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Test after opening salt pool

FC 6.5
CC 0.5 ish
TA 50/60
Ph 7.8
Salt 2400/2600
Based on all charts pretty good level i think. Cya have not test but assume stay at 40
Thanks
Looks great. If your salt test is with drop method then it may be a little low for your SWCG. Most SWCG range from 2800 to 3800 depending on model, make. Your SWCG may be reading a higher level of salt which is fine - but it is best to monitor salt using the drop test as compared to the SWCG reading or use of salt strips.
A 40 lb bag will raise salt level by 435ppm.
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Salt Water test level’s wacky

Hi. The 50k gallon salt water pool in VA has been open for three weeks. It’s been covered with an automatic safety cover 90% of the time due to cool weather. The water is very clear but I have some wonky test results and am new to this.
5/11/25 - CYA 38-40, Ph around 8, FC 26ppm, CC 0, TA 60

CYA seems low and chlorine is off the charts. I’ve opened the cover today to let some sunshine to it thinking that will help and then test again tomorrow. Thoughts?

Advice on salt cell replacement

I am still in the adjustment stage of the new unit. It will take some time to figure out and set the output % to achieve the 4ppm sweet spot they recommend.
It is impossible to achieve. You have no or very little loss most of the 24 hour day, then the FC loss spikes mid morning to mid afternoon then returns to little/no.

The cell makes a constant amount of FC which is the exact opposite.

When you produce and when you test it is as important as how much you produce. You need to forsee how the next cycle is going to play out in regards to production time/amount and UV loss time/amount.
percentage of the time the unit turns on and off
Yes. It produces X % of the hours you run it. 12 hours at 100% is 12 hours on. 24 hours at 50% is on off on off on off on off to equal 12 hours runtime. (Or equivalent maths)

How much equipment failure is "normal"?

Nope.

There are a few repairs at opening every year.

You have Jandy, I have Pentair. I removed all my Jandy stuff over the years.

My filter is about 15 years old, the pump is 5+ years old, and the heater is 10 years old, and now you have probably jinxed me.

Advice on salt cell replacement

I did receive and install the new unit. Intellichlor Plus 30.
It was a 100% plug n play swap. Very simple and took a total of 15 mins to install mostly due to changing out the O rings and lubing them. Once the power was turned back on the unit starts to calculate or read the salinity of the water and shows it once it finishes. Mine was at 3300 it recommends 3600. I added 1 bag of salt which increased my reading to 4000.
I use the Pentair intelliconnect app to automate my system.
I am still in the adjustment stage of the new unit. It will take some time to figure out and set the output % to achieve the 4ppm sweet spot they recommend. From what I understand the % is simply what percentage of the time the unit turns on and off.
I had one hiccup. I had the app set at 50% to start and did not visually check the unit. The next morning I went out to check and it was at 0% and not producing chlorine even though the app said 50% and working fine. I tried to manually adjust the unit but it did not respond at all. I decided to cycle the power again for the system and it did fix the issue. I have been running now for 48 hours at 50%
A few pictures of the unit IMG_8178.jpegIMG_8179.jpegIMG_8183.jpegIMG_8184.jpeg

SWG Install and Opening Help

I know CYA won't just go up, so I'm assuming I've been doing my SLAM at a slightly lower than required FC level.
Every little bit helps and all, but its not going to change the price of beer. Thank Heavens for that. (y)

Some people put very little effort in and its low single digits by the time they dose. Id rather see steady 12s when it really should have been 16, then 16 to 2. (Etc).
I assumed this was environmental stuff because we've had a lot of storms recently, but is that just dead algae?
When Mother nature is shedding its impossible to know how much is which. The failed OCLT says that at least some of it was algae.

How much equipment failure is "normal"?

We built our pool in 2021 and it feels like we have had a lot of equipment problems. I would love to know if this is "normal" and I should just budget for regular problems. We are about to replace our sand filter for the second time (tank leaks). This time will be under warranty or I would switch to a fiberglass tank. We used to have an ozone system that shorted out last year and killed the whole equipment pad. We did not replace that because I wouldn't have it if I had known better when we built the pool. Our heater has shorted out and needed to be fixed at least once every season so far. It is currently dead again. Is it typical to have to fix most of your equipment every season?

New pool owner trying to understand test strip reading

110 is way close enough IMO but we are split as to which would bother us more. If you leave it be........

The good : TA will continue to fall on its own as you maintain PH in the 7s.

The not perfect : it will pull the Ph up and you'll need to dose muriatic acid a little more often (but not tons).

The Even Steven : slightly increased MA doses will lower the TA for you.

If you go out of your way to get the TA down.......

The good : Ph rise will slow sooner.

The bad : More work now and then you still have to maintain the Ph between now and however long it would have taken to do it the slow way.

The Even Steven : One less thing to think about.

Yellow pH sample slowly turns purple

Phenol red gets converted into Chlorophenol red with high FC.

Chlorophenol red is a pH indicator dye that changes color from yellow to violet within the pH range of 4.8 to 6.7.

The pH is likely to be about 6.4.

Did you ever get a pH meter?

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I’m did get a pH meter. I keep on leaving it at the office, LOL.
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Yellow pH sample slowly turns purple

Typically due to chlorine interference.

High CYA slows the process.

Most likely the CYA is well over 100.

Can you post a full set of readings including CC?

Was FC tested with FAS-DPD?

Post current readings and also prior readings.

Post all chemicals added since prior readings.

Is the pool on Trichlor or liquid chlorine or salt etc?
It’s a commercial pool. Uses liquid chlorine. Just opened for the season. Chlorine feeder is off due to ruptured tubing, so added two gallons manually to raise chlorine.

At the time I took the readings yesterday, the acid feeder had been running and reading 7.2, so was not properly calibrated and had fed too much acid in.

It’s just odd to see the color change like that.
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Polymeric sand was in water now water still cloudy

Have you added some pool grade DE to your sand filter to help the filtering?

Sand filters are the slowest to clear. Be patient.


Home Depot Max Melt for calcium

The internet didn't give up any information at all about it. Not showing on the Home Depot site. So kind of suspect. Some brands include a listing of the actual chemical compositions. If there is a manufacturer listed, you may be able to google their site, and get to the required MSDS info, that should give more details about how pure it really is, what else is in it, etc.

Totally 100% pure is VERY expensive (lab/food quality). Most (even pool stores) are between 84% and 97%. The remainder is mostly sodium chloride and other salts, residue from the refining process. Not to be confused with blends, that have a LOT of stuff we don't want added.

In my case, my community actually softens the water for all residents (!) Being vinyl, I usually don't care. But will be adding CH this year, so that I get the water perfect for the coming new heater warranty...at least initially.

Attach pergola to patio -- worried about gas lines under patio

How much of that 6.5" bolt must be embedded in concrete? Is that 6.5" of embedded length or like 4" embedded with a 2.5" protrusion. If it is 6.5" embedded, you may be looking at cutting out sections of the decking and pouring a deeper base. The anchor gets its holding strength from being fully embedded into the substrate. In this case if the slab is only 4" thick, you effectively have a 4" anchor bolt.

--Jeff
This is a good point. If it’s just a titan bolt, you probably only need a 4” bolt. If it’s an anchor then you need to size it to your slab thickness.

Sand in the pool!!! Intex pump

Yeah, I just wanna get it up and running so think I’m gonna try some filter balls for now. And then give sand another try later in the season.

I read a suggestion to just let it run for a few hours and see if the pump would eventually just throw out what would be the smaller grains. I ran it for 6 hours overnight , now have a sand pit in the pool lol.

Just turned it on and sure enough still throwing out sand. Will be emptying it soon and will inspect laterals again just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

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