Not Sure Where to Start - Or What We Are Doing Wrong

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Po,
your normal or good PSI is whatever it is after you backwash. (we call it the "clean pressure")

PSI depends on a lot of things...pump size, filter size, how long the pipes are... etc... and so whats good for you would not necessarily be good for anyone else.

SO, to find out, then just backwash and rinse, and whatever the reading is, then thats what your "clean" psi is. Backwash when your pressure rises 20% above that.

Pogueld said:
Thank you all so much! I've been trying to post pictures, buy my computer is not cooperating. I'm working from a chrome book. I know pictures are helpful.

Just to verify what I should do today, until my husband and I can work together on deep cleaning the filter and checking for clogs:

1. Keep pool on recirculating
2. lower PH - this is done with muratic acid, correct? If the PH is 8, the pool calculator suggests adding 2 quarts, 3 cups of muratic acid (I do have this)

Questions:

1. How long after adding muratic acid should I wait to check PH again?
2. Do I wait until the PH is good to start adding the liquid bleach?
3. HOw much bleach should I have on hand for this SLAM process? We bought 6 gallons, but I'm thinking this might not be enough. It's 8.25%.

Thanks again!

- - - Updated - - -

Whoops I missed your reply Divin Dave before I posted! Got it thanks!

But one more question - what PSI is normal or good?
Click to expand...
 
*** Much of my post deleted as Divin Dave had already addressed the questions.

Pogueld said:
But one more question - what PSI is normal or good?
Click to expand...

The good/normal PSI is whatever it is when the filter is clean. For my setup, it's about 16PSI. For yours, it may be higher or lower. After you deep clean the filter, just make a mental note of the pressure when you start the pump.
 
Ok, whew, busy morning!!

Got the PH down to 7.2 - yay!
Learned how to change the filter from recirculate to filter ALL BY MYSELF - LOL! This is my husband's job - teehee!
Added all the bleach that I have on had for now.
Cleaned the polaris bag, brushed the pool
Have the skimmer socks on and the polaris running with the filter so I can keep cleaning out he pollen and dog hair

Waiting a bit to test the FC. Now I have another question!

I am learning that our pool has a lot of features such as a diagnostics on the panel - who knew? Haha! I sure wish the the pool installer would "school" you on all of the features. Anyways, the salt water reading on our panel says that the salt is at 2950 (far cry from, 6,000). I know I'm not worrying about salt yet, but my question is how reliable is that digital reader? Should I use that as my reader when it is time to worry about salt? Should I take the water to a pool company and compare their reading to our pool panel reading? The SWG is still reading as the salt is good.

Just curious while I'm waiting to check the FC

Thanks!
Lisa
 
I've been reading through your post and I won't add a bunch to it, I'm just here to add more encouragement. You're definitely on your way. Everyone here will help you and you'll be an expert in no time!

Just as I was about to type this I noticed you are in Quinlan, TX. My husband is from Quinlan! Never saw anyone else from there. lol I don't know much about it since I'm not a Texan myself. His parents live there though... :) Small world.
 
Pogueld said:
We backwashed first thing yesterday before we got started. We do backwash regularly, but we were unaware of the other features - recirculate, rinse, vac to waste, etc. This morning, my husband turned the pool back on and it was working again, but the PSI is less than 20 on the guage.
Click to expand...
hi Lisa to help you with the filter settings. youtube has many videos to view.
but I will give you a crash course.
never change a setting unless you turn the pump OFF first!
filter setting; it is where you should be running the pool almost all the time.
backflush; it is for running the water backwards through the filter, all water goes out a waste line.
your filter maker will tell you how long to run the back flush. mine is 3 minutes it should be clear in
my sight glass on my valve.
rinse; after doing a backflush shut it off and set to rinse for a additional 30 seconds, water goes out the waste line.
this clears anything that might have got into the outlet of the filter.
recirculate; you want to use this setting if you got air into your system due to service of basket or filter or you
are just starting up your filter after a period of it being off. like maybe you went on vacation and did not run
your pool pump. it helps to prime the system with no back pressure of the filter.
waste; this setting is, if for some reason a large amount of dirt or silt ends up on your pool
bottom. vacuum it, sand storm silt the filter does not catch it bypasses the filter and goes straight out your waste line.

when you finish your backflush, rinsed and reset it back to filter.
that is when you should "note" the pressure reading. keep it in mind you should not have to backflush
again unless it gets 10 psi higher than that reading.
regular back flush I do not believe is necessary, if the reading goes 5 lbs above, it shows the filter is
removing particles well and helps with the clarity on sand filter, that to me is good.
 
Last edited:
Thank you so much! I did know to turn the pump off when the back wash, but my husband and I had no idea about the rinse cycle and haven't ever done that. I just found the sight glass valve too! The builder also didn't tell us anything about the recirculate setting.

I have noticed that when I turn the pump on to filter, there seems to be air, meaning bubble from the jets in the pool. Is this normal? I remember a worker at a pool company tell me to release the air from the filter, but my husband had never heard of that.

Any advice for these problems?

About the waste, we do have more dirt than normal, but I seem to be making progress with regular cleaning of the polaris bag and using skimmer socks. How much water would a waste cycle remove from the pool? How much dirt, silt, would make the waste setting necessary?

Thanks again for everyone's help!
 
most filter now have it set up to evacuate the air, my old one did. but it also
had a manual air release valve. and yes it is normal for it to dump out your jets.
the SWG also creates hydrogen bubbles, that is 'normal' and a sign it is working.
usually those are very small bubbles.
most all salt water generators will not start working when you first turn your filter on
after a period of being off over night. but after 6 minutes or so when the air has
cleared your filter the SWG will start to work. they should do that to prevent any
damage to them selves.
 
Thank you! As you I'm learning more, then I'm noticing more that I hadn't noticed before.

I"m still wondering if I can rely on the Salt Water reading on my digital read out? Have you had any experience with the reliability of this reading?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
The reading on the SWG is the one that matters for it to run ... BUT ... it can be wrong if the cell is going bad. That is why it is good to have an independant test to make sure the SWG is reporting something close to reality.

Did you ever answer how much salt you added? Then PoolMath can show you how much your salt ppm should have gone up based on what you added.
 
Pogueld said:
T

About the waste, we do have more dirt than normal, but I seem to be making progress with regular cleaning of the polaris bag and using skimmer socks. How much water would a waste cycle remove from the pool? How much dirt, silt, would make the waste setting necessary?

Thanks again for everyone's help!
Click to expand...
skimmer sock, never used one, I just use the filter. at the 10lbs high I backflush etc.
it is after you have done a good cleaning/vacuum and filter has not gone above 10 psi. and on
a next day start up you see a real fine silt flow out the outlet jets, you may need to do that
a few days. let it them accumulate on the bottom, I set up my vacuum the night before. get up
earlier than the pump starts run it straight out in the waste setting. when cleanup is done.
I also set the filter to rinse for 30 seconds too. you should have been able to get rid of all silt
that way.
as for how much waste water, your water should stay above the low skimmer level and try to do it fast but deliberate
vacuum.
 
Yes, I did answer that. We added 6 1/2 bags because that is what the pool calculator called for, but I guess it is possible my initial reading was too high. Our digital reading out is saying 2950 so essecntially, we need more salt, but i'm focusing on getting rid of the algae first and then I will work on getting the salt level right. I was just relieved to know I didn't add too much. I believe Dave already verified that I wouldn't have added to much if we added 6.5 bags and have a 26,000 gallon pool. It's 8.5 feet deep in the diving end.

- - - Updated - - -

Off to get more bleach. FC was up to 12. I need it up to 24 :)
 
Good luck!

I just wanted to say that you are doing a good job. You are where my husband would be if he had to take care of the pool LOL.

Keep asking questions and reading. It will be SO easy once you get it clear and clean!

HUGS!

Kim
 
You haven't mentioned CYA in a while and I noticed you said you had it hung and you were backwashing. While you're doing a SLAM it's usually best to wait till it's over until you try to adjust CYA level. CYA can take up to a week to show up on a test as it takes so long for it to fully dissolve. It will dissolve out of the sock but still be "big" enough for the filter to catch. If you do need to add it now you'd want to hang it in front of a return jet and not toss it into the skimmer. If tossed in the skimmer then it's sitting in the filter for a few days and if you backwash as you often have to do a number of times when doing a SLAM you backwash that CYA right out of the pool. If you hang it in front of a return then more of it is sitting in the pool than the filter and should you need to backwash you won't loose as much.

This is from Pool School:
You increase CYA by adding cyanuric acid, often sold as stabilizer or conditioner. CYA is available as a solid and as a liquid. The liquid costs a lot more, and generally isn't worth the extra expense. Solid stabilizer can take up to a week to fully register on the test, so don't retest your CYA level for a week after adding some. Solid stabilizer is best added by placing it in a sock in the skimmer basket. The pump should be run for 24 hours after adding solid stabilizer and you should avoid backwashing/cleaning the filter for a week.
 
Thank you to everyone for the encouragement and kind words!

I didn't officially start the SLAM until today. Yesterday, I got the CYA up to 60, but was advised to hold off checking it again for a week and concentrate on keeping the pool at shock value with the bleach. I didn't put the CYA in the skimmer, I put it in nylons in front of the jets as advised on another thread. I'm learning! Left for church and left pool on recirculate since we couldn't be there to monitor. All in a day's work!

Here's a funny. My brother-in-law sells pool sipplies online and he said he had never head that bleach was the same chemical as liquid chlorine ;-)
 
Last edited:
Sounds like you have a good handle on it. :salut:

That brother in law, well that's another story but at least he isn't out there in person servicing pools. On the flip side you're already to the point you're teaching :D
 
Po,
tell your prbother in law that google is amazing! Liquid Pool shock and bleach are the same stuff. They are just marketed differently. The same goes for almost all regularly used pool chemicals.

As an example.
Here is a link to Kem Tec liquid pool shock (sold in Lowes and other places) Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) which is required by the Feds for any chemical.

http://www.kem-tek.com/assets/Kem_Tek_Chlor._Liq._MSDS1.pdf

Here is a link to Clorox bleach MSDS (see page 3 for ingredient).
http://www.thecloroxcompany.com/downloads/msds/bleach/cloroxregular-bleach1jw2014-08-24.pdf

:)





Pogueld said:
Here's a funny. My brother-in-law sells pool sipplies online and he said he had never head that bleach was the same chemical as liquid chlorine ;-)
Click to expand...
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply