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JetMech69

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Jul 17, 2013
6
nevada
Hi all, new pool owner here. my pool is one year old and I have been using a pool service to take care of everything to this point. after finding this site I decided to start educating my self on how to take care of it my self. :shock: I have purchased the TF-100 test kit with salt test and this is my second day of testing. the water looks fine and nothing growing in it. I do see white flakes floating around, thinking that is from the IC40. (not sure) also I'm not sure what to make of the readings I'm getting.
todays test
CL= over 5 PH= 7.8 FC= 7.5 CC= .5 TA= 100 CH= 660 CYA= 40
yesterdays test
CL= over 5 PH= 7.8 FC= 9 CC= .5 TA= 90 CH= 590 CYA= 30
salt test= 3000 and my IC40 is reading 3400ppm and have the pool running 10 hrs a day.
after yesterdays test I added 8.8oz muriatic acid per pool calculator today it tells me to add 9.6oz. and I don't know what to make of the CH level..the pool calculator wants 50% of the pool water replaced. also looks like I need to raise the CYA a bit. am I in the ball park here or is this not how I should be approaching this. for some reason I'm really having a hard time with my pool being one year old and needing to change out 50% of the water. we do have hard water in this area but not that hard..I've been battling the calcium ring so I suppose 50%of the water has got to go. my pool service want me to start using BioDex to take off the calcium ring and the local pool store wants me to use phosfree because my phosphates are over 2000. is see from this site that's B.S. any thoughts on the BioDex for the ring??
Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to the forum. :lol:

First, you don't need that stuff from the pool store....don't waste your money.

1. Definitely bring your CYA up into the 60-80 range for an SWG.

2. With that increased CYA, you can reduce your SWG percentage to maintain an FC around 3-5 ppm and reduce your chlorine consumption.

3. The CH is a bit of a judgement call. The most helpful thing you could do is tell us the CH of your fill water and we can advise you better on that. You may not need to drain at all.
 
Hi Dave thanks for the reply, I'm heading to the store now to find the Cyanuric acid needed to raise my CYA level. As for the CH of my fill water its reading at 260. from reading other posts I'm not sure if other thing influence this reading. I have all natural stone decking and a stone waterfall so I find little bits of the stone in the water most days. it just seams to flake off and tracks into the pool. regards Jim
 
update: just got back from the pool store and had them test my water (its free). they show my CL at 3 and my CYA at 80. I didn't get any stabilizer as they told me if I add any I will need to drain the pool and start over. I'm going to revisit the testing I'm doing to make sure I'm getting it right. its doesn't look that hard and I have watched the video's so I'm fairly sure I didn't mess up. why would the reading they get be so different from mine??
 
Pool stores are notoriously wrong on CYA testing. It requires the right type of light and technique to be accurate which you don't get in the store. Sunny day, sun at your back, tube held at waist level. Trust your testing over the stores!! HTH stabilizer at Walmart works well and is usually cheaper.
 
As a Noob, I picked up on this tidbit yesterday...
When doing the CYA test you can pour the liquid back and forth from the tube to the bottle to double check yourself.
I was running the test twice as a double check.
My pool store told me I had a CYA of 30 when I actually had zero.
 
When doing the CYA test you can pour the liquid back and forth from the tube to the bottle to double check yourself.
Click to expand...
Yep, I always do it three times, but I'm getting so that it comes out the same everytime. Another thing with pouring it back and forth is to let someone else do it to double check your reading.
 
thanks for the info, Will go to Walmart in the morning and find HTH Stabilizer. I looked over the testing procedures and I'm sure I did all of them correctly. I also for got to ask, I was told today at the pool store that my SWG will only last 2 years maybe 3. Is this correct? looks like the replacement cost is $600 to $800. just thought that was a short life for the cost of a new one..
 
I would think you'd get longer life on the salt cell, the IC40 is for a 40k pool so you're barely using it. Which is what we recommend here for longer cell life. I think cells are supposed to last 3-5 years for their rated size so it should be good. SWG are more about convenience than about cost savings as total cost of bleach and SWG are about the same.
 
I do the CYA test yo-yo style three times every time I measure. Just pour it back into the squirt bottle and try it again. It only takes a couple extra minutes and certainly less time that driving to the store... once.

Is the white stuff dead algae? I can't remember if you had a clear pool at any point in this thread.
 

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Ok I got the hth stabilizer today and will see how I did in a week. I do need some advice on the PH. testing the water 3 days in a row now and everyday my PH is 7.8 or 7.9 and everyday I add muriatic acid as required by the calculator. is this normal? today I added another 11oz of acid. thanks..
 
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