TA and Freezing cold!

[like2lean]

Hi everyone, my new plaster pool just turned 2 months old and I have a couple of questions if I may. I'm in Oklahoma and it gets fairly cold, 19 deg tonight, :-( What temp do most of you set your freeze protection for? The lowest mine goes is 33, is that usually safe, or should I keep it at 35-36 where the pb had it? The Sensor reads 2-3 deg higher than it is outside...but is should take awhile for all that water to cool off, except in the booster pump....hmmmm.

Ta-60 ph-7.8 cya 40, ch 260, fc 3, I want to do the bbb thing but I'm using pucks thru the winter. My ta keeps drifting down and ph climbs. I've reset the ta twice up to 110. I add a qt. of acid every other day to keep ph down under 8, should I be worried about the ta, or let it stay at 50-60 and just dial in the ph for now? And how about that ch??

This is a GREAT site and I've learned sooo much already,

Thanks!
Leasa

 

[Bama Rambler]

Hey Leasa, anything freezing or above (32ºF) will be fine. There's always some dead-band built in so once it goes below freezing it'll have to get slightly above to turn it off. Make sure every piece of equipment is valved in (i.e. the water can flow through it when the pump runs).

 

[dmanb2b]

Use baking soda to keep TA at around 70-80 and muratic acid to keep PH in the 7.2-7.6 range. Do not let it goe over 7.8 for extended periods

Welcome to TFP

 

[iPhone]

Are you testing the water sample at room temperature?

 

[like2lean]

No, I haven't been letting it warm up, should I? I thought I read that you want to test asap to get the most acurate reading...

 

[chem geek]

The pH test is the only one that should be at the pool's original temperature. All other tests may be done at room temperature and some tests, such as the CYA test, really should be at room temperature. The CH test goes faster when at room temperature. I don't think it matters much with the TA test as acid/base and even dye reactions are pretty darn fast even at colder temperatures.