Just starting. <edit> Received spoon, now testing questions.

[Beens]

<edit> I changed the title of my thread because the spoon issue is resolved, but it seems they don't like multiple threads here which would technically be discussing the same thing and all my testing results are here so I figured I'd stick to this thread. Hopefully that is acceptable. :?:

Hello!

I've been waiting to post here until I received my kit and could post my test results. But....

I just ordered the TF-100 kit yesterday morning and it arrived today. It pays to live close to where it's shipping from!

I went through the checklist and found that I was missing the little blue scoop/spoon that is supposed to be used for the R-0870 powder.

I have already emailed them and I'm waiting for a reply about receiving the spoon but in the meantime, is there any other way I can measure that powder? I am desperate to get my numbers!

I already ran my very first CYA test and I'm pretty darn sure that's reading 30. Seems in line with what I had suspected.

I have been lurking on the forum for a couple months now. Reading and learning...and procrastinating on spending the money for a good kit.

I have an Intex Metal Frame pool 18'x4'..well I don't know the exact depth. They run a few inches below 4'. I wasn't expecting a desperate post before I did my research to get my signature set up...

I've used the pool calculator and estimated my pool to be 7500 gallons. That's the number I've been using to add bleach. Of course up until now I've only had a basic drop test kit that doesn't go above 5 for chlorine and I've just been guesstimating and erring on the side of more bleach than less.

Ok, enough on this post. I want to ask advice for the pool on the BBB thread once I get my official numbers so I don't want to start something long here.

Recap, point of post,

I have no scoop! Can I still do the test that requires powder? How?

If it's a big fat no, then I guess it will wait until I hear back from them and I can at least know that it will arrive quickly.

I want to get started!

BTW - Pool is looking beautiful but using tons of bleach I think due to a low CYA and lots and lots and lots of sun.

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Welcome to TFP!!!

I notified Dave about the spoon, but missed you had already emailed. It is not really a big deal as the amount of powder is not critical. You can not use too much, but you can use too little. The scoop is smaller than the size of a pea ... if you just use a Popsicle stick or the handle of a utensil for now that is fine.

Just make sure you get a nice pink and there are a few crystals not dissolved and 99+% of the time that should be plenty of powder.

 

[Isaac-1]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

You may want to look through everything again and make sure it is not hiding from you, for some reason there have been several people this year that have posted similar message just to post back a few hours later to say they have found it. The blue spoon is small only about 3 inches long and maybe 1/2 inch wide (maybe less than that) so it can hide under bottles, etc.

 

[Beens]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Thank you both for the replies! I have popsicle sticks. lol That means I get to eat a popsicle!

I double, triple checked the kit. Even looked in the peanuts in the box. Nothing blue, nothing small, nothing spoonish.

I might go ahead and try the popsicle stick method. I'm dying to know what my FC is. I'm pretty sure I'm fighting something because I haven't been able to keep my chlorine high enough for the low CYA/mega sun. Water is still clear and beautiful but algaeish stuff is trying to show up on the bottom of the pool and from previous experience (after 2 week vacation) I know that's how it starts.

Just judging from the bright yellow of the other test it seems to supposedly be between 5-15. But I need to know for sure.

Still no signature but the pool is 3.5 feet deep. I've been using the wrong amounts! But still erring on the side of too much. Apparently I should have been using 6700 gal instead of 7500. Whoops. Oh, and my PH is 7.2. Blah. Seems that's too low. TA is 70. I'm going to try that chlorine test before it gets dark out there...

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

pH is perfect to start the SLAM process ... although remember when the FC > 10ppm the pH test reads artificially high.

The FAS-DPD will work fine. You likely need less powder than you think, but err on the too much side. Like just a little more than the size of a BB.

 

[Beens]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Ok I did it and I think I did it right.

I made my own dipper. Took a plastic straw and cut it out...like a slurpee straw. Voila. Tiny spoon.
Got the pink color with a few left over crystals. 10 drops to clear means FC = 5. (drop #9 was almost clear but had a tiny bit of color so I added one more)
Used the R-0003 for the CC and it went back to pale pink. 1 drop brought it back to clear. That means CC = .5 right?

Maybe all this reading has helped me... lol

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Sounds right to me ... good solution for the spoon

Have you seen this:
extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html

 

[Beens]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Yes I was reading there earlier. That's how I got the 5-15 estimate for the bright yellow of my drop test.

<edit> Oooh I see #4 on FAS-DPD test, all about faint pink before clear. I guess I did get it right! <edit>


I'm doing it right...right? lol
I'm pretty sure I understood everything.

I do have a CYA test question though...does the sun have to be high in the sky noonday sun or is sun bright shining but lower 6 o'clock ish still bright enough? I even walked out to the curb to get into the actual sunshine so I could face away from it. LOL neighbors must think I'm nuts!

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Well if it is noon, then you can not really get your back to it

As long as it is good an bright out still, the result should be reasonable.

 

[Isaac-1]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

It is hard to say without knowing where you are how high the sun is at 6 pm this time of year, but I would say you are probably good almost anywhere in the U.S. at 6 pm this time of year, if it were October, it might be different. (this is mostly for potential future lurkers that may run across this thread).

 

[Beens]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

In October I'll be too cold to care! lol Although it certainly wouldn't be the first time we were messing with the pool in the cold! Boy do I have stories!

Last year it was my husband in the pool, with his wetsuit trying to clean some of the mess out because we procrastinated and well, it was disgusting.

This year we will really and truly learn how to close a pool correctly. Up until this past winter we have always taken the pool down and put it in the garage for the winter. 2 winters ago we got lazy. We siphoned the water out, pulled the plug and then it got too cold and we didn't feel like freezing in a nasty mess of cold leaf filled brown nasty water. (Did I mention nasty?) We left it out all winter...uncovered. That was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen! Over the winter and spring it filled back to a couple feet of water...very dark disgusting water with creatures living in it! Some sort of cricket looking things...I didn't know a cricket could live in water. It was very very gross. We got all the water out, siphon, wet-dry vac...towels. Started over.

Last year we intentionally left water in with the idea that we were going to figure out how to winterize a pool...but we waited too long (again) no clue what we were doing....we started this year with a 3/4 full dark green leaf filled mess.

Then I found you guys! I started out with a lot of bags of Aqua Chem shock (what we always used before) and eventually learned about BBB. Been using straight bleach since then, although I'll confess that I was pretty sure my CYA was low so I have a floater with a 3" puck in there right now.

Some day I'll post pics. I have my nasty green pics, my lighter green cloudy pics, my pretty tropical blueish cloudy pics and my finally crystal clear pics!

I'm going to leave this thread alone now since it was mainly to find out about the amount of powder to use.

They are sending out a spoon so I should receive it soon.

Thanks again for the help! I may be posting on BBB if I decide to try to tweak these numbers...

 

[Beens]

Re: Just starting. I got my TF-100 today, no blue dipper spo

Well it's Saturday and I received my spoon yesterday. Yay! Yes, I was definitely using a bit too much powder. Will be happy to conserve on that now with this much smaller spoon!

I seem to be passing the OCLT is it ok that I tested at 10:30pm rather than "just after sunset"?

10:30 pm
FC 10.5
CC .5 (It's probably even less as it has been just very barely turning the water pink)

6 am
FC 9.5
CC .5

I added 25oz bleach at 6 because I've been keeping my level a little high "just in case"

Testing at 1PM shows..

FC 9.5 <--- I'm right back here again!
CC .5 (less than)
CYA 40
PH 7.2

This was my third CYA test. I just didn't trust the others. This time there is definitely sun and I poured that stuff back and forth a million times. I've settled on 40. The black dot is definitely visible at 50 but starts getting questionable between 50 and 40 and I am pretty darn sure I can't see it anymore at 40.

The PH seems the same as my original test but it might be just a bit higher than 7.2 it's a little pinker but definitely not that salmon color of the 7.5.

Yesterday I did an extremely thorough vacuum of the pool. Got anything and everything off the bottom and used my little scrub brush to get all the floor seams, the wall seam, and the top seam (where the blue meets the print). I did find some green algae in some places. Those seams are TERRIBLE! Such a pain to keep clean.

I passed the OCLT but with my addition of 25oz at 6am I should have been up to FC 12 and now at 1 I am back at 9.5. Is this "normal" for sunny conditions with CYA 40?

Also note... that freaking darned Bradford Pear tree in my neighbors yard threw another 100 or so of those stupid marble like seed/pear things in the pool between 6 and 1130 or so. I really don't think they were there when I checked at 6am. I dug them all out at 1130ish but wouldn't having those in the pool eat up some FC too? I'm going to burn that tree down! The strange thing is they don't seem to fall during the day so once I scoop them out it's done for the day. (at least that's been the experience so far)

 

[JasonLion]

Re: Just starting. <edit> Received spoon, now testing questi

You should expect to lose chlorine during the day.

While falling/blown in debris will use up some chlorine, the amount consumed is typically very very small (except for some major storms with lots of debris).