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Do you know exactly what types of products you've added? I ask only because some algae products add bromine, and bromine added to a chlorine pool makes it a bromine pool. The issue with this is that while CYA stabilizes chlorine and keeps it from breaking down as fast in the UV light from the...

That looks like an Intex pool. I’m not sure about yours but mine came with two black plugs to plug those holes if the tubes weren’t installed. That would allow removal without draining the pool.

I’m not sure about direct burial wire in conduit. NM (romex) can be run in conduit, with some exceptions, but the fill calculation must be done with the width of the cable as the diameter of a circular wire. But NM cannot be used in wet areas, and I don’t know what code says about direct burial...

Yes, the vinyl liner is not conductive, but my Intex pool has 56 metal supports, half vertical, half horizontal. They are all connected by plastic joints, not joined like on a hard-walled permanent pool. According to my electrical inspector, all would have to be connected to the ground bonding...

Permanent pools must be bonded. Essentially all concrete/gunite, metal, equipment, and the ground around the pool must all be connected with a bonding grid of wire. Storable pools such as Intex pools are exempted from this bonding requirement. They have a few other safety requirements for...

Indeed I’ve been following the TFPC method since we got our pool last year. The water has looked like this throughout both swim seasons:

I would disagree on that. My comment on the SWCG for my Intex is because if I add one other than an Intex one, I have to bond my pool, not an easy job on a pool not designed to be bonded. But I have a SWCG on my hot tub. I absolutely, 100% love it. It maintains the FC between uses for me. I've...

Again the best thing would be a SWCG, but with my Intex pool that’s a bit difficult (except for the rather undersized Intex SWCG). Yes you have to account for the CYA added. Somewhat regular testing is needed, as CYA reduces if you backwash, splash out, or otherwise drain the pool. It also...

Many here, including myself, who don’t have a SWCG will use tablets in a floater while on vacation. They are not inherently evil in and of themselves, if the relationship between CYA and FC is known which precludes their use as the sole source of FC then they do serve a purpose still from time...

Huh. I never thought to check Woodman’s. I’ll have to see what they have the next time I’m there.

I’m not sure what Walmart charges for chlorine, but being here in Wisconsin chances are you’re not terribly far from a Menard’s. I buy my chlorine there, $3.99/gallon for 12.5%. Was the sample cloudy at all when you were looking at the dot or did it stay clear the entire time?

The problem is we can’t tell you what to do without knowing your water chemistry. And pool store testing has often been shown to be unreliable based on numerous reports here so we simply don’t trust it as a rule. Also I can’t give you your first experience directly. But what about mine? While...

Have you tested your tap water for FC/CC?

4”? Gross. Do you have a picture? 6 people is a lot in our 450 gallon hot tub, and nobody is wearing sunscreen. 18 people in a 2200 gallon pool all wearing sunscreen to the point you had a massive ball of it in your skimmer? I suspect this was just a massive load on the chlorine, and oils don’t...

A OCLT would be good to do tonight. What’s your CYA level?

Welcome! As stated the SLAM process takes a while. Keep at it, as you can between two jobs, and don’t let off until you meet the three criteria for stopping. It will clear, but it requires patience. Rats…if for some reason you ever have to do this again, a complete drain, cleaning, and refill...

Sounds perhaps more like a dropper issue, like the dropper was plugged. You should not have to squeeze the FC reagent bottle hard.

50 being acceptable on the low end comes from TFP recommended levels, which can be found here: What Are My Ideal Pool Levels? - Trouble Free Pool Additionally the PoolMath app @ajw22 linked in his post above mine also outlines 50 as an acceptable minimum. If you don’t have the app I highly...

I put up my pool in June. Nearly all year it looked like this, no slamming/shocking. In the late fall we got a warm spell and I wasn't watching chlorine and got a tinge of green that chlorine quickly cleared up. Then I overwintered without a cover and while we still had snow on the ground but...

You really want to have your pump running for a while to mix the water before taking measurements, so if you can run your pump without the skimmer then that will work, otherwise wait until you run the pump to mix things up.

Ah, thanks. I'd definitely recommend following the TFPC recommended levels, a lot of smart people worked to come up with them. One thing I'll add is it is my understanding that the "industry standard" guidelines of 80-120 for TA (which I want to emphasize is not TFP recommended level for TA) is...

Last summer I was using roughly 2 gallons of 12.5% liquid chlorine in the peak of summer for my 15,000 gallon Intex above ground pool. Where did you get the 80-100? TFP recommended levels has 50 being fine at the low end, and 60-80 is the ideal range. You were actually smack dab in the middle...

First off, DON'T PANIC. It's really not that bad. Here is me back in November doing the FC/CC test one-handed since my phone was in my other hand. Note it's only 43 seconds long too. So if it can be done one handed in 43 seconds clearly it can't be that hard? I suppose I did cheat, I had the...

If it’s not actively lightning out draining to waste would be an excellent time to vacuum to waste. Also on my Intex when I need to drain from too much rain I at least throw in a good long filter backwash. It’s a “free” backwash since unlike the hot dry periods of summer when backwashing wastes...

I think you forgot a link. ;) There’s some things I own that if they die, I’d buy a replacement eventually. There’s some things I own that if they die I buy a replacement that day. The SpeedStir/Smartstir is one of the latter.

Well, that is unfortunate. As @ajw22 mentioned, you'll have to SLAM, but not a lot of sense in doing that now. For next year, to help avoid this read this article about winterizing an above ground pool. This is my first year with a pool, but I believe the most important thing I've gathered from...

Yes, sorry. "not generally advised" is a poor choice of words. What I meant is if your TA is already low (<100), especially when approaching a TA of 50 that targeting a pH of 7.2 may find you adding acid and/or driving the TA below 50 whereas if you didn't touch it it may sit happily at a pH of...

It's not generally advised to target a pH of 7.2. At a TA of 50, you should find the pH to be fairly stable if you don't try and target such a low pH. Generally I don't add acid till it hits 8, and when I do, I target 7.6 with the acid addition. The only time I target a lower pH is if my TA is...

Absolutely is is reasonable to expect this. Cloudy water is usually a sign of something off chemically. You dipped under the minimum FC. As mknauss said, we round up the CYA to the nearest multiple of ten if the test shows it in-between multiples of ten, so you should target 6-8 and never, ever...

Hmm. I'm pretty certain I've added extra drops on accident to the FC test (after it went clear) and gotten 0 for CC's I know I had. That's why I'm bringing this up. It's not that you're running too close to the FC limit but that you could incorrectly not show CC's that you might have. I guess I...