Just bought a new-to-us house with a pool -- my first experience owning one. 34K vinyl AG (28' round), Hayward sand filter, Hayward Matrix 1.5HP pump, 20 yrs old, TF-100 Kit, city water. TFP forum has given me confidence I can maintain it myself.
Numbers first, then story, then questions:
CYA: 33
TA: 50-60
FC: 0
CH: 50ppm
PH: 7.2
Story:
Paid a guy to help me open it at the end of last week. He basically just took off the cover and helped hook up the hoses (didn't put any chems in). Water level was way low. When we bought the place there was tons of standing water and dirt/leaves on top of the cover. I knew the water needed to be pumped off the top, but I didn't have a pump. My 12 year old son had the idea to siphon the water off the top with a short hose piece I had (to use with a dehumidifier). Worked slick and we siphoned tons of water off over about 24 hours. Pool guy, who got there post-siphoning, was super-surprised at how low the water was after the cover was removed. He thinks there's a leak in the cover and we were siphoning pool water along with what was on top. Refilling it took about 24 hours with a garden hose, from city water, to get it back up to mid-skimmer.
Under the cover the water was pretty clear and clean (just some leaves). But, the cover was dirty and some dirt & leaves spilled in the pool as we were taking it off. So, lots of dirt still in the pool. Haven't gotten the robot working yet, either, so I'm trying to manually vacuum it out. I'm missing a skimmer plate cover, though, I'm i'm hooking into the skimmer through a leaf-catching, which is clogging repeatedly and not suctioning all that well. So, yeah, I have vacuum issues. Skimmer plate is arriving tomorrow from amazon. I realized today I should have been running the pump/filter nonstop until things clear up. I've got a power issue, too -- GFCI outlet at the pump has no power so I'm using an extension cord with a GFCI at the deck. Not a long-term solution but will work until I get the pool cleared up an that outlet reconnected.
Questions:
Should I start Chlorine shock now or should I get all the dirt out first? Should I raise PH first before I start dumping chlorine?
CYA and TA are on the low end, but both within range -- I presume that's A-OK, just test again after I do the FC and PH?
Thanks TFP!!!
Numbers first, then story, then questions:
CYA: 33
TA: 50-60
FC: 0
CH: 50ppm
PH: 7.2
Story:
Paid a guy to help me open it at the end of last week. He basically just took off the cover and helped hook up the hoses (didn't put any chems in). Water level was way low. When we bought the place there was tons of standing water and dirt/leaves on top of the cover. I knew the water needed to be pumped off the top, but I didn't have a pump. My 12 year old son had the idea to siphon the water off the top with a short hose piece I had (to use with a dehumidifier). Worked slick and we siphoned tons of water off over about 24 hours. Pool guy, who got there post-siphoning, was super-surprised at how low the water was after the cover was removed. He thinks there's a leak in the cover and we were siphoning pool water along with what was on top. Refilling it took about 24 hours with a garden hose, from city water, to get it back up to mid-skimmer.
Under the cover the water was pretty clear and clean (just some leaves). But, the cover was dirty and some dirt & leaves spilled in the pool as we were taking it off. So, lots of dirt still in the pool. Haven't gotten the robot working yet, either, so I'm trying to manually vacuum it out. I'm missing a skimmer plate cover, though, I'm i'm hooking into the skimmer through a leaf-catching, which is clogging repeatedly and not suctioning all that well. So, yeah, I have vacuum issues. Skimmer plate is arriving tomorrow from amazon. I realized today I should have been running the pump/filter nonstop until things clear up. I've got a power issue, too -- GFCI outlet at the pump has no power so I'm using an extension cord with a GFCI at the deck. Not a long-term solution but will work until I get the pool cleared up an that outlet reconnected.
Questions:
Should I start Chlorine shock now or should I get all the dirt out first? Should I raise PH first before I start dumping chlorine?
CYA and TA are on the low end, but both within range -- I presume that's A-OK, just test again after I do the FC and PH?
Thanks TFP!!!