Intex saltwater swg testing questions

[blamman1]

I installed the swg wih sand filter last Sunday. I am using the supplied test strip the saltwater system came with.
My free chlorine and Total Alkalinty appear to be fine. The ph is what I do not understand. The test strips start with a light orange color and number 6.5. The top number is 8.5 and more brownish orange. When I test my strip has a mostly red and little orange in the middle.
Does this mean the ph is too high or two low? Do I add ph down or ph up?

Also it looks like some more bronzish colored dirt on the floor. Is this bad? I used to just use chlorine and used shocked treatment. Should I ever shock the saltwater system?

Thanks for any help.
Gish

 

[Beamup]

Test strips are useless. You need a real test kit (see the Pool School article Test Kits Compared). Pool store test results are better than nothing while the kit is on its way, and a full set of those would be useful.

You may also want to read "How to Shock" to understand what that term really means (it's a process, not a product that you dump in once). The rest of Pool School is useful, too, but those two are the most immediately applicable.

 

[linen]

I am using the supplied test strip the saltwater system came with.
My free chlorine and Total Alkalinty appear to be fine. The ph is what I do not understand. The test strips start with a light orange color and number 6.5. The top number is 8.5 and more brownish orange. When I test my strip has a mostly red and little orange in the middle.
Does this mean the ph is too high or two low? Do I add ph down or ph up?

My guess is your high, but you need a better test kit. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison SWG tend to cause ph to rise more than using liquid chlorine.

Also it looks like some more bronzish colored dirt on the floor. Is this bad?

Is it sand/gritty? You could do a OCLT: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/overnight_fc_test to see if you have excessive organics in the pool, but this really requires a better test kit.

I used to just use chlorine and used shocked treatment. Should I ever shock the saltwater system?

Its fine to use chlorine along with the swg. The swg will probably not be able to get your pool to shock levels. During shocking I would turn it off and just use chlorine.

Make sure you read pool school (link on upper right of page), especially: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/temporary_pool_guide

 

[blamman1]

Thank you for the help