Test kit in ... let the SLAMing begin!

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ye olde turkey baster... (learned that idea from Kim!)
Tovolo Dripless Baster | Kitchen Tools & Gadgets - House

Fill with some strong bleach solution (like 1%, 10 ml of 12.5% chlorinating liquid in a litre of water), swim down, and squirt it in the drain, or any other hidey holes

Or the CCL kit comes with some handy disposable pipettes. That might work as well.
 
needsajet said:
ye olde turkey baster... (learned that idea from Kim!)
Tovolo Dripless Baster | Kitchen Tools & Gadgets - House

Fill with some strong bleach solution (like 1%, 10 ml of 12.5% chlorinating liquid in a litre of water), swim down, and squirt it in the drain, or any other hidey holes

Or the CCL kit comes with some handy disposable pipettes. That might work as well.
Click to expand...

Good idea. I may even get a hose and funnel and snake it up the pipe from both sides and slide it out whilst pouring chlorine is to try to get it throughout the whole pipe.

SO I just performed the morning portion of the OCLT:

FC 9.5 (tested this twice). Drop of 1 FC from last night.
CC 0.5 - . This to me has been the same for a while now;
Pool crystal clear.

My opinion and I am unsure if it correct, is if it was algae and seeing I am losing 6-7ppm during the day consistently, I would have lost more last night. What are your thoughts?

I am still pouring some chlorine later today in these spare pipes as I think its good maintenance and practice.

Please say this algae is over:confused::(
 
I will say I really think the algae is over. I think your pool is showing you it's "normal". Time will tell. I would keep your FC at the upper end of your range to just be on the safe side since it seems to like to use FC so much.

Keep a close eye on your log. That will show if something tries to start up.

Now sit back and enjoy all of your hard work! :hug:

Kim:kim:
 
Happily agreeing!! You've worked very hard and your equipment is quite capable of keeping the FC up. I know you'll be keeping a close eye on the hollow slats of the pool cover and your other algae prone areas.

Well done, mate. And again, that's one nice looking pool!
 
All,
No words or thanks can really show how appreciative I am of your time and help through this process...however, thank you all for your time.

My target CYA is 70 so my upper und FC is 10, which is where I am at now. I know my SWG is making up the 6.5FC consumption per day at the moment for the 4 hours morning and night at 70%. So really I am at the upper end now.

I will test again tomorrow night and each evening for FC until I have enough info to determine and be comfortable with my FC losses and gains. I will also check on my CYA in a couple of days to ensure I hit the 70 mark and generally trying to maintain a steady water balance.


Im also going to focus on my water circulation and heating system next. (still waiting for my separate pump for the heater to be installed).

Thanks again.
 
I'm really happy to hear that TFPC is working for you :)

This is when we like to mention that TFP needs funds to keep the lights on :) Check out the supporter options (in my signature or the big button at the top). It's a one-time donation, quite modest, and includes a few perks. No pressure; you'll get great advice either way.

That's interesting that you need a separate pump for the heater... maybe another opportunity to save money?
 
needsajet said:
I'm really happy to hear that TFPC is working for you :)

This is when we like to mention that TFP needs funds to keep the lights on :) Check out the supporter options (in my signature or the big button at the top). It's a one-time donation, quite modest, and includes a few perks. No pressure; you'll get great advice either way.

That's interesting that you need a separate pump for the heater... maybe another opportunity to save money?
Click to expand...

It wouldnt feel right if I didnt donate mate...its done.

Re the pool heater, I decided to start a separate topic here before these guys start work and find out I have another issue to deal with:

Seperate pump for heater
 

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I took a look at your other thread, and reading between the lines, I'm interpreting that you're hoping to have a stable pump run time and SWG % setting. So I thought it might be worth mentioning that the SWG % tends to get tweaked through the seasons, because the FC demand varies. Your variation in FC demand may be less because of the cover and your plan to heat year-round, but you'll still get variation caused by the angle and duration of sun hitting the pool, bather load, and organics blowing in.

So for me, during swim season, I'm tweaking the SWG % pretty much weekly or once a fortnight, and in winter maybe only once a month or even two months. Accurate testing tells me the trend, and I give myself a wide enough range that I can accidentally ignore the pool for a week during swim season and know it's OK. I use CYA of 70 ppm and a range of 4 to 8 ppm FC, and only tweak the SWC if it goes outside that range.

My pool needs 5 hours per day of pump run time on low speed to stay clean, so that's my minimum. When I increase the pump run time, then I dial back the SWC % setting at the same time I raise the pump run time. The most common reason to raise pump run time for me is when swimming starts and also when flowers, gum nuts and insects are falling in and I need more skimming.

Assuming one pump to also run the heater, as the heating load increases and the pump needs to run longer, you can dial down the SWC % as part of that normal tweaking. I think you'll find that heater run time (per week) is more stable than you think it will be, varying slowly based on the season, especially with your cover type. You'll mostly be overcoming the average ground and air temp, with the larger variation arising from evaporation almost eliminated by your cover.
 
Thanks Needsajet. I understood most of the above in terms of I assumed I needed to tweak throughout the year. The real issue is that the heat controller will turn the pump on whenever the temperature drops below a specified amount and automatically turn off when the top p out temperature is reached. The reason I prefer this is that I would a consistent temp for the pool pending the season so I can use it more often. SO in summer Heater is generically not on because the temperature are on or above my set values. When it cools down, the heater will turn on and chlorinate and there is no real way of telling how long its been on and the impact on the SWG chlorination. So instead of having a balance on pool chemicals determined by seasonal changes etc I am also trying to anticipate how much the heater is going to turn on and off. Its another variable I am trying to eliminate.
 
Yep, I understand, but just want to reassure you that your testing will tell you the FC trend, and allow adequate time to adjust the SWG % setting.

Exceptions occur, for example a big party or being unable to close the cover. You can either adjust ahead of time, or wait for your next FC test to alert you. Your safe swimming range at 70 ppm CYA is 4 to 28 ppm FC, which leaves lots of room for fluctuation. You'll get a very good feel for it with twice weekly testing, and if you test daily or even every other day, it will be a breeze.
 
Did a test today, FC was 11.5 as rise in 2ppm from Sunday (2 days since my last test. PH was 7.6 up 0.1 from last test (also 2 days ago, this could have been a colour interpretation difference). CC was 0.5, so all seems good.

I did a CYA test and CYA dropped 25, from 55 at last reading. I will test again a few days because that test is really hard to get right so I am not convinced the reading is true.

So I think all is good for now.
 
I muck around with various kits, but also tracked my consumption of reagents. It was $150 for my first year. Could easily be less now that I've learned more! :)

A CCL kit plus one extra bottle of DPD powder and one of pH indicator will do you well for a year. That's $142 plus a bit for shipping. The 2nd year you'll only need around $40 for refills, so that would be under $100 per year for the first 2 years.
 
Stooge007 said:
i just read this thread from start to finish, a great read!

dare i ask buba, how much you've spent on testing so far?

seems like you're testing multiple times on multiple days, just trying to gauge how much worth of test kits that is?
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Hi Stooge007,
You must have abit of free time. The TFP team really help a lot in a very short period of time.
I bought the freshwater kit initially which was around $120. Clear choice has no stock of salt water tests at the moment which would be another $50 on the original kit. I bought another top of chlorine titrating agent and bought a few other bits because a purchase over $50 is free express shipping. I still have plenty of spares to last me another to 10 months I think. With the problem I had it was worth it. I wasted quite few tests just in learning how to use them too. I don't test salt at the moment as I rely on my SWG indicator. I am also testing chlorine frequently enough to detect if a drop in FC is caused by lack of salt I think.
 

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