Scale, I need help please

[Lykly]

In order to keep my CSI at -.26, I have to maintain pH of 7.2 it's difficult to do with TA around 110. I did that since yesterday, and I have yet to see scale. Question is is it OK to keep my pH that low? At 7.5 my CSI goes to .02



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[pooldv]

Yes, PH at 7.2 is fine. That is as low as you want to go.

 

[Lykly]

Today was the first day I seen zero scale. Maybe 7.2 at least until my TA drops is the number



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[pooldv]

Hey, that's good news! Yes, lowering PH to 7.2 repeatedly will lower your TA and slow down the PH rise.

 

[needsajet]

Hey that's great to hear!

 

[Lykly]

I did put 10 pounds of boric acid granules in, which is only 15 ppm. I did not want to put any more than that in until I get the TA down. Last night we got a ton of rain, filled my pool plumb full... I actually had to pump some out. But that did drop my TA by at least 10 ppm.


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[pooldv]

Send some of that rain down here! Yeah, pretty much all water has lower TA than your fill water!

 

[Zappafan]

Great news!

 

[Lykly]

Trouble is I did just what I said I would not do. I made more than one change, although I think the low pH is probably what helped. I added 15 PPM borates, and I disconnected the Kreepy Krawler. For whatever reason, I was thinking that KreepyKcrawler getting its water supply a few inches after the cell might affect it. I will eventually hook it back up once leaves start falling again so I will find out about that in due time for now I just like seeing no scale. This will only be the second day, but prior I was seeing scale in one day at least in small amounts. I checked PH this morning, still maintaining at 7.2 with 20 ounces of acid per day, we'll see what it looks like after work today. I need to get that TA down so I can stop so much acid requirement. I have it back down to just about 100 now.


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[pooldv]

Well hey, who doesn't like to add a couple of extra variables into an experiment? Keeps it interesting.

I feel pretty confident that you had a bad cell for three reasons.
Increased chlorine output of new cell.
Visibly reduced scale in a few days.
Many users using that cell on TFP without any issues.

Good for Hayward on stepping up and sending out a replacement cell.

 

[needsajet]

Yep, main thing is you got the pool fixed. Yay!

 

[jeremycrook]

Any updates on this outdated thread? I'm thinking the low pH and adding Borate made the difference of scale being produced? I'm having the exact same issue now.

 

[Lykly]

There is no doubt keeping a slightly negative CSI will help with your scale problems. In my case I am convinced I had a faulty cell. I kept my water and CSI absolutely perfect, and kept getting scale until the cell was changed. although I did add boric acid, the scale virtually stopped when Hayward replaced my cell. As others have said, if your CSI is where it needs to be, it is impossible for scale to precipitate out in normal circumstances. There of been times when my pH has drifted up to around eight, I still see zero scale since the cell replacement even when my water gets out of whack for a very short period of time. 99% of the time my water is balanced perfectly, good luck with figuring out your situation.
By the way, I see we live in the same metro.



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[pooldv]

Agreed, your situation was a strange one with the bad SWG cell still creating lots of scale even after the water was balanced. It was a stumper for sure. Good for Hayward stepping up and replacing the cell.