Equipment up and running - First Test Results in

stslimited84 · Jun 2, 2012

Finally have it up and running :whoot:

Now to clean up the swamp. Here's the first test results:

FC: 0 as expected
PH: >8 I had a problem with high ph last year too, it kept rising
CYA: Less than 30. The black dot only went away after the tube was slightly over filled
CH: 260 ppm
TA: 90 ppm

I added chlorine per the calculator. About to go add 3lbs CYA per the sock/skimmer method and add muriatic. What else should I be doing?

JasonLion · Jun 2, 2012

You need to lower the PH level down to around 7.2 to 7.5 the next time FC is below 10 (which it will be very soon).

Start adding CYA right away. Without CYA in the water you will be losing too much chlorine to sunlight. I suggest you aim for a CYA level of 30 to start and raise it further when the algae is all cleaned up.

Other than that, it just following the shocking procedure as described in Pool School and making sure there isn't any debris on the bottom of the pool.

stslimited84 · Jun 2, 2012

JasonLion said:
You need to lower the PH level down to around 7.2 to 7.5 the next time FC is below 10 (which it will be very soon).

Start adding CYA right away. Without CYA in the water you will be losing too much chlorine to sunlight. I suggest you aim for a CYA level of 30 to start and raise it further when the algae is all cleaned up.

Other than that, it just following the shocking procedure as described in Pool School and making sure there isn't any debris on the bottom of the pool.

Since the CYA was so low on the test, I'm just operating under the assumption there is next to 0 in there. I added 3lbs to the skimmer using a sock and thats currently dissolving. I'm hoping the level is higher than 0 and the 3lbs i added will get me by until the 25lbs of CYA i ordered online arrives, but I can go pick up 3 more lbs from Lowe's if need be.

I added muriatic acid but it seems the PH hasn't lowered yet, but that could be due to adding it when the FC level was too high. Ill lower the PH before the next chlorine addition.

So far the pool seems to be coming along well. The spa is already clear enough to see to the bottom again, and the shallow end of the pool is almost visible to the bottom. I'm testing hourly and dosing accordingly. The new pump seems to be working well. Its on high right now...do you think I should leave it on high or set it on low? Its hard to judge flow at the moment, aside from the fact that it is flowing at what appears to be a good rate.

I need to find a better/quicker/easier way to clean out the debris from the spa. Its a small odd shape so I cant put the polaris 360 in there.

stslimited84 · Jun 2, 2012

I was also thinking about borrowing a floater and a few trichlor pucks from a friend and floating that in the pool to help raise the cya up a bit until the online order arrives.

thoughts?

stslimited84 · Jun 3, 2012

The shocking process is coming along swimmingly, hehehe. The pool went from a ninja turtle green to being able to see clear to the bottom in less than 24 hours. Now that I can actually see the bottom there is a lot of fine debris, mainly disintegrated pine needles and such from the trees last season (since taken down). The polaris 360 is not functioning properly, it wont stay on the bottom and even if it did, it wont pick up the fine particulate. So now I have to find something to handle that job.

I got some fresh muriatic and dropped the ph to 7.4 and the test results are looking good so far. Couple of questions:

1) What should I put my TA at to prevent the ph rise from occurring so fast.

2) Whats a normal time range for the ph to drift up to unacceptable levels?

3) Recommendations on ways to clean the debris from the pool? I'd like a new automatic cleaner, but $1000 is nowhere to be found in the budget this year

Richard320 · Jun 3, 2012

TA can wait until everything else is good and you're bored.

A pool vacuum would be my solution to the debris.

stslimited84 · Jun 4, 2012

Shock process is continuing to go well. I'm gonna have to manually vacuum out the debris while I get this cleaner situation sorted out. Everything is so over priced for what you get in that regard.

I dropped in a few 3" trichlor tabs from leslie's in a floater to help bump up the CYA until the order arrives. How much CYA does a puck add?

yeggim · Jun 5, 2012

stslimited84 said:
Shock process is continuing to go well. I'm gonna have to manually vacuum out the debris while I get this cleaner situation sorted out. Everything is so over priced for what you get in that regard.

I dropped in a few 3" trichlor tabs from leslie's in a floater to help bump up the CYA until the order arrives. How much CYA does a puck add?

Best way to figure it out is to weigh one and plug the number into Pool Calc towards the bottom of the page in the Effects of adding chemicals section. Mine weighed about 7oz's apiece. In a 25000 gal pool, each of my pucks would have added 1.2 ppm CYA.