New SWG pool

[133]

Thank you all. This app and forum has been extremely helpful as our pool school consisted of how to turn the pump on.
I have an 8500 gallon saltwater fiberglass pool.
I am in HOT Tx so have been running my pump at night 12 hours at 1750 speed and 30%.
A couple of questions please and thanks in advance!
Aviva Fiberglass warranty recommendations
Calcium 80-120
TA 80-120
CYA 25-50
Fc 1-3

Pump warranty
Calcium 200-400

How does TFP have such different numbers than what is recommended?
The biggest ones are calcium and CYA.
I do have a Taylor test kit.

Current levels
FC 4.4
PH 7.4
Cya 46
Calcium 150
TA 70

What should I address first and which order?

 

[Texas Splash]

How does TFP have such different numbers than what is recommended?

Spend a bit of time reading the articles from our Pool Care Basics page and this (and much more) will make sense. But to quickly address those two items:
1 - Fiberglass gelcoats are no longer manufactured with calcium, therefore a low CH is not an issue. A minimum CH level is recommended simply for protection from staining.
2 - SWGs produce chlorine gas at various cycles across the day/night as programmed. As such, a higher CYA level helps the SWG operate much more efficiently and protects that FC from the sun. Some SWG manufactures are finally acknowledging this fact.

The levels you are reading are generic, plain and simple. If you search this subject (recommended levels) on the forum you'll see tons of similar questions and responses. But in general, most manufactures and pool stores push a generic level recommendation without interpreting all of the details about a pool, its equipment, and location. TFP does that and much more.

Your numbers above look good. Be sure to keep the FC balanced to the CYA as noted on our FC/CYA Levels and you should do well.

 

[Texas Splash]

Oh, and welcome to TFP!

 

[zea3]

Hi, welcome to TFP! The main reason you will see a difference in TFP's recommended levels and industry standard recommended levels is that we take into account how the chemicals interact with each other. Industry standard levels look at the recommended range for each individual chemical value. FC range of 1-3 is not taking into account the CYA level. If you have a CYA of 30ppm an FC of 1-3 is fine, however if your CYA is 50ppm you will need 6-8ppm of FC to get the same level of sanitation. FC and CYA must be kept in the correct ratio to avoid over-stabilizing the pool.

Since you have a warranty requirement for CH 200ppm for your pump you can raise your CH to meet that level. Are you using an SWG or do you add chlorine manually?

 

[133]

Hi, welcome to TFP! The main reason you will see a difference in TFP's recommended levels and industry standard recommended levels is that we take into account how the chemicals interact with each other. Industry standard levels look at the recommended range for each individual chemical value. FC range of 1-3 is not taking into account the CYA level. If you have a CYA of 30ppm an FC of 1-3 is fine, however if your CYA is 50ppm you will need 6-8ppm of FC to get the same level of sanitation. FC and CYA must be kept in the correct ratio to avoid over-stabilizing the pool.

Since you have a warranty requirement for CH 200ppm for your pump you can raise your CH to meet that level. Are you using an SWG or do you add chlorine manually?

SWG

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum.
A pump has no need for any CH level. That is typical statement from a manufacturer as Pat and Diane stated. Your CH level as is is fine.

 

[zea3]

With an SWG you should raise your CYA to 70ppm. The test to measure CYA is not pin point precise, so if you land between 40 and 50 on the test, call it 50. CYA is measured on a logarithmic scale so midway between 40 and 50 on the vial is not 45. We recommend rounding up to ensure you dose with enough chlorine to keep the pool clean.

First raise CYA to 70ppm. Then see if you need to adjust the percentage of chlorine output and run time on your pump to dial in the FC range according to your PoolMath app. Its normal to see pH rise when you use an SWG, so just bring it back down to 7.2 when it hits 8.0 I don't think you need to adjust anything else at this point. Industry standard TA recommendations are an average range of where most pools will keep pH stable and balanced. Usually the only reason to adjust TA is to stabilize rapidly rising or dropping pH values. Every pool is a little bit different where the sweet spot for TA sits to keep pH balanced.