA, but my recommended values state I should be OK at 90, so I will leave this one and the CA alone for now (I have a vinyl liner).

Am I missing anything? Again, thank you to everyone who helped me through this!! If I can figure out why I can't post the pictures, I'll show you my journey from Pond to Paradise!! :D

- - - Updated - - -

You can save the tablets for vacations, they last for years if kept dry and in a cool place in the shed/garage

As I cant buy CYA by itself here I use them when I open my pool. I predissolve them in a bucket of water for a few days to get the amount of CYA I require and use it for my opening slam, cheap liquid CYA :D

Genius!! Thanks for the tip!!
 
:swim::cheers::bounce::punkrock::rockon::party:

Does that ^^^^^ show you how happy I am for you???? LOVE IT!

Pictures-You can become a supporting member. This will many things for you and us....you get more picture storage, discount of testing stuff, a pretty badge by your name, etc. WE get to keep the lights on to keep helping you and others! Here is the link:

CLICK HERE to Become a TroubleFreePool.com Supporter!!

I have a set of links I put together for new pools and their owners. I hope you find them helpful. It is a LOT of info. so take it a bite at a time.

Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.

Kim:cat:
 
:swim::cheers::bounce::punkrock::rockon::party:
I have a set of links I put together for new pools and their owners. I hope you find them helpful. It is a LOT of info. so take it a bite at a time.

Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.

Kim:cat:

Great resource! I've started printing stuff out, but with so many places to look in all the different forums, I keep losing stuff! Bookmarking is a great idea, and I've already printed my recommended levels and CYA/chlorine chart. Thank you so much again! As soon as sign up process is done, I will have some fantastic "pool porn" to share ;)
 

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