It varies. I have been attempting to dose to midrange until recently when I discovered my test results should be in midrange and I dose accordingly. So I am dosing to the higher end but only starting 3 days ago I believe. Typically I would dose to 7 and come in anywhere from 4.0-5.
Hi from Texas
- Thread starter Maldravus
- Start date
2.5 to 3 per day would be reasonable with temps in the 80s.
A half gallon of (fresh) 10% gets you about 4.3 FC per day and it's shouldn't need much more than that when it's TX hot out. You still have room for your UV demand to increase roughly 40% and still be within reason.
You have a small sample size so far. As you get more experience under your belt, you'll see the general similarities for the type of day your weather is having for that point in the season. Cloud cover during the day doesn't stop UV loss, but it does slow it down. Or some days the morning is crummy but it clear up for the afternoon and you see some relief but not a big dip in demand that day.
Ok so I am looking at ~$250 in LC just for the summer months, estimated of course.
Use that figure to start realizing how much a SWG will save you over the lifespan of a typical salt cell.
- Jul 17, 2019
- 4,069
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I'm not following your math (unless you are talking the entire summer maybe). If you need half a gallon of LC per day that's about $3 per day or $90 per month.
If helpful, I'm going on year 5 of my SWG and hoping to get by this full swim season before I need another ($1,500 total or $300 per year). I still need to buy chlorine for the winter and just to have on hand, but I bet I spend another $100 annually on LC and pucks.
All I ever heard from any of my friends with pools was that it cost $150 because a big storm or such gave them algae. A couple times a season. Plus whatever they were fleeced in supposed preventative maintenance like algecides and magic potions, plus regular albeit way too little bleach. I fought against a pool for years thinking it would break us to maintain.
And these last couple years were record breaking with the most UV loss we've ever seen. It may be the new reality or it may calm down for a couple seasons. Historically we go through stretches of each so it can still be warmer than previous cooler years but also have some relief compared to now.
Your CYA test 13 days ago was 60. So if that is accurate it is where you want to be using LC.
You can test it again if you wish.
As a verification - test for FC, add the amount of LC needed to get to your target value ( i think you are shooting for top of range), let it circulate for 30 minutes then test again for FC. Does it match the expected value you trageted?
If not, then the LC you are adding may be weaker than 10%. Now testing FC again does have a margin of error so for example if you target FC of 8 and you second test after dosing is 7.5 - call it good. If it is 6.5 then your chlorine may not be at full strength.
Yeah, CYA was 60 although I am really not yet comfortable testing that myself. I keep tricking myself into seeing the dot on first glance so I keep adding more and more. Plus I've only self-tested CYA 2 or 3 times.
Side note; does anyone have any experience with skimmer socks? Does TFP have any stance on them? From what I can tell, as long as you're maintaining on a frequent basis there should be minimal risk to clogging the pump flow.
Side note; does anyone have any experience with skimmer socks? Does TFP have any stance on them? From what I can tell, as long as you're maintaining on a frequent basis there should be minimal risk to clogging the pump flow.
Many of us use skimmer socks. It does require more effort to check the skimmers if there is heavy debris.
The sock goes on the inside of the basket and not on the outside.
You may want to use a hair net such as this as it is much less expensive then skimmer socks from a pool store.
I have had good success with these from Amazon
With a large filter i see no need for skimmer socks. There's no question they work great, but i got a honking filter to not have to fiddle with it/socks.
For smaller filters they are worth alot more but for bigger filters it depends which way the owner sleeps better about it. At worst, it's unnecessary but WAY cheaper than going to the Dr.
For smaller filters they are worth alot more but for bigger filters it depends which way the owner sleeps better about it. At worst, it's unnecessary but WAY cheaper than going to the Dr.
What is defined as a larger filter? I am honestly not sure on the size of mine nor how often I should be cleaning it. My pool is 11282 gallons and there is a single cartridge filter that I've cleaned once. I do run my robot daily, brush daily and have a robot skimmer than runs 24/7.With a large filter i see no need for skimmer socks. There's no question they work great, but i got a honking filter to not have to fiddle with it/socks.
For smaller filters they are worth alot more but for bigger filters it depends which way the owner sleeps better about it. At worst, it's unnecessary but WAY cheaper than going to the Dr.
- Jul 17, 2019
- 4,069
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
I have 2 "modes" for my skimmer basket:
1. Heavy leaf/pollen season (Nov - April for me) - I get lots of stuff in my skimmers and do not use a skimmer sock and have an extended handle so I can empty the skimmer without reaching my hand through leaves and stuff.
2. Skimmer sock season (May - October) - I hardly get anything of size in my skimmer during this time and the skimmer sock does a great job of capturing dust, grass clippings, hair, etc. before it gets to my filter. Backwashing is fairly easy, but changing out a skimmer sock every few weeks is even easier.
The sq ft of the carts in regards to the yard debris. I had heavy trees at my old place with 500 sq ft carts and it managed great only needing 1 cleaning a year. The same 500s now on an open yard are overkill, 300s would likely go all year.
With a single cartridge yours is smaller and hairnets may be less of a PITA than breaking down the filter every couple of weeks. What size is it ?
I will open it up and grab a photo once the heat pump shuts off this morning.
Ok - so I must be doing something wrong. If you have a look at my pool math logs, yesterday I dosed 72oz of LC to bring it to 9ppm. This morning when I tested I was between 4.5-5ppm so dosed another 65oz. Is this correct?! I don't see how my wallet can sustain a half gallon of LC every day.
Have you done a
Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
I would also test the CYA again.
Also, you may want to try this method for reading your CYA as I find it easier and avoids staring at the dot as you pour.
Pour the mixed solution to a known level, say 90, peer in and confirm you can see black dot. Now pour mixed solution to 80 mark, peer in again, if you can still see dot, hold tube up and pour mixed solution to the 70 mark, then peer in again to view dot. Continue this until you are not able to see the dot - then use your CYA number as the value you last saw the dot. This method avoids constantly looking down the tube which can create the illusion of always seeing the dot due to staring down the tube. This also helps that you only report CYA values in decade numbers due to the logarithmic scale of the tube.
+1. Seeing how we round up, there's no need to use anything but the 10 lines IMO. It's way easier to see it's definitely not a 40 or a 60 and 50 is gonna be darn close enough to actual.
Yes I have done a OCLT - I don't recall when but within the last couple weeks.
I will retest CYA with your method. I have used only LC since my last CYA test so it should be relatively accurate.