Clueless Newbie here

[trevsand]

Hi guys,
I've just opened my brand new pool - its a salt water IG w vinyl liner 14x28.
Salt was thrown into the pool last Thursday (May2) however the heating was only conencted on Mon (May6).
I have heated the pool to 82degs since Monday.

Last night I got home - the kids had been swimming all afternoon and I noticed the water was cloudy. I went to check the salt system / chlorinator but it was not reading. The flow line was not connected. I connected it and there appeared to be a chemical reaction in the pool. This morning, the salt reading was 4500 and pool was still cloudy.

Any ideas on what I should do. I realise its only been 12 hours since I connected the chlorinator.

Thanks
T

 

[harleysilo]

Do you have a test kit? Your pool needs chlorine ASAP, it's not sanitary. You've had 3+ days of no chlorine.

On a side note i grew up swimming in the lake so no chlorine wouldn't freak me out or anything but i'd be going to the store to get some bleach (chlorine) in that pool.

Glad you are here, you've got a lot to read up on, all available in this sites Pool School which you can access at the top right of this page.

 

[Richard320]

Hi guys,
I've just opened my brand new pool - its a salt water IG w vinyl liner 14x28.
Salt was thrown into the pool last Thursday (May2) however the heating was only conencted on Mon (May6).
I have heated the pool to 82degs since Monday.

Last night I got home - the kids had been swimming all afternoon and I noticed the water was cloudy. I went to check the salt system / chlorinator but it was not reading. The flow line was not connected. I connected it and there appeared to be a chemical reaction in the pool. This morning, the salt reading was 4500 and pool was still cloudy.

Any ideas on what I should do. I realise its only been 12 hours since I connected the chlorinator.

Thanks
T

I would add about 3 qts of 8.25% Chlorox bleach right now.

Then break out the credit card and order up a proper test kit and some salt test strips if you don't already have the strips.

Then get something to drink and settle in for a few hours of

Knowing your pool's chemistry and knowing what to do with it are the keys to clear sparkling water. There ain't no shortcut.

OOPS! I almost forgot to say Welcome!

 

[harleysilo]

Did your pool builder (PB) add any Stabilizer(CYA, Cyanuric Acid) to your pool upon start-up? Do you know how much was added? You'll need to know at some point, you can test it once you get a proper test kit, but if you have it on a Pool Start up receipt we could figure out your levels.

Then you will be able to reference this chart pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
To determine what level you need to shock (a process) your pool to pool-school/shocking_your_pool

To clear it up. You will also then know what your free chlorine goal is that you need to have your SWCG dialed in to produce it. Figuring out how long to run your pump and what % to run your SWCG will take trial and error. You will have to test daily till you get it dialed in.

 

[trevsand]

Is that just regular chlorox from the supermarket?
I will buy a test kit this weekend.
Should I be concerned about my salt levels - 4500 - or is that an afterthought?

 

[Richard320]

Is that just regular chlorox from the supermarket?
I will buy a test kit this weekend.
Should I be concerned about my salt levels - 4500 - or is that an afterthought?

Yes, regular bleach. Don't buy any of the splashless, scented, outdoor, whatever. Just regular Chlorox. Or the store brand if it shows the same concentration and it's cheaper.

You probably won't find the right test kit in a store. You want one with the FAS-DPD test in it. The pool store will try to sell you a DPD test kit and tell you it's the same, but it's not! The TF100 uses the same reagents as the Taylor K-2006, but the quantities are adjusted to better match what actually gets used. Order in the next half hour and you might just have it by the weekend - Dave's really fast - especially if you live in the southeast US somewhere (It helps us a lot to know where you are).

Salt test strips will let you know if the SWG is calibrated right. Worry about salt levels once you've tested things.

And no, I don't get a kickback for plugging the test kit, but since the guy who sells them runs this site, it just seems like the right thing to do.

 

[harleysilo]

Is that just regular chlorox from the supermarket?
I will buy a test kit this weekend.
Should I be concerned about my salt levels - 4500 - or is that an afterthought?

You want unscented bleach. No concentrated outdoor bleach, no bleach with thickners or anything else. So yes just Chlorox.

pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison

I can't answer your salt qustion, do you know what levels your SWG require? You are getting this number from your controller? You can get some of these to double check your equipment readings http://tftestkits.net/Salt-Test-Strips- ... k-p28.html