First Opening - Help me open my pool please

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Spoolin98

0
Oct 8, 2015
89
Wind Gap, PA
Ok first off I'm not sure exactly how many gallons my pool is.
It's 36 feet long and 18 feet wide, not including the step area and a 2 person seating area. Shallow end is 3 feet, middle is 4 feet, deep is 5 feet. About 12 feet of each depth. From my calculations I'm around 19,400 gallons. Correct me if I'm wrong please.

I got got the cover off, cleaned, dried, folded, and stored. Put all the plugs back in the pump and got the cartridge filters installed. I'm pretty sure I did it right. First cartridge closest to the pool has the skimmer on top and the rear cartridge has a plastic cover over it. I'll post pics then.

Got everything fired up with no issues, no leaks. Ran the pump and vacuumed the stuff off the bottom of the pool, went around a couple of times. Changed the front filter under the skimmer 3 times while vacuuming. Pools pretty clean already. I did not have to fill it, it was full.

I do do not have metal testing of the pool water yet but I will.
Heres my test results:
FC 4.5
CC 0
PH 6.8 or lower, it's slightly lighter than the shade of 6.8
TA 30
CH 50
CYA between 50-60

Im looking for advice as to what to do next?
Looks like I need to get my ph and ta up and my cya down...
any help would be greatly appreciated
I currently have not added any chemicals and the pump is running
 
Is your water cloudy or green? If there is any doubt, especially after winter, yo might want to SLAM or confirm. Increase pH 7.2 with borax or soda ash. Then adjust FC to 24 which is based on your CYA of 60 per the Chlorine/CAY Chart. Then consider performing an overnight (OCLT) test to confirm there is no algae.

Also, you might want to update your signature to show if your "IG" is plaster, vinyl, or fiberglass. Your CH is very low, so I'm assuming you have vinyl, but we don't like to assume. :)
 
Nice! I can clearly see the lower step and some of the shallow end. I would still increase the pH today, then this evening just make sure your FC is around 7. Record it one last time before bed and check again in the morning before the sun hits the water. If you lose no more than 1 ppm of FC overnight, you are good to maintain normal TFP target levels. If you lose more than 1 ppm of FC, then a SLAM would be in order. By the looks of things, it would not take long at all. :) Thanks for updating your signature. :)
 
Texas Splash said:
Is your water cloudy or green? If there is any doubt, especially after winter, yo might want to SLAM or confirm. Increase pH 7.2 with borax or soda ash. Then adjust FC to 24 which is based on your CYA of 60 per the Chlorine/CAY Chart. Then consider performing an overnight (OCLT) test to confirm there is no algae.

Also, you might want to update your signature to show if your "IG" is plaster, vinyl, or fiberglass. Your CH is very low, so I'm assuming you have vinyl, but we don't like to assume. :)
Click to expand...

Water is pretty clear. I was actually updating my signature as you were responding. I thought I had to test for metals first and add something for the metals. Then get ph and ta in line before slamming? I'm new to this that's just what I got from reading.
 
Sure. When you know you have metal in the water, you certainly want it algae-free first. Then you modify your routine by adjusting pH/FC a bit in conjunction with a sequestrant to prevent the metal from precipitating out and trying to stain your pool surfaces. If you don't want to increase FC quite that high tonight for the OCLT, then consider an FC of 3 or 4. If you pass, then you can move-forward with your routine metals treatment. Maybe that will work better for you at this time.
 
I went to Home Depot and the local grocery store to try and find borax to raise my ph and neither had it. I have plans tonight so I'm going to have to put the pool on hold.

I plan on slamming the pool, I just want to make sure everything that needs to be in line is in line before I slam it. I'm just not sure what I need to adjust before I slam it. I plan on getting the ph to 7.5 before I slam, anything else I should adjust first?

I dont know what will work better for me at this time because I have no idea what I am doing haha

On a side note, the entire time I was vacuuming from start up to finish the gauge was reading 8psi. I that normal with a cartridge system? It didn't rise at all when the filter was filthy. I'm going to replace the gauge because the glass is missing and it may be faulty. Is 8psi a good number? Too low too high?
 
Just to make sure I'm doing this right, to get my FC to 7 I have to add 47oz of the 13.3% bleach I have. I just want to verify I'm using this calculator right.

There are also 2 floating things with bleach tabs in them floating around the pool, they were in there all winter. Should I remove those?
 
In preparation for the SLAM, your biggest concerns are:
1 - Adjust pH to 7.2-7.5 (you won't test it again until after the SLAM)
2 - Confirm CYA so you know for sure your proper SLAM FC level (Example - CYA of 30 = FC SLAM of 12)
3 - Have plenty of regular bleach on hand to maintain that FC level consistently

That's all you need aside from a little elbow grease for pool brushing and stuff. As for the gauge, they do go bad. If it never moves it's probably stuck. They have some good ones on the TFTesKits web site if you're interested.
 

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Texas Splash said:
In preparation for the SLAM, your biggest concerns are:
1 - Adjust pH to 7.2-7.5 (you won't test it again until after the SLAM)
2 - Confirm CYA so you know for sure your proper SLAM FC level (Example - CYA of 30 = FC SLAM of 12)
3 - Have plenty of regular bleach on hand to maintain that FC level consistently

That's all you need aside form a little elbow grease for pool brushing and stuff. As for the gauge, they do go bad. If it never moves it's probably stuck. They have some good ones on the TFTesKits web site if you're interested.
Click to expand...

Thats the exact information I was looking for! So basically I'll get my FC to 7 and see if it holds over night. If it drops I'll slam it after getting my ph in line and confirming my CYA
 
Last night before I left for dinner I put in enough bleach to raise the FC to 7, before I went to bed I checked it and it was at 5.5. This morning I checked it again it it was at 5. I'm going to find borax today and get the ph up and then slam the pool.
 
Spoolin98 said:
Just to make sure I'm doing this right, to get my FC to 7 I have to add 47oz of the 13.3% bleach I have. I just want to verify I'm using this calculator right.

There are also 2 floating things with bleach tabs in them floating around the pool, they were in there all winter. Should I remove those?
Click to expand...

Yes! You need to remove the floater. It is adding CYA and you really don't want to add any more. Plus the chlorine it is adding will throw off the testing you will be doing near the end of the SLaM.

You should only have a floater in your pool if you are going to be on an extended vacation and there is nobody to take care of your pool while you are gone.
 
I added two boxes of borax, brought the ph up to right about 7.4-7.5. I did 2 more CYA tests and I'm pretty sure it's more around the 50 range. Just to be safe I added enough liquid to bring the FC to 22. I'll give it a couple hours and check the FC level.
 

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