- May 22, 2010
- 21
Am I glad I found this forum ... I'm tired of having the pool store suck the money from my bank account!!!
Sorry for being long winded here as I will try to bring you up to speed on what has taken place over the last few weeks during this conversion.
I have an Inground Vynil pool at 22500 gal, Hayward sand filter and 1.5hp pump as well as an in line chlorinator for 3" tablets. I am adding/converting to a Hayward Swim Pure SWG.
While trying to save money, I have purchased and installed the system myself but the pool store is guiding (raping) me through the conversion. I had purchased (along with the SWG) Monopersulfate to get rid of the Baquacil (at a starting point of 40ppm) and it did a really good job according to the pool store. And have backwashed numerous times and chemically cleaned the sand. The colors where not that impressive ... mostly a brownish grey that dissapated.
Here's where it gets costly!
I started the conversion 2 1/2 weeks ago, and so far have spent over :? $800 in Bioguard (among others) chemicals. After the first week and a half they had me change my sand stating that the baquacil was still in the filter and needed removed. After the second week I have installed the cell in line and am just trying to get the levels correct before turning the SWG on.
Here are the stats to date:
5-04-10
Baquacil 44
PH 8.1
TA 106
CH 225
Shock, shock, shock, $$$, $$$!!!
5-18-10
CYA 53 (after adding on 5-17 with a level of 22)
Total Chlorine 1.7
FC 0
PH 7.2
TA 103
Total Hardness 267 (probably due to all the calcium based shock, was as high as 299)
5-19-10
CYA 20 (why?, didn't backwash)
TC 3.2
FC 0.6
TA 113
Hardness 285
On the 18th my pool was back to a greenish Marguarita hue and they don't know why. And have since added algecide at their suggestion. I might add that I have been adding 3" trichlor tabs to the chlorinator throughout the conversion.
I have now purchased a Leslies DPD test kit, chlorine bleach, soda ash, baking soda ... and am trying to do this myself (with some guidance of course). Now being the 22nd, I am getting quite different readings with my test kit ... maybe I am doing this wrong, but here goes.
Yesterday AM:
FC 1
TC 8-10 (above the highest reading on my test kit of 5, just guessing.)
PH 7.8
TA 180
Added 2 lbs dichlor, 5 lbs low & slow to lower ph to 7.2 and try to get TA to come down.
Have also added a fountain for aeration.
Last night after adding 2 gallons of bleach:
FC 1
TC 10-12
PH 7.2
TA 160
And lastly this morning:
FC 1
TC 10-12
PH 7.2
TA 160
I plan on taking a water sample to Leslies (not my regular pool store) to get more accurate readings tomorrow.
Please advise, and thanks in advance.
Sorry for being long winded here as I will try to bring you up to speed on what has taken place over the last few weeks during this conversion.
I have an Inground Vynil pool at 22500 gal, Hayward sand filter and 1.5hp pump as well as an in line chlorinator for 3" tablets. I am adding/converting to a Hayward Swim Pure SWG.
While trying to save money, I have purchased and installed the system myself but the pool store is guiding (raping) me through the conversion. I had purchased (along with the SWG) Monopersulfate to get rid of the Baquacil (at a starting point of 40ppm) and it did a really good job according to the pool store. And have backwashed numerous times and chemically cleaned the sand. The colors where not that impressive ... mostly a brownish grey that dissapated.
Here's where it gets costly!
I started the conversion 2 1/2 weeks ago, and so far have spent over :? $800 in Bioguard (among others) chemicals. After the first week and a half they had me change my sand stating that the baquacil was still in the filter and needed removed. After the second week I have installed the cell in line and am just trying to get the levels correct before turning the SWG on.
Here are the stats to date:
5-04-10
Baquacil 44
PH 8.1
TA 106
CH 225
Shock, shock, shock, $$$, $$$!!!
5-18-10
CYA 53 (after adding on 5-17 with a level of 22)
Total Chlorine 1.7
FC 0
PH 7.2
TA 103
Total Hardness 267 (probably due to all the calcium based shock, was as high as 299)
5-19-10
CYA 20 (why?, didn't backwash)
TC 3.2
FC 0.6
TA 113
Hardness 285
On the 18th my pool was back to a greenish Marguarita hue and they don't know why. And have since added algecide at their suggestion. I might add that I have been adding 3" trichlor tabs to the chlorinator throughout the conversion.
I have now purchased a Leslies DPD test kit, chlorine bleach, soda ash, baking soda ... and am trying to do this myself (with some guidance of course). Now being the 22nd, I am getting quite different readings with my test kit ... maybe I am doing this wrong, but here goes.
Yesterday AM:
FC 1
TC 8-10 (above the highest reading on my test kit of 5, just guessing.)
PH 7.8
TA 180
Added 2 lbs dichlor, 5 lbs low & slow to lower ph to 7.2 and try to get TA to come down.
Have also added a fountain for aeration.
Last night after adding 2 gallons of bleach:
FC 1
TC 10-12
PH 7.2
TA 160
And lastly this morning:
FC 1
TC 10-12
PH 7.2
TA 160
I plan on taking a water sample to Leslies (not my regular pool store) to get more accurate readings tomorrow.
Please advise, and thanks in advance.