Reading the recommendations on TFP makes me concerned pool care is too difficult.

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i have edited my confusing post
it made sense to me when i typed it, but when i went back it was very confusing
every time i went to pool store i "needed" $$$ worth of chemicals and water was never TFP clear

before and after TFP

after seeing the "sparkle posts" i added my pics of when i bought house with what i thought was a lovely clean pool and then after using TFP methods, you can actually see the steps and all the suction ports
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
aussieta said:
i have edited my confusing post
it made sense to me when i typed it, but when i went back it was very confusing
every time i went to pool store i "needed" $$$ worth of chemicals and water was never TFP clear

before and after TFP

after seeing the "sparkle posts" i added my pics of when i bought house with what i thought was a lovely clean pool and then after using TFP methods, you can actually see the steps and all the suction ports
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
Didn't know where to post this, but here's what you get when you combine trouble-free pool with a very talented and generous artistic neighbor.
 

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Is that a saltwater pool AND mural?

chris farley surprise GIF
 
Everyone has said you’ll get the hang of it and you will. I’m at the point I don’t even test chlorine maybe twice a week. If the pool math says I need 3 quarts and two cups of chlorine, I round up to a gallon. Ph and alkalinity once a month. Eventually you’ll get to know your pool and how it acts. If you like chemistry you’ll test a lot in the beginning. It’s fun and That’s how you perfect the steps. The pool math suggested amounts for addition are just that. You can start by following the math suggestions but eventually you’ll learn to tweak it for your specific pool.
 
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Great!
Be sure you have a white background for the pH test. Look at the hue not intensity of the color.
Add enough acid to lower your pH to 7.6. Then retest the pH after a few hours and see what you read.
No CC is good.
CYA is low. Best in your area to be around 50 ppm (assuming you are using liquid chlorine for chlorinating).

Be sure to test the CH - Calcium Hardness.
 
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Welcome to the group! You're one of us now!

You'll get the hang of it quickly. I test my pH in the laundry room with a light colored ceiling and hold it up to the LED ceiling light. Outside there's either too much light or something green behind the block. My block has 0.3 between each color and I'm just now getting able to tell when it's between colors and closer to one or the other. It takes a little bit of practice, but you'll be fine.

For CYA, if you notice the dot disappears between two lines, we round up to the next highest 10 number. It's a little bit counterintuitive because as the tube fills up, the numbers go down. Next time, try filling the tube to the 20 line and glance at the dot at waist level. If you can see it, fill the tube to 30 and glance again. If it's gone, it's 30. If you can see it, go to 40 and glance again, etc. Even if your CYA is actually 30, it's okay to put down 40. This just means you'll have 1-2ppm more chlorine in your pool day-to-day = no big deal. If your CYA was actually 40 but you wrote down 30, you'll have 1-2ppm less chlorine in your pool day-do-day = danger zone. You can save on reagent by pouring the solution back into the squirt bottle and trying it again a few times.
 
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TexEdmond said:
For CYA, if you notice the dot disappears between two lines, we round up to the next highest 10 number. It's a little bit counterintuitive because as the tube fills up, the numbers go down. Next time, try filling the tube to the 20 line and glance at the dot at waist level. If you can see it, fill the tube to 30 and glance again. If it's gone, it's 30. If you can see it, go to 40 and glance again, etc. Even if your CYA is actually 30, it's okay to put down 40. This just means you'll have 1-2ppm more chlorine in your pool day-to-day = no big deal. If your CYA was actually 40 but you wrote down 30, you'll have 1-2ppm less chlorine in your pool day-do-day = danger zone. You can save on reagent by pouring the solution back into the squirt bottle and trying it again a few times.
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To do it the way you’re suggesting, you’d have to dump back into the bottle on every fill. If you fill to 100, see dot, 90, see dot, …, 40, see dot, 30 don’t see dot, call it 40 you can do the test without having to dump back in the bottle. That said, you can repeat the test a few times by dumping back into the bottle and starting over if you want to recheck.
 
CraigChing said:
To do it the way you’re suggesting, you’d have to dump back into the bottle on every fill. If you fill to 100, see dot, 90, see dot, …, 40, see dot, 30 don’t see dot, call it 40 you can do the test without having to dump back in the bottle. That said, you can repeat the test a few times by dumping back into the bottle and starting over if you want to recheck.
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Tex just got the numbers backward…
 

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I'll add my two cents as well. We live near Orlando, so can speak with some local knowledge. When we first started with TFP two years ago, I had very little knowledge of what I was doing. I initially had the "5 way" test kit, but upgraded to the TF100 when I found TFP. Doing the bottles and the stirring with the color changes seemed a bit excessive, but now I prefer it. It's more "idiot proof", especially with the chlorine. I can't tell the difference between half the yellows on the OTO test. It's even harder to determine after dark.

How often do we test? When we started, it was daily with OTO/phenol red. Now that we have more experience, here's our testing schedule:

Summer: OTO/phenol red testing- from daily to every 3 days, depending on the previous test values. Our acid levels can be quite variable due to having a waterfall feature/spillway. We add chlorine every other day and acid every other day. If we added acid and chlorine on the same day, we are confident we can skip the next day. For the "full panel" (FAS-DPD, Alk, Calcium Hardness) now we are doing once weekly, but again, we have the spillway which really seems to wreak havoc on our alkalinity and acid levels. CYA gets checked in the spring until it's 30-40, and then maybe once or twice more over the summer, or if we have to drain the pool a bunch (aka after a hurricane).
Winter: (still figuring this out): OTO/phenol red- not daily, but more than weekly. Full Panel to be determined.

If we leave town we put in chlorine pucks and isolate the spa (stop the spillway from running). On one occasion this summer, we did that and left for two weeks. Nobody checked on it, and the pump ran daily as scheduled. It needed some acid when we got back- that was all.

You can do this.
 
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Good morning! Ok, so my pool guy did his last visit, and now I will truly be on my own. I did another test, and I have another question (and I apologize if this has been answered). If something, like my FC, is still within ideal range, but getting closer to the lower end of the range, what do I do? I notice that the Pool Math app only tells me how much of something to add if I'm getting *really* close to outside ideal ranges.

But how do I know how much of FC (or anything else I suppose) to add to *maintain* the ideal range rather than wait for it to go outside the range and the app then tell me amounts?

As you can see from my screenshot and most recent log, I have some adjusting in a few areas to do today after work. I do feel like a novice chemist. :geek:
 

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You'll want to keep the FC/CYA Levels in mind. That is the product used to tell you (and Poolmath) what the FC should be based on your current CYA. Over time you'll remember that for your particular CYA, your FC should be in the X-to-X range, and never below X. Your numbers aren't bad at all, so just focus on the FC for now so you get in a rhythm. Later we can help you with lowering the TA a bit, but it's not an immediate issue. FC is #1 right now.

Also be sure to update your signature. See mine as an example.
 
Thanks Pat. I will try to figure out the stats of my pool equipment, so hopefully it's listed on the equipment itself so I can add it to my signature.

Ok, so according to the FC/CYA chart, with my current CYA of 30, I should have a target FC range of 4-6. But, how do I determine how much liquid chlorine to add to reach that range? The Pool Math app currently does not tell me because it is happy with the current number.

So I guess I'm asking, do people just wait for things like FC to reach a point that Pool Math does tell you how much to add?
Or do they add FC *before* Pool Math is unhappy and tells you the amount? And if adding before Pool Math is triggered to tell you how much to add, how do you know how much to add? (I hope my questions make sense. lol)
 
NicoleIvy2004 said:
Thanks Pat. I will try to figure out the stats of my pool equipment, so hopefully it's listed on the equipment itself so I can add it to my signature.

Ok, so according to the FC/CYA chart, with my current CYA of 30, I should have a target FC range of 4-6. But, how do I determine how much liquid chlorine to add to reach that range? The Pool Math app currently does not tell me because it is happy with the current number.

So I guess I'm asking, do people just wait for things like FC to reach a point that Pool Math does tell you how much to add?
Or do they add FC *before* Pool Math is unhappy and tells you the amount? And if adding before Pool Math is triggered to tell you how much to add, how do you know how much to add? (I hope my questions make sense. lol)
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You can use the "effects of adding" feature in pool math anytime, whether pool math "likes" your numbers or not.
 

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