refresher's First Results TFT-100

[refresher]

Hi all,
Still totally new to pool ownership and TFP, got the test kit today, excited to do the first water tests.
I will show what the pool store's "free" water test results from 7/31 alongside my results (average 2 trials for each of my tests).

Test	Target	Store 7/31	House 8/2
FC	3-5	6	12.5
TC		6	13.0
CH	350-450	280	525
CYA	70-80	90	test fail
TA	60-80	90	120
pH	7.5-7.8	8.0	7.8
Salt	3400-3600	2900	test fail

Observation 1. I have been adding 12 oz MA every other day, finally got the pH to drop below 8.
Observation 2. Water temp is 92. Pool Math says just to keep adding MA, no other actions indicated.
Observation 3. I will probably add about 3-4 inches of new water tomorrow due to evaporation.

Question 1. The TC seems really high. My SWG is set at 40%, do I need to reduce that? We are getting day after day of sunny 100 degrees, the FC should burn off, right? Do I wait or take action?

Question 2. Am I doing the salt test wrong? I added 80 lbs of salt after the 2900 reading on Sunday, dissolved in an hour, trying to get it up to manufacturer recommended level, closer to 3500. When I did the test, it said to only start with 10ml of water in the tube, when adding all the drops, it gets up to 15ml and foamy, but it never changes color to pink/red. There is some silt in the bottom, but no real color change. Tried it twice, same result.

Thanks in advance for any and all input!

 

[pooldv]

No need to add salt unless the cell gives you a low salt error.
Yes, turn down the SWG percentage or run time. Just make sure FC stays above minimum for your CYA at all times to keep the pool sanitary and algae free. [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]
The PH test is not valid when FC is above 10 ppm. Get FC down to 10 and retest PH.
It is important to maintain PH between 7.2 and 7.8. With high-ish TA and the SWG your PH will rise. Adding acid to lower PH will slowly lower TA over time. PH should stabilize when TA gets down to 60 or 50.

Your Dallas water has a high tendency to scale. Manage you CSI between -0.3 and 0 to prevent scale. PoolMath will calculate it for you. Tweak PH and TA to lower it. Managing CSI will add a decade to your plaster and make your SWG last longer. I am on season 5 with my IC40 and have never had to clean it.
More here, Pool School - Calcium Scaling

 

[refresher]

Posting an update. Adjustments I've made since 8/2:

• Reduced Salt Generator Pct from 40% to 20% last night.
• Added 16 oz MA this morning.

Here are this evening's test results, with CSI appended to the table:

Test	Target	Store 7/31	House 8/2	House 8/4
FC	3-5	6	12.5	10.5
TC		6	13.0	11.0
CH	350-450	280	525	475
CYA	70-80	90	test fail	80
TA	60-80	90	120	110
pH	7.5-7.8	8.0	7.8	7.5
Salt	3400-3600	2900	test fail	4200
CSI	-0.30 to 0.00	0.22	0.47	0.06

Very pleased so far with the testing, the results, the direction, and the help from people at TFP!

Will continue to add 12-16 oz MA every other day (per Pool Math) to reduce FC and TA.

Any other actions to take?

 

[max2k]

you prob want your CSI down a little more due to high CH and plaster pool to avoid scale.

 

[pooldv]

+0.06 is ok for now. I like it below 0. But, with TA high that is tougher to do. Keep adding acid to lower TA and once it gets down toward 80 that will be easier.

 

[refresher]

Updated Testing Results. First time using the Speed Stir. It seems to have affected the CH test result. Perhaps the 475-550 results were too high with manual stirring?

Test	Target	Store 7/31	House 8/2	House 8/4	House 8/8	House 8/12
FC	3-5@70 CYA; 4-6@80 CYA	6	12.5	10.5	8.0	5.5
TC		6	13.0	11.0	8.0	5.5
CH	350-450	280	525	475	550	450
CYA	70-80	90		80	80	70
TA	60-80	90	120	110	120	80
pH	7.5-7.8	8.0	7.8	7.5	7.5	7.5
Salt	3400-3600	2900		4200	4200	4200
CSI	-0.30 to 0.00	0.22	0.47	0.06	0.11	-0.19

I have been adding 16oz MA every other day to bring down the TA. Had to aerate 12 hrs/day the past 2 days to keep the pH from dropping below 7.2, now trending back to 7.5.

Tomorrow I brush, skim, and add 2 caps of Perfect Weekly. The water is getting closer and closer to the range I'd like to maintain. Pretty sure that FC will come down to 4 in the next week or so, and I may have to bump the Salt Generation from 20% back up to maybe 30% and see how FC levels out.

Anyone have any further input?

 

[max2k]

.... and add 2 caps of Perfect Weekly. T...

what do you want to do that for? I mean I never had a need to use the product over my entire pool care career (which is 1.5 years ).

 

[Conjomen]

What's perfect weekly?

 

[Griswald]

What's perfect weekly?

A way to spend unnecessary money. Don't use it, there is no need for phosphate removes as phosphates don't do anything bad to pool water.

 

[Dstorm258]

Also, don't let your FC drop too low for your CYA level. 4ppm would be minimum if your CYA is 80. The target would be 6ppm.

- - - Updated - - -

Check this link. Someone posted it earlier in the thread too
http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock/

 

[refresher]

Thanks for the feedback on Perfect Weekly. The previous owner was very obsessive, and he used it regularly and he left me with his remaining amount. Good to know to NOT replenish.

 

[Conjomen]

A way to spend unnecessary money. Don't use it, there is no need for phosphate removes as phosphates don't do anything bad to pool water.

Thanks. I was thinking does he have some secret trick? Lol like a potion i haven't discovered for "perfect weekly " water...it's probably expensive right? No judgment but why would you add extra chemicals to your water? If you get perfectly clear h2o from just bleach? Well that and keeping the few others in the correct parameters? I've tried several ways to phrase those questions and they all come out sounding harsh... I don't mean to be I'm genuinely curious, in about 20 years of pool ownership I've always just used bleach, dry acid and baking soda. Occasionally a box of borax because I didn't have baking soda on hand.Really just curious as to why you add extra stuff. Well other than the pool store told me to...

Lol I see you answered my question