TFTestkits TF-100 arrived

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missing

missing

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Aug 16, 2014
40
Highland Village, TX
Hello,

PB quit, anyway. I was left with these results.

I have taken over my pool cleaning and chemicals. Purchased the TFTestkits
TF-100. Ran test this morning and these are the results. Looking for a little input on good/bad. FC seems low and CYA seems high, TA high as well.

PH 7.8
FC 2
CC .5
TC 2.5
CH 400
TA 240
CYA 100

I use two, three-inch chlorine pucks per week. The pool is partially shaded from the east and west. Oak trees, and Bradford pear if it makes a difference.
 
missing said:
Hello, Hi backatcha!

PB quit, anyway. I was left with these results.

I have taken over my pool cleaning and chemicals. Purchased the TFTestkits
TF-100. Excellent choice...that's the favorite. Did you get the nifty magnetic stirring device too? It sure helps make testing fast and easy.
Ran test this morning and these are the results. Looking for a little input on good/bad. FC seems low and CYA seems high, TA high as well.

PH 7.8 Ok, but can be lowered a bit to help lower TA
FC 2 Way too low for that CYA...
CC .5 Acceptable
TC 2.5
CH 400 Acceptable
TA 240 Kinda high...when you use some muriatic acid to lower your pH each time, and it will drag the TA down a bit too.
CYA 100 Okiedoke- this is a *problem*... is it really only 100 or could it be higher? We want you to take equal parts pool water and tap water. Then use this as your pool water sample and repeat that CYA test, doubling the results. Because of your long term use of pucks your CYA may be much higher than the test normally shows.

I use two, three-inch chlorine pucks per week. The pool is partially shaded from the east and west. Oak trees, and Bradford pear if it makes a difference.
Click to expand...
Uh oh.. this is adding too much CYA to your pool. Have you considered going to liquid chlorine or fixing that SWG?


For a plaster pool you want to enter all your test results in to PoolMath and see where your CSI is- right now your pool is at great risk of scale build up and that's not so great.

With your high CYA and moderately high CH you should drain some water (at least half, and refill) but until we know exactly what your CYA is it could be more. It can be done in stages if necessary.

Get back to use with a new CYA number via the dilution test please :)

How does your water look? Please add a gallon of plain unscented bleach in there and mix in while we figure out what you want to do next, 'k?


 
Might be time to ditch the Tablets. Even in TX I doubt you'd want to have a CYA level over 50 and might be happier with 40. To get there you'd need to drain half your pool if your CYA level is at 100 now.
IF, if you had the SWCG working then you'd be in that 70-80 range but still would need to drain 20-30% of the water to get there. Any plans to repair or replace it soon ??

Have you read any of the articles on how we manage our pools with bleach ??
Do you have a good test kit like a TF100 or K2006 ??
 
Thank you for the replies, just found out the location. Was not responding, didn't see the response.

- - - Updated - - -

yes just got the TF100 test kit. I figure the high level of CYA is why my pool guy quit with no notice. He went through a couple of guys and couldn't keep help. Now with the chemicals in the shape, they are in the pool. Well anyway, if I need to drain 20-30 % then we just drain and start over to get it to the correct level.

I am workng through the articles, I was more concerned with overdoing the chemicals from lack of experience

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you for the reply, I will get some plain unscented bleach and add tomorrow. Run the test kit again to see what the numbers show up after about 3.8 inches of rain filled the pool up. If I need to drain the pool partially, plan around the next rainstorm is possible. I say plaster, is this the same condition as quartz color finish?

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you for the reply, the tablets seem to be a problem from what I read. I posted another question to the group about the SWG.
 
Hi missing,
in reply to I am workng through the articles, I was more concerned with overdoing the chemicals from lack of experience
we all use pool math to determine how much of something to add when needed. Just enter your pool volume in the top left space, test results in the left hand column and your target level in the right hand column. Easy as pie.

clik on Pool Math at the top of the forum page to get to it.
 

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Ran the CYA extended test.
checked the clarity of the water in the tube with just pool water, no problem, filled to the top could see black dot all the way down.
ran normal CYA test, CYA=100
ran extended test with tap water, CYA=120
pool is very clear in appearance, for whats it worth.
 
Pools with high CYA and relatively low FC levels can stay clear for awhile. It really depends on any number of factors - the amount of debris that falls in the pool, bather load, etc. Typically there is low a level algae outbreak in these pools that isn't seen.

At some point some "event" happens and the algae overwhelm the FC in the pool. Once that occurs it's really difficult to get the pool back because of the high CYA content. Then you end up in circles with algecides and phosphate removers and whatever else.

The recommendations here are based on some very precise science worked out by a dedicated few and the real world experience of thousands of users. High CYA or lack of knowledge of how CYA/FC work is the majority of problems we see here. You can manage a pool with CYA 120 (I did for months when I first found this site) - but it can and does cause problems for many.
 
I agree, not looking to manage a high CYA level. How much water do I need to drain to reduce the CYA to a manageable level? two feet down the wall, then refill with city water. Run the TF-100 test and see where we are at that point in the chemical composition of the pool water. Two feet is based on an average of 4 feet of depth of the pool, so two feet drain should reduce the pool water chemical composition by 50% when city water is used to refill? Or am I off on the calcs?
 
It reduces CYA by 50% but that's all. Other parameters are already in your fill water...i.e. if your fill water is 7.4 pH and your pool water is 7.4 pH it will remain unchanged. There is no CYA in your fill water.
 
I would replace 60% of the water if I was in your shoes. That should get you down to a 50ish CYA and make your FC levels much more manageable.

Can you post a set of numbers from today? And how does your water look?

You'll want to get a little stock of bleach if you haven't already. And it might be prudent to perform an OCLT(Overnight Chlorine Loss Test) to find out if there is anything in there eating up your chlorine.
 
Not to overstate the obvious, so when I drain the pool, drain the water out to the 60% level, then just fill back up with the garden hose. Anything special to consider on the refill. Next stop is to pick up chemicals. Fill the pool to the normal level, then check the chemicals and adjust via the PoolMath.
 
Couple of things....

1. Don't refill from a well. Ask why not if you are

2. Don't be in a hurry to buy chemistry. Chlorine may be all you need. Probably acid, too, but I wouldn't buy it just yet.

3. Your pool will be so-o-o much easier to manage now that your CYA is down. Don't be too discouraged if your CYA tests higher than you are hoping when you get it refilled....that's common.
 
Assuming you have a plaster finished pool (so concrete), you don't have much to worry about draining the pool. Vinyl liners have more problems draining and refilling. The only trouble you could have is if your water table is very high in the area it could lift your pool out of the ground if the weight of the water is taken out of it.
 

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