New saltwater pool water test question

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Lizbethmcq

Lizbethmcq

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 31, 2014
73
Parkesburg PA
So we had our pool indoctrination yesterday, and the start up of our Nature 2 Fusion Soft system. We did not install the start up mineral cartridge that they give you, based on the discussions on TFP about the minerals. Salinity was reading .5 with an error code of 144 (low salinity) before anything was done. 8 bags of salt were added to the pool and immediately the salinity levels started to rise. The pool company did there little stick test which showed low chlorine, high PH, low hardness immediately after adding the salt. They advised us to wait a few hours and then test again.

I waited over night, this morning the SWG was reading salinity of 3.0 with no error codes. The pool company provided test sticks still showed low chlorine, high PH, low hardness. Did the chlorine test with the TFP-100 kit and got no color change what so ever, leading me to believe there is no chlorine being produced. So how can the SWG read 3.0 and my test show none?

Pool water is cloudy.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
You should not rely on your SWG to kick start your pool.
Start the pool with bleach/liquid chlorine and use the SWG to keep it going once it's all good.
If your pool is cloudy, you probably need to SLAM as you must have stuff to kill in the pool.
And your SWG will never be able to do that alone, FC will be consumed before you will be able to see it anywhere.

Have a look at the SLAM procedure in the pool school.
 
Even with a SWG you can have a FC reading of 0. You will need to manually bring your chlorine level up with bleach and then your SWG will help maintain the FC level.

Please post a full set of test results from the TF 100
 
I'll test tonight when I get home. I sent a note over to the pool company as I think these levels should have been set before they turned it over to us. The said they would come put chlorine pucks in the skimmers - do I want them to do this? Basically I want the cost of the initial water chemical balance to be on them, I have no problem doing what I need to maintain it.
 
Okay I tested this morning, after the pool company added the chlorine pucks yesterday afternoon.

CL 5
BR 10
PH 7.5
FC 6.0
CC .5
TC 6.5
CH 175
TA 90
CYA ?? The black dot never disappeared
Salinity reads 2.9
Temp 78 degrees

Water is still cloudy, plugged everything into pool math, I'm a little confused so I need to go back and re read the information on how to use it.
 
Liz,

First Welcome to TFP!

Did they add any CYA or just the pucks? If they added it, do you know how much?

If,you had a sand filter I might think it will just take a little Tim to filter the pool, but with a cartridge it should clear,up quickly unless something is growing. You really need to SLAM the pool, but need to know how much CYA is in the water to do it properly.
 

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I honestly don't know if they added CYA, they said the pucks have some stabilizers in them.

Is there some trick to reading the CYA test? Both my husband and I tried it, the tube was completely filled and the black dot was clearly visible. Is there another way to test it?

They had to slam the pool Monday and Tuesday as it was a green swamp - if you read my pool build post in new construction it's all spelled out why. There is still dirt in the pool that I can see, I think I need to get in with the manual vacuum and scrub brush to get as the robot is not picking it up.


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Did you actually do a SLAM, or the pool,builder shocked it until the green went away?

I'm going to guess you have never killed everything in the water and the chlorine you are using is just holding it back from going green.

Time to read the SLAM instructions in Pool School and follow them to the end.
 
You may want to read your owners manual for your SWCG. Most require you to turn off the SWCG and run the pump for 24 hours before turning the Generator back on. Our SWCG failed immediately on startup when it was installed and I think it was due to the installer dumping 40 bags of salt in the pool and having the SWCG set to 100%. One thing I have learned about pool builders is they should stick with just building because I have yet to meet one who knows anything about water chemistry. Of course that excludes builders who are member on this forum.
 
So here are my test results from last night...

FC 1.0
CC .5
pH 7.8
TA 80
CH 150
CYA 25
Salt 3000 (salinity reading 3.0)
Temp 83

Obviously I need to raise FC, CH, CYA - but I have a few questions. Why does TFP recommend FC between 4-6 ppm where as my SWG manual says 0.5-3.0 ppm? According to the manual " Continuous exposure to levels above 3.0 ppm may cause corrosion of pool metals"

Also, and I know you guys have said not to trust the pool builder but...they told me to have the SWG set to 15% production but instinctively it seems to me the % of production is controlling how much chlorine is being produced so wouldn't I want it much higher than 15%? Should I add liquid bleach and increase the production %?

I know you are not proponents of test strips, so do you recommend us newbies test with the kit daily or relax a little and only do it once a week? My husband is about to buy me a white lab coat since I am testing so often :)
 
Test with the kit daily until you have the SWG dialed in and producing the amount of chlorine your pool needs. The recommendations of pool manufacturers and stores seems to be a continuation of not understanding the science behind the FC/CYA relationship. I understand it may take the industry a while to understand this late breaking information. heck the peer reviewed papers/studies only started coming out in 1974 - so they need time to adjust:confused:

The % you need will be based on a couple of factors, how long you run the pump each day and how much chlorine do you need to be added each day to keep your level where you want it.

Has anyone asked if you are really going to use the Nature2 minerals?
 
I've been running the pump 24 hours for the first few weeks but just dropped it back to run from 5 am - 7 pm - does that seem reasonable? I'll keep testing :)

Yes I have been warned about the Nature2 minerals, we did not install the startup cartridge and don't plan on using that part of the system. ;-)
 
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