First time pool owner

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RuthN

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Aug 2, 2015
66
TX
Hi everyone! I'm so glad I found this forum!

I just oust closed on a house Friday and it has a beautiful pool! The sellers have been maintaining it, so I THINK it's in pretty good shape. I am a first time pool owner and have no clue what I'm doing.

i had the water tested yesterday and the results are: FC: 3 TC: 3. Salt: 3900. CH: 180, CYA: 0, TA:90, pH: 7.6, copper:0, Iron: 0, phosphates: 2500

at the store's recommendation, I bought conditioner and have one knee hi in each skimmer with conditioner. That's all I've done. I put it in yesterday.

The water is clear, and the pool cleaner is running.

im not sure what I need to do at this point. one thing that concerns me is the salt cell chlorinator had lights and numbers on it yesterday...today?....nothing. But it sounds like it's running. What do I know? I'm a rookie.:p
 

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Welcome

IF your Cya was truly 0 then that's a good first step adding conditioner. BUT you'll soon learn that noone here trusts pool store tests especially cya so your next step will be to purchase a recommended test kit and start obtaining your own numbers. Hopefully it wasn't greater than 0 because you are adding more and if cya gets too high the only way to lower it is drain water and replace.

As for your swg the current state of your picture is its idling and not producing chlorine. For every 100 minutes it will produce 85 mins and turn off for 15 minutes based on the 85 setpoint. However an important part of the equation is how often is your pump running because you are only producing chlorine when the pump runs.
 
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I believe the pump is running 24/7. I haven't officially moved in yet. I'm running there every couple of days right now. It's 30 miles from where I currently live.

i have some test strips, but haven't tested since I put in the conditioner. I will do that on Tuesday when I go back down.

ive been reading a lot on here, but I still don't know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to be able to get the pool ready for next weekend when I officially will be there.

The he rest of my numbers seemed to be ok, but I do question the salt level. It seems to be too high at 3900. But I did read on here that being 400ppm over is also ideal.
 
Hello Ruth and welcome! Well, no matter what part of Texas we're in, it's HOT! :sun: So you definitely want accurate test results right away. As noted above, pool stores are notorious for inaccurate, inconsistent testing. This results in you buying or adding things to your water not needed. So here are some options to keep you going:
- http://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html; I have the TF-100 (w/ speed stir) and LOVE IT! Reagents last a good long time too.
- Pool School - Test Kits Compared
- Pool School - Chlorine / CYA Chart print this chart and keep it visible; you will use it almost everyday. It is KEY to balancing your chlorine.
- Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals simply put, this is all you need for your pool
- Pool School - Recommended Levels good reference for all the other items
- Poolmath calculator ; let the TFP calculator do the work for you!

You can order the test kits express and have them quickly. It is important that you ensure two things right now:
1 - PH remains in the mid 7s (for skin and equipment)
2 - FC stays at about 3-5 until you can confirm CYA with a good test kit.

When you receive your test kit, you will also want to verify your CH (hardness) as it appears to be a bit low for your type pool.

So become familiar with the links/pages provided and post some tests from your own kit (FC, CC, CYA, TA, PH, and CH) when you get it. Welcome to TFP!
 
RuthN said:
Thank you! I'll order a test kit tomorrow and go from there!
Click to expand...
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That's what we like to read!

While you wait, study Pool School. Watch the test videos. Check out Extended Test Kit Directions so you're at least familiar with what's in there in case some of your first results seem....bizarre. Take a look at the Encyclopedia so you will recognize things you might find laying around.

Expect to feel like :crazy: It will make more sense when you actually start doing.
 
Ruth!!!!!!!!!!!! HI!!!!!!!!!! We are Sooo glad you found us!

What I see is that you bought a pool with a house LOL Is the any where near as pretty as the pool????

We will get you set up with your pool. One thing at a time. Keep the FC up and it should stay clear until we can get the equipment checked out with you.

To add more pics you can use photobucket or such. It is easy.

How to add pictures to a post (full guide with screenshots))

Kim
 
Kim!!!!!! Hi!!!!!

The house is beautiful too! The sellers' did a great job in keeping the pool maintained. The house is updated also.

THANK YOU for telling me how to post pics. I wanted to post all the pics of equipment and I couldn't! So, I will do that momentarily! YAY!:eek:
 

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UPDATE: my test kit shipped today. I should have it on Thursday. In the meantime, I stopped at the house today to check on the conditioner. I tested the water with a test strip just to see if CYA was reading. It is. I did not add any more conditioner, because I want to get an accurate reading with test kit.

heres a question though. The pool has a brown film on the bottom of it. I'm not sure if it's a film or stains. I have not actually gotten in the pool yet. Any ideas what that might be?

either way, I'm getting in the pool on Saturday. I'm moving in 106 degree weather. I'm going to need it! :D
 
I haven't added anything except conditioner. I just bought the house on Friday. The cleaning robot has been left on so its doing its thing. I cleaned out the skimmers today. They had leaves in them.
 
Hi Ruth and adding my welcome!

I was in pretty much the same boat as you three months ago (has it already been that long?). We bought a house with a pool and fiance and I had NO clue. I read and read and read Pool School and other recommended articles and I like to say that the information got "all mooshed together" in my brain. My advice is to take it in chunks, but keep at it! Trust me, it will all settle and become clear. The wonderful folks here will answer any question and won't make you feel like a dummy. :)

So.. read and ask.. Good luck moving, but that sure is a nice pool for motivation!
 
Oh so you are adding chlorine through an SWG. The problem with swgs is that they are good for maintaining chlorine in an organic free pool but once algae establishes itself the swg cannot produce faster than the algae consumes. You can supplement the swg with liquid bleach but until you get a test kit it's a bit shot in the dark to know how much. I wouldn't turn the swg up...even at 100% it won't be enough and it just prematurely exhausts your cell.
 
robertmee said:
Oh so you are adding chlorine through an SWG. The problem with swgs is that they are good for maintaining chlorine in an organic free pool but once algae establishes itself the swg cannot produce faster than the algae consumes. You can supplement the swg with liquid bleach but until you get a test kit it's a bit shot in the dark to know how much. I wouldn't turn the swg up...even at 100% it won't be enough and it just prematurely exhausts your cell.
Click to expand...


Perfect. I'll wait til I can test on Thursday and see what's going on.
 
Hi all. My test kit will be delivered tomorrow. I went to the house today, because I didn't like the brown film on the bottom of the pool. I don't think it's algae. I think it's dirt. I decided to look at the equipment a little better and noticed the timer. So I went through the settings on it and this is what I found. One timer is set for 7am-11:59 am and the second one is set at 7pm-10pm. I assume this is when the pump is running and also when the cleaner is running?

ive taken more photos of the equipment and the water itself. It's sparkling clear!

[URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rRlBsd0FlQ0l3VG8"]IMG_3517.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
[img] [URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rSE1PS1A5b0FtY28"]IMG_3516.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
[img] [URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rSjhZS21hcGp6elE"]IMG_3519.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
[img] [URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rc094c3BoRTZqUE0"]IMG_3520.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
[img] [URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rQ083T3lWV3BJc2c"]IMG_3523.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
[img] [URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rcmFFVzF1aTZDY2s"]IMG_3525.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
[img] [URL="https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-iMFZX1Dj6rcmVwTm1QX0FvV0U"]IMG_3524.JPG - Google Drive[/URL] [\img]
 

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