TF-100 vs. Leslie's Results

[tiny_torpedo]

TF-100 Self-Test
pH 7.8
FC 6.5
CC 0
TC 6.5
CH 350
TA 100
CYA 40
salt 2820 ppm

Leslie's test
pH 7.8
FC 5
TC 5
CH 230
TA 60
CYA 20
Salt 2500 ppm

What would you suggest I do? Water is crystal clear. Lesley's report says to add 11 lbs of "Alkalinity UP"; 10 oz of "Leslie's Chlorine Neutralizer"; 8 lbs of "Leslie's Conditioner"; and 83 lbs of salt. I fee like my self-test with the TF-100 kit is accurate and i want to do this the "TFP" way instead of buying unnecessary products. Thanks for any help! Please let me know if you need additional info.

 

[pooldv]

We always will trust your test results over the pool store and you should too.

Here are the recommended levels for your pool, Pool School - Recommended Levels And more info for saltwater pools here, Pool School - Water Balance for SWGs

I wouldn't do anything except lower your PH to 7.6 when it gets to 8.0. This will slowly lower your TA over time. Your pH will rise will slow down as your TA drops, 60 is usually good for a saltwater pool. You will want to raise your CYA when summer gets here.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Tiny,

There is only one lesson here.. STAY OUT OF THE POOL STORE!!!

You are being "Pool $tored".. this is where they sell you all kinds of things you do not need.

Your numbers look pretty good to me, except for CYA which you will want to get up to about 70 to 80 since you have a SWCG.

You need to look at your salt system and see what it says your salt should be. In my case it's 3400, but yours may be different.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

TF-100 Self-Tes I fee like my self-test with the TF-100 kit is accurate and i want to do this the "TFP" way instead of buying unnecessary products.....

I think you've answered you're own question...

Trust your own testing. Pool store results are notoriously wrong. If you want to do a fun (but time consuming experiment), grab three sample bottles of water all at the same time. Then immediately take them to three different pool stores and try to get all the testing done within 30 to 45 mins. You can then see how much the variation is.

Also, consider what they are trying to sell you -

1. Alkalinity UP - this is nothing more than over-priced baking soda. Your TA is, by these two different measures, anywhere between 60 and 100ppm. There is no reason to increase alkalinity when your TA is in that range.

2. Chlorine Neutralizer - this is typically sodium thiosulfate....totally UNNECESSARY. FC will decrease all y itself without any chemical intervention needed.

3. Leslie's Conditioner - aka, cyanuric acid. Given that it is winter and the water is cold, who cares if your CYA is a little low. Also, the CYA test is the one that pool stores will almost ALWAYS get wrong. When the pool season starts, you can increase your CYA then to TFP recommended levels.

4. Salt - this is tricky because your result is a little low. BUT, how did you measure this? Using the your SWG to tell you what the salinity is, is not a very good measure. Salt test strips are not very accurate either. The Taylor K-1766 salt test is the most accurate. BUT, you only need to add salt if the SWG is telling you it's low and you CONFIRM it's low by another test (the K-1766). Salt cells will almost always report low salt when they are full of scale or if the plates are starting to fail, so it's always best to do further analysis BEFORE adding any additional salt. Like CYA, once you add salt, the only way to get it out is by draining and refilling.

Finally, just stay out of the pool store. Their advice is based on the fact that they need to sell you stuff. And they honestly don't care about your pool as much as you do....

 

[kimkats]

Easy one for me! What they ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ said! LOL

Tiny, TFP's ways are science based as well as daily tested in thousands of pools. We do all of this because we work for SMILES (and pictures of pretty water)!

The Pool $toes does it to make money This week push this up.......opps now push it down..........oh it is green? Buy this and come back in a week to buy more stuff

Kim

 

[pooldv]

More here about pool chems, what they are, what they do and how to add them to your pool, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

 

[tiny_torpedo]

Thanks for everyone's advice! I really appreciate the guidance. I'm going to hold off adding anything at this point. I have some conditioner, but will continue to test weekly and add only if necessary when pool season gets here. My salt cell is brand new, and is running at 50% right now. Should I increase that percentage at all?

 

[kimkats]

I am going to let my teacher come through. Here is a link to tell you what levels you should have:

Pool School - Recommended Levels

Here is another link:

Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule

I have this ^^^ one printed out and tape to the inside of the door I keep my test kit in.

Let me know if this does not help you.

Kim

 

[Jimrahbe]

tiny,

The amount of chlorine that your SWCG produces is dependent on two things.. the % of output you set on the SWCG controller and the length of time you have your pump running.

At this point, I would not change anything, but if you currently have it set to 50% than I suspect as the summer gets here, you are going to have to increase your pump run time or the %... a lot...

Most SWCGs do not self adjust. During the summer, as the pool uses more chlorine, you will have to adjust the amount of chlorine produced by the SWCG, to make up for the amount used by the pool each day. This is not something you need to do all the time, but just when you see that the FC level is trending down..

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.

 

[TexasDeano]

I've been having similar issues. My pool is just a couple of months old so I've chasing my pH and TA a little bit. I'm getting close. pH is 7.2 and TA is 100 as of this morning. I turned my water features on to try and raise the pH. Once it reaches 7.8 I'll put some acid in to lower it again and the TA should come down with it. I keeping doing this until the TA is around 80. Then it will rain and I start all over!

We've already had a few 85+ degree weekends here in North Texas, so I've heated the pool on those weekends. I have a solar cover so when I heat the pool to 85, the cover keeps it nice and warm during the night so I don't have to run my heater at night. In the morning it is 80 or so. But running the heater to heat the pool at the beginning of the weekend means I have to run my pump more than I normally would. So my FC is up around 12. So I've been dialing back my SWG to let it settle back down. I didn't think that running the pump 24 hours while heating would raise my FC. But it makes sense (now).

 

[simonoaks]

Hi,

When I first moved to Florida 3.5 years ago from AZ and decided I would do my own pool, I did the same thing; went to Leslie's and bought all kinds of stuff over about 1 month. My pool was way off so I was getting their free tests literally 3-4 times per week ....and then buying more stuff.

One I found this place and bought the Taylor test kit, I have never looked back.

Your levels are actually pretty good - way better than mine were when I took over from the pool company who looked after my pool before I bought it....they even put in tabs in a floater - I have SWG !

After a SLAM or two and lots of tweaking I went 3 years without any issues at all (just had some algae 2 weeks ago because I let my maintenance slip and did not brush for 6 weeks) , however, another SLAM cured that in a few days.

Here are the levels I have used with my SWG and found them spot on:

FC 6
PH 7.5
TA 80-90
CYA 80-90
CH 350
Salt 3000-3300

In winter I usually do 25% on SWG and run pump for 5 hours per day. In summer 45% and run pump for 7 hours

Two biggest cost saving things I buy that pool stores try and sell you at high prices:
1. Raising FC (particularly for a SLAM) - household bleach from Publix
2. Raising TA - 10bl bag of Baking Soda from COSTCO

As you are just starting out, and your CYA level is still low, it might be worth just running an overnight test , just in case you do need to SLAM as it is WAY easier at lower CYA levels.

 

[kimkats]

Love these posts! Y'all are the best! THANKS for the love!

Kim