Hi

[Choneykuhn]

3rd pool year. 1st year SW pool. Just a small 16’. Just tonight we did what the pool store said. Put stuff in the water for balance and also added the salt. We have an iChlor 15 and am still researching how to figure the % setting for when it will actually start producing chlorine. Right now is our 24 hour circulate period. Little overwhelmed but I am sure I will get a rhythm and it will become easier. Thank you for sharing your expertise

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! Congrats on the SWG addition. As you reach the 24 hr period, test the FC and add liquid chlorine as needed just to be sure the FC is at a good starting point (i.e. FC of 5). Your CYA should be tested and verified to be at about 70. Also see our FC/CYA Levels as to how the FC and CYA should balance. Then you might try setting the SWG at about 50% for the time it is designed to run when the pump is on. Then test the FC the next day and compare to the starting 5 ppm. If it dropped, you know you either need more pump run time or a higher % setting. If the FC was too high, then you can lower the % or run time. It's a bit of test-adjust at first until you get it dialed in. The links below might also help.

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.

www.troublefreepool.com

Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Salt Water Generators are designed to produce small amounts of chlorine continuously. This is perfect for day to day use and reduces work for the homeowner.

www.troublefreepool.com

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Choneykuhn]

Well. Chlorine is totally off the charts high. CYA appears to b 100. TA is also above 200. I wasn’t at the pool store when pool guy sold my guy the chemicals. And my guy kinda dump in according to what pool guy wrote down. I turned my salt cell down tonight to 10%. Or maybe turn it off until FC comes down?? My first 2 years with a pool I just took care of FC And pH and used pucks. Had great luck. This seems like I need a degree in pool care.

 

[Texas Splash]

This seems like I need a degree in pool care.

Not at all. Unfortunately, you got bad pool store advice. The most common downfall for many pool owners. Now that you have a K-2006 test kit, you can test your own water and ask folks here for help if needed. But I can say this, that CYA of 100 is too high. It needs to come down to at least 80. Exchanging a little water is the only way to do that, then you can balance the FC to the CYA as noted on the FC/CYA Levels.

 

[Choneykuhn]

Do I really need to know at this point how crazy high my chlorine is? Gonna use all my bottles of reagent if I do. I used my simple 5 drop test. It is red. I unplugged the SWG. Will test CYA again tonight to see if the rain brought it down any. We will dump 12” tomorrow if not and be very careful when adding stabilizer. NO GUESSING m

 

[mknauss]

No need to test FC. Just drain off some water tomorrow to get the CYA in range and the FC will drop. Probably by tomorrow.

 

[Choneykuhn]

I am so confused. The salt is in the pool. The generator is off. I test for ph and get 7.2. I test for chlorine and even after 25 drops it doesn’t ever get colorless. I tested for calcium hardness and after 60 drops it never got blue. CYA is still 100. TA test after 30 drops turned wired pale pale orange but not red. Do we just drain and start over?

No need to test FC. Just drain off some water tomorrow to get the CYA in range and the FC will drop. Probably by tomorrow.

drained off 12”. CYA dropped to about 68. Do I need to drain again? Ph 7.4. TA 225. Salt 2950 according to the iChlor. Water is 66 degrees. Will add salt and wait for chlorine to burn down. We r cloudy and rainy here. I assume it will take time. My guy built a great fountain. I assume I need to shut if off given my ph? Thank you

 

[Texas Splash]

CK, the #1 issue right now is the CYA. In the post above it shows two numbers so I'm not sure which one is the latest. You can't test CYA when it's cloudy, so you may need to wait until tomorrow, but below are my CYA notes in case it helps. No sense scrambling to adjust other levels if the CYA is still over 100, but if it's below 100, let us know and we can walk you through the next steps.

CYA Testing:
Proper lighting is critical for the CYA test, so you want to test for CYA outside on a bright sunny day. Taylor recommends standing outside with your back to the sun and the view tube in the shade of your body. Use the mixing bottle to combine/gently mix the required amounts of pool water and R-0013 reagent, let sit for 30 seconds, then gently mix again. Then, while holding the skinny tube with the black dot at waist level, begin squirting the mixed solution into the skinny tube. Watch the black dot until it completely disappears. If it helps, pour a little, look away, then look back and pour some more. Some people like to squirt enough solution to go line-by-line for a better feel. Once it disappears, record the CYA reading. After the first test, you can pour the mixed solution from the skinny view tube back to the mixing bottle, shake, and do the same test a second, third, or fourth time to instill consistency in your technique, become more comfortable with the testing, and validate the CYA reading. If you are still questioning your own results, have a friend or two do the same test 2-3 times. Share your results only after everyone is done to see if you came up with the same average results.

 

[Choneykuhn]

Thank you to u both. I will do CYA again when it is sunny. Am feeling much better about our pool. Will follow the advice of “re-doing” the test to see if I see the same repeatedly. And no more pool store witchery.

 

[Choneykuhn]

Do I need an actual Taylor salinity test or can I use the reading on my iChlor15?

 

[mknauss]

Do I need an actual Taylor salinity test or can I use the reading on my iChlor15?

You need a Taylor salinity test kit to check the iChlor. When the salt readings go off on the iChlor, if the real salinity is OK, it points to issues with the SWCG. So you cannot believe the IChlor salinity without a double check.

 

[Choneykuhn]

Thank you.

 

[Choneykuhn]

We are not swimming. Too cold. Still mostly cloudy. Very cool breezes and about 70 degrees outside. My chlorine is down to 12ppm. Is it slow burning off because of the cool weather and no swimmers? It came down 1ppm in 24 hours.

 

[Choneykuhn]

I did some Pool School today - our pump basket (i believe that is the correct term) does have some bubbles at the very top of the clear lid. Am I reading correctly that there should be NO bubbles? BTW - I appreciate your patience and answers - pool water is coming around nicely.