I opened my pool for the first time in 2years

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alright I used my last nights reading and put them into the Poolmath calculation thing. If I am doing it right all it recommended at this point was raising PH as Kiss Frog and others said. I think I did that last night because I added 2 4lb boxes of baking soda. I am going to go get a new reading this morning
 
Step 1: Did you raise the pH? If not, use borax and raise the pH to about 7.2ish. Once pH is confirmed,

Step 2: Test TA and adjust it to about 70 using baking soda. Once TA is confirmed,

Step 3: Start the SLAM process.

The SLAM process is adding enough bleach/liquid chlorine to reach shock level based on your CYA level.
Here are the directions: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/125-slam-shock-level-and-maintain-shockingl

Post back with any questions.

Welcome to TFP :wave:
 
Spoke to soon. The pool angst is back. Went out to look this morning and I am losing a drastic amount of water. 2-3 inches overnight. I thought the same the night before but I also thought maybe I was mistaken. Seems last time this happened it was hundreds of dollars to repair. Anybody have an idea's of how to find and fix a leak? OMG love to go back to denial and pretend the pool does not exist.
 
To SLAM you add a measured amount of bleach to the pool and MAINTAIN that level as best you can dependant on an accurate CYA level. When "nuking the pool" was mentioned you were being warned against just tossing in a lot of bleach blindly without regard to CYA or the corresponding needed level of FC (bleach) compared to just tossing in so much your liner turns white.

The needed FC level depends on CYA: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
 
Was the pump running overnight ??
Have you checked the end of the discharge hose, pipe ... to see if it's dripping or wet looking from a bad seal in the multiport valve ??
Always turn the multiport in the same direction every time (clockwise), pump OFF ??
Any obvious signs of water at any of the plumbing joints, under the pump motor ??
What was it they found last time this happened ?? That would be a good first place to look.
 
OK gotcha
kiss4afrog said:
To SLAM you add a measured amount of bleach to the pool and MAINTAIN that level as best you can dependant on an accurate CYA level. When "nuking the pool" was mentioned you were being warned against just tossing in a lot of bleach blindly without regard to CYA or the corresponding needed level of FC (bleach) compared to just tossing in so much your liner turns white.

The needed FC level depends on CYA: http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock
Click to expand...

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Pump was running overnight.
I do always turn pump off and turn clockwise (been there done that and replaced all years ago from not doing it right)
Problem is it rained here last night so I cannot tell if there is water around the mechanical parts because there is water around everything-rain water

kiss4afrog said:
Was the pump running overnight ??
Have you checked the end of the discharge hose, pipe ... to see if it's dripping or wet looking from a bad seal in the multiport valve ??
Always turn the multiport in the same direction every time (clockwise), pump OFF ??
Any obvious signs of water at any of the plumbing joints, under the pump motor ??
What was it they found last time this happened ?? That would be a good first place to look.
Click to expand...

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Last time it was a couple of holes in the bottom. No known reason for them getting there. Vinyl lined pool. I paid a neighbor to help vacuum and he says he felt like something was loose around the bottom drain.

chanelvaps said:
OK gotcha


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Pump was running overnight.
I do always turn pump off and turn clockwise (been there done that and replaced all years ago from not doing it right)
Problem is it rained here last night so I cannot tell if there is water around the mechanical parts because there is water around everything-rain water
Click to expand...
 
Wrongly spoke. Talked to neighbor a second time and he said he merely felt the bottom drain was there and did NOT feel anything loose around it.


chanelvaps said:
OK gotcha


- - - Updated - - -

Pump was running overnight.
I do always turn pump off and turn clockwise (been there done that and replaced all years ago from not doing it right)
Problem is it rained here last night so I cannot tell if there is water around the mechanical parts because there is water around everything-rain water



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Last time it was a couple of holes in the bottom. No known reason for them getting there. Vinyl lined pool. I paid a neighbor to help vacuum and he says he felt like something was loose around the bottom drain.
Click to expand...
 
Dye or food coloring test at problem areas such as skimmer mouth, main drain and suspect spots in liner is first option for looking at liner leaks. Could also be the dreaded underground variety. There is a youtube video showing the dye test.
 
Oh man NOT a leak! That is such bad timing. Just when you were starting to get a handle on your pool.

I know what you mean about the rain. Here we get rain sometime during most days and quite a few times it is HEAVY. We were under a Tornado watch just the other night. Got lucky and only got some wind and rain.

With our last pool we had to hire someone to test for a leak. They had a neat machine with some lines with something on the end and they pulled it around the pool. They worked the whatever it was around and said here it is. I dove down and found a small hole. They had the patch ready to hand to me when I came up. I put it on and all was good!

I wish I understood what the machine was better. I just called around to all of the pool shops in town until I found them.

Kim
 
Oh I know. I just want to cry. By early afternoon the evidence was mind boggling because I was running pump and adding water and the water was going down faster than the hose could raise it. Turned off the pump and marked the water line and now 4 hours later the water line is in the same place so it has got to be in the equipment somewhere right? I checked all around the pump and no obvious signs of water leakage.
I am horrified because I am at a complete loss of where to look next or how to find it

kimkats said:
Oh man NOT a leak! That is such bad timing. Just when you were starting to get a handle on your pool.

I know what you mean about the rain. Here we get rain sometime during most days and quite a few times it is HEAVY. We were under a Tornado watch just the other night. Got lucky and only got some wind and rain.

With our last pool we had to hire someone to test for a leak. They had a neat machine with some lines with something on the end and they pulled it around the pool. They worked the whatever it was around and said here it is. I dove down and found a small hole. They had the patch ready to hand to me when I came up. I put it on and all was good!

I wish I understood what the machine was better. I just called around to all of the pool shops in town until I found them.

Kim
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I had a leak years ago and guys with same type of machine came out and found it. I am not sure whether to be happy or distressed that it is in the pump or lines. If it even is. Wind swiftly drained from my sails.
Love to hear anybodies thoughts on what to do next.

kimkats said:
Oh man NOT a leak! That is such bad timing. Just when you were starting to get a handle on your pool.

I know what you mean about the rain. Here we get rain sometime during most days and quite a few times it is HEAVY. We were under a Tornado watch just the other night. Got lucky and only got some wind and rain.

With our last pool we had to hire someone to test for a leak. They had a neat machine with some lines with something on the end and they pulled it around the pool. They worked the whatever it was around and said here it is. I dove down and found a small hole. They had the patch ready to hand to me when I came up. I put it on and all was good!

I wish I understood what the machine was better. I just called around to all of the pool shops in town until I found them.

Kim
Click to expand...
 

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Fingers crossed. Leak might be found in the mechanism of the filter handle. Neighbor helped me out and he thinks the gasket in the thing that turns the pump to waste, backwash, filter etc might be bad and that with the gasket weak some of the water was going to waste when it was set to filter??? Any of this sound like anything familiar to anyone?
So next step, where I left off before the leak angst was it needs borax.
Looked online at Walmart and found this
20 Mule Team Borax All Natural Laundry Booster, 76 oz

Is this it? Laundry booster? Are you kidding me? How much of this stuff do I add? This is a gas and I cannot believe this is working....
 
I am hoping so! Going to make my neighbor all the guacamole he wants for this. Kim do you know about this Borax?

Fingers crossed. Leak might be found in the mechanism of the filter handle. Neighbor helped me out and he thinks the gasket in the thing that turns the pump to waste, backwash, filter etc might be bad and that with the gasket weak some of the water was going to waste when it was set to filter??? Any of this sound like anything familiar to anyone?
So next step, where I left off before the leak angst was it needs borax.
Looked online at Walmart and found this
20 Mule Team Borax All Natural Laundry Booster, 76 oz

Is this it? Laundry booster? Are you kidding me? How much of this stuff do I add? This is a gas and I cannot believe this is working....
 
DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS:
(from PoolMAth)


Given TA of 40 and Borate of 0
Add 251 oz by weight or 219 oz by volume of washing soda or soda ash
or add 499 oz by weight or 478 by volume of borax.

Can anyone give me that in a more simple language (think toddler) I am on my way to Walmart for midnight shopping of bleach and Laundry booster? I get confused because isn't Borax the same as washing soda and soda ash? Also is this possible that amount? How many boxes is this about? Do I just dump it in. Deep end?
HELP

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Is it toxic to pets? Wouldn't they know better than to drink it? I have 3 backyard cats

kimkats said:
I can't use borax due to pets drinking out of the pool all of the time so have NO idea. Sorry :(

Kim
Click to expand...
 
kimkats said:
I have read many times that borax is not good for pools that pets drink out of on a regular bases. I could be wrong or misread but thankfully I do not need to use it so............

Kim
Click to expand...

Using borax to raise pH will not affect animals drinking out of the pool on a daily basis. BORATING your pool, however, is dangerous for pets to drink out of and should be avoided.

May I recommend you review the ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.
 
KIm
Found this:

Are there any downsides to adding borates?
I can only think of two.
1) They are an additional expense
2) There has been some concern of toxicity if dogs drink large quantities of water from the pool.


kimkats said:
I have read many times that borax is not good for pools that pets drink out of on a regular bases. I could be wrong or misread but thankfully I do not need to use it so............

Kim
Click to expand...
 

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