Added Conditioner AND Phosfree

[jmbradwell]

If the water is clear enough to see the bottom of the deep end, wait 30 minutes. If you can't see the bottom, you probably need to SLAM the pool to clean it up. There is tab up top for Pool Math. It will tell you how much to add.

You may want to look at ABC's of pool water Chemistry -> http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/123-abc-of-pool-water-chemistry , Chlorine/CYA chart to tell you your target level for chlorine at http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/128-chlorine-cya-chart-slam-shock , and read as much of pool school as you can.

 

[KING-OLE]

Yes, I already went through the pool school 2 months ago, but need to do it again, as I forget these things when I don't use them.

Now that I have the kit, and know how to test the water, I will be doing this more frequently, and hopefully be able to remember these things so I can maintain it as best as possible.

I bought 4 gallons of liquid chlorine, and have added 2, and have cleaned the SWC's cell with muriatic acid, and topped off the chlorine tower with 5 tabs.

Will check it again tomorrow and post the results in this thread.

EDIT: Just noticed the message at the top in yellow, so I guess I'll be posting my results in a new thread instead.

I appreciate all the help you have given me.

Thanks,

Ole

 

[jblizzle]

Keep your posts here.

You likely need to follow the SLAM process using liquid chlorine until you pass the 3 criteria to stop. You also should learn to use PoolMath to calculate the dosages of the chemicals you are adding. 2 gallons was likely no where near enough.

 

[KING-OLE]

Ok thanks, I will keep posting here.

A couple of hours after I added the 2 gallons of liquid chlorine, I added about 70 oz of muriatic acid to lower the pH.

Now, about 5 hours after I added the acid, it has some foamy spots on the surface, so I hope I didn't add the acid too soon after the chlorine.

I will test everything in the morning and post the results here.

Thanks,

Ole

 

[KING-OLE]

Results from this morning:

- FC = 8.5

- pH = somewhere between 7.2 & 7.5

- CH = 375

- TA = 110 *

- CYA = 40

* Not sure how red it needs to be. It turned pink after 11 drops, but closer to red after 12.

The surface still have some small islands (1-3" in diameter) all over, but not as bad as last night.

Thanks,

Ole

 

[JesseWV]

If someone hasn't already mentioned it, using the chlorine tablet feeder will also raise your CYA and lower your pH.

As the 5 tablets dissolve, assuming they're 8 oz and your pool is 35k gal, it will add about 5 ppm CYA and lower your pH by 0.4.

For completing the SLAM process, we recommend a CYA of 30. You're at 40 so you're close enough. You just don't want to add anymore until you're done slamming. So if I were you, I would empty the tablet feeder.

During the SLAM process, you'll be using only liquid chlorine/bleach. If you won't be able to monitor the FC every hour and add more bleach, it might be a good idea to keep your SWG on. You will however need to turn it off once you are ready to complete the O)vernight C)hlorine L)oss T)est.

As for the TA, you keep counting drops towards your result until you observe no change in color. So that means your TA is 120. For the purposes of SLAMing, you don't need to worry about TA.

Once your pH is close to 7.2, you can begin. You will need more than your two remaining gallons.

I bought 4 gallons of liquid chlorine, and have added 2, and have cleaned the SWC's cell with muriatic acid, and topped off the chlorine tower with 5 tabs.

 

[KING-OLE]

If someone hasn't already mentioned it, using the chlorine tablet feeder will also raise your CYA and lower your pH.

As the 5 tablets dissolve, assuming they're 8 oz and your pool is 35k gal, it will add about 5 ppm CYA and lower your pH by 0.4.

For completing the SLAM process, we recommend a CYA of 30. You're at 40 so you're close enough. You just don't want to add anymore until you're done slamming. So if I were you, I would empty the tablet feeder.

During the SLAM process, you'll be using only liquid chlorine/bleach. If you won't be able to monitor the FC every hour and add more bleach, it might be a good idea to keep your SWG on. You will however need to turn it off once you are ready to complete the O)vernight C)hlorine L)oss T)est.

As for the TA, you keep counting drops towards your result until you observe no change in color. So that means your TA is 120. For the purposes of SLAMing, you don't need to worry about TA.

Once your pH is close to 7.2, you can begin. You will need more than your two remaining gallons.

Thanks for your reply.

I'm not really doing the SLAM, as my pool didn't look that bad; I'm just trying to get the numbers to match their recommended values.

According to the instructions that came with the TF-100 kit, for the TA test, I need to add 2 drops of R-0007 + 5 drops of R-0008, where after it turns green. Then add drops of R-0009 until it changes from green to red.

I have added a half gallon of liquid conditioner, and will test the CYA later today. I didn't really want to buy the liquid conditioner, as it is a lot more pricey than the dry mix, but I have not had much luck with the "sock in the skimmer" solution - but then again, the placement may have been wrong, or the mix may have been too old.

According to the instructions, the CYA should be closer to 70-80 to work well with the suggested level of FC.

Again, SLAM'ing it is not part of my current plan, as the pool didn't really look that bad. The low/high numbers from yesterday may have been due to a lot of rain we've been getting lately + the fact that the cell in the SWG had a bunch of calcium on its blades inside, which I cleaned off with MA.

Thanks,

Ole

 

[JesseWV]

Earlier you mentioned there was a green tint to the water. That means algae. It needs to be 100% destroyed or it will just continue to multiply and eat up chlorine as fast as your SWG and tablets put it in.

I know you say you don't plan doing the SLAM process, but realistically you might need to. The chlorine you added to bring FC up to 8.5 was likely not enough to kill it all. Shock level for a CYA of 40 is 16 ppm FC, nearly double your last result.

The only way to know if you still have algae is to determine how much FC you lose overnight, then you can decide whether to perform the SLAM process. Here are the directions to perform the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.

 

[KING-OLE]

Earlier you mentioned there was a green tint to the water. That means algae. It needs to be 100% destroyed or it will just continue to multiply and eat up chlorine as fast as your SWG and tablets put it in.

I know you say you don't plan doing the SLAM process, but realistically you might need to. The chlorine you added to bring FC up to 8.5 was likely not enough to kill it all. Shock level for a CYA of 40 is 16 ppm FC, nearly double your last result.

The only way to know if you still have algae is to determine how much FC you lose overnight, then you can decide whether to perform the SLAM process. Here are the directions to perform the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test.

Thanks for the clarification Jesse.

I will try to do an OCLT.

Thanks,

Ole

 

[KING-OLE]

Just curious, if I'm going to do an OCLT, should I do it over a rain-free night, or does rain not do much to dilute/change the FC much?

Thanks,

Ole

 

[jblizzle]

Rain should not have much if any impact if the water is circulated.

 

[Daltex]

You are correct in noting that the CYA needs to be higher with your swg. Problem with raising it now is that IF you do need to clear out the algae with the SLAM then raising it now will require much more bleach to get it up to SLAM level. I would SLAM it first and then use up your tabs if not calcium based (your CH is higher then I'd want). Then you can add stabilizer to get it up to swg levels.