Newbie with high TA (I think)

[Jnoble37]

I fought my small above ground Intex all summer last year. NOT AGAIN! I stumbled upon this site and am very impressed. That being said, I bought the TF100 and let my inner chemistry geek shine. My pool has been filled for a week. I added a SWG for the first time this year and it has been on for about four days.

My first test results from tonight:
FC: 1.5
CC: 1.5
CH: 275
TA: 210 (did twice to be sure it wasn't my error)
CYA: 55 (added three days ago)
Ph: 7.5-7.8 (still getting use to reading those colors)

My TA is very high, based on Pool School articles. My CH is approaching top levels.

So, if I am reading this right any suggestions or help? Anything anyone see I am missing?

Thanks for the help. Glad I ran across this resource!
Justin

 

[Richard320]

Wecome!

The TA test is prone to misreading when the reagents are new. It gets staic electricity on the tip, which makes the drops smaller than they should be, which means more drops, which means falsely high readings. The cure is to wipe the tip off with a damp paper towel.

Recheck those FC & CC readings. FC is too low for your CYA, CC is way too high for a clear pool only a week old.

This thread goes into more details. Unleash your inner chemistry geek and read all sorts of odd bits of information.
There's also videos that demonstrate the tests here.

 

[Smykowski]

Welcome! Glad you found us.

CH really doesn't matter in a vinyl pool. Yes, TA is high, but as long as you keep pH in line, it will fall to where it needs to be. I wouldn't worry about it.

You need to be laser beam focused on your FC and CC. First, your FC is too low, but more troubling is the CC reading. Has that been consistently above .5? Or is this result an outlier? You may need to SLAM the pool with a CC reading of 1.5.

 

[Jnoble37]

We've had a ton of rain this weekend. Today's test results:
FC: 1
CC: 0
CH: *didn't test today*
TA: 200
CYA: 75
Ph: 7.8

Thoughts? Am I okay?

 

[JasonLion]

Unless the rate at which the PH is going up bothers you, just lower PH to 7.2 any time it gets to 7.8, and don't worry about TA.

 

[duraleigh]

Thoughts? Am I okay?

No, Sir!

You need to be laser beam focused on your FC and CC. First, your FC is too low

Get your FC up to 4-6 ppm and keep it there all summer. The key to successfully managed pool water is chlorine. You must quickly learn what your normal ranges are (3-6 ppm) and then do what is necessary to make sure it stays in that range 24/7

 

[Jnoble37]

Great. Thanks for the quick replies. Still getting the hang of this. I ran my swg on boost tonight. Will test again tomorrow and get focused on that ph and fc.

Thanks!