New to pools, pool guy seems to have done nothing for us

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TSP-hose water is fine. The temp really does not matter. Let it sit overnight or until you can get to it the next day. Hose it down good before using it again. You should see a big difference in it's cleaning once all of the gunk is out of it.

Kim:kim:
 
kimkats said:
TSP-hose water is fine. The temp really does not matter. Let it sit overnight or until you can get to it the next day. Hose it down good before using it again. You should see a big difference in it's cleaning once all of the gunk is out of it.

Kim:kim:
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Thanks Kim! I'll pick up some at Lowes.

I ordered this and it should arrive tomorrow - Amazon.com: Poolmaster 28300 Big Sucker Swimming Pool Leaf Vacuum: Gateway

I think this is just the tool I needed, now I can vacuum up all this solid crud and not have to refill the pool. We filled it almost up to the top of the skimmer before I vacuumed, and I had to fill it again last night because I was getting air in the pump from it being too far down (maybe 1/4 of the way up the skimmer). But it was worth it to get the crud out.

I told my girlfriend to pick up about 3 more bottles of chlorine, I have a feeling I"m going to go through A LOT of bleach before this is over. But thankfully I'm a bit further ahead than Strawberryshortcake was since I can see my return jets :) I'm really excited to do these tests tonight and start getting some REAL results!
 
I hope I did this right. If so this is why you get the test kit and not the test strips. I did these all from the deep end of the pool. Pump was shut off since the girlfriend saw the pressure at 25 and the filter needs cleaned (soaking now)

FC is 0
I skipped the other chlorine test since FC is 0 is that OK?
pH is 6.8
Alk is 130? I had to do 13 drops to get it to turn pink?
Calcium Hardness 275
CYA 20

What do I need to add as far as chlorine, how many bottles? PoolMath app says 3 bottles. Should I stablize other levels or concentrate on chlorine tonight?
 
Good job!

Next time you test FC, do test the CC. You can have CC even with 0 FC.

Use some borax to get pH to 7.2. Odd your TA is that high with a low pH.

Add 10 ppm CYA via the sock method.
Start your SLAM. Target 12 ppm FC.
 
Add the borax first to get your pH up. Then add the CYA in a sock in the skimmer and make sure to let the pump run until it's all dissolved out of the sock. Once you've placed the sock, in another area away from that skimmer you can add your liquid chlorine. It's best to never mix pool chemicals or add them in the same spot. You can also wait and let it circulate for 30 minutes before adding the next chemical if you're concerned (always the safest option). But with these 3 should be OK to go ahead and do them each successively. Pour each bottle of chlorine over 2 minutes in front of a running return.
 

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kimkats said:
My thoughts:
-They had already spent $$$ on so much stuff already that did not work so they are reluctant to spend more money.
-it seems too good to be true........no way it can be that easy.....what do a bunch of people sitting on their couch in the their PJ know???
-NO way I can do those test!! Too hard! (this one was me in the beginning!)

Kim:kim:
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I have to admit I was pretty intimidated by a chemistry set. I'm a techie guy, not a scientist. But really it wasn't that hard at all. I think as I keep doing these it'll be much easier.

My girlfriend is in a medical field and has a degree in science so she'll likely be better at this stuff. I have to go away for work for a week around the 20th of June so she'll be using my account and you'll have to help her then. But I'm trying to show her all the ropes before that time comes!
 
I added Sodium Bicarbonate because I didn't have Borax. Added 4 bottles of liquid chlorine directly over the jet return, slowly poured.

I have a new super clean filter I'm running tonight to kick off my first proper SLAM. Jets are running nice and powerful. Let's do this! I won't be able to get testing levels on FC, pH etc until I get home tomorrow from work though. I may need to go buy more chlorine as I have 2 bottles left.
 
I find the CYA sock works better in fron of a return than in the skimmer.

If/when you start using borax for ph up keep a running tally of how much borax you've added to the pool. Eventually you may decide to add borates to the pool and it will be helpful to know how much is already in there.

As I recently learned you want 20 mule team borax laundry booster and NOT boraxo. It's in the laundry asile.

Congrats on the progress so far!


The big gotchas with two chemicals at once are:

Acid and base (borax/soda ash)
Acid and chlorine
 
mknauss said:
That raised your TA - which was all ready high.
Aeration should raise your pH.
Click to expand...

OK! Sorry about that :(

I'll run tests tonight when I get home and we'll see where alkalinity and pH are at too. I have 2 filters on rotation and I clean them every night thorougly, seems to save me time in the morning to pop the good cartridge in and let it work it's magic. I'll be able to do a test tomorrow morning as well as I don't have to go into work as early. Tomorrow morning do you want the FC/CC *and* the alk/pH or just the chlorine?

I ordered as many bottles of chlorine as I could on the Walmart pickup app (8 bottles) and my girlfriend will be picking these up after work since she gets out earlier. If there's more bottles she's getting more and if there's not I'm running to another Walmart a bit further out that should have more. My plan is to get at least 12-14 bottles right now and more when I run low.
 

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