Pool Start up and Salt support Vs uv shield

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new to pool

new to pool

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Jun 12, 2010
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Hello all. I have a 30000 gallon in ground pool with an aUTO pILOT SALT GENERATOR SC 48. I just opened the pool, the water looked pretty clear excelt for some dirt that got in from the cover.I ran the filter 48 hours straight, the pool is crystal clear. I brought in a test sample to the pool store . The below are the results oh the first 24 hours i boosted the pool so the booster was on the first 24 hours of the 48.

RECOMMENDED RANGE
FREE CHLOR 4.2PPM 1.0 - 3.0PPM
TOTAL CHLOR 4.3PPM 1.0 - 3.0 PPM
COMBINED CHLOR 0.1PPM 0.0 - 0.5PPM
PH 7.7 7.2 - 7.8
HARDNESS 170 PPM 200 -500PPM
ALKALINITY 90 PPM 100 - 140 PPM
CYANURIC ACID 5 PPM 30 - 150 PPM
SALT 2010 2500 - 3500 PPM

I was told this is what I should add
200 pounds of salt(diretly into deep end of pool), then right after 15 pounds of proteam alkalinity up(broadcst around perimeter of pool). then wait two hours then add 20 pounds of pro team calcium up(diluted through the skimmer). then 2 hours later 50 pounds ocean breeze salt support.
Here are my questions. Well first off I did the salt, alk and calcium. My question for the salt support is that i read on the forums that it is the same thing as pro team uv shield. is this true. The salt support was $90 for a 25 lb tub and I needed two. Last season I used uv shield. The salesman at the store said I should only be using salt support because it is made specifically for salt water generators. I read also on the forums that haviland which makes both brands just marketed that ocean breeze name to make it look like its made strictly for SWG's. DO I use this salt support stuff or can I use something else? Like the uv shield. Also I was told by a relative that I can get calcium chloride flakes from home depot for a lot cheaper and it is the same as pro teams calcium up and also that I can buy 50 pound bag of baking soda because that is the same as alkalinity up. Is this true?? LAstly, i read on the forums that calcium is really not needed in a vinyl lined pool. Is this true? the only reason they said to use the calcium or to worry about it is because of the salt geberators warranty. if calcium is off will it dameage the cell by scaling it? thanks for all your help.?
 
There is no need for calcium in a vinyl liner pool, unless you have fairly new equipment and then it may be required to maintain your warranty coverage (though that varies). Having CH too high can cause problems for the SWG.

Havland/Ocean Breeze Salt Support contains borates (mostly boric acid). This is not the same thing as cyanuric acid/uv shield at all. Borates can be nice, but they are optional. Cyanuric acid/UV shield is required. Borates have nothing specific to do with the SWG, you can use them or not, it doesn't make any difference to the SWG.

Alkalinity increaser is baking soda, exact same chemical.

Calcium increaser is available in some areas at places like Home Depot, often sold as an ice melter. But it tends to be difficult to find.

It is unfortunate that you already raised the TA level. We recommend TA be between 60 and 80 with a SWG, so yours was already too high before you added more.

You need to get your CYA/cyanuric acid/uv shield/stabilizer/conditioner (many names for the same thing) level up. We recommend that CYA be between 70 and 80 with a SWG. With CYA at 5 you will not be able to maintain a chlorine level during the day, which is likely to cause problems.
 
Thanks for the response. I did call the pool store again just to ask a few questions. Here is there answers. I asked why I needed the salt support and they said it puts a coating on the swg blades and will extend the llfe. I asked if that is the only difference between Uv shield and the salt support and he said yes. They both contain cya. He told me the white part of the blue/white mixture is cya. I think next year I will buy the uv shield at 25 bucks for 8 pounds instead of the 50 pounds for 180.00. He also siad that the alkilinity should be close to 200. And he said that the liner has calcium in it so calcium up is definately needed. ANd it has to be raised. Is this all a ploy to sell much items. I had the pool installed in 2007 and in 2008 I had to replace the swg cell. When they closed the pool last year, the cell had some scaling on it but they hosed it off with a high pressure hose and the scaling went away. I want to keep the pool in excellent running condition and at the most economical. Both wife and I lost our jobs last year and still have not been emplyed. SO money is real real tight. Thanks for all your advice. I have to wait a week to have the pool water retested after adding all the above chemicals in the previous post above. I will repost the results and wait to hear from you all. Hope the levels come back all fine. Thanks for your help.
 
Very sales oriented, with all the facts wrong. Alkalinity around 200 with a SWG will cause significant problems. Nothing "puts a coating on the swg blades", anything that did would prevent the SWG from working. Adding borates, which is most of the salt support is, can reduce the amount of scaling on the SWG, but that is a relatively small indirect effect. In any case, it is much better to get your levels balanced correctly to avoid scaling completely.
 
Okay all so, now back from the pool store after waiting a week for the chemicals to circulate throughout the pool. here are the below readings.

FC 1.4 PPM
TC 1.6 PPM
CC 0.2 PPM
PH 8.1
HARDNESS 230 PPM
ALKALINITY 140 PPM
CYANURIC ACID 10 PPM
COPPER .01 PPM
IRON 0.0 PPM

There suggestions is to add 1/2 gallon muriatic acid let filter run for four hours then add 8 pounds pro team uv shield which he said would bring the cya up to 30 ppm. Is this all correct? And when can I swim in the pool with the muriatic acid.. He said after four hours. Also he said to run the filter for 24 hours and also that it will take 7 to 10 days for the cya to totally dissovle. Please let me know thanks.
 
Okay so here are the latest results from a different pool store. Yesterday I added about 1/4 of a gallon of muriatic acid and 4 hours later 8 pounds of pro team uv shield. ARE the below numbers good??? ( the numbers are below the next paragraph)

SO this pool store reccomended the following based on the below numbers.. Add 4.5 pounds of lo n slo to lower ph and .5 pounds of stabilizer. She did say that i dont really have to add the stabiler because the cya is pretty close to being ideal. and to add 5 bags of shock or just put the SWG in boost mode.
I put the SWG in boost mode. I think the ph at 7.8 is pretty good after it was 8.1 yesterday before the muriatic acid. I told her about the muriatic acid and she said that they use that to clean filters and that should never be put directly into the pool. As a matter of fact she stated they dont even carry that in the store because it is so dangerous. Did I do the right thing in putting the muriatic acid in the pool yesterday?? ALSO can the kids go in the pool today even though i put the acid in yesterday?? Thanks for all the great help here in the forums.!! Let me know about the below numbers. My pool info is in my signature.

cya 58
tot chlor 1.3
free chlor 0.7
ph 7.8
total alk 130
adj toital alk 113
total hardness 267
salt 3100
 
Your FC level is too low and PH towards the high end of the range.

With CYA around 60 you want to keep FC between 5 and 9.

You don't want to add any more CYA.

Muriatic acid is just fine. You do need to be somewhat careful when adding muriatic acid. You should wear eye protection while handling muriatic acid and avoid breathing the fumes. Muriatic acid should be poured slowly in front of a return with the pump running. Once the muriatic acid has had 30 minutes to mix-in it will be completely safe.

You really should be getting your own test kit. Pool store test results are not reliable and their advice has been all over the place. You will have much better results if you do your own testing and learn to take care of things without their help.
 
Muratic acid is fine. You did the right thing putting it in there. The kids could have gone in the pool an hour after you put it in there.
Because pool store testing is so suspect I wouldn't add any more CYA to your pool right now.
You really should consider getting your own test kit.
The FC is too low but since you put the SWCG in boost mode we don't know what it is now. How quick can you have another sample tested?
Your alkalinity is a little high but it'll come down as you adjust your pH down. In fact you could go ahead and add a little more MA (muratic acid) to bring your pH down to about 7.4 now.
Remember keep your pump running when adding chems and at least an hour after. Also, you can swim an hour after adding chems too.

[ETA] Jason and I were typing at the same time.
 

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New...Welcome to TFP...have you considered purchasing your own test kit? I promise it will pu you in control of your own pool and avoid annoying tripd to the PS. I would recommend the TF100 (TFtestkits.net) or the Taylor k-2006. With the advice here and use of the poolcalculator.com tool...you'll save a ton. Read through Pool School if you haven't done so already
 
Dman, already have the ts 100 kit in my cart, just waitng to get a little more cash on my debit card before purchasing. Bama, the pool store is up the road from me. I can get the water tested from them anytime. But I think they use test strips to check everything. the other pool store puts it into some type of box reader to get results in small square vials. I know pool stores can be all over the place. LAst year I took the same sample to three different stores and got three different readings and way off from each other. In the mean time, Someone said there is a testing kit at wall mart that is not so bad, so i might pick that up tonite. so i have something until the ts100 comes.
 
Okay so I picked up a kit at Walmart. Here are the results.

total chlorine 5
bromine 10
ph was between the colors of 7.5 and 7.8
alk 180
hardness somewhere between 260 and 300( i wasnt sure how blue it was supposed to turn from the original red color-- also it didnt origianlly really turn red it was almost a pinkish color.)
cya in between the 50 and 60 mark. i am guessing 55.

how are the above numbers now???
I must add though that the chlorine was really hard to tell because the test tube colors kinda all looked the same shade
 
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