Any Pool Calculator feature requests for spring 2009?
- Thread starter JasonLion
- Start date
Shoulda read past all the colorful parts...First, thanks for making the calculator available and for keeping it updated.
One useful addition would be to include the effects of borate concentration on dosages required to change pH.
Oh, and an iPhone app would be nice too. :lol:
One useful addition would be to include the effects of borate concentration on dosages required to change pH.
Oh, and an iPhone app would be nice too. :lol:
A version for the iPhone is coming! It is still several weeks away, but I do intend to have it out in time for pool opening this spring (at least in most parts of the northern hemisphere, some people near the equator are open already).
Molson
LifeTime Supporter
Or if not an actual iPhone app, a more mobile-friendly web page would do.
It's manageable as is, but requires a lot of scrolling and resizing.
--paulr
who is pretty sure he didn't miss anything on the web page this time...
It's manageable as is, but requires a lot of scrolling and resizing.
--paulr
who is pretty sure he didn't miss anything on the web page this time...
I have a beta test version available at:
http://www.poolcalculator.com/beta.html
This release adds support for different strengths of muriatic acid and the PH calculations now take the current borate level into account.
Sorry, no Blackberry support this year.
http://www.poolcalculator.com/beta.html
This release adds support for different strengths of muriatic acid and the PH calculations now take the current borate level into account.
Sorry, no Blackberry support this year.
Jason, how about a mobile phone version that is just a listing of your phone number so we can call you to come over and fix our pools! 
(I KNOW he's gonna get me for THIS one!)
(I KNOW he's gonna get me for THIS one!)
Jason,
First off, thanks for such a great product.
The ideal range for each test is a great idea. It would probably be best to:
1) Locate the range right below the test in the first column. Might need to make it slightly wider.
2) Provide a link or drop down to post standard ranges for various typical pool configurations.
3) Allow the ranges to be customizable since you won't be able to cover all the configurations out there and some people operate within customized ranges.
4) Have the data saved in the cookie like gallons.
Another idea, but it might be too hard to implement, is to provide an order of adjustment for the person that has to adjust several aspects of their chemistry. For example: FC is low, PH is high, TA is low, CH is in the band, CYA is high, Borate is N/A, and Salt is low. The newbie might start at the top and work his/her way down the list and waste chemicals added when they try to lower CYA. I know the practical person would figure out a good order to adjust the chemistry, but the poolcalculator is so good now that you are just polishing the cannon ball at this point - and this could possibly help some people out there.
/z
First off, thanks for such a great product.
The ideal range for each test is a great idea. It would probably be best to:
1) Locate the range right below the test in the first column. Might need to make it slightly wider.
2) Provide a link or drop down to post standard ranges for various typical pool configurations.
3) Allow the ranges to be customizable since you won't be able to cover all the configurations out there and some people operate within customized ranges.
4) Have the data saved in the cookie like gallons.
Another idea, but it might be too hard to implement, is to provide an order of adjustment for the person that has to adjust several aspects of their chemistry. For example: FC is low, PH is high, TA is low, CH is in the band, CYA is high, Borate is N/A, and Salt is low. The newbie might start at the top and work his/her way down the list and waste chemicals added when they try to lower CYA. I know the practical person would figure out a good order to adjust the chemistry, but the poolcalculator is so good now that you are just polishing the cannon ball at this point - and this could possibly help some people out there.
/z
Kudos as well on the calculator!!!
Regarding suggestion of Beta.
1. Suggested Goal Levels should be first, especially for Newbies
2. Good Idea about pulling in data for ranges based on whose source you are quoting, BUT, I think it just adds
confusion for a newbie. I would just take that line out and go with TFP ranges. You could give a link at the bottom or something for a pop-up for "other" ranges.
3. In case someone has a really high CYA I would not even give FC recomendations until they gave you their current CYA level. Maybe even dont put the default "40" in.
4. Should there even be any "now" values by default??? Perhaps a cookie after the fact, but not out of the gate.
5. I still stand behind suggestion for FC to list quantity needed in relation to the jugsize you pick, then the precise numbers for those that want to measure down to the nearest ounce.
BTW again, great tool!!!
Regarding suggestion of Beta.
1. Suggested Goal Levels should be first, especially for Newbies
2. Good Idea about pulling in data for ranges based on whose source you are quoting, BUT, I think it just adds
confusion for a newbie. I would just take that line out and go with TFP ranges. You could give a link at the bottom or something for a pop-up for "other" ranges.
3. In case someone has a really high CYA I would not even give FC recomendations until they gave you their current CYA level. Maybe even dont put the default "40" in.
4. Should there even be any "now" values by default??? Perhaps a cookie after the fact, but not out of the gate.
5. I still stand behind suggestion for FC to list quantity needed in relation to the jugsize you pick, then the precise numbers for those that want to measure down to the nearest ounce.
BTW again, great tool!!!
SCCS
0
I did not understand what it meant by "Goal Not Set" but after scrolling down further I found it. I really like it. Also Thanks for the pages on CYA and Chlorine levels, some information I did not have before. :-D
The "Effects of adding chemicals" section does not respond well to fractional ounces.
Effects of adding chemicals
Adding .5 oz of trichlor will
raise FC by NaN, raise CYA by NaN, lower PH by NaN, and raise Salt by NaN.
If I put in "0.5" then it reports
raise FC by 0, raise CYA by 0, lower PH by 0, and raise Salt by 0.
apparently it's ignoring the ".5" part of the input.
(I was trying to see how trichlor would work in the spa, as I've already invested in the non-returnable bucket of tabs. I can figure it out by entering 1 oz and scaling down in my head. Not sure the input-parsing bug is is worth "fixing" but thought you should know.)
--paulr
Effects of adding chemicals
Adding .5 oz of trichlor will
raise FC by NaN, raise CYA by NaN, lower PH by NaN, and raise Salt by NaN.
If I put in "0.5" then it reports
raise FC by 0, raise CYA by 0, lower PH by 0, and raise Salt by 0.
apparently it's ignoring the ".5" part of the input.
(I was trying to see how trichlor would work in the spa, as I've already invested in the non-returnable bucket of tabs. I can figure it out by entering 1 oz and scaling down in my head. Not sure the input-parsing bug is is worth "fixing" but thought you should know.)
--paulr
PaulR, good catch. It is indeed a minor issue, but simple enough to fix. It is fixed now in the beta version.
The new features have now been released and are available in the regular version of my Pool Calculator.
New in this version:
Takes the current borate level into account in PH calculations.
Added suggested goal levels.
Added a popup that allows you to specify your muriatic acid strength.
Fixed a problem with various fields not accepting values that started with a period.
Added some rounding of quantities show in the mouse over detail field. Quantities are shown more succinctly as long as that can be done within 5% of the exact value.
New in this version:
Takes the current borate level into account in PH calculations.
Added suggested goal levels.
Added a popup that allows you to specify your muriatic acid strength.
Fixed a problem with various fields not accepting values that started with a period.
Added some rounding of quantities show in the mouse over detail field. Quantities are shown more succinctly as long as that can be done within 5% of the exact value.
jason - looks great. I did notice an issue with field to field tabbing....seems to skip rows.
I just set up my suggested goal levels for TroubleFreePool.com's recommendations for a SWG and a plaster surface. It says the goal for TA is 60 to 80. If I go to the Pool School's "Water Balance for SWGs" it says the goal for TA is 70 to 90. Not a big difference, but whom do I believe?
Thanks for a great tool.
Thanks for a great tool.
I am going by the recommendations in the Recommended Levels article at Pool School.
As for which one to believe, that would be both. Recommended levels are suggestions of good starting places. They are generic and don't take into account all of the specific details of your particular pool. In this particular case, TA levels anywhere from 60 to 90 are all fairly good places to start. In your particular pool, the ideal number might be anywhere in that range, or perhaps even a little lower or a little higher than that range.
The difference between the two articles mostly has to do with when they were written. The Water Balance for SWGs article is older, and the Recommended Levels article is a little newer. Over time we have had more people having problems with PH drifting up and we have gotten more experience with using lower TA levels to reduce the amount of PH drift. PH drift has proven to be a fairly common problem and lower TA levels have proven to be a good way to reduce PH drift, so over time we have lowered the recommended TA level a little to take those two facts into account.
As for which one to believe, that would be both. Recommended levels are suggestions of good starting places. They are generic and don't take into account all of the specific details of your particular pool. In this particular case, TA levels anywhere from 60 to 90 are all fairly good places to start. In your particular pool, the ideal number might be anywhere in that range, or perhaps even a little lower or a little higher than that range.
The difference between the two articles mostly has to do with when they were written. The Water Balance for SWGs article is older, and the Recommended Levels article is a little newer. Over time we have had more people having problems with PH drifting up and we have gotten more experience with using lower TA levels to reduce the amount of PH drift. PH drift has proven to be a fairly common problem and lower TA levels have proven to be a good way to reduce PH drift, so over time we have lowered the recommended TA level a little to take those two facts into account.
I have a new beta version with support for raising borates using boric acid:
http://www.poolcalculator.com/beta.html
http://www.poolcalculator.com/beta.html
The density of ProTeam Supreme Plus which is mostly Boric Acid is 1.66 g/ml (what I currently have in my spreadsheet) according to their MSDS, but that doesn't make much sense given solid Boric Acid density being 1.435 g/ml and solid Borax being 1.73 g/ml. This chart seems to indicate that Boric Acid density is 0.86 g/ml while this link translates to 0.88 g/ml. The first link also list Borax as 0.96 g/ml which is close to the 1 g/ml that I measured for 20 Mule Team Borax. On the other hand, they list sodium bicarbonate density as 0.8 g/ml while I measured it as 1.2 g/ml.
If someone can measure the weight of a measured volume of Boric Acid (after tapping the container), then that would be great. In the meantime, I've changed the density in my spreadsheet for Boric Acid to 0.88 g/ml. This means that for 50 ppm Borates in 10,000 gallons, it takes 382 ounces weight or 415 ounces volume of Boric Acid.
Richard
If someone can measure the weight of a measured volume of Boric Acid (after tapping the container), then that would be great. In the meantime, I've changed the density in my spreadsheet for Boric Acid to 0.88 g/ml. This means that for 50 ppm Borates in 10,000 gallons, it takes 382 ounces weight or 415 ounces volume of Boric Acid.
Richard