Testing Fill water before filling new pool for first time

[jcowart]

Start out by bringing it upto about 30 to 40 and use the manual dose chart until you get the SWG dialed in. Then you can slowly bring the CYA up and dial back the SWG. I don't have a SWG but I run my CYA at about 50 and a higher target. I live in Southeast Texas and my pool sees sun from rise to set. The numbers are different because a manual dose is like a spike and slow fall. A SWG is a steady supply of chlorine.

Edit: That's why it is recommended to turn off the SWG while fixing problem. With it off you will see that the FC daily use is. A SWG is good at maintain a balanced pool but can't really fix problems with out manual help.

 

[coreyadam]

Start out by bringing it upto about 30 to 40 and use the manual dose chart until you get the SWG dialed in. Then you can slowly bring the CYA up and dial back the SWG. I don't have a SWG but I run my CYA at about 50 and a higher target. I live in Southeast Texas and my pool sees sun from rise to set. The numbers are different because a manual dose is like a spike and slow fall. A SWG is a steady supply of chlorine.

Edit: That's why it is recommended to turn off the SWG while fixing problem. With it off you will see that the FC daily use is. A SWG is good at maintain a balanced pool but can't really fix problems with out manual help.

Sounds good....thanks!

 

[coreyadam]

A gallon of muriatic acid and a couple bottles of bleach to start.

Find a supplier for granular CYA. Online or in store, it doesn't matter, just look at the ingredients and make sure it's 100% cyanuric acid. You'll need enough to bring it up to 30 or 40.

If it doesn't state "100% cyanuric acid"....does that mean it's not? I see some stuff labelled as stabilizer at walmart...but doesn't actually say whats in it.

 

[jblizzle]

Stabilizer the same stuff. Many people use it from Wal-Mart.

 

[coreyadam]

A quick question about the salt I should buy. I know it's pretty straight forward...and I've done all the reading that says as pure as possible, with nothing added. My local Canadian Tire sells "Sifto Pool Salt" in 20kg bags...it is supposed to be designed spefically for SWG (high purity, ect....) but it says it contains a "stain fighter". I can't find on the bag where it actually says what this stain fighter is. Any ideas on what this is, and if it's safe to use? I also see that I can get water softener salt for about half the price. It says it's 99.8% pure salt. I assume this is the exact same as "pool salt"...only will take longer to dissolve? Is there any other reason NOT to use water softener salt?

 

[coreyadam]

Also...(and I apologize, I know I'm starting to get off topic here...) what do you guys think about the products such as "salt water magic" or other similar "cell saver" products that supposedly protect the salt cell from scale build up? Are they necessary at all, or a complete waste of money?

 

[duraleigh]

coreydam,

One of the things we emphasize in the TFPC method is to put nothing in your pool you don't need. These "magic bullets" that pool stores offer to you are just that.....mostly hocus pocus.

The additive that is most essential is knowledge. Keep reading Pool School, following the forum and learning from other's posts and you will have everything you need for a pristine pool.

 

[coreyadam]

coreydam,

One of the things we emphasize in the TFPC method is to put nothing in your pool you don't need. These "magic bullets" that pool stores offer to you are just that.....mostly hocus pocus.

The additive that is most essential is knowledge. Keep reading Pool School, following the forum and learning from other's posts and you will have everything you need for a pristine pool.

That's what I figured...but just wanted to see if anyone had thoughts on them. Thanks....and trust me...I'm doing lots of reading and learning!... This is a great site!

 

[jcowart]

Looking at the msds for both the salt and magic stuff. The salt is fine to use. The magic stuff won't harm anything but I would save your money and buy a pool toy or something else that's needed.

Sent from my VS870 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Richard320]

Quick question on this. In my reading (and on the Chlorine/CYA charts), it says that for a SWG, my CYA level should be around 70 with the FC minimum at 3 with the target of 5. Should I only be going to 30-40 CYA to start with or was that number based on a non SWG pool?
Also, I realize these charts are simply a guideline, and every situation may be a bit different. My pool will get alot of direct sunlight...10-12 hours a day, but no organic matter such as leaves. I've learned that direct sunlight is one of the major causes of lowering my FC level. So my question is, how do I deal with this? Will I simply run my SWG more often or at higer rate?...or will I need to actually keep my FC level higher than the recommended level?
As always, this site is extremely informative. I've been reading all morning, and learning alot!

With a SWG, we recommend balancing the pool using bleach first. Once you have the hang of testing and dosing, then you add the salt, then you turn on the SWG. Try searching for Diamond Day on this site. When you know the SWG is working, then you can add more CYA. Adding more is easy; removing it if you overshoot involves draining, and any salt you've added to the pool gets drained away with it. Why buy it and pour it in just to dump it out again? It's always better to aim low. Many times the pool volume is smaller than claimed - sort of like the horsepower ratings on cars!

Fine-tuning the pump run time and the SWG percentage is going to take some trial and error. That's why you need your own test kit right there on the spot. You figure out how little filtering you can get by with and then match the SWG to that. 8 hours filtering at 30% SWG is the same as 4 hours at 60%. It'll only take a couple weeks to learn your pool's personality.

 

[coreyadam]

With a SWG, we recommend balancing the pool using bleach first. Once you have the hang of testing and dosing, then you add the salt, then you turn on the SWG. Try searching for Diamond Day on this site. When you know the SWG is working, then you can add more CYA. Adding more is easy; removing it if you overshoot involves draining, and any salt you've added to the pool gets drained away with it. Why buy it and pour it in just to dump it out again? It's always better to aim low. Many times the pool volume is smaller than claimed - sort of like the horsepower ratings on cars!

Fine-tuning the pump run time and the SWG percentage is going to take some trial and error. That's why you need your own test kit right there on the spot. You figure out how little filtering you can get by with and then match the SWG to that. 8 hours filtering at 30% SWG is the same as 4 hours at 60%. It'll only take a couple weeks to learn your pool's personality.

Thank you...great reply. It should be interesting to play with the settings and times in the first week or two to fine tune my system...I'm actually looking forward to it! (and of course, have my trusty TF100 test kit to guide me!)

 

[anonapersona]

Good catch, yes, you want the higher CYA once the pool is clean and you are using the SWG for chlorine production. (if you are fighting algae or shocking for any other reason like an accident of some sort, you shut off the SWG and use liquid chlorine to conserve the cell)

What is great about the SWG is that you actually are able to run at a lower FC than those of us with non-SWG pools because of your nearly constant addition of chlorine. See the CYA chart for SWG pools. At CYA = 60 I'd have to keep FC at 5-7 where you are at 3-5.