Getting frustrated - new comer

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britishexpat said:
I have the calc on 4600 gals, FC 10 PH 8.2 TA 325 CH 125 CYA 40 TRADITIONAL POOL SET UP VINYL. SWG
you have the FC on 4??
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What do you have your goal for pH to be? (Second box over)

Here is what I would come up with if I used the numbers you just gave me. I would put a FC goal in at 7, pH goal of 7.2, ignore TA goal, make CH goal match current so you don't get confused and try to change it, have CYA goal of 40.

Main problems are high pH and lesser problem is a high CSI. Some care about this, others do not. Keep your pH below 7.8 and your CSI is fine.

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@ allison...... the pool calc data is correct but thank you for trying to make sure my figures were right, I do appreciate your time and help in anyway here, please don't in any way think I am rude and not thankful.

Now back to today's new tests 1 hr after I added 28oz acid,
FC 10 (no loss)
PH 7.6 (original test at 8.2 but could have been higher as test bottle only goes to that limit)
TA 275
CYA 30

20oz of stabilizer added @4pm left to settle for a few hours and just took the CYA & FC test at 7.30pm, the CYA was upto 60 FC 9

I'll test again in the morning and add the pool calcs guidance for the remaining acid and stabilizer against the results then. Thanks again everyone, pleased very much that my little boy will have his new pool clean and ready to swim in pretty soon, it's been a few months now..lol :goodjob:
 
britishexpat said:
@ allison...... the pool calc data is correct but thank you for trying to make sure my figures were right, I do appreciate your time and help in anyway here, please don't in any way think I am rude and not thankful.

Now back to today's new tests 1 hr after I added 28oz acid,
FC 10 (no loss)
PH 7.6 (original test at 8.2 but could have been higher as test bottle only goes to that limit)
TA 275
CYA 30

20oz of stabilizer added @4pm left to settle for a few hours and just took the CYA & FC test at 7.30pm, the CYA was upto 60 FC 9

I'll test again in the morning and add the pool calcs guidance for the remaining acid and stabilizer against the results then. Thanks again everyone, pleased very much that my little boy will have his new pool clean and ready to swim in pretty soon, it's been a few months now..lol :goodjob:
Click to expand...

I certainly didn't think you were being rude! (And I hope I didn't sound that way!) I should have probably quoted underwatervanya in one post as she was the one who said it was because the goals at the bottom weren't set. I just wanted to make it clear that changing that doesn't change the math or figures at all.

You are very right that your pH could have been higher than 8.2! Good job in getting it down some. Also you can see how it dropped your TA! Remember that you want to wait a week after adding stabilizer before testing and adding more. It can often take a week to show up on the test, so if you add more thinking you are low, you could end up high and have to drain some water.
 
Once again I am not sure what is happening right now pool friends.....
PLEASE HELP!

The FC was at 4 on Thursday and as I could not get onto the net since then(bad weather) I was not to sure whether I just leave it like that and check back on here to see if it was finally time to turn on the SWG or should I be safe and add a little more bleach to raise it a little just until I could get back on net and check with the experts first.

I decided to add a little more bleach and take the FC upto 8, I knew we were due some stormy weather over the next 2 days or so.

anyway's on the 1st day that I added acid to the pool within the week the TA and PH showed improvements of dropping from their high readings, the PH was 7.6 TA 275 from previous test results in the range of 8.2> and 350.

Ok, Thought I was getting it right? NOT... next day tested the same again and low and behold the PH was very high again? 8.2> TA no diff at 275?
Added another 20oz of acid, tested again a few hours later and the same results?
not added anything to the pool since and today re-test taken and exactly the same results with the PH & TA?

FC is currently testing @ 6
PH- 8.2>
TA - 275
CYA - 70

The only thing I can see that had an effect possibly in dropping the totals was the day I tested them before I installed/connected the water fountain-aerator, should I disconnect the fountain and let it flow back as normal for now and add the acid at the pool calcs recommendations?

on a plus note the fountain-aerator has dramatically reduced the water temp, feels real nice and cool now 84 degrees compared to the 94degrees is has been at.

Jeez, as I type the wife is shouting at me, the valve has just disconnected and water is gushing out the pool.... I guess this is part of buying a cheaper pool. Dang it! can't catch a break with this Darn pool!

Back from that problemo, pool lost 1 inch of water..... oh well, will top it up, tighten the valve and re-test once again.
 
Your pH is quickly rising due to the aerator. Actually what you are doing is the lowering TA process ... read that article in Pool School. Not sure if you are doing that on purpose or not.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
baffles me, so when the fountain is on the PH will rise?

I bought the aerator to cool the pool along with bringing down the TA as I read this on here somewhere.

what is best to do here, turn it off or leave on? if I leave it on to help bring down the TA what do I do about the PH?

I'll take your advice and go read some more within the pool school.
Thanks
 
britishexpat said:
baffles me, so when the fountain is on the PH will rise?

I bought the aerator to cool the pool along with bringing down the TA as I read this on here somewhere.

what is best to do here, turn it off or leave on? if I leave it on to help bring down the TA what do I do about the PH?

I'll take your advice and go read some more within the pool school.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, the PH will rise with the fountain on. If you are trying to lower your TA, then add acid to get PH to 7.2, then put fountain back on so aeration will raise PH back to 7.8, repeat until TA is where you want it. You will find a pool school article talking about this.

I have one of these pool cooler sprays and it is pretty easy to keep the PH inline once your TA is where it needs to be. (depending of course on the amount and type of chlorine you are adding)
 
yeggim said:
What strength acid are you using? When the PH reading is at the top of the scale it could be more than 8.2 If it's that so called safe acid it's not as strong as 31.45% stuff.
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I am using the correct stuff 31.34 from Lowes.

Thanks.

I stand corrected. just looked into the trash and found the acid, it does say safe above the title, where can I buy the stronger stuff from?
 

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relling2245 said:
britishexpat said:
baffles me, so when the fountain is on the PH will rise?

I bought the aerator to cool the pool along with bringing down the TA as I read this on here somewhere.

what is best to do here, turn it off or leave on? if I leave it on to help bring down the TA what do I do about the PH?

I'll take your advice and go read some more within the pool school.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes, the PH will rise with the fountain on. If you are trying to lower your TA, then add acid to get PH to 7.2, then put fountain back on so aeration will raise PH back to 7.8, repeat until TA is where you want it. You will find a pool school article talking about this.

I have one of these pool cooler sprays and it is pretty easy to keep the PH inline once your TA is where it needs to be. (depending of course on the amount and type of chlorine you are adding)
Click to expand...


Brilliant info and direction, thank you. I did read up on this but forgot..lol

cheers and have a blummin great weekend!
 
Just one more thing, exactly at what point can I turn on the SWG ? and do I need to continue running the pump 24/7 or can that be turned on a couple hours before the SWG is set to come on and run a couple hours later??? I ask this because I am sure that the FC level will be there or there a bout the right level of FC.
 
no-one replied with regards to me turning on the SWG and my FC was down to 3 to 4, I decided to turn it on as I don't want to be adding to much bleach, sick of seeing the stuff..lol

I took a drive out to the store which is 25 miles away and what a waste of time, no muriatic acid there at all, Tests taken before I left were,
FC 3 TO 4 PH 7.4 TA- STOPPED TESTING AS RUNNING OUT OF REAGENT. I will order some more of that and keep what is left to use when I know the PH is taken care of 1st. CYA 60. Green light is on the SWG so that must be working fine earlier.
Can anyone tell me what safe levels can we enter the pool with regards to the TA? it is obviously high right now, will it hurt anyone to swim in the pool tomorrow afternoon?
 
TA does not really affect the safety of the pool. It buffers the pH and being high will tend to pull the pH up.

You just want FC in range, low CC, pH in range, and clear water to be "safe"

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
RELAX! You are on your way. Getting your pool to all the recommended levels will take time. Probably several weeks to get the TA lowered to recommended range actually. This won't prevent you from using your pool. See below link - This may help give you a step by step receipe. This is located in Pool School.

pool-school/water_balance_saltwater_generator

By all means, get that SWG going and start dialing in the output levels to stabilize FC. Be prepared, you will be adding MU regularly to keep pH in check. That is the nature of a SWG and NORMAL.

Post some pics!
 
At TA of 70ppm, and borates at 60-70ppm with SWG running 8-11hr per day my pH is stable at 7.4 and has been for nearly 6w now.

I also highly recommend running the SWG for at least 8hr per day. I just raised the time on mine to 11hr because 8hr is NOT enough to keep it above 3ppm FC. The Intex recommendation are completely useless, 4hr per day would make a pool green in no time.
 
Frogabog, he is far from ready to start adding borates. So in the meantime, his pH will regularly drift up and he will regularly need to dose with MU. One step at a time.

I've been working my pool that direction tho and looking forward to a more steady pH control with borates.
 
:( SAD NEWS EVERYONE! :(
Sadly after all the time and effort and not forgetting all the cost with buying bleach after bleach along with the new testing kits and chemicals, electricity, filters etc. etc. etc. the pool has gotten the better out of me.

Not an expensive pool by no means, but when you have seen your little ones swim within it only twice since buying it and at a cost near or above $2,000 it is depressing indeed.

Hurricane Isaac hammered in the final nail in the pool coffin for me.

The pool was actually fully clean and ready to swim in just a day before Isaac struck these parts, when I started to clean the pool many months back due to algae I jokingly said to my wife, "by the time I get this pool clean we will probably get a hurricane" we laughed... jinxed ourselves there did we not?
even though we only suffered the outer remnants of the storm, nevertheless it resulted in a dirty dark disgusting pool during the 3 days of the storm passing through.

I don't have the energy anymore to start the cleaning process again, it is typical that the weather changes for the better this week after at least 3 months of bad weather, now would be the perfect time to enjoy the pool along with cooler and much more stable weather.

We are in the process of moving home so this is not so bad after all, I have now emptied the pool and will clean it thoroughly with all equipment and probably put it all up for sale at the $400 mark.

I do intend on buying a better pool once we have settled into our new home either within the region of Tennessee or N.Carolina.

Then I am very confident and that's due to all the expert advice and help from all of you on here that I can get the new pool right from the start and maintain it without worry.

Wishing everyone that has helped me the very very very best in life, we send our love to all of you, very kind people indeed!

For now, I say thank you and goodbye, I am sure we will meet again, don't know when, but we will meet again... thank's y'all.... :goodjob:
 
My father lives in TN and I'm in NC - one way or another we'll be "neighbors".

I know what you mean about effort vs. reward. Sometimes my kids go a week or two without swimming and other times they are in there every waking moment. The weeks they aren't swimming are weird - the maintenance goes on and the effort goes on - but there isn't anything other than a pretty pool to show for it.

Sorry you had such a tough season. I'm sure you'll do better next time. This time of year it may be tough to sell the pool for the price you want - you may want to store it for next year and sell it or upgrade some of the filtration rather than starting over.

Good luck!
 

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