First Time Tester

[Klundell]

Hello! Today I used my TK 2006 and I feel a little over whelmed. I was hoping someone could help me review my numbers.
CYA less than 40 ... my kit has 40 as the last number but it went beyond that.
FC 4
CC 0.5
Ph 7.4
TA 160

This will be my second summer with this pool. We bought the house in July of last year. (Chandler, AZ) Last summer I used Leslies and fougt algae all summer long, not to mention hundreds of dollars down the drain.
We just emptied the pool and bleached and scrubbed the pool before refilling it. This was is new as of this last sunday (4 days ago), I have added chlorine that I bought in powder form from Leslies, it has 3 jumbo tabs in the floater and yesterday I added conditioner in powder form that I bought from Walmart.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Krystal

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!

We need to know how much stabilizer you have added, how many pucks, and what is and how much of the chlorine powder you have added.

The pucks and powder chlorine will not be used for daily maintenance. Are you ready and able to add liquid chlorine DAILY starting in the next month?

Your numbers right now are OK. TA is high but that will come done in time. You should test your CH also.

Let us know the information above and we can help out.

Take care.

 

[Klundell]

Chlorbrite 4 cups day 1, 2 more cups day 2
3 in Jumbo Tabs Chlorine with Stabilizer
4 lbs Clorox Brand stabilizer

CH is 200

Before I found this site, I bought a 25 lb bucket of Chlor Brite so I would like to finish using that, but not if it will be at the expense of the pool chemistry. The tabs are almost gone. I am willing to use liquid chlorine and can do it every day. So far no one is swimming in it.

Thank for helping

 

[mknauss]

OK -- so you can use PoolMath, Effects of Adding Chemicals, to see how much Cyanuric Acid you have already added to the pool.

Chlorbrite is DiChlor - 6 cups - so about 48 oz. That has added 9 ppm CYA to your pool.
Tabs - 3 - 8 oz has added 10 ppm of CYA to your pool.
Stabilizer - 64 oz - has added 24 ppm of CYA to your pool.

So that equals about 40 ppm. No more needs to be added at this time if you are using liquid chlorine.

In fact, from the sounds of the pool before you drained, it would be best to do a quick SLAM Process.

You can use the ChlorBrite (dichlor) as you find your CYA lower at your monthly testing. It does degrade a bit. So it will not go to waste.

Only use liquid chlorine for now. Need to monitor every couple days and add as needed. Around March 1 your FC consumption will increase and you will need to start going to daily additions.

Keep asking questions.

Take care.

- - - Updated - - -

Also - did you get the Taylor K2006 C? Or do you have the little kit with the small bottles?

If the small one, you will need to get refills very soon for your FAS-DPD and CYA. I suggest using TFTestkits.net for refills.

- - - Updated - - -

Follow [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA] from now on.

 

[Teald024]

Hello and Welcome to TFP! You will be glad you found your way here. We can help you get rid of the final algae and prevent it from coming back... forever.

I would like to point you over to Pool School. I can't stress enough the benefit of taking some time to read through it. There is a lot of great information in the articles. It may seem overwhelming at first, but read through it and ask any questions you may have. Here are some useful links within this site.
Pool School
ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Basic Pool Care Schedule
Chlorine / CYA Chart
Recomended Levels
Defeating Algae

 

[Klundell]

I bought the small kit. I thought the bottles were tiny compared to how much product they were asking me to mix in! I will purchase the bigger ones. I felt like I may have gotten in over my head when I first tried to test the water, but with your help I feel like I can pull this off.

I have read, and printed out the articles on pool testing, the testing levels, and I used the Pool Math calculator (which to be honest I am not really sure I understand.) I think I have a little fear of that green color creeping back into my pool so I am triple checking everything with the site and then with you all.

Should I be testing the chorine and Ph daily? Or is every other day ok?

I do have one more question about pump run time. We have the Jacuzzi J- VSP250 variable speed pump. Since its cold I have it running on low for only 4 hours a day. The previous owners had it run for a total of 12 hours during the hot season, 3 hours on high, 9 hours on low. (This was set up for them by the Leslies pool guy). How long should I be running the pump? High/Low? Combo?
It also has a creeper vacuum, or we can run just the skimmer. Which do you suggest?

Lots of questions- but I am determined to get this pool thing right this year.
Thanks again for your help!

 

[Texas Splash]

Should I be testing the chorine and Ph daily? Or is every other day ok?

You'll check the chlorine almost every day. The only time I get lazy on FC testing is in the winter when the water is so cold it doesn't move much. So use your good judgement there based on how quickly it drops this time of year. PH gets tests perhaps every other day or so. Depends on how quickly it rises in your pool. You'll see a pattern over time and will base your intervals off of that.

How long should I be running the pump? High/Low? Combo?

This is also pool-dependent. Every pool is different based on local conditions. With no salt water generator, your biggest concern is water movement as needed to clear the surface of debris that's fallen onto the water. You never get it all, but you hope to get a lot. I personally chose to let the skimmer try to catch most stuff as opposed to having a vacuum take-up my skimmer function. I vacuum once a week or two as needed, but that's just me. If you had a dedicated suction port for the vacuum, you could use that then kick the RPMs higher just for that purpose, but you may not have such a dedicated port. Some VSP owners also kick the RPMs up once a day for a short time just to purge any air that may be trapped in the system or in the pump basket from running low. Lastly, we typically increase the pump speed when adding chemicals to help mix everything around.

As long as everything is working good now on 4 hours time, I'd leave it alone. As water temps and activity begin to increase, watch the condition of your water and debris. You can always bump it up more later as needed.

 

[Teald024]

I have read, and printed out the articles on pool testing, the testing levels, and I used the Pool Math calculator (which to be honest I am not really sure I understand.) I think I have a little fear of that green color creeping back into my pool so I am triple checking everything with the site and then with you all.

Lots of questions- but I am determined to get this pool thing right this year.
Thanks again for your help!

You can definitely pull this off! Once you learn it, the process is not difficult at all.

As far as Pool Math goes, put your numbers in there and check your results. If you have any doubts, feel free to post the numbers that you got and then post what you intend to do. We can then comment on that and advise on how to proceed.

When you post, give your numbers like this:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Leave these headings and just add your numbers beside them. Tell us how recent the numbers are. You don’t have to do every test every time(like CYA, CH, TA). Those don’t change much but we still like to see them from your most recent test. Just indicate when you made the test. Using a logbook or TFP app is a great tool to keep track of your numbers over time and you’ll start to see a pattern develop.

Ask all questions you have, we’ve all been in your shoes at one point. You are learning this at a great time when the water’s cold and not prone to algae outbreak’s. You’ve given yourself plenty of time to learn the process before the spring time comes. By then you will know just what to do to prevent that green monster from ever showing it’s face.

 

[Klundell]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I didn't know about the app!! Downloading now.

 

[Klundell]

Another question! I came home and tested my Chorine and Ph, then swept my pool. How will I know if I have algae starting? There is a light colored “dust” when I sweep, and after sweeping the whole pool, it looks cloudy. But white cloudy, not so much dark or green. Please please don’t tell me I have algae again. My chemicals are all in check!
Todays numbers
FC 3
CC 0
Ph 7.6

Yesterday
FC 4
CC 0.5
Ph 7.4
TA 160
CYA 40
CH 200

 

[Texas Splash]

How will I know if I have algae starting?

Krys, here are some typical ways we see algae ....
- FC disappears much quicker than normal; in the warmer seasons a loss of more than 4 ppm in 24 hrs is concerning.
- You fail an overnight FC loss test. Pool School - Perform the Overnight FC Loss Test (OCLT)
- You visually see algae such as cloudiness in the water, green on the floor/wall, plumes of green dust when brushing, and/or a PSI increase in the filter gauge

Your test numbers look pretty good, although your FC is on the low end. TA is elevated but not an immediate concern. FC is the big one. If I were you, I'd consider increasing the FC to about 10 this evening and do an overnight loss test as noted on the link above. You don't have to have such an elevated FC level to perform the OCLT, but in your case the elevated FC might help the water if it's struggling. That should give you a good idea of how to proceed.

 

[Klundell]

Ok, I will do that test. I added more liquid chlorine based on the app with a goal of 5, so I will add more. I will wait 30 min then follow the test direction. Thank you! Wish me luck

 

[Klundell]

Good Morning!
I don’t think I have algae! Last night I tested and FC was 3.5, this morning it was 4. Is that possible for it to go up over night? But the good thing is that it didnt go down if I understand correctly. CC was 0 as well.

 

[Texas Splash]

Is that possible for it to go up over night?

ha ha. I wish! No, that was probably a testing variance of some type. Now my only concern would be what you are seeing in the water itself - cloudiness and some light-colored dust. I would monitor that, your filter pressure gauge for a spike in pressure, and any excessive FC drop. Remember, when we look at the Chlorine/CYA Chart, your FC target zone is 5-7 (based on a CYA of 40) and never below 3. So I'd keep it around 6-7 for a while just to see if it helps with the water clarity. But again, if the clarity doesn't get better or you see any of the other items I mentioned, you might want to perform another overnight test later. Good thing is now you have a a proper test kit and can check anytime you need to. That's the way to do it.

 

[mknauss]

If your FC test showed more this AM than last night then your pool was not well mixed after your last Liquid Chlorine addition last night.

Did you run your pump all night? When doing a OCLT that is important.

Take care.

 

[Klundell]

Nope, I didn't run the pump all night. I will keep an eye on the pool, increase the FC, keep testing and if the cloudy doesn't go away I will do another overnight test this weekend and run the pump all night.
For future knowledge, when I post- should I keep posting and asking questions on this thread? Or make a new one? Thanks for all the help. I feel more confident already!

 

[Texas Splash]

For future knowledge, when I post- should I keep posting and asking questions on this thread? Or make a new one?

As long as we're still on the same general topic, you can keep it all together here on this thread.

- - - Updated - - -

Say, I figured I better make sure because of your increase of FC overnight ... you aren't still using that tab feeder are you? For the OCLT tonight, you don't want anything else adding chlorine to the water. Only your regular bleach that you will use to increase FC and test about 30 minutes after adding and before bed.

 

[Klundell]

No I took the tab feeder out of the pool. What I did was when I came home I tested the water and it was FC 3 so I added the liquid bleach based on what the app told me to add, but only had about 1/2 of what it asked for and turned the pump on. Then I started sweeping, saw the dust, posted on here about it, went to Walmart and bought more bleach, added the rest of the bleach, waited 30 min tested the water, turned the pump off and went to bed. This morning I tested the water without turning the pump on.
Haha does that make any sense

 

[Texas Splash]

Haha does that make any sense?

Unfortunately - yes. That shows you my state of mind reading too many threads. ha. Okay, no problem then. Press-on with another OCLT this evening and we'll see how things look tomorrow. If for some reason you can't leave the pump on all night or something odd happens, just make sure the bleach has a chance to mix really well 30-60 minutes before bed after the last dosage, then another 30-60 minutes in the morning before re-testing. Just leaving the pump on all night like Marty noted is sometimes just as easy. I like the easy way myself, that's how I do it.

 

[mknauss]

It does.

It is better to run the pump all night. It is critical to run the pump for 30 minutes or so in the AM prior to taking your water sample for the AM test.

Good luck.