Opening and Balancing Vinyl Pool with SWG

[Splash IN]

We moved into a house with a large inground pool with a vinyl liner last year and converted it to SWG. We were able to keep it balanced pretty easily, except the pH was constantly rising so we had to keep adding liquid muriatic acid. We're ready to open the pool and need some help balancing it before turning on SWG. We just removed the cover and turned on the pump to circulate and run the skimmer to start getting it clean. There is still some dirt on the bottom we need to vacuum, but otherwise it looks pretty good. I would like to know the correct order to balance levels and how to stabilize the pH so it doesn't rise so quickly if possible (what is normal for pH rising is a SW pool?). We got the TF-Pro Salt test kit about late May/early June last year, so the reagents are getting close to a year old. Do I need to buy new ones this year or is it fine to wait until next year? The R-0011L was hard to squeeze out of the bottle, but it might have been like that when new.
I tested the water this morning and here are the results:
TA 70
CH 350
FC 3
PH 7.3
CYA 50
Salt 2600
Temp about 66 degrees
CC I think is 0
CSI -0.62
I need to raise the salt to about 3500. Once I add salt and the pH rises to 7.6 and temp 75 degrees CSI will be -0.3 and 80 degrees the CSI will be -0.25.
My CYA is a bit low. Should I raise it and will that help stabilize pH? Should I lower CH a bit or leave it alone? Am I correct in assuming the pH will rise on its own so I don't need to adjust that, since last year it kept rising constantly?

 

[Splash IN]

Did I post this in the wrong section? I haven't gotten any replies.

 

[Lake Placid]

If your reagents are a year old, it’s time to replace them. When you get new ones you can verify if they’re still accurate by testing against the new ones. There was a sale going on at TFtestkits, although I’m unsure if it’s still active.

Raising your CYA will not stabilize your PH, but will protect your chlorine from burning off to the sun (UV loss), and may lessen the demand on your SWG production. If your water is clear you can raise it if you wish but remember to increase you FC level to the appropriate range. I run 50 all year and my SWG has no problem keeping up with chlorine demand.

Let your pool circulate for at least 24 hours before adjusting salt, and test again before you do. Water can stratify and you can get false readings early on.

If you find your ph rise is excessive you can let your Alk drop to 60. This will lessen ph rise. You can also allow your ph to climb to 7.8 before adjusting back down. Usually with lower Alk you find the ph will “settle in” somewhere in the 7’s and you may not need to adjust too frequently. What level do you typically try to keep your PH at that you’ve found needed frequent adjustment?

Yes you will see natural PH rise, so don’t adjust it up.

 

[Splash IN]

Thanks for responding. I think the reagents are supposed to last about 2 years. I tested with the standard sample set(that have known values)and they were accurate, so I thought they would be ok. We adjust pH when it gets up to about 8 and try to keep it around 7.6. Last year the TA was too high so we gradually lowered it as the pH got to high by adding muriatic acid. Maybe TA just needed time to get low enough to help stabilize, so it may be better this season. We'll see how it does for a while. The water had already been circulating a few days before testing anything so results should be accurate. We don't have any trouble keeping up with chlorine demand and can keep SWG set pretty low, so it seems like you're saying we probably don't need to raise CYA. We can just add salt and some liquid chlorine and then start up the SWG once salt is at 3500.

 

[wireform]

70 is a good number and you can't go too much lower so don't try to lower it more now so you have a low end buffer. Anywhere in the 7's is good for a ph. The more you try to knock it down the more it'll fight you. Find the place where it's happy and it'll stick around ther pretty good. Should you need to improve the CSI you can twiddle with the CH too.

 

[Lake Placid]

I think the reagents are supposed to last about 2 years. I tested with the standard sample set(that have known values)and they were accurate, so I thought they would be ok.

You’re good if you checked against the standards. Use em up.

Maybe TA just needed time to get low enough to help stabilize, so it may be better this season.

You’ll find this will more than likely be the case. Your higher TA was putting upward pressure on your PH last year.

The rest of your plan sounds good.