Start with 15 jugs and see how that goes. Get the CYA up to a good thirty by slowly creeping up at @10 ppm at a time not to overshoot but start the slam immediately so not to let it get worse.
First test kit is on the way
- Thread starter joekrachie
- Start date
Previous replies have suggested that I would not need to SLAM, as the water in the pool is clear.
So long as you are sure that the pool won't float, I always go with more. You'd be surprised how easy it is to misjudge 50% and then you could need to drain more, removing good water with the bad.
Is water cheap by you ? That's another consideration.
If you lose FC overnight, then algae is brewing. ( Overnight Chlorine Loss Test ). On the plus side, cool and/or clear water SLAMs are always easier if we have to cross that bridge after filling. No matter how bad it may be, it'd be exponentially worse with a swamp and/or in July.
The diluted CYA test has double the error variance, and it was bloody subjective in the first place. It could be higher than 140 and if you drained half at 160, you'd end up with 80. If you misjudged the half, it could be 90 or 100.
So half is the least you'd want to drain (if it's safe to do so) at 140 but if I was going through the effort, I'd ensure a one and done situation. 3/4 is a happy medium between not enough and scorched earth.
You need:
CYA to 30 plus a little extra. (0 in fill water)
A gallon or two of Muriatic acid
Calcium to 350ppm but don't add without mixing well and testing first.
For CYA and CH I like puritech from Amazon. They're both 100% and about $2 a lb in the bigger bags.
Ace hardware has the best MA by me at $10 for 31%
Finally getting to my drain and refill. Since the CYA level was so high, I'm gonna bring it down to about 6 inches of water to be sure. Once I begin refilling, should I add some chlorine while it fills? Should I wait on other chems until it's full and I can run the tests?
Drain and refill went great! Here's the results after refilling:
CL-Br - 0
PH - 7.8
FC - .5
CH - 75
TA - 90
CYA - Less than 30
Added the recommended level of liquid chlorine from the Pool Math app.
Have two socks full of dry stabilizer dissolving. Probably about 2lbs, but don't have a scale (it's on my list). Don't want to overshoot as that was the issue in the first place, but figured 2 sock fulls is safe.
Muriatic acid should be delivered in the next day or two, and have some calcium chloride ready to go, but CH looks good.
Is there anything else I should be looking out for? When CYA is less than 30, how would you enter it in the app?
Thanks to everyone for all the advice!
CL-Br - 0
PH - 7.8
FC - .5
CH - 75
TA - 90
CYA - Less than 30
Added the recommended level of liquid chlorine from the Pool Math app.
Have two socks full of dry stabilizer dissolving. Probably about 2lbs, but don't have a scale (it's on my list). Don't want to overshoot as that was the issue in the first place, but figured 2 sock fulls is safe.
Muriatic acid should be delivered in the next day or two, and have some calcium chloride ready to go, but CH looks good.
Is there anything else I should be looking out for? When CYA is less than 30, how would you enter it in the app?
Thanks to everyone for all the advice!
Fill water has 0. How much did you end up draining ?
You had less than 30 and have 16 being dissolved as we speak. Count it as 30 and if it registers higher in a few days, then go with that.
You will lose FC daily to the sun. The daily loss will slowly increase as the season ramps up. Your target will be minimum FC, plus *plenty* to make it to tomorrow, at any point of the season. If you're losing 2 ppm a day now, 4 ppm + minimum is a 2 day supply. When you're losing 4ppm a day in July, 4ppm is a 10am to 3pm supply.
Once the daily loss increases, many of us run over target, so that when we fluctuate, we fall back into target range, versus starting in target range and landing below it.
Drained it down pretty low. About 6-10 inches of water left before refilling.
- May 3, 2014
- 58,428
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Awesome. So your water is almost entirely fill water. It would need to mix for a day or so if it was 50/50 (etc) before we trusted the CH and CYA, but they're pretty much your fill values.
16 CYA won't be enough, but good on you for doing it in stages. It's super easy to overshoot and look where it got you. So give it several days to register and when it's still under 30, add 10 to 15 more and then give that plenty of time.
The CH can be bumped now too as said above.
Ahh right. Saw Pool Math default to a target level of 75, but that 250 is recommended. The app says approximately 23lbs of Calcium Chloride. Seems like a lot. Would it make sense to add that in stages? Is it ok to add while still working on getting my FC and CYA dialed in, or should I focus on those first?
- May 3, 2014
- 58,428
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Add the CaCl2 in stages. Broadcast across the deep end or dissolve very small amounts in a bucket of water and pour in the pool. Adding it to water is exothermic so the water will get hot. Small amounts is safer.
Not sure how Poolmath would default to 75 ppm for CH.
Not sure how Poolmath would default to 75 ppm for CH.
- Jul 21, 2013
- 52,665
- Pool Size
- 35000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Thanks to everyone for all of the support getting my pool on track. This is such a great resource for a newbie.
As I'm still getting all of my levels up and dialed in, I have a question about maintenance while away. It's not uncommon for me to be away for days or occasionally a week or two at a time. I don't currently have an SWG. That seems to be a great solution and something I will definitely consider for the future, but don't really have the budget for that kind of an upgrade just yet. While I may be able to get someone to stop by and dump a set amount of bleach every few days, I'm not so sure I have anyone that would be willing or able to do any type of testing.
After combing through all of the forums, I see many people suggesting getting FC way up, then using 3" pucks in a floater. I know the previous owner used trichlor pucks, and that's what put my CYA off the charts. I also see that cal-hypo is an option, but that raises the CH level.
My question is, would it make sense to intentionally leave CYA or CH levels low so that pucks are an option while away? If so, is there a clear choice between the two in my situation?
I see that some people suggest using pucks when you have to, and then performing occasional partial drain and refills, but draining is not great option for me. The only way to drain is with a pump which I would have to rent. Water is not cheap, and my area has regulations about water disposal. I just did the major drain/refill and it is definitely something I would like to avoid for a very long time.
Any suggestions, ideas or insight is as always, greatly appreciated!
As I'm still getting all of my levels up and dialed in, I have a question about maintenance while away. It's not uncommon for me to be away for days or occasionally a week or two at a time. I don't currently have an SWG. That seems to be a great solution and something I will definitely consider for the future, but don't really have the budget for that kind of an upgrade just yet. While I may be able to get someone to stop by and dump a set amount of bleach every few days, I'm not so sure I have anyone that would be willing or able to do any type of testing.
After combing through all of the forums, I see many people suggesting getting FC way up, then using 3" pucks in a floater. I know the previous owner used trichlor pucks, and that's what put my CYA off the charts. I also see that cal-hypo is an option, but that raises the CH level.
My question is, would it make sense to intentionally leave CYA or CH levels low so that pucks are an option while away? If so, is there a clear choice between the two in my situation?
I see that some people suggest using pucks when you have to, and then performing occasional partial drain and refills, but draining is not great option for me. The only way to drain is with a pump which I would have to rent. Water is not cheap, and my area has regulations about water disposal. I just did the major drain/refill and it is definitely something I would like to avoid for a very long time.
Any suggestions, ideas or insight is as always, greatly appreciated!
CYA does degrade over time albeit slowly. Pucks are still a decent option for going away if your CYA levels are managed well. Otherwise I think many on this forum would encourage you to go SWG or look into a chlorine dosing system. Since I don’t know much about chlorine dosing systems, I’ll let the other brains on TFP chime in.