New Intex pool owner questions

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pensfan76

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Jun 27, 2012
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I put in an 18' x 48" Ultra Frame pool in the end of June for the kids. I have a few questions and observations. I am not new to the pool world as i was my parents pool boy for many years and we used baquacil when it first came out and had a DE filter and things have changed a bit since then.

I have the Intex 2650 sand filter (recommended from here) and i couldn't be happier with it. I recently added a cup of DE to it and the water has the sparkle during the day but at night i can still see some small particles in front of the pool light, i figure that will go away in time. When i added the DE i raised the pressure 1psi, well which i think was one since the gauge on the filter sucks, can that be replaced with a better gauge and which one is recommended? I've already backwashed once with the DE added and added another cup after, the next day the pressure was up after i vacuumed. I shut the filter off for a few seconds and turned it back on and the pressure went back down and hasn't gone up to the point a backwash is needed. Should i backwash anyways? if the pressure goes down from turning it off and back on with DE added is it still filtering through the DE? I can remember pumping the handle on a DE filter to relieve pressure as a kid, does turning off a sand filter with DE added basically do the same thing?

Last question is about the Intex SWG, does anyone else get bubbles from the water line down a foot all the way around the pool?

OK one more question, would 3 kids for a few hours a day and 2 adults be considered normal bathier load or high load?
 
You can replace the gauge with a better one but they're cheap enough that most people don't bother. You can get a 0-30 psi gauge at most big box stores that will work great.

Don't backwash until the pressure goes up about 25% of the clean pressure.

Shutting the pump off and on isn't the same as "bumping" a DE filter, but there have been reports of the pressure doing what you experienced.

Yes, it's still filtering through the DE until you backwash it out.

I haven't heard about the bubbles but I suppose it's possible. You could post a full set of test results to see if we see anything out of the ordinary.

I'd call that a normal load.
 
This is from the last trip to the pool store last week.
Free Chlorine .8
Total chlorine 1
Combined chlorine .2
TA 83
PH 7.5
calcium 85
CYA 85
Copper 0
Iron 0
dissolved solids 0


Since this test i have upped the SWG to 6-8 hours. The recommended 4 hours from Intex is just not enough. Today my free chlorine using strips tested at 3. I also have a bottle of bleach sitting close by so if it tests really low i just add a few cups.

I will probably switch out the gauge for one that is a little easier to read

Odd thing is today i am not getting the bubbles on the side of the pool
 
The bubbles on the liner came back, what is really weird is currently the water level is about an inch higher then normal from rain the other day, the top inch has no bubbles, it's like they are attaching to something that is on the liner. Could it be the start of algae? The liner is not slippery at all and water looks great. I do seem to have a problem keeping the free chlorine levels stable. Either the SWG isn't producing enough or something is killing it.
 
Your fc is low per your cya check the cya/chlorine chart for a swg pool..you should never let your fc drop below the minimum or you are at risk for a algae outbreak, but you may already have it have your done a oclt?.....read pool school and shocking your pool.......Mike
 
If you don't have to shock I would raise the fc to 6 using bleach and then turn on the swg and adjust run time until it can keep up with cl demand it might take a few tries to get it. Also test your water while trying to figure out the swg and if fc is 4 or below bring it back up to 6 with bleach.....Mike
 
I did the oclt last night and only lost about 1 on my free chlorine, it was about 4 last night and 3 this morning. I added bleach tonight to get me to 7 and will be running the swg 8 hours tomorrow. I think i might adjust the times to run for a few hours in the morning and again in the evening after the sun goes down.

Would shocking the pool if it's not needed hurt anything? i would rather just dump a few bottles of bleach in just to be safe then have to deal with a problem later. My water is uber clear right now
 
What you really need to do is get a good test kit and do your own testing. If you have a pH/OTO test block, I suggest you order a TF-50 and run a set of tests yourself and then post the numbers.

Pool stores are really bad at the CYA test so we don't know if 85 is even close. Did you put a specific amount of stabilizer in the pool to get the CYA in there.
 
Since the pool was put in back in June i've added a total of 4.5 pounds at different intervals. I've always used the pool calculator as how much chemicals to add. Since then i have added water several times from the kids having way too much fun in it and the last 2 weeks rain has dumped in about 5 inches which i actually had to remove some before it started pouring over the liner.

The place i have it tested uses a CleanCare computer analysis. I stopped once at an HTH dealer and had them test it, they used a strip and feed it into the machine, they tried to tell me my CYA was at 127.

The TF-100 test kit is on the list for next year, i am just trying to limp through the rest of this season since we have only about 3-4 weeks of swimming weather left.
 

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Shocking the pool when it doesn't really need it doesn't hurt anything as long as you're using liquid to shock. It just wastes a little money and doesn't really do anything. However, since you've let your FC get low, it may be a good idea to bring it to shock level and run an OCLT. By the way, how are you able to run an OCLT without a FAS-DPD test?

As for the bubbles I wouldn't worry about them too much.
 
I will be using bleach to shock it. Only test kit i have are stupid Aquacheck strips unless i run the water to the pool store. I am going to shock it tomorrow since it's supposed to be cooler and cloudy all day. Do you recommend just 2 bottles once or should i give it a couple doses of 2 bottles each spread out over the day?
 
At a minimum, you should invest in a FAS DPS chlorine test kit and a drop based PH test. TFteskits.net can help you there, or the TF100 would be best.

Supershock is calhypo and will add chlorine, but calcium as well. Do you have hard water?
 
My calcium level was at 85 at the last trip to the store. I'm getting a TF100 next year, i only have 3-4 weeks left to the swimming season this year. Is there a "good enough" test kit for free chlorine that i can pick up in a store so i don't have to wait for shipping?
 
The FAS-DPD is the only one I can recommend for shocking and is rarely found in stores. TF tends to ship rather quickly...especially if you are east coast.
 
Born and raised in Pittsburgh.

As a "just in case" i put in 2.5 gallons of bleach last night and i've been adding about 2 cups an hour all day since 2 cups raises FC by 1, will do another gallon tonight and then see if i can keep the FC levels stable after they come down. I also scrubbed the entire liner. Kid wasn't too happy about helping though.

The bubbles are just annoying to me, I'm probably just being anal about it, if it's not hurting anything anything or a sign of bad things i could learn to live with them.
 

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