Should I be worried?

[Jazzlover]

Ok my hubby's says I've become OCD about the water chemistry I just love it but want it perfect... Heated the whole pool 4 days ago & things are changing...any suggestions? CYA was getting better now down to 10.... FC THRU THE ROOF? Here are todays numbers:

FC 10 yikes!
TC 10
ph 7.8. Better
TA 130
CH 290
CYA 10

I just added stabilizer as pool calc suggested......Suggestions welcome

 

[Jazzlover]

BTW... new plaster

 

[JasonLion]

How are you doing your water testing? CYA doesn't normally go down on it's own (except over the winter), and it should have started out at zero if you recently filled the pool. Also, if CYA was actually that low, I wouldn't expect FC to be that high. All of these are signs that your test results might not be right.

Fresh plaster will raise the PH, TA, and CH levels fairly quickly for the first three or four weeks, and then more slowly for up to a year. You don't usually want to adjust the TA or CH levels during that first month. Very cold water can slow this process down significantly, only to have it start up again when the water gets warmer.

 

[Jazzlover]

I am using the TF 100 kit....on Feb 17 the CYA was 30..... Today 10.... I could barely see the black dot & tube was full to the top(so maybe 15?)- the pool has been heating since then, will that make a difference? when I just used the k-1000 the chlorine color was much darker than the 5

 

[JesseJames]

Is there any other way to test cya other than the black dot test?

 

[Jazzlover]

I really haven't seen the black dot totally obscured....will it be totally gone at some point? Sorry, this is all new to me......in other tests,count till water turns red.... Is a shade of hot pink the red I'm lookin for etc... :?

 

[JasonLion]

Yes, when the test is done correctly, and your CYA level is high enough (20+ or 30+ depending on the view tube you are using) the black dot will vanish completely, so there isn't even the slightest hint that it was ever there. At lower CYA levels the black dot will never vanish completely, even when the view tube is completely full.

There are other CYA tests, but the black dot test is the best one available for a reasonable price. Other affordable CYA tests are far worse. I've seen some multi-hundred dollar testers that are quite good, but even in that price range there are others that are worse than the black dot test.

 

[Bama Rambler]

On the drop tests you drop until the color quits changing and don't count the last drop. The actual end color doesn't matter a whole lot. Here are the extended test kit directions. They go into more detail than the standard directions.

 

[JesseJames]

I have noticed it is quite easy to add too much R13 to the cya mixing bottle. A time or two, even when I was being careful, the level went above the top of the label on the mixing bottle. I suppose that could impact the results.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Make sure when you do the CYA test, you do it in the same testing conditions each time (outdoors, in direct sunlight, with your back to the sun so that your body shades the viewtube.)

Here is a link to a picture showing the test performed correctly:
http://www.taylortechnologies.com/ChemistryTopicsCM.ASP?ContentID=44