18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS!

Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

My daughters have found our bed to be MUCH more conferrable than their own this last week. Wouldn't be a problem, if both of them and my wife weren't tossers. Was awake at 3am playing around on Facebook and reading more on this site. Took all that I could not to go out and do a test before the sun came up, but I know the garage door would wake the kids.

Man I hope you're correct about that last .5 as it's a PITA to drive back and forth to their house every morning and evening. Everybody is looking at me like I'm crazy at this point over that last little bit, but I want perfection darn it!
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Leebo said:
As of 1:30pm
FC 9
Cc 1

Is it to early to change the DE or should I wait till I'm 100% finished?
I would probably wait another day or two before changing the DE.

I've also got another set of fingers in the garage that's only seen Baquacil. How should I "get those ready" to use chlorine? I'm sure there's goo in them, that I don't want in the pool. Would soaking them in cleaner mixed with some bleach do some good?
Yes, soak them in a tub with bleach water.

Spent the last hour with a toothbrush in every crack, wrinkle, nook, cranny I can find. Out came greenish/ white each time.
Awesome! I know it was a PITA, but this will help speed up the process. That ladder was a mess!

Die algae Die!
 
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Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

I was just wondering, are you teaching anyone else how to use the test kit and pool calculator? Someone is going to have to know how much bleach to add every day so the pool will stay sparkly and perfect. You wouldn't want all this hard work to be in vain!
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Well now this just stinks....... :(

I have no idea just what type of photo's I should upload now that the pool hit the .5CC level. Now I guess it's time for me to find something else to do with my free time rather than take care of a pool :(

I know I know.......it's not over yet. Levels as of 3pm
FC 6
CC .5 :party: :whoot: :party: :whoot:

I plan on going out once again later tonight and bringing it up to shock level once again, and then if I wake up early enough trying to test it in the morning. I don't see me however being able to try the OCLT till this weekend once I go back to work. I've been losing about 1.5 FC a night without rushing out before the sun comes up, so I'm guessing the test should pass. I plan on staying at shock levels each night till it does however.

Photo time....

Steps day 8


Pool day 8


Funny thing happened as well during the swap. My oldest daughter has always enjoyed "working" with me while at the pool. During the swap she's been running around carrying jugs of bleach, taking leaves out of the pool, and going with me each night as I shock it before bedtime. She's even enjoyed playing with the test kit, although I won't let her use the drops. :) She's now a regular "Riley the science kid" as she calls herself. :D

I guess now that I'm out of pool photo's.....time for these. Some of our youngest will come soon, but not till we can get in with her. 18 month old's who have no fear of anything aren't to be trusted!







 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

WOW leebo, that pool is looking great! Don't give up the ghost yet...finish that baqua off!

As to the OCLT, I find that as long as the sun is off my pool for the evening test and not on my pool yet for the morning test, I can still pass the 1 ppm loss criteria.

Looks like you have a great helper! By the way, who is really doing the work :mrgreen:
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

linen said:
Looks like you have a great helper! By the way, who is really doing the work :mrgreen:

Hey....somebody's gotta supervise! Besides, this way I can make sure that she's always there to help do the tests and add some more bleach when I'm at work. :D

On that note, I missed that question. :( I'm not going to mess around right now showing my in-laws how to do the tests just yet, but I will show my wife. I only work 3 days a week, so most of the week I'm there to do the work anyways. My father-in-law is the one who's done most the pool work in the past. I'm guessing I'll show him the easy chlorine test (K-2006 I think it is with just looking at the colors) and have him put in 8 cups of bleach into the pool every day while I'm at work. It's going to make it easier this year for me to learn the "patterns" of the pool so that next year I can more accurately instruct how much to put in each day. We're closing the pool here in a few weeks anyways, but that's just a sad sad story. :( LOL Maybe by then I'll figure out what to do with all these bleach jugs??
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Leebo said:
Maybe by then I'll figure out what to do with all these bleach jugs??
Don't toss 'em out yet.

Ask your daughter's teacher if she has any use for them. Maybe for a crafts project, or slicing off the neck and using them as unbreakable water jars for watercolor painting. Or as mixing bowls for plaster of paris or paper mache. They don't get many coffee cans these days, everyone's buying coffee in bags now. You'll never know unless you ask!
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

I will defenatly ask Richard. Thanks for the ideas. I figured I'll fill some with water this winter to hold the tarp, but other than that it's time to get creative. I'll have time now that I'm not messing with the pool.

Test as of 8pm
Ph 7.2
Fc 4
Cc .5
Ta 100
Ch 170

Added three jugs, let the filter run for a few and killed it for the night. We've got a seal that's gone bad and we've been dripping water this entire time. Even with these 2 storms we're low on water and with the extra pressure now the filters pushing out, we're thinking of sucking air. The days of 24hour run times are done for now. Sad thing is, the parts to fix the pump are on the table waiting to be put on.

Test after 3 jugs....
Fc 17
Cc .5
 

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Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Day.....I lost count

FC 15.5
Cc 0

Hard to tell the lose however. We've had rain all night and I wasn't able to check till after 9am. Either way I'm pleased.

Now can I start to stabilize. This adding chlorine all the time is getting expensive.
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Congrats on making it Leebo! I knew you were close. Cute kid and great she likes to help...enjoy that as long as you can. Now...how bout that filter seal? :lol:
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

That's fine, it's the seal for the pump. Leaks out a pin-hole on the bottom of the pump. Before I took over the pool my father-in-law would run the pump 24-7 because that's what the pool installer told him 15 years ago. SEVERAL times they let the pump run dry overnight, and I'm sure the seals all need replaced. It's a wonder the thing survived at all. A total rebuild is in store this winter.
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

What an adorable daughter you have!

Congrats on the conversion!!! Awesome job!!! :cheers:

Now look at that sparkling pool and tell me, wasn't it worth every bit of the time and effort it took? I think you will be happy when you uncover the pool next spring too. Mine has been much easier to start up with BBB than it ever was with Baquacrap.

If your daughter's teacher doesn't want the jugs, I would suggest joining your local FreeCycle(TM) group and offering them on there. You would be amazed how fast someone will come load them up and take them away for you. That's how I get rid of mine :lol:
If you're not already a member just go to http://www.freecycle.org and enter your zip code to find the closest group. It beats sending them to the landfill.
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Pool looks awesome, great work!!
Your daughter is adorable, my own little girl also loves helping her dad do pool maintenance so I know how great that is! :goodjob:
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Thank all of you guys for your support and putting up with my several questions. This conversion has showed me about caring for a chlorine pool. The swap really isn't difficult, it's just very time consuming. If any of you are reading this post debating about making a change I suggest to go for it. I would however get the "2-3 day" mindset out of your head however. At first I read that, and had told my in-laws a few days tops....however even working hourly, if there's really any Baquacil in your pool to begin with it will take some extra time. I'd suggest setting at least a week, maybe even two aside with no swimmers for the swap. I've gotta go back and check everything, however I think all I used is listed below.
About 55 182oz Jugs of 6% bleach
2 128oz jugs of 10% sanitizer
1 128oz jug of 12.5% sanitizer
25 pounds of DE
2 pounds of PH Reducer
4 pounds Cyanuric Acid
1 TF-100 Test kit with XL option

In total I want to say the swap ran about $350 or so for a 25,000 gallon pool. We started with Baquacil Shock levels of 0 and Sanitizer levels of 40. If I were to try it again I would highly suggest trying it in the Spring before you open it, however for us that really wasn't an option. We were out of Baquacil Shock, and was starting to get white mold in the pool. For us to finish off the year we would have spent around an additional $200 in Baquacil products just to convert next year. Just didn't make since to us. The TF-100 was a snap to learn, and an amazing product to use. It showed me just what was in the pool at any time, and kept me away from the dreaded pool store. I don't think I'd even start a swap without one. I can easily see where that $88 dollar purchase will save me in the long run with a reduced chlorine usage.

Now for a few finial photo's......
Here's a recap of the pool before we started the swap. Using Baquacil this was as good as it had looked in the last two years.


Here's one from the same angle after the swap....



In closing I'd like to thank all of you once again! There's no WAY I would have been able to achieve these results for as little time and money as I did. So far everybody who's seen the pool can't wait to get in it....and sadly enough I'm looking forward to maintaining it next year.

Before then however........here's a quick before shot of our next project. A sneak preview for all of you guys for following. :D



last ps.....I've got a friend at work who also uses Baquacil. Their VERY interested in the swap, and I maybe going through this again next season! :whoot: :party: :whoot: :party:
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

Heck ya Rick....besides, you should know!

After a week since you've completed, be honest, how much easier is chlorine rather than Baquacil. :)
 
Re: 18 years of Baqua..UPDATE! Swapped 8/15 NOW WITH PHOTOS

I've done nothing but throw a tablet in my skimmer screen every three days or so. Come spring I'll likely set up a salt water system.

I did backwash 2 1/2 inches of rainwater out on Monday. Crazy weather. Water is perfect!
 

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