Got the TF-100 and the results....!

Jump to latest Follow Reply
A

andyth

0
Jun 23, 2018
36
Westborough, MA
Finally, the tests are in!
pH - 7.5, CH - 75 to 100 (in between), FC - 1.5 ppm, CC - 2, TC - 3.5, TAC- 1.5, CYA - between 25 to 30 (more to closer to 30 is my guess). CYA test is very subjective. I tried like 5 times pouring the water back and forth. This is the best I can guess. :( Couldn't do the TA, but the pool store results from last night seem decent.

Pool store results from last night:
pH - 7.8 (Added some Muriatic acid to bring this down), CH - 90, FC - 2 ppm, TAC - 2, CYA - 40, TA - 90

I am getting ready to SLAM now as I want to get the pool ready for the weekend, if possible.
Based on the CYA chart, the shock FC needs to be around 12 ish?
Pool Math is telling me for a 27.5K gal pool, to raise the FC from 1.5 to 12 ppm, I need roughly 2.5-gallon jugs of 12.5% LC.

1. Do I dump them all in at once?
2. Measure every 2 hours?
3. Try to get some sleep in tossing/turning in between? :)
4. Clean the walls, filter sometime tomorrow before next dumping chlorine?

Onace again, Thanks for the help
Andy
 
Good job on the test results!

TAC -- I assume that is Total Alkalinity? How do you get 1.5? Not possible. The Pool Store test for it is also impossible with a pH of 7.8. How did you determine how much muriatic acid to use? You need the TA input into PoolMath to determine how much MA to use to lower pH.

Once that is solved, yes, add the LC to get to 12. Test and dose every couple hours. You should be able to get 2 or 3 test/dose cycles tonight. Then start again in the AM.
 
mknauss said:
Good job on the test results!

TAC -- I assume that is Total Alkalinity? How do you get 1.5? Not possible. The Pool Store test for it is also impossible with a pH of 7.8. How did you determine how much muriatic acid to use? You need the TA input into PoolMath to determine how much MA to use to lower pH.

Once that is solved, yes, add the LC to get to 12. Test and dose every couple of hours. You should be able to get 2 or 3 test/dose cycles tonight. Then start again in the AM.
Click to expand...

Sorry that is TC - Total Chlorine as tested by the Taylor 1000 kit that came with TF-100. The color on the block is in between 1 and 2, so I settled for 1.5 ppm.
TA - Total Alkalinity is 90 as tested by the pool store as I couldnt test it.

I used Pool Math and added about 20 oz of MA to lower the pH from 7.8 to about 7.5 ish now. Should I go even lower before starting the SLAM or 7.5 is decent?

Also, the total chlorine test is confusing. Taylor-1000 kit says record the color coding from the block as ppm and this is your Total Chlorine - TC. In my case it is 1.5 ppm.
The TF-100 kit says, add the FC + CC to get the Total Chlorine. 1.5 + 2 comes to about 3.5 in my case. So which one is total chlorine really? Should they both be same. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks
Andy
 
Sorry - TC is meaningless so no need to report that.

It is best if your pH is closer to 7.2 prior to SLAM, if possible.

Take care.
 
You've got a better chlorine tester than the color block that comes with the pH test. Use it. The yellow color matching is really only useful as a sanity check if the powder and drops test gets weird. Play with it later, but don;t depend on it.

You'll be better off if you drop the pH closer to 7.2.

Since you're waiting for the reagent, just put in half the dose you used to get to 7.5. You'll end up close enough. Call your CYA 30 and SLAM to 12 FC.

Dose, brush, beer, test. Repeat. Vacuum somewhere in there, too. You'll lose a lot of chlorine early on and you'll also lose more during the day than at night. Once you get going, don't mess around testing anything but FC until the water is sparkling clear. Then you can check CC and if it's good, run the OCLT.
 
Thanks Mike, Mike and Richard!

1. Added some MA acid (14 oz). Hopefully it drops the pH down to below 7.5.
2. Clean the debris.
3. Added 12.5% LC, 3 gallons.
It is cooking and I am on Beer/Wine break as suggested :)

Thanks guys, much appreciate the help
Andy
 
After cooking overnight here are the results:
1. Initially added 3 gallons of 12.5% LC.(About 9 pm last night). Brought it to about 14 initially after SLAM.
2. Added about 10 oz of 12.5% of LC. (To account for the slight drop. Hard to read the Chlorine color change in the night not with sunlight.)
2. Chlorine level seems to have dropped overnight to about 11. Adding another 12 oz to make it to 14 now.

A couple of questions,
1. With this high level of chlorine, shouldn't the pool water smell very "chloriny" when you handle it. It smells mild chlorine smell.
2. With the MA the pH didn't move "before" I started the SLAM. It didn't budge from 7.5, so started the SLAM with pH 7.5, maybe slightly lower.3.
3. When you measure the chlorine with TF-100 kit, the swirling tube turns clean after soem amount of drops, but then it you wait for few seconds it turns back to ping tinge. Is that the measure of continue swirlig for a while and adding drops until the solution stays clear for a while without turning back to pink tinge? Those are totally different measures and it is confusing the heck out of me.

In any case, I think I have the following measures:
1. pH stays put at 7.5 during the process.
2. CYA was around 30 when I started. Should I measure that too when I measure FC?
3. FC - Last night after initial SLAM 14 (8:30 pm), 12 (1 pm - brought it back to about 13), 11 (9 am - brining it back upto 14)
 
When testing FC the initial point of colorless is your FC. The sample will turn pink again if let sit. Ignore that.

No need to measure CYA again for awhile unless you change out a lot of water volume. If your CYA was above 30, then use 40 for FC determination.

No need to test pH during SLAM. With FC greater than 10 ppm your pH test is invalid.

Your water will only smell 'chloriny' as you say if there is CC in the water. They are the byproduct of FC killing organics. At SLAM level without organics there will be no smell from the water.
 
mknauss said:
When testing FC the initial point of colorless is your FC. The sample will turn pink again if let sit. Ignore that.

No need to measure CYA again for awhile unless you change out a lot of water volume. If your CYA was above 30, then use 40 for FC determination.

No need to test pH during SLAM. With FC greater than 10 ppm your pH test is invalid.

Your water will only smell 'chloriny' as you say if there is CC in the water. They are the byproduct of FC killing organics. At SLAM level without organics there will be no smell from the water.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
Looks like my Chlorine dropped to 11 ppm. Added another 84 oz (per pool math) to make it to 14 ppm.

So, when my CYA is around 30 ish, should I stick strictly to 12 ppm or is it ok to overshoot little more to say 14 ppm. It is going to be very hot here in MA today so I expect the chlorine to dissipate fairly quickly. So planning to keep it little higher than recommended, if that is alright.

BTW, after seeing all the potions I was experimenting with my family has a new nickname for me "Mad Scientist." Compared to the first chocie "Witch of Westboro," this is not bad :)
Andy
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Hey guys,
After about 2 1/2 days of cooking, this is how the pool water looks like. It has turned into blue from a medium green/turquoise. I am assuming all the algae is dead or in the process of dying. The water is still not clear though. Should I keep the SLAM level up until the water is "crystal-clear" or should I let loose and let the chlorine settle and let the pump do the work?

It passes two conditions.
OCLT doesn't seem to show any significant drop in chlorine - about 1 ppmish.
CC is about 0.5 (takes 2 drops. Actually one full drop and slightly more).

But, the water is still not Crystal clear - little cloudy. The pump is running 24x7. See the attached pic.
Thanks
Andy
noname.jpg
 
Looks like I have to start all over again. I had a bunch of friends visiting us yesterday for a party. Their kids wanted to use the pool. Had to bring the chlorine down to a usable level. Starting SLAM back again today :(

1. Had the pool store do the CYA before starting back. They think CYA is about 40 or so. My measure says 25. Not sure which one to take. Should I do a chlorine at 12-14 level or 16+ ppm?
2. My pH is down to 7.2 now.

Guessing it will be same procedure repeat again. I will keep you posted.
Thanks
Andy
 
Usable level of FC is at or below SLAM level.

Use your testing. Add a touch of CYA if you have dropped below 30.
 
mknauss said:
Usable level of FC is at or below SLAM level.

Use your testing. Add a touch of CYA if you have dropped below 30.
Click to expand...

CYA seem to be around 30 or so I didnt add to it.

Second time around I am using Cal-Hypo for a couple of reasons.
1. I have about a dozen Cal-Hypo Leslie Pool Powder Plus (73%) sitting around which needs to be consumed.
2. My CH is on the lower side, so adding some Calcium would be good for me.

I measured the FC to be around 2 ppm before I started the SLAM. According to poolmath I needed to add about 4 lbs (64 oz) of 73% Cal-Hypo to increase it to about 14 ppm. I added 4 lbs at about 9 pm. The pump is running 24x7 now. (Rest of the readings - CH 100, CYA 30 to 35 ish, TA - 80, pH - 7.2). I pre-dissolved the Cal-Hypo in an old chlorine tabs bucket full of water for each bag. 4 bags, 4 buckets of water. Dumped at various places including the middle of the pool - spread across.

I just measured FC again now (around 12 - midnight), but the FC is still only at 5 or maybe 6. I would have expected it to be at 12 or 13 by now ( 3 hours since the SLAM).

What am I missing here? Another silly question, the pump should be running 24x7 during SLAM right? Also, the temp in northeast is extremely hot now ( mid 90s during day, and almost mid 80s in the night as well). Not sure if that has any effect. Something doesn't seem right.

Thanks
Andy
 
Depending on the organically in the pool the FC could be consumed quicker then it’s being dissipated this is why it is better to use liquid for a SLAM save the powder for later.

Get back to 12 and maintain. Don’t go by ish on cya test. Go from one line to the next as it uses a logarithmic scale so in between isn't 25.

Trust your test kit and stop going to the pool store. Your numbers will always be the most accurate.

Cya doesn’t just disappear so unless you have splash out or a lot of rain and overflow the cya levels won’t change very much.

Right now it just takes PoP (pool owner patience)

Also check out the link to adding DE to your sand filter to help clear up the pool.
 
Your CYA is fine. Leave it be and do not chlorinate with anything other than liquid until you're done. Also, don't worry about the Calcium Hardness until you're done either.

The change from green to blue is a good indicator that this process works; we said it would take several days of _continuous_ work.
 
anything other than liquid chlorine brings CYA with it, which is not what you want right now. the dry stuff is shelf-stable; leave it out of this.

do all your FC measuring with the FAS-DPD test (the powder that turns water pink, then drops to return it to clear, swirling between each drop (i love the speedstir, btw)); nothing else will give precise numbers, or any info above about 5ppm.

with liquid, chlorine additions should change the FC level within 30min with the pump running.

i am not a chemist or a doctor, but i'm pretty confident that adding 2-3 gallons of chlorine is fine.

really, i think the key is to start with pH between 7.2 and 7.5 (aim for the 7.2 end of that range), then get the FC up to at least what the CYA/FC table says your shock level should be (aim for a number that assumes your CYA measurement is off by a little -- so since 30CYA->12FC, assume you really have 40CYA and aim for 16FC). run the pump continuously and check the FC every 4 daylight hours, adding liquid chlorine to bring it back up. if the FC is falling fast, especially overnight, that's _good_ because it means it's getting used up _doing_ something. (daylight FC loss is at least partly UV breakdown). don't be too eager to call the SLAM complete. don't run out of liquid chlorine. even once the FC isn't _falling_ fast anymore, keep running the filter and topping off the chlorine until your water is clear. (brush, backwash, clean the filter, etc, as necessary)

also, as the slam page says, high FC makes all the other tests pretty unreliable, which is nice b/c you can simply not think about them while slamming. other than knowing your CYA and setting your pH to 7.2 before starting, they really don't matter.

the goal of the shock is for your water to have nothing organic left in it and very little else other than H2O and some compounds involving Cl, N, O, H, and Na (maybe some B if you're into that)
 
Oh, btw, re: cloudiness -- for pools that need shocking, the SLAM can easily _increase_ the cloudiness at first, since a bunch of wall-hugging algae and goo is being "burnt" into dust. Getting that material out is the filter's job and it can be slow. (Ironically, filters can be finicky re: their "sweet spot" of efficacy -- too dirty and they over-strain your pump, but too clean and the fine silt just passes through, so don't be too vigilant about filter-cleaning while slamming -- as long as your pump pressure isn't high, you can probably wait.)
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply