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Every little bit helps. (y) I haven't had any algae problems with this pool yet (fingers crossed), and my wife will give me FC readings every morning while I'm gone; it's only 3 days. This pool and IC40 have worked well together and I haven't had to use up much cell life - I finally hit the...

The overnight test is a great idea, but, unfortunately, I will be out of town for four days starting today (the FC reading this AM was 4; I didn't check it last night but when I checked it yesterday it was less than 2). I plan on checking it closely when I get home. I should have checked the...

I'm just starting to open up my SWG (IC40) pool. I have an electric retractable cover which keeps the chlorine from being burned off during the day when not in use and also helps retain heat. My pool temps were low 50s and FC around zero a couple of days ago. The low temps made it difficult to...

There's no need to test phosphates. Just add a couple of ounces of SeaKlear or Orenda a couple of times a year when you're going to clean the pool filter. Once the phosphates come out in solution, just vacuum them up and clean the pool filter. It's a very cheap and simple process; easier than...

All, thanks for the clarification on pH and water temp.

Alex, it's already been mentioned that the pucks are raising your CYA. In addition, that CalHypo is raising your CH. Get it too high and you'll start getting a calcium ring form around your pool's waterline. So you're getting two longer term problems - high CYA and high CH. The only way to...

I heated ours up to 87 for the children who were visiting us this last week. They left last night. The high was low 90s (lows in low 70s) over the weekend and our pool is currently 83. I'll keep warming it for swimming until my next trip out of town. The highs here are dropping back down to...

I've noticed different pH readings with cold water vs when I bring the water inside and get it up to room temperature. And this chemistry forum indicates that pH declines at higher temperatures: Temperature Dependence of the pH of pure Water Note that the pH of pure water at 10C (50F) is 7.27...

LOL! That's funny because I also ignore the 'turn over the pool twice daily' rule. I've also found it to be overkill, but I wasn't sure of current thinking on how much to turn over pool water. In the OP's case (swimmerpool), his daily run time is likely to be determined by how long he needs...

That's why I suspect Tegguy's bubble problems are just the SWG running. I hadn't noticed the amount of bubbles in my pool either, but that's because I rarely run the SWG at 100% output and low pump speeds. My pump speed has historically been rather high so that the floor jets stir up the water...

Yes; not a problem to swim in the pool with a high TA. Just keep the other pool chemistry as close to balanced as you can. Once you get the TA down and SWG % output set to keep your chlorine level stable, your pool won't require much work other than regularly adding muriatic acid to lower the pH.

You're going to want to put all of your pool details in your signature block. Speed to run your pool and spa ... check your SWG's manual (you didn't list the details on your SWG). For Pentairs, the manual states that the minimum flow is supposed to be a minimum of 25GPM. I don't know what RPM...

You're talking about air bubbles you can see through those plastic covers? Sometimes I've had bubbles there and sometimes I haven't- since day 1 of my system operating. I've never really watched them; their presence has never negatively impacted my pool. Did you turn off your SWG for a period...

I added a second bag of salt to my pool today. I added one a couple of days ago but the salt was still reading a little low. That's the first salt that I've added since the initial salt when the pool was built in Aug 2018. We've got several children visiting right now and are getting a lot of...

This is a great post. Tegguy, be prepared to tweak your SWG % output quite a bit until you've got it dialed in. Even at that, any change in the pool will cause you to change % output. In my case, I live in Las Vegas but my pool has an electric cover on it so the water's usually not exposed to...

Tegguy, as others have stated, your SWG has a 10K hour life. You can run it 100% for 24 hrs = 24 hrs of use 50% for 24 hrs = 12 hrs of use or any other combination of % and run time. It doesn't matter if you use it 100% x 6hrs or 25% x 24 hrs, they're both using up 6 hrs of your SWG's life...

There are more than a few posts out there from people with SWGs that stopped working. After lowering the phosphates in their pools, the SWGs started working again. There are a lot of articles out there about phosphates and SWGs. Here is a nontechnical one: You are being redirected... There...

How many bubbles? How big are the bubbles? I've got a SWG and I can see very tiny bubbles coming out of a return line when the SWG is running. This is because when SWGs are running, bubbles are created in the process (google SWG bubbles if you want to know more). Edit: I'm currently running...

cbj_atx, I'm not in synch with the philosophy that phosphates don't matter. Especially with a SWG. Pentair states that phosphates should be a maximum of 125 in their IC30 salt water generator manual. High phosphate levels interfere with SWGs due to raising the TDS in the water. If you do opt...

I'm seeing a whole lot of 1) lower pH and TA with muriatic acid 2) raise pH with aeration 3) back to step 1 until TA is in normal range in his future. That should take days if not weeks to get the TA down to normal range. rweller994, if you opt to add borates to your pool, I highly recommend...

rweller994, I had a new pool built in Las Vegas back in 2018. Very hard water, but not as hard as yours. I filled my pool with regular tap (non-softened) water. I had the autofill hooked up into the water softener (actually, the first plumber screwed that up and I still had hard water...

AJ76, I don't have a good answer for you as far as the water chemistry, but I've used borax in the past and added it slowly along with some MA in order to try to keep the pH stable. I wouldn't be adding borax with a high pH; I'd bring down the pH to the mid-7s before you start adding borax. In...

James, thanks for the advice. I will try to brush it more often. No guarantees on my part as I've brushed it often in the past with no impact on MA usage. I don't have any plaster issues. I've been monitoring my entire pool fairly closely and know almost every inch of the pool's surface...

No, I don't add baking soda. I haven't had to tweak the TA. I don't check the CSI very often; it's not been an issue. I brush my pool every few weeks. More in summer, less in winter. It's covered and I have never had any algae issues nor any buildup on the sides/bottom of the pool. Would...

I used liquid chlorine in previous pools, but am aware that pucks have a pH of ~3 so on those occasions that I used pucks to keep CYA in proper range, I noticed a decrease in muriatic acid demand. I keep my TA in the 70-80 range and have 40-50 range on borates. My muriatic acid consumption is...

Well, my pool is consuming ~3x more muriatic acid than comparable non-SWG pools I've had in the past. And I've read several articles that indicate a SWG pool consumes more muriatic acid than a comparable non-SWG pool so I'm not alone in this observation. During my first year, I thought it was...

Thanks for the perspective. I haven't had to use the boost mode yet, but it's only because I haven't had any problems with very low chlorine levels. And I expect my IC-40 to be replaced well before it hits 10K hours of use. I switched to a salt water pool so I wouldn't have to worry about...

I do for the most part. I don't run the CYA as high as TFP recommends since I have an autocover and Pentair recommends 30-50, while TFP recommends 70-80. I have it at 50-60 and use a couple of pucks a year to keep it there. I try to keep the FC level at ~5. My job keeps me on the road 3-5 days...

I haven't checked lifetime usage in a few months, but last time I checked, I didn't have any lights illuminate for lifetime usage. With the autocover, I normally run my IC-40 at ~20% and only run the pump a couple of hours a day when not in use. While 2 hours a day sounds low, it keeps the pool...

Thanks; that's what I thought. Since I have a cover on my pool, I don't have the chlorine loss that pools experience during the day. I leave the cover on except when it's in use. However, on those summer days with the cover off, a lot of the pool's chlorine gets consumed. Not enough to turn...