Recent content by Jimbarstow

I kind of suspected this is a "you get what you pay for situation". Water chemistry is fine and I've been following TFP guidelines for years. I've had the pool for 14 years and watched the previous SWG slowly degrade as it hit its end of life. One of the symptoms of EOL was the much more rapid...

I need to replace my IC40. It's well past it's 10,000 hour lifetime, isn't generating much Cl, and requires cleaning every week. (Ca level is moderately high so I do have to clean it more frequently but usually only every month or 2.) Last time I replaced it, it cost under $600. Now it is $1100...

I've got to believe that others have had this problem. We have 2 Hot Spring spas (same model) in our primary and vacation houses. One is 12 years old and the other is about 8. Both have been incredibly reliable and virtually trouble free. I noticed recently that the fancy oscillating massage...

If I don’t enter a test result (e.g., I don’t do Ca hardness everyday) Poolmath shows me the results of a previous test. In my case, it shows a result from a month ago, not the most recent test which was 5 days ago. Is this a bug? If so, it means that the CSI calculations are off.

My solution was to train myself with a standard. You can get a 50 ppm cya standard on amazon. I ran the test with that until I learned what visibility corresponded to 50 ppm. I periodically rerun with the standard to refresh my learning.

The one and only time I dealt with algae I used the SLAM process but it kept coming back. I realized there was a reservoir of algae somewhere that wasn’t being reached by the chlorine. It took quite a while and lots of investigating to find it. I started with the light niches and ran the slam...

First off, let me admit to an embarrassing fact: I have a PhD in chemistry and screwed up my pool by listening to a pool store and my pool builder. I thought they were experts and knew what they were doing so I just didn’t pay attention to the chemistry. (Too many other things to worry about.)...

The accuracy of the test can only be as accurate as the least accurate component. In the case of pH, the color match is really subjective. The titration tests are more accurate but you’re still depending on the precision of the droplet size from a dirt cheap plastic bottle. CYA tests are...

I’m sure there are pool reverse osmosis services in the Phoenix area. I had similar CA levels and after treatment I had absolutely perfect water. (Had to add back CYA and salt but they are relatively inexpensive.) Pool level is maintained throughout due to makeup water being added but the...

Our pool is 12 years old. Every time I’ve had an issue with the IC40 and salt levels (twice), I’ve ended up replacing the flow/temp/salt sensor. If the IC40 disagrees markedly with a good salt titration test (e.g., Taylor), it is most likely a bad sensor. It is easy to replace and available on...

Mine stabilizes in about 10 seconds. I store upright in KCl solution and rinse with distilled water then shake dry before using. Mine has a little icon that comes on when it has reached a stable reading. I calibrated it recently and it was still right on. I’d be wary of not doing a full...

Pool reverse osmosis is different house plumbed RO. When we did it, we could stop the process at whatever chemistry we wanted. We choose to terminate at Ca in the low 200’s. It does remove salt and CYA. I viewed this as a chance to start de novo. for those of us in the parched west, under new...

I’m also confused about the Ca drop. An old research advisor once told me that, “When you start blaming your instruments, your know you’re really confused“. That said, I question the testing. Ca can’t just disappear unless you are splashing an enormous amount of water out of the pool or lose...

For all the terrific information on TFP about water balancing, I’ve never seen anything that addresses the differences a cover makes on a salt pool. Our pool is almost an indoor pool (I.e., covered) except for a couple of hours in the afternoon if it is in use. (Keeping it covered keeps the heat...

I have both a salt meter and the chemical test. I actually use the salt reading on the SWG now. Neither the meter nor the chemical test are particularly accurate and the important thing is to make the SWG happy and efficient. If the SWG tells me it is happy and it is generating a consistent...