Hi. Paulie75 in Mesa, AZ

Jump to latest Follow Reply
P

Paulie75

0
Dec 13, 2013
11
Mesa, AZ
Hi folks,

Newbie here. Live in NW and didn't know anything about pools. Bought a 13 year old home in Mesa with a play pool in backyard that has older equipment. Realized I needed to get some education about pools. Found this site and lurked for awhile and was impressed with the knowledge, politeness, friendliness and helpfulness among the members, so decided to "jump into the deep end" and introduce myself.

Later on I plan to do some pool and yard remodeling to update a few things, but right now just want to get everything I have running optimally. Seems like the salt cell has failed (light on Nature Soft illuminated) This system is older and am considering replacing not only the cell but the panel as well. Thinking about calling Shasta to come out and look things over as well as another pool company for recommendations and test them against what I hear from you folks.

My PG is presently chlorinating manually until I make a decision on what to do with my system. Recent test results by him were Chlorine 5, pH 7.5, salt 4200. He said salt was high and I guess I will have to drain some water and add fresh to the pool. Water looks clear and he said no algae. My in floor cleaning system was operating strangely and discovered I had some broken T-valves and worn gears. I ordered replacements and will install them over the holidays.

BTW, just ordered a TF-100 kit and am looking forward to playing "mad chemist" and learning new things.

So, have I missed anything? What else should I do or be thinking about? What would you change or upgrade?

Thanks a bunch and hope you all have a beautiful holiday and a Merry Christmas!

Paul
 
Welcome to tfp, Paulie75 :wave:

Paulie75 said:
BTW, just ordered a TF-100 kit and am looking forward to playing "mad chemist" and learning new things.
Click to expand...
:goodjob: That is the tool for the job! Did you get some salt test strips to confirm the salt measurement?

Paulie75 said:
Thinking about calling Shasta to come out and look things over as well as another pool company for recommendations and test them against what I hear from you folks.
Click to expand...
Rarly will pool builders/pool stores have the same recommendation as we do here on TFP...it is part of the reason this site exists, since typical pool store methods of pool care can be expensive and often not "trouble free".

Paulie75 said:
So, have I missed anything? What else should I do or be thinking about? What would you change or upgrade?
Click to expand...
Next step is to post your tf-100 results when you get the kit.
 
Yes, ordered the test strips and will post the results, probably just before Christmas when I get down to Mesa. The short time I have surfed the site, I realized that builders/stores will not "line up" with TFP and that TFP is the "trusted site" and folks get results here. I may enlist the builders to do some design work if/when I install a spa. There will be some remodeling later. Beyond posting the results, I think my next step is to troubleshoot my salt cell and control panel. What do you think? It shows a solid inspect/test cell light. For now, is is shut off. The cell is hard wired to the panel and not a plug in. I can remove it and go through a cleaning procedure, but without a plug, it makes it difficult to take to a service center for testing. Given the cell and panel are so old, I'm guessing the cell has failed and am thinking of upgrading to a newer system with the plug in feature, possible wireless operation and monitoring. If I replace the cell, I think it may be wise to do a panel as well. Also, is it correct to get the largest capacity cell (40K gal) even though I have a 9900 gal pool? I plan to add a spa later.

Thanks for the support. Test results about Dec 23rd!!!

Paul
 
We recommend sizing the SWG 1.5-3 times larger than the pool. So a 25k cell would be adequate, the 40k cell should last a little longer if not much more expensive. But if you get too big then it can be difficult to dial in the correct FC level.
 
Thanks Jason. That makes sense to me. Shasta says the pool was 9900 gal and the existing cell is a Nature Soft GLX-Cell-15 which I am guessing is a 15000 gal cell (1.5 x 9900 = approx 15K). So even if I expand the system to include a modest spa, 25K should work.
 
Paulie75 said:
Hi folks. Here are my test results:

FC 2ppm
CC .5
pH 7.7
Br 4-6
TA 80
CYA 70
CH 1250
Salt 2200

Salt cell is old and system is turned off right now. Pool temp is 55 F.

Merry Christmas!

Paul
Click to expand...
I see a partial drain in your future. That CH is too high. Waaaay too high. If you don't have scaling yet, you will when things warm up again. FC is too low for your CYA level. Br is useless, unless you're using Bromine for sanitation.

That being said, your CH may not be quite that high. If you didn't use a speedstir to get that reading, your wrist likely gave out too soon. My CH readings went down dramatically when I started using the speedstir, with no other changes. Also, I hope you have read the extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html and studied the directions for really high CH. You'll save a lot of R-0012 and a lot of time if you do it with a 10 ml sample.
 
That CH shocked me too. I used a speed stir. First time I did it I did not see the extended directions. Re-did the test using extended directions and got the same results. Talked to some neighbors and it looks like they drain their pools every 2-3 years. Sooo, plan on doing at least a partial drain in a few months. Pool Math said 80 percent drain, about 8000 gallons.

Also, those with SWG down here manually chlorinate in the winter when it gets cold. Im just learning this stuff, but my pool guy has been adding chlorine (I think every week but taking a break this week due to the holiday.)

Decided to test the water source to refill my pool after draining. Its a soft water system and salt was negligible and CH at 400. Where does all the pool hardness come from? I have an auto fill system and I suspect it might be plumbed prior to my softener.

Thanks, Paul
 
Here's an update. FC is up to 5 after adding chlorine. Tested water with salt strips and it came out low. Strips are within expiration period. Tested with calibrated digital salt tester and it high at 4500. CH now tests at 1650. Way high. I have scheduled a drain, pebble tec acid wash and refill. Also going to get Cool Deck repaired in spots along waterline.

So here's the issue. Most around Mesa use backyard spigot to fill pool. This water is NOT softened and tests at 400-450ppm CH which is at the high end of the recommended 250-350 for salt pools. I'm thinking of filling it halfway with rear spigot water and then softened water the rest of the way. Softener can produce 650 gallons an then needs a regeneration which takes 4 hours. I figure I will have to do this 8 times or so to fill a 9900 gallon pool to get a CH of 250ppm.

Comments...or am I obsessing too much about this.

Happy New Year!
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply