Pool newbie re-plaster pool startup questions

[stanleypoolcc]

Hi All:

Background: 1st time owning and maintaining a pool.

My pool just got re-plaster with quartz and re-tile 4 days ago. It's a small 10k gallon pool. The pool remodel company left minimal information after he did the re-plaster and fill the pool with water. He left me 4 gallons of muriatic acid and told me to put them in, brush the wall every day and left the pump on.. To my ignorance, I didn't ask for the detail procedure.

I dropped 1 gallon of acid into the pool the 1st day. When I didn't see any improvement on the plaster dust and water clarity, I dropped additional 2 gallons of acid the next day into the pool.. It is now the 5th days since re-plastering, the pool water clarity level is better ( I can see the bottom of the pool), but not crystal clear. When I brush the wall, I can still see plaster dust cloud. Last night, I found TFP and this article: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/154-start-up-new-pool-plaster. The article leads me to believe I have over dose the pool with acid. I just ordered the TF-100 and am waiting for it arrival to confirm.

Currently, I have the following questions that need some guidance.

1. When should I be expected to see all the plaster dust to be completely filter / dissolved?
2. Should I put more acid to help dissolving the rest of the plaster dust.
3. I've been cleaning the skimmer basket, pump basket and the cartridge every day to ensure the removal of the plaster dust and other particles. However, the cartridge is about 2 years old and I don't know if its age is slowing down the piaster dust filtration process. should I replace it with a new one now or should I wait after this plaster dust is over..
4. Any other action I need to take (or not take) to ensure I'm not destroying my new re-plaster pool?

Thank you for your help in advance.

Regards,

Stanley

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! The muriatic acid (MA) is to lower the pH. Freshly plastered pools will have a near constant pH rise for up to a year. Always check the pH before adding MA. Brushing the pool daily removes the plaster dust as the plaster cures. You may not need to clean the cartridge daily unless you are seeing a 20% rise in pressure over a day's time. Some folks like to have an extra cartridge to rotate in while the other is being cleaned. Follow the instructions the builder gave for the plaster start up so you don't void your warranty. Ask for clarification if the instructions are too vague.

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I agree with zea ... one of the major things we teach is to never blindly add chemicals to the pool. You should test and then adjust as needed.

BTW, the acid is not meant to "dissolve the plaster dust". The only way to get the dust out of the pool is through brushing and filtering.

 

[stanleypoolcc]

Thank you both for the welcome and the information.

I will continue the brushing and keeping the pump running.

One last question, i have notice the pump has less suction with higher pressure today (10 psi higher). All the baskets are clean and I just clean the cartridge yesterday. How should I go about troubleshooting this?

Thank you,

Stanley

 

[jblizzle]

Clean the filter. You need to clean it when the pressure rises 20-25% over the clean pressure ... waiting for a 10 psi rise is generally WAY too long to wait.

If the pressure is rising, the filter is doing its job.

Please add your pool details to your signature and location to your profile as described HERE as it will help us help you.

 

[stanleypoolcc]

Thank you Jason! I went a bought a Aquacomb and re-clean the filter again.. Now, the pressure is 2 and is the lowest I've ever seen..

Thank you again!!

 

[jblizzle]

What pump do you have (add it to signature)? That is a very low pressure unless you have a 2-speed or VS running on a low speed.

 

[stanleypoolcc]

It's Centurion B853-1HP Single Speed.

I tried to play around with the system (filter air flow, drain flow valve) to see if the pressure would changes but nothing work.

One more thing I have notice is that, when I switch the flow valve form skimmer to main drain, there is no water going through the pump basket.. When I switch back from main drain to skimmer, the water would cover the pump basket to fullest. Does it mean my main drain is not circulating any water?

 

[jblizzle]

Sounds like the floor is either clogged or intentionally plugged.

 

[stanleypoolcc]

Thanks Jason. I've been observation my filter pressure and need some help on understanding its behavior.

After I clean the filter, it was down from 28 PSI to 2. The next day, after 6 hours of operation, it went up to 26. I clean the filter again, it went back down to 3 but after a day of filtering (6 hours), it went up to 25 again..

Is it normal for a filter to fluctuating as such?

 

[jblizzle]

What does your water look like?