Confirmation on test and calculator use

[newpoolguyinmo]

Below are my first set of readings. Water was 66 F, ambient temp also 66 F. Sample taken into house for testing.

FC 4.0
CC 0
TC 4.0
pH 6.8
TA 80
CH 260
CYA 50

Pool calculator said to add 68 oz by volume of soda ash to raise pH to 7.5.
I know soda ash will also increase TA so I only added half the amount (34 oz) and will retest to see where that takes TA. Then either use soda ash or borax to get pH to 7.5.

Does this sound right? Also, with no CC do I still need to raise chlorine to shock level of 20 (CYA of 50) or just up to target level of 6?

Thanks in advance for any help. You have all been very helpful so far!! I love this site!

 

[duraleigh]

npgm,

If you meet these guidelines (and it sounds like you will), there is no reason to shock your pool

1. Your pool water is sparkling
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

Those are really excellent numbers (with your pH adjustment). Did you open with those?

 

[JasonLion]

If the water is clear and clean and there isn't any CC then there is no need to shock.

A PH result of 6.8 is tricky because most PH testers will read PH levels below 6.8 as if they were 6.8. So your PH might actually be lower than you think it is.

For now, the important thing is to get the PH above 7.0 fairly quickly. Then you can adjust from there more leisurely. If you can get borax, it would be better to use that, but do something to raise the PH today. I would add a box of borax at a time (or 2 lbs of soda ash), give it an hour to mix in and then test the PH and repeat as needed until the PH is higher than 7.0.

 

[newpoolguyinmo]

npgm,

If you meet these guidelines (and it sounds like you will), there is no reason to shock your pool

1. Your pool water is sparkling
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

Those are really excellent numbers (with your pH adjustment). Did you open with those?

I will do an overnight FC tonight and see what happens. I know the guy that had this house and pool before me closed the pool and I had no idea what he did. I did find some pH Down in the garage and from my readings he must have used it. I was surprised to see the FC where it was after a long winter. However, I did do some testing before I got the cover off last week and had CYA of 90, TA of 30, and the same low pH. I know without circulation those numbers were suspect, but I do know the previous owner used a lot of either dichlor or trichlor so suspected high CYA. I followed the Pool Calculator advice to do a partial drain to lower the CYA and hit my target of 50, which was way cool. All of this chemistry stuff is new to me but I am enjoying learning about it and hope that one day I can also help others on here. Are you the same person that sells the TF100 kits? I just ordered one of the magnetic stirers and some CYA refill.

 

[newpoolguyinmo]

If the water is clear and clean and there isn't any CC then there is no need to shock.

A PH result of 6.8 is tricky because most PH testers will read PH levels below 6.8 as if they were 6.8. So your PH might actually be lower than you think it is.

For now, the important thing is to get the PH above 7.0 fairly quickly. Then you can adjust from there more leisurely. If you can get borax, it would be better to use that, but do something to raise the PH today. I would add a box of borax at a time (or 2 lbs of soda ash), give it an hour to mix in and then test the PH and repeat as needed until the PH is higher than 7.0.

Hi Jason, Thanks for the quick reply!

Tested again after adding 34 oz of soda ash and that raised the pH to 7.2 and TA from 80 to 90. I have since added 61 oz (by volume according to pool calculator) of Borax as you suggested and will test again after in an hour.

If that gets me to pH of 7.6 then I will add enough 6% bleach to get me to my target and see if my FC holds overnight.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Sounds like a plan!

 

[duraleigh]

Are you the same person that sells the TF100 kits? I just ordered one of the magnetic stirers and some CYA refill.

Yes (Thanks!!)