Vacation Help

[baundy]

Hey friends! We're leaving on our first week-long vacation since getting our pool installed. I've been doing a lot of reading this week, so I appreciate all the help already given.

I did my weekly testing today, here were the numbers:

pH - 8.2
FC - 6.0 ppm
CC - 0.0 ppm
CH - 250 ppm
TA - 90 ppm
CYA - 80 ppm
Salt - 3600 ppm
Temp - 86°

Couple of quick questions:

1. I know that I need to add acid to bring my pH down. My "target" is 7.6. Should I add enough acid to bring it down to 7.6, or should I bring it down lower since I'll be gone for a week?

2. Reading vacation posts, I know that it's recommended to get a chlorine floater and put a couple of pucks of chlorine in it (3 maybe?). Does that sound about right?

3. Finally, what percentage should I set my SWCG to? I'm still trying to find the percentage that will best help me "maintain" and I know that there are a lot of factors that go into that.

Appreciate it and I hope everyone is having a fun and safe 4th of July!

 

[TinFoilHat]

Your question answers depend on your recent history with your pool and SWG. If leaving the SWG to run as it has gives you 6ppm on a daily basis then let it run and you won't need the floater. If instead, you've been up and down with FC then you may need the floater but you would also need to keep everything else in better balance, such as CYA. But that's only if things are fluctuating daily. I would bring the PH down low in the 7s only if it would rise back to 7.6-7.8 before you return, but that depends again on the recent history of your PH readings.

 

[baundy]

Your question answers depend on your recent history with your pool and SWG. If leaving the SWG to run as it has gives you 6ppm on a daily basis then let it run and you won't need the floater. If instead, you've been up and down with FC then you may need the floater but you would also need to keep everything else in better balance, such as CYA. But that's only if things are fluctuating daily. I would bring the PH down low in the 7s only if it would rise back to 7.6-7.8 before you return, but that depends again on the recent history of your PH readings.

My FC has fluctuated from very high to very low, but that's probably because I'm still trying to figure out the SWCG and what percentage it should be on. It was really high last week, so I dropped the SWCG percentage down and left the pool exposed to the sun all week.

CYA has been stable all season.

pH has run "high" all season. Usually 7.8 or 8.0, but it is at 8.2 now.

And I appreciate the response and help!

 

[TinFoilHat]

Bring the PH down to mid 7s and set your cell to 50%. Does that generally give you a good FC in the mornings? Assuming you run yours at night like I do.

 

[baundy]

Bring the PH down to mid 7s and set your cell to 50%. Does that generally give you a good FC in the mornings? Assuming you run yours at night like I do.

I've been bringing it down this week with it only running at 10% and had the water exposed to the sun, so 50% sounds about right. Would I still need the floater if I put it at that level?

 

[TinFoilHat]

Only if you can't come to a % setting that won't maintain the chlorine, if you have time to do that before you leave. If no time then a floater would be a good idea.

 

[baundy]

Only if you can't come to a % setting that won't maintain the chlorine, if you have time to do that before you leave. If no time then a floater would be a good idea.

Ha, should've realized this before. I've got 40% and 60%. I set it on 60% because I figured the higher the better. It does go all the way up to 100%

 

[baundy]

Put in 24 fl. oz. of acid last night. I used 31.45% (20° Be) Muriatic Acid. I also turned up the SWCG to 60%.

Just tested pH and Chlorine. pH was 7.6 (down from 8.2) and Chlorine was 7.0 (up from 6.0).

I'll probably add a little more acid tonight just to drop the pH down a smidge more. Does it look like I'm good with the SWCG at 60% for the week?

 

[TinFoilHat]

If you're expecting more heat than usual then bump the output a little higher.