what Chlorine test should i do ? free and combine or free combined total

[FIESTA62]

hi, i have the taylor 2006 test kit, did my first test in my new 36000 litre , 10000 gallon , pebble crete pool after first fill yesterday, TA is 80 ppm, i then did PH using the comparator the colour is much darker than the darkest colour on the comparator which goes to 8, so i am over 8, but how do i know how much its over, how much acid do i do? is there like a starting amount i should put in and then retest ?

my pool builder has not connected pump yet so i really cant do anything yet but i am getting ready, thanks,

 

[mknauss]

When adjusting pH, and your test appears to be high, use 8 or 8.2 as your current value. Target 7.6. Add the acid needed, pump running, let circulate for an hour or so, test pH, repeat until you test in the 7's.

 

[Flying Tivo]

Do you know if the pool builder added any chemicals? Maybe some shock or liquid chlorine? You might consider that when chlorine levels are high, ph readings are also falsely high. Please test your FC with the DPD powder before adding acid.

 

[FIESTA62]

When adjusting pH, and your test appears to be high, use 8 or 8.2 as your current value. Target 7.6. Add the acid needed, pump running, let circulate for an hour or so, test pH, repeat until you test in the 7's.

ok thats makes sense, as the colour is darker than the 8 high point on comparator then i must be like 8.2 or higher, so i put 8.2 into the TFP calculator and 80ppm for TA, it tells me to add 529 ml acid for PH and 2532 g of baking soda for TA, see attached
should i just do acid only for starters to see how it effects PH and TA before adding baking soda, its 80ppm now for TA but i set goal to 120ppm as thats what pebble crete guy said was best, but i read 80 to 120 is ok, so pool is 80ppm now, so leave it alone ?

 

[FIESTA62]

Do you know if the pool builder added any chemicals? Maybe some shock or liquid chlorine? You might consider that when chlorine levels are high, ph readings are also falsely high. Please test your FC with the DPD powder before adding acid.

nothing added, he just acid washed the pebblecrete, fitted lights, dropped my hose into pool and filled, its all new pebblecrete troweled on with pure white cement, there are 8 bags of salt sitting in driveway that he dropped of and said he will be back to startup pool in 2 days, im just testing now to learn a bit

 

[Flying Tivo]

Ok only add the acid as marty said. Aim for 7.4 and repeat until you are in range. 30 minutes intervals with the pump running is fine. Do not add baking soda, TA is the last parameter to mess with, it will come down in time with the acid additions. Salt is not recommended inside the first 30 days, put the away in storage. You need FC in the water asap. Aim for 5ppm, and also add 30ppm of cya. Make sure you coordinate with the PB so you dont double dose. We recommend TA range of 50-90ppm, so you are ok there. Have you downloaded the PoolMath app on your phone?

 

[FIESTA62]

Ok only add the acid as marty said. Aim for 7.4 and repeat until you are in range. 30 minutes intervals with the pump running is fine. Do not add baking soda, TA is the last parameter to mess with, it will come down in time with the acid additions. Salt is not recommended inside the first 30 days, put the away in storage. You need FC in the water asap. Aim for 5ppm, and also add 30ppm of cya. Make sure you coordinate with the PB so you dont double dose. We recommend TA range of 50-90ppm, so you are ok there. Have you downloaded the PoolMath app on your phone?

ok i have downloaded app, and got the online version on pc, i have read here and there about holding off on salt, but i think pool builder intends on adding these bags of salt in a day or 2 when he comes back to startup, i am getting mixed messages sometimes it seems the usa way is sometimes different than here in oz, like the brushing of a new pool for 1 month, pool builder here says not needed, im not sure what he is going to say when i suggest no salt, i do remember my local pool store said just do straight liquid chlorine for the first few weeks.

 

[Texas Splash]

Here are a couple links that may help you for when your builder visits so you have more info to discuss. Good luck.

Start-up New Plaster

The first few months are the most criticle for a newly plastered pool. We're here to share best practices to ensure the plaster will last for many years.

www.troublefreepool.com

Plaster Start-Up Guides - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[FIESTA62]

Here are a couple links that may help you for when your builder visits so you have more info to discuss. Good luck.

Start-up New Plaster

The first few months are the most criticle for a newly plastered pool. We're here to share best practices to ensure the plaster will last for many years.

www.troublefreepool.com

Plaster Start-Up Guides - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

thanks great article on starting up pebbletec pool , thats mine, so i had my info ready to be able to talk with pool builder, all good, he got pump and filter going, also he put some bi carb in (baking soda ) and liquid chlorine , ( no salt for a few weeks), i gave pool a scrub, and i did my first tests today after he left, PH was off the scale, i did acid demand test, added acid, TA was 100ppm, will retest in morning to see where PH and TA are, i am getting it now and starting to see its not too hard....so far....to be continued

 

[Texas Splash]

By using the PoolMath APP, you will find that the water temp, pH, TA, and CH determine your "CSI" level. For the first month, you ideally want the CSI to be "slightly" above neutral (0) as the plaster cures. But after the 30-days when you go salt, you can manage your CSI to slightly negative - zero to -0.3. As you learn to use the PoolMath APP, you'll see how when any of those numbers change, so does the CSI. Of course pH has the most dramatic impact on CSI which is why it's such an important number to watch. Enjoy the new water hole.

 

[FIESTA62]

hi, i am about to do my first Chlorine test, i have the Taylor 2006c kit and it only does free / combined, is that all i need to do ? or do i need to do total chlorine as well , thanks

 

[mknauss]

FC plus CC equals TC. TC we do not really care about, just what the FC and CC are. Most of the time, you only need to do the FC test.

See ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

 

[FIESTA62]

hi, just did TA 70, PH 7.2, CH 60PPM, tried to do chlorine but no pink colour after about 5 dippers so i guess need to put some liquid chlorine in, and something to increase CH, im off to the pool shop, i will put some soda in to increase TA

 

[mknauss]

No need to raise the TA. What you have is perfect.

You do need chlorine and calcium chloride.

 

[HermanTX]

Are you using the Pool Math logs? That will tell you how much to add based on your CYA. I noticed that you did not test CYA. Please refer to the FC/CYA Levels for proper chlorine level. Best to add liquid chlorine to get your FC up quickly.
Best to add your chemicals in stages (not all at once). CL first to get FC up, wait a couple of hours then CH increaser, etc.

 

[FIESTA62]

ok so my test is not going pink on the chlorine test so i am not sure how much to add, i went into and there are so many options in the drop down menu, like various percent of cal-hypo and others, i have liquid chlorine on the bottle is says, active is 130g / L ( litre ) available chlorine ( CI ) i dont know which one of the drop down options i should select, any help here ?

Are you using the Pool Math logs? That will tell you how much to add based on your CYA. I noticed that you did not test CYA. Please refer to the FC/CYA Levels for proper chlorine level. Best to add liquid chlorine to get your FC up quickly.
Best to add your chemicals in stages (not all at once). CL first to get FC up, wait a couple of hours then CH increaser, etc.

oh ok so i need to do CYA levels to know how much chlorine to have in pool, i thought the chlorine would be one set ideal level, but if im right it depends on where the CYA is, TFP says CYA 30 to 60 so i will set math to 40 cya target, but i see when i get salt water chlorinator going in 4 weeks , TFP says 60 to 90 so i guess when i start salt i will aim for cya 75 right in the middle does that all sound right ?

 

[FIESTA62]

still not sure what drop down option to select on pool math for FC, our chlorine is liquid sodium hypochlorite 130g/L, see pic, i want to use pool math but need to know which one on pool math equals the Chlorine i have here

 

[FIESTA62]

No need to raise the TA. What you have is perfect.

You do need chlorine and calcium chloride.

hi the few here i have spoke with like pool builder and the pebble crete supply guy say 100 to 120 ppm for TA, so i set my TA target to 100 ppm, Taylor test kit says 80 to 120, so again i figured 100 ppm, i was at 70, i put in some bi carb, testing later

 

[mgtfp]

Good to see that you finally have water in your Pool

Start in PoolMath with setting up your pool. Click on the menu cog in the top right corner and set up your pool: type (plaster), sanitizer (bleach until you start your SWG) and volume (36000l). Also tick "track CSI", track "salt" and "track water temperature".

Then, on the main screen, tap on CYA. Enter 0 for current CYA and 30 for target CYA. It should then tell you to add 1080g of CYA. Do that using the sock method (Put the CYA in an old sock without holes, and tie the sock to a stick and let it dangle in front of a return jet. If you have multiple returns, then split the amount into multiple socks. Squeeze the socks from time to time to speed up the process - it will take a while)

Then you tap on FC. Enter 30 for CYA, 0 for current FC and 6 for target FC. Pick bleach as type of sanitizer and enter 13 as percentage. It should tell you to add 1.7l of bleach. (Follow the FC/CYA table for non-SWG pools while your SWG is not running).

From a TFP point of view, TA 70 is perfect. Higher TA will create more CO₂ outgassing, which will drive your pH up faster. PB will tell you to increase TA. Up to you. If there are warranty reasons to follow his recommendations, then you should probably do so for a while, but I'd still recommend to stick to the lowest possible value.

Same with FC, if there are warranty reasons that force you to not exceed FC 3 during the start-up period, then I'd only bring CYA up to 20 for now (only add 720g of CYA), then FC 3 is OK with TFP and with the PB. And since it's still winter here, CYA 20 should be OK for now.

But don't wait too long with adding bleach, you don't want to risk getting algae in your start up period.

 

[FIESTA62]

Good to see that you finally have water in your Pool

Start in PoolMath with setting up your pool. Click on the menu cog in the top right corner and set up your pool: type (plaster), sanitizer (bleach until you start your SWG) and volume (36000l). Also tick "track CSI", track "salt" and "track water temperature".

Then, on the main screen, tap on CYA. Enter 0 for current CYA and 30 for target CYA. It should then tell you to add 1080g of CYA. Do that using the sock method (Put the CYA in an old sock without holes, and tie the sock to a stick and let it dangle in front of a return jet. If you have multiple returns, then split the amount into multiple socks. Squeeze the socks from time to time to speed up the process - it will take a while)

Then you tap on FC. Enter 30 for CYA, 0 for current FC and 6 for target FC. Pick bleach as type of sanitizer and enter 13 as percentage. It should tell you to add 1.7l of bleach. (Follow the FC/CYA table for non-SWG pools while your SWG is not running).

From a TFP point of view, TA 70 is perfect. Higher TA will create more CO₂ outgassing, which will drive your pH up faster. PB will tell you to increase TA. Up to you. If there are warranty reasons to follow his recommendations, then you should probably do so for a while, but I'd still recommend to stick to the lowest possible value.

Same with FC, if there are warranty reasons that force you to not exceed FC 3 during the start-up period, then I'd only bring CYA up to 20 for now (only add 720g of CYA), then FC 3 is OK with TFP and with the PB. And since it's still winter here, CYA 20 should be OK for now.

But don't wait too long with adding bleach, you don't want to risk getting algae in your start up period.

hi, thats a huge help thanks for putting that together, i did some tests, the current levels are, TA 90, PH 7.6, FC 1.4 ppm, CH 100 ppm, i am thinking set target for CH to 300 ppm i think thats around the middle of recommended ,

i did my first CYA test and the black dot was still visible after i completely filled the tube so i need some stabilizer, is liquid better to get the job done?

and CH is low assuming 300 is a good target pool math says i need 7984 g of calcium chloride that seems a lot....

i will get to the pool shop for some CYA....