Totally clueless. Any input is appreciated.

[htownjeeper]

Guys, I am loving this! I love learning new stuff. I decided "screw it" and found my filter specs and found an online owners manual as well. I followed the instructions on that link you gave me. End result....drum roll please!........ 11 psi! That filter was filthy! It was easy as pie to do. Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

 

[htownjeeper]

The jets are running like never before! Not sure if you can tell by this phone pic, but there is now little vortexes now...they were never this strong.

 

[mynewpool]

I would keep an eye on it for the new few days and make sure the pressure does not rise right back up. Sounds like it was very dirty and if pressure rises right back up in 3-5 days, it may need to be taken apart and cleaned.

 

[mynewpool]

Just a little bit of advice, if your jets are hitting the surface and making bubbles are vortexes like you call it, that can cause your pH to rise quicker than you want. So you may want to adjust them so they are not breaking the surface, but enough to have water flow around the pool.

 

[htownjeeper]

Let it run continuously for a day or two?

 

[htownjeeper]

Oh, and the jets aren't breaking the surface. But you can seee the water currents now. Is that acceptable?

 

[htownjeeper]

Fyi, i backflushed/rised 8 times and it was clear the last two runs. Still at 11psi now.

 

[duraleigh]

Oh, and the jets aren't breaking the surface. But you can seee the water currents now. Is that acceptable?

Absolutely!.

 

[htownjeeper]

Just noticed i've been making tons of typos and capitalization errors. I'm not an idiot, it's been my fat fingers on the iphone!

This site has been a tremendous help. So much i donated "just because". I also filled out my sig because, thanks to everyone's help, i now know what i'm looking at and have a remedial understanding of what i have.

Thanks again!

 

[htownjeeper]

Previously i was asked what that little area was in my pool. Here is a pic of it in action:

 

[duraleigh]

Good morning,

While VERY nice to look at, that fountain will contribute significantly to a pH rise in your pool each minute it is running. (as mynewpool referred to above). There's no harm in that as long as you check your pH daily and adjust it down as needed.

 

[Bama Rambler]

NICE!

 

[htownjeeper]

Good morning,

While VERY nice to look at, that fountain will contribute significantly to a pH rise in your pool each minute it is running. (as mynewpool referred to above). There's no harm in that as long as you check your pH daily and adjust it down as needed.

Thanks for that info mynewpool and duraleigh. I don't really use it that much except to freak out the dog from time to time. It's really loud when it's going and everyone has to talk over it. It's pretty though, but loud.

Hope my test kit arrives today!

 

[htownjeeper]

Test Kit arrived! Happy days!!

Results:
FC: 3.5
CC: 1.5
TC: 5
pH: Was a color in between 7.2 and 7.5. Closer to 7.5 so I'm gonna call it 7.4.
T/A: 90
CH: 400
CYA: 30
Temp: 89

Thoughts? I put the numbers in the Pool Calculator and it said to add a little bleach and some stabilizer as well as some baking soda. I see where baking soda will also raise your pH. I really don't want to mess with my nice pH. What would you guys do?

Thanks for any input...
Brian

 

[frogabog]

Check at the bottom of the calculator in the suggested goals section (yellow). It is probably set for traditional pool, change that to Trouble Free Pool. You'll see the goals change to the values recommended here.

Don't raise the TA. If anything you might want to lower it in the future but for right now leave it alone.

You need to shock the pool, 1.5ppm CC indicates something is actively wonky in there. Brush up on the shocking information in pool school and raise it to shock level (pool calc says 13ppm for 30ppm CYA), test in an hour and add bleach as needed. Repeat... repeat... etc.

 

[mynewpool]

As frog said above you need to shock. So read up in pool school on shocking. Before you know it your pool will be sparkly.

 

[htownjeeper]

Was a long night, but it appears we have made some great progress (I think!).

Now, my FC is 14 (a tad too high...I should have slowed down on that last jug of bleach!) and my CC is .5. I say it is .5, but it barely changed from clear to pink when I was doing the test. I would venture to guess it is lower than .5 really.

Here's what I have for my/our efforts...

 

[ivyleager]

Nice.

And it wasn't too difficult!!! Great job.

For my two cents: since you have pucks in your chlorinator, and pucks add both chlorine AND CYA (which you need), you could get by with running that a bit to at least clear the chamber of the pucks. Each puck is estimated to add 6ppm CYA, I think. So it's slow going but if it's there, use it. Part of BBB philosophy is being economical, and by using what you have.

 

[duraleigh]

Nice work, htj, :lol:

Don't fret about the FC.........it'll drift down nicely over the next day or so.

1. You could either leave CYA right where it is or up it to 50ppm. If you stay open all year round in Houston, you will be wise to raise it to 50ppm. If you close the pool, you can wait 'til next Spring to do that.

Monitor your pH pretty carefully. Keep it down in the lower 7's because of your somewhat higher than normal CH. No need to adjust CH....just don't let your pH get high.

 

[linen]

Looking good! Did you do the OCLT and what were you results?