First time pool/came with the house

[tobe]

:?:
My neighbor and I opened the mesh cover yesterday. Tony tell me it's not as bad as he thought, being closed for over 18 months. I thought it was discuting slime color green. He told me first thing was to have the water tested. We also tried to turn on the filter machine. The former owner had lot of work himself,with lots of electrical work. Nothing worked except for the light in the pool. Anyway took the water to leslie's which was the nearest. FAC-0,TAC-0, Water PH-7.5,TA-0.
I also took the sample to a pool store that tony recommanded. Their reading was done a print out machine:
shock treatment-0 4lbs. 6oz. Vinyl Shock, TA-20 36 lbs. 7oz. ALKALINITY UP,PH-6.5 1lbs. 3oz. Ph UP,CYANURIC ACID-Balance & re-test, Total Hardness-0, Free Clorine-0. They tell me that there isnt too much one can do with power. They tell me I could start with Poly 60 in pool water working around, Plus Liquid Shock-pour 4 gallons around pool.
When the power is on filter machine, start to follow these step;
1. Today spread around pool 15 lbs-filter 2 hrs. 2. pour in pool 1lbs. Soda Ash-filter 1 hr. 3. Spread 10lbs. ALKALINITY POWER-filter 2hrs. 4. 5 lbs. shock.
My filter is Hayward Micro Clear Vertical Grid D.E. model #DE 3600,Hayward Max-Flo PumpSP2800-model# C48K2N143 Ser#8K94,heater-Raypak RP 2100 model#R185-R405. Everthing thing seemed to be installed in 94. They seemed to work just before we closed the house. The owners moved to texas the day of closing. The pool size is 16x32 with 8ft side 2 steps down. The half is 4ft to 8ft down.
Is there anything I can do? How should I start. Need detailed step by step info.
Please help?
Thank you.

 

[duraleigh]

Step #1 is to get your pump and filter running....You cannot clear your pool 'til that happens.

Step#2 would be to read the stickies on this forum. It'll answer a lot of your questions.

Step #3 would be to not spend a lot of money at the pool store. They've not given you solid advice. (refer to #2)

A pool without a functioning filter and pump cannot be cleared. Dirsregard all else 'til you solve that issue.

 

[JasonLion]

Check that the electricity is turned on. It could be off at the main breaker panel, pool sub-panel, timer, and/or switch. Does the pump hum or click when turned on? With the pump turned *off* and the pumps strainer basket removed can you turn the impeller by hand?

 

[tobe]

O.K, got the pump and the filter running.

Hi:
Well, We got the pump and the filter started with the help of the local poolman Danny on Thursday.
It's seems that the pump was stuck. Hoping that the motor[align=center][/align][align=center] will last at least 2 more years.
Danny showed me how to backwash,rinse and to recharge the D.E. filter. He also added 3 pucks to the skimmer and 4 pkges. of shock around the pool. Told me to run the filter on 24/7 till pool clears.
I backwashed 4x since saturday.He was here on Monday to clean the sludge off the floor of the pool. Danny also water rinsed my element from the D.E. filter. He also added another pkg. of shock. The water pressure started shooting into the pool . I also had to backwash last night and this morning. Add 1 1/2 gal. of bleach last night.
Today I heard the bell ring and sure enough the test arrived.
Well I immediately started testing the water and here is the results. Tried to follow the direction exactly.
FC- .5
CC-2
TC-2.5
pH- under 6.8
T/A-20
CH- 50-60
CYA-0 Can still see the dot with all the water in the tube.
Temp-75

I'm don't know how many gallions it holds. The size of the pool is 16'x32' grecian style. It is 4ft to 8ft deep.Oh, it also had a 8ft side 2 step down jacuzzi on one side.
Oh, The pool is much cleaner but I don't know what to do next.
Danny will come again to clean again. Should I ask him to clean the elements again? It seemed to slow very fast.
"Please", What I should first start with, when and how to start off the pool.

 

[Wolfmarsh]

Im a complete noob, so I would wait for someone to verify what I say here, but I figured for my first post, I would try to be helpful.

Your ph is low. Use borax to bring it up.

Your FC is way low, especially with a CC of 2. You should bring your FC up to 13-15 and keep doing that twice a day until it holds overnight decently well.

Your TA is low, use baking soda to bring it up.

Once the pool holds FC, you should dissolve CYA to bring that up as well.

Im not 100% sure of the order you should do things, but based on what ive read, i think it would be:

PH, FC, TA, CYA

Some people say FC before PH, because the bleach will raise your PH anyway a bit, but I like to have my PH at least near what I want first.

 

[JasonLion]

Wolfmarsh has it nearly right. What he said except, don't worry about TA for now, that will come up a bit when the PH comes up and you can retest when the PH is more reasonable. Also, you should add some CYA (stabalizer) right away. And if it is a plaster pool you want to get the CH up to 200 or 300.

I guess approximately 20K gallons. First get the PH above 7.0 right away, add Borax as needed. Add chlorine every evening to bring it up to 12, two or three times a day once you have a non-zero CYA reading. Add 4 lbs of CYA in a sock either in the skimmer or hanging in front of a return. In a week retest the CYA and add more as needed to bring it up to at least 30.

Remember to keep an eye on the filter pressure and backwash/clean the filter as needed. It would also be good to brush the pool daily while you are having algae problems.

 

[The Mermaid Queen]

In case you haven't gathered it from reading the sticky section (found right under the logo on every page), bleach is just another form of chlorine.
Assuming your pool IS 20K gallons, each gallon of Ultra bleach (or regular clorox) (look on the label, should be 6%) will raise your FC by 3ppm. Use plain, unscented, non-fancy bleach. (Great Value Ultra from Wal Mart seems to be a favorite around here, though it does not come in a gallon, but a 3 qt and approx 1.5 gallons.)
You can follow Jason's directions.
You can do this, you don't need to be paying a pool man!! Do you have a vacuum? a leaf rake (deep net bag on a pole)? You can continue getting the any big junk off the bottom yourself using the leaf rake.
Come back and ask lots of questions... that's what we are here for!

Oh, and welcome to TFP!
(You too, Wolf!)