New guy with pool install issues and whos done with the store suggestions

[so_dank]

Hey everyone, new guy on TF pools. I've read plenty of forums so thought I would join. I have a small Sun pools sanibel 11x23 fiberglass pool. The install was a nightmare and the owner is in the wind. I started with his advice on chemicals and eventually went to the local store for better readings. I'm at my last straw so I'm going to go back to basics and I'm going to start trying to get this in order.
As of this point I have a lovley white haze and some shell shifting from ground settling and what I believe to be lack of proper back fill, no one to ask but as far as I'm aware no rock nor sand was delivered or moved around the property so unless they got it done all same day it's sitting in clay soil. The deep end has a slight bulge In the smaller side wall and the skimmer basket seems to have shifted downward almost as if the wall was pulling away from it.
My only hope at is the shell and plumbing are strong and can hold up to and weight load and ground movement. I believe for what I paid for the small shell any remediation would cost as much as a new pool install. The deck (my avatar) was costly and would have to be all torn up, pool rest properly and some things I've read it's almost as costly as a full install So if she will hang on she will stay.
As for the chemicals they have been all over since following store suggestions. After showing them the white haze last winter I was told to raise the phosphates with scale tech and scrub all winter long, this did nothing and I recently cleared the phosphates and I'm trying to get my CL in order. They had my CL between 2-4 which sunpools says 1 and my hardness at the 100-150 range and I realized sun pools wants it at 400. After shocking my CL has not dropped under 5 even with the salt generator off and pump running for a week. I was told the hardness being over 150 could damage the shell but I've also read under that range and your acidic. I'll search and or start a thread asking for advice soon enough but that's the rundown of my not trouble free pool experience.
Oh and I've already had to replace my pump, filter valve, replumb everything CORRECTLY and just recently I had to replace my saltron power supply. Nothing under warranty and no installer to call about it... My lawyer told me it would cost more to pursue it and pointless if he doesnt pay. Considering he already has fraud charges and a bunch of BBB complaints in my area Im probably in a long line of people with their hand out. Luckily that was the easy less expensive part to fix so far...lolol

 

[Mdragger88]

Welcome to TFP
I hate to hear of troubles like this but we’ll all do what we can to help you right the ship going forward.
I’ll be looking out for your next post!
Until then here’s the important stuff all in one handy link
Pool Care Basics

 

[Bperry]

Hey everyone, new guy on TF pools. I've read plenty of forums so thought I would join. I have a small Sun pools sanibel 11x23 fiberglass pool. The install was a nightmare and the owner is in the wind. I started with his advice on chemicals and eventually went to the local store for better readings. I'm at my last straw so I'm going to go back to basics and I'm going to start trying to get this in order.
As of this point I have a lovley white haze and some shell shifting from ground settling and what I believe to be lack of proper back fill, no one to ask but as far as I'm aware no rock nor sand was delivered or moved around the property so unless they got it done all same day it's sitting in clay soil. The deep end has a slight bulge In the smaller side wall and the skimmer basket seems to have shifted downward almost as if the wall was pulling away from it.
My only hope at is the shell and plumbing are strong and can hold up to and weight load and ground movement. I believe for what I paid for the small shell any remediation would cost as much as a new pool install. The deck (my avatar) was costly and would have to be all torn up, pool rest properly and some things I've read it's almost as costly as a full install So if she will hang on she will stay.
As for the chemicals they have been all over since following store suggestions. After showing them the white haze last winter I was told to raise the phosphates with scale tech and scrub all winter long, this did nothing and I recently cleared the phosphates and I'm trying to get my CL in order. They had my CL between 2-4 which sunpools says 1 and my hardness at the 100-150 range and I realized sun pools wants it at 400. After shocking my CL has not dropped under 5 even with the salt generator off and pump running for a week. I was told the hardness being over 150 could damage the shell but I've also read under that range and your acidic. I'll search and or start a thread asking for advice soon enough but that's the rundown of my not trouble free pool experience.
Oh and I've already had to replace my pump, filter valve, replumb everything CORRECTLY and just recently I had to replace my saltron power supply. Nothing under warranty and no installer to call about it... My lawyer told me it would cost more to pursue it and pointless if he doesnt pay. Considering he already has fraud charges and a bunch of BBB complaints in my area Im probably in a long line of people with their hand out. Luckily that was the easy less expensive part to fix so far...lolol

Best advice would be to forget anything the previous owner or pool store told you, get your own TF-100 test kit and test the water yourself and post the results here.

 

[so_dank]

Welcome to TFP
I hate to hear of troubles like this but we’ll all do what we can to help you right the ship going forward.
I’ll be looking out for your next post!
Until then here’s the important stuff all in one handy link
Pool Care Basics

Thank you!

 

[so_dank]

Best advice would be to forget anything the previous owner or pool store told you, get your own TF-100 test kit and test the water yourself and post the results here.

Thank you, will do that. Honestly I have a kit to test the basics (5 droppers) but when it comes to comparing colors I'm pretty color skewed. All yellows look the same to me, only the ph when low is an easy read. Kinda why I started going to the pool store. However I don't really know how accurate their machine is. Would a pool guru type device be as accurate or is chemical drops the best option?

 

[PoolStored]

Do not get a Guru.
Do not go to the store.
Our recommended kits are the gold standard. Link-->Test Kits Compared
They will save you time and money.
If you want some good stories...Link--> I knew I was Pool Stored when...

Our recommended kits vs. Leslie's accublue....and their results are with a calibrated machine and a competent operator. We have seen way worse pool store testing.

 

[so_dank]

Do not get a Guru.
Do not go to the store.
Our recommended kits are the gold standard. Link-->Test Kits Compared
They will save you time and money.
If you want some good stories...Link--> I knew I was Pool Stored when...

Our recommended kits vs. Leslie's accublue....and their results are with a calibrated machine and a competent operator. We have seen way worse pool store testing.
View attachment 636661

Understood, thank you!

 

[so_dank]

Understood, thank you

I'm ordering now. I have a salt gen so I'm going to order the pro salt at $170. They have additional addons while purchasing, borates, ph, slam ect.. would you recommend any of them as I would just add them to the order now. I will eventually geek out about it but I'd like to get what I'll need right away to start getting ahead of the game. Thank you again.

 

[PoolStored]

The SLAM option is nice as you are new to testing and may be testing a lot.
If you have problems with the pH colors, the pH meter can be nice.

 

[so_dank]

The SLAM option is nice as you are new to testing and may be testing a lot.
If you have problems with the pH colors, the pH meter can be nice.

Awesome.. thank you

 

[Newdude]

Electrical tape can make it WAY easier.

 

[SJPoe]

Most of the tests are color-change, rather than color-gradient, with the exception of PH, and everyones favorite CYA (which is cloudy vs clear).

Welcome to the party - when you get your test kit, do a full set of tests and post the results. You may also want to update your signature with your pool details, equipment and so on - it helps the brain-trust figure out the right advice specifically for you.

 

[so_dank]

The SLAM option is nice as you are new to testing and may be testing a lot.
If you have problems with the pH colors, the pH meter can be nice.

C-600 meter is a pH and salt meter combo I'm assuming? Might grab that just to be able to check both quickly.... if they're accurate as the chemical test.

 

[so_dank]

Most of the tests are color-change, rather than color-gradient, with the exception of PH, and everyones favorite CYA (which is cloudy vs clear).

Welcome to the party - when you get your test kit, do a full set of tests and post the results. You may also want to update your signature with your pool details, equipment and so on - it helps the brain-trust figure out the right advice specifically for you.

Smart move.. I used to put white behind it but still.. lol

 

[sande005]

C-600 meter is a pH and salt meter combo I'm assuming? Might grab that just to be able to check both quickly.... if they're accurate as the chemical test.

Most here tend to look sideways at meters, but the comments on this one are better than other non-lab quality alternatives. tftestkits does sell calibration solutions, if needed, to verify the meter. Use both methods (drops and meter) to get familiar with both. When in doubt, always, always, trust the drop results. Once it all gets routine, it is fine to use the meter as a quick check device, but validate it once in a while by using the drops.

For testing using the drop kit - most tests depend on a rather dramatic color change, so no doubt about what the value is. pH is the only one with gradations, and that is the least critical - usual recommendation is that if it seems to be somewhere in the 7's, it is just fine. So not to worry if you have trouble seeing whether it is 7.4 or 7.6, etc.
CYA and seeing the disappearing black dot is the hardest. You can buy premixed test solutions, so you can "calibrate" your eyes to know what to look for!

Welcome!

 

[cwswifty]

All yellows look the same to me, only the ph when low is an easy read.

I feel ya Dank. Probability says you're likely a guy because 1 in 12 suffer from some form of colored blindness while only 1 in 200 women do the same. You'll need to test chlorine and pH most often. Chlorine is easy in that you're adding and counting drops until pink turns totally clear. pH can be tricky depending on your specific color issues and which comparator block you're using. I prefer the Taylor Model 9058 over the 9781 but I'm certain some would disagree. Also, I've had very good luck with an Apera PH60 that displays numerical pH values. Measuring salt levels will likely be easy as it goes from yellow to milky to brick red. CYA testing is black and white. When the dot disappears you're done. Depending on your situation you may need to get a lady friend to help you with Alkalinity (green to red) and Calcium Hardness (red to blue).

 

[so_dank]

I feel ya Dank. Probability says you're likely a guy because 1 in 12 suffer from some form of colored blindness while only 1 in 200 women do the same. You'll need to test chlorine and pH most often. Chlorine is easy in that you're adding and counting drops until pink turns totally clear. pH can be tricky depending on your specific color issues and which comparator block you're using. I prefer the Taylor Model 9058 over the 9781 but I'm certain some would disagree. Also, I've had very good luck with an Apera PH60 that displays numerical pH values. Measuring salt levels will likely be easy as it goes from yellow to milky to brick red. CYA testing is black and white. When the dot disappears you're done. Depending on your situation you may need to get a lady friend to help you with Alkalinity (green to red) and Calcium Hardness (red to blue).

Thank you, yeah that's about right. The kit I had the cl was yellow and that's all I knew was it was yellow... my wife would look at me like I had two heads cause I couldn't tell the shade at all. The pH was purple or pink and pretty easy to read.

 

[Newdude]

The kit I had the cl was yellow and that's all I knew was it was yellow

Thats exactly what it's good for :

Is there chlorine ? Yes.

Exactly how much ? No two of us see it the same. And its not even accurate, per the manufacturers say so. It's basically a liquid test strip.

 

[so_dank]

Ok thank you everyone for you help, I got my kit and did my tests. I'll start a new thread but wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions. The kit was worth every penny, very quality and the mixer with the light is awesome!

 

[Newdude]

The kit was worth every penny, very quality and the mixer with the light is awesome!

I saw many posts about it when debating what to do and just went with the flow without understanding much about any of it.

The first time I tested and saw the speed stir in action was a . I've slept with it under my pillow ever since and I highly advise nobody come try and take it. It will not end well.