New to the forum...8 year pool store visitor :)

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Lowering the cya more does not limit the amount of chlorine you need. You are correct that you're required FC ppm would be lower, but you will actually lose more chlorine to the Sun so your daily chlorine consumption would be higher if the cya is too low
 
Ok. One more issue. The pump was running fine...at least I thought it was. Yesterday, when draining, I backwashed to get the water level down to the skimmer and then drained the remainder of the way with an alternate method. When I turn the pump on now, it runs for about 2 seconds with normal pressure then suddenly drops to about zero. What would cause this...an air leak somewhere? I don't know how it worked fine yesterday and now today there is nothing.

This has been pool opening from heck thus far.
 
The pendulum has swung in the other direction. I drained some additional water from the pool, but was away from home longer than I expected, and more came out than I wanted. After refilling a second time (now darn close to a fresh fill), and running the pump for 30 minutes or so, my levels are now as follows

CYA: 5-10 (oops)
TA: 260 ?
PH: 7.2
FC: .5
CC: .5
CH: 375

Suggestions please :)

p.s. Marty...the water level was too low...that was the issue with the pump pressure ;)
 
Nothing like fresh water.

Add 20 ppm worth of CYA using the sock method. Test CYA 24 hours after all the powder is dissolved from the sock. Assume you have 30 ppm in the water now. Go to 12 ppm FC with liquid chlorine.
 
mknauss said:
Nothing like fresh water.

Add 20 ppm worth of CYA using the sock method. Test CYA 24 hours after all the powder is dissolved from the sock. Assume you have 30 ppm in the water now. Go to 12 ppm FC with liquid chlorine.
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So I'm clear, you are saying to add the Chlorine right now...correct? ...with the assumption that the CYA is at 30...even though it is not? Using the calculator, I would need to add 89oz of liquid chlorine (I have 12.5% bottles stocked up). I need to run out and get some stabilizer. Anything from Menards, Lowes, etc. would work right?
 
cubby_fan71 said:
So I'm clear, you are saying to add the Chlorine right now...correct? ...with the assumption that the CYA is at 30...even though it is not? Using the calculator, I would need to add 89oz of liquid chlorine (I have 12.5% bottles stocked up). I need to run out and get some stabilizer. Anything from Menards, Lowes, etc. would work right?
Click to expand...
Anything that lists 100% cyanuric acid as the ingredient is good. Wal-Mart sells 4lbs jugs of Clorox brand. That or check Lowes.
 
Update...
I put the CYA in the sock (in skimmer) last night, but it is not yet dissolved. When I came home from work, my filter pressure was high, causing very little circulation in the pool. I went ahead and backwashed to get things moving again. I should have done this yesterday before putting in the sock. I had vacuumed the pool prior, so I'm sure the filter was dirty. How long should it take to dissolve 20oz of CYA?

I also added the appropriate amount of chlorine per Marty's instructions yesterday.

Some updated readings tonight:
FC: 6 ( I went ahead and added additional amount to get to 12...wasn't sure if I was supposed to, but figured it couldn't hurt)
CC: 0
PH: 7.2
 
You can give the sock a few good squeezes to speed up the process of dissolving the CYA. Restoring flow by cleaning the filter will also help the CYA dissolve faster as well. If you are slamming the pool then you want to keep the FC as close to 12 as much as possible.
 
UPDATE....

After some trial and error in the placement of the sock, I figured out the best place was hanging in front of the return. All was dissolved as of ate yesterday afternoon. At noon today, I took the CYA reading and it was high 30's...so I'm calling it 40. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'm good now.

Here's the latest readings as of noonish...
FC - 11 ( it was 8.0 last night so I added the appropriate amount to raise it to 12) -- since it dropped only 1 ppm , I think I'm good. Agree?
CC - 0
PH - 7.5 (7.2 last night)
TA - 260 (last night)

We had a ton of rain last night, so maybe that is the cause of the PH jump? It was stable at 7.2 for a number of days

Few questions..
  1. Do I need to worry about the TA being so high? Should I drop the ph back down to 7.2 to bring the TA down...and continue this until TA is closer to 50-90?
  2. What is the appropriate chlorine level? my poolmath app says between 3 and 7...this good?
  3. My filter is getting full of junk, but instructions say not to backwash for 1 week after the CYA dissolves? Do I really need to wait until next Thursday?
  4. For the daily check of chlorine, which chlorine test should I use? The k-1000 test kit or the FAS-DPD test?
Thanks!
 

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1. You can lower your pH to 7.2 every time it gets to 7.8 until your total alkalinity settles around 70 to 90 and that should hold your pH more stable
2. 3 and 7 is good
3. If you dissolved your CYA already via sock method and did not add any to the skimmer you are fine to backwash. The backwash restriction is because if you add it directly to the skimmer it gets trapped in the sand and then when you backwash it goes away. You dissolved yours already via the sock so backwashing won't get rid of it.
4. FAS-DPD daily
 
cubby_fan71 said:
What is the shelf life of the TF-100 test kit? Also, is it ok to keep in my garage over the summer (where it can get warm) or should I keep it indoors?
Click to expand...
The reagents last a pool season. Many will last 2 years. You should store the test kit in a climate controlled environment.
 
UPDATE...

Because of lousy weather (cold and lots of rain), we haven't been able to use the pool. Every day or two, I've checked the readings. The PH is steady at 7.5, and the FC continues to drop.

Today I took the readings as follows. Given the FC is still in acceptable range, should I do anything? What gives me concern is the CC reading.
PH: 7.5
FC: 4.5
CC: 1.0

Thanks!
 
So far this summer, things have gone 'swimmingly'...until yesterday. We haven't used the pool much over the past few weeks, but I've been diligent about checking the chemicals every 2 days, like I have the entire summer. I've tried to ensure I've kept the chlorine levels remain at minimum or above, but maybe I've let it slip over the past week. The water is now cloudy. I know I hadn't backwashed in a few weeks, so I did so last evening hoping it would clear things up. Thus far today, however, it doesn't seem any better. My current readings are below. Do I need to do a SLAM or should I let the filter continue going and check again tomorrow?

FC: 5.5
CC: .5 (been this every time I've checked this Summer)
PH: 7.7
TA: 200

Thanks
Rob
 

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