Started conversion tonight - unsure if I'm testing properly?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Thanks John & exfrustrated mom for the very helpful advice over the last week! My conversion is likely going slower cuz I'm not home from 9am till 7pm 6 days a week so can only treat it twice a day. The weather has been pretty cool so there hasn't been any interest in getting in the pool anyways...
---

It just "dawned" on me that I don't test the pool until 9am which is about 3.5 hours after sunrise (5:30am here). From 9am til 7pm when I test again I loose about 8ppm through the day which is .8ppm/hour. So would it be reasonable to assume I'm loosing about 2.8ppm of FC from dawn to 9am? Right now at 9:30am I tested the FC at 10.8 so adding in the 2.8ppm that the FC should have dropped from dawn till now that would put the FC about 13.6ppm at 5:30am; still more than 1ppm drop but getting there. So that said, is the overnight drop of 1ppm assuming the measurement is taken at dawn? After rereading frustratedmom's post that says your "done" when the CC level hits .5 I guess it doesn't matter if the FC remains stable overnight as I'll still have to keep adding bleach, right? Btw - the CC this morning is 7.2ppm, so no real change there. PH is about 7.6.

Question on the testing procedure - when I complete the FC test and the water is clear and I walk away for about 5 minutes and come back the water is always a light pink (same with after the CC test). Is this normal, or, when the water appears clear do I have to wait and add more drops to ensure it stays clear? Thanks!
 
Since I have today off and wouldn't be able to do this for another week I decided to have a look at the pump filter and boy was it bad!

[attachment=2:tlls2qt6]before.jpg[/attachment:tlls2qt6]

The photo above is about what the pool skimmer filter looked like 3 or 4 days ago. I'm guessing that nasty filter was affecting how long my conversion was taking as it'd likely take a ton more bleach to actually clean all that baquagoo, if it even could. I probably was supposed to have cleaned it before, right? :? Here it is now..

[attachment=1:tlls2qt6]after.jpg[/attachment:tlls2qt6]

As the pool skimmer filter had remained relatively clean since cleaning it I'm figuring the worst is behind, and, as the sand filter hadn't been traded out with new sand since new 6 years ago I'm figuring it also should be cleaned out, so I did. The photo below shows some of the larger clumps. Note the gray tinted clumps were from sand that had hardened before the conversion had started versus the orange colored baquagoo clumps that hardened up after the conversion (my theory anyways).

[attachment=0:tlls2qt6]sand clumps.jpg[/attachment:tlls2qt6]

I'm hopeful the conversion will complete much quicker now!
 

Attachments

  • before.jpg
    before.jpg
    167.4 KB · Views: 121
  • after.jpg
    after.jpg
    167.7 KB · Views: 121
  • sand clumps.jpg
    sand clumps.jpg
    202.7 KB · Views: 120
Are you saying you replaced the sand? You'll probably have to do it again... the new sand will likely be contaminated again. Replacing the filter media is one of the last steps and it's done AFTER the FC holds overnight.
 
Call me a rebel but I did change the sand out; though it wasn't without reason. I'm figuring there isn't much baquagoo left in the pool at this point as the pool skimmer has remained clean the last 3 or 4 days and the backwash is also staying pretty clear as well. So the primary source of the baquagoo that I've been able to find was in the pump filter and the sand filter. With those cleaned of all the baquagoop it should help the conversion to complete much quicker. When it's done I'll have a look at the pump filter to see if it has any orange on it, if it's clean I would assume the sand will also be clean. I'll keep you posted.
 
I tested Cyanuric Acid and I guess there isn't any in the pool as the water never became cloudy when mixing 7ml of water & 7ml of the test chemical. In reading the conversion instructions it says to add the CYA after the CC is down to .5 so am I correct to assume that at this point the CYA should be low to none? Are these CYA socks an item a pool store would normally sell? Btw - my CC is starting to drop, at 6.5 now. At .5 a day I'll have about 10 more days to go, so hopefully it'll go faster than that.
 
Normally, you add CYA when the overnight FC loss is 1.0 or lower. When the CC level is 0.5 or lower on two consecutive days you are done with the conversion.

When people say to add CYA in a sock, they mean an everyday sock that you wear on your foot (or a stocking or knee-high).
 
After 1 day of cleaning that pump filter and changing the sand the pool is noticably clearer (can now see the bottom of the pool), and, the CC has now dropped to 5.5. Assuming it drops 1ppm a day it should be ready for CYA in about 5 days. So just a regular sock, hehe, ok. I'm guessing the CYA isn't in a liquid form then. Can I just hang the sock off the ladder?

[attachment=0:3venzb9j]pool.jpg[/attachment:3venzb9j]
 

Attachments

  • pool.jpg
    pool.jpg
    54.5 KB · Views: 87

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
The pool is much clearer than just yesterday. I was able to spot my glasses which fell into the pool about a week ago just in back of the ladder. The CC is down to 5ppm. I believe FC loss is now only 1 to 2 overnight but do not know for sure as I'm not up until 9am. My wife's up earlier so if she gets a sample and puts it in the fridge will the results be accurate for testing when I get up?

Photo of the pool at day 10. You can now spot debris piles that were barely visible yesterday.

[attachment=0:259yeb2j]Day10-pool.jpg[/attachment:259yeb2j]
 

Attachments

  • Day10-pool.jpg
    Day10-pool.jpg
    63.1 KB · Views: 75
Melt In The Sun said:
Is your dome cover easily removable? Doing so would help burn off the CCs.
Click to expand...

No, mainly because it's starting to tear where it contacts with the metal so it's approaching it's useful life (5 yr warranty, I'm probably on year 6 now). Taking it off would likely cause a few large rips in the plastic. I'll probably have to get a new one for next year. FC was 13.5 at 8:30am and CC is still at 5. It's probably safe to assume the FC dropped .5 from sunrise to 8:30am when I tested. Due to work I will not be able to purchase any CYA for a few days so I'll continue to maintain FC at 15 until I can buy some. I'll have to round up any leftover Baquacil products and see if I can get a trade-in at the pool store.
 
CC is now down to 3.5 so it's getting there. If I understand this right I can start adding CYA as soon as FC drops 1 or less overnight; in other words CC can still be over .5, right? Also, is muriatic acid and cyanuratic acid the same thing? Is there a brand of CYA or is CYA the same no matter where you get it?
 
No, muriatic and CYA are not the same. CYA can be called just that, or may be called stabilizer or conditioner. At pool stores it will most likely be 100% CYA, at Wal-Mart it's only 94%. Both are fine, and I believe Wal-Mart will have the best price.
 
Walmart carries CYA, wow, that's good, much closer.

Last night I measured FC at 9pm and it was 14 so I brought it up to 15 and this morning I measured FC at 8am (heavy cloud cover) and it was still at 15. The CC is now at 2.5. So it looks like I now need a CYA sock.

I have the Aqua-Trol-RJ (not installed yet). It has the ideal levels of FC to be 1 to 3ppm (this is less than the TFP guide which has FC ideal at 4 to 6ppm; I guess I'll go with the book recommendation unless someone has good reasons to go with the higher FC averages), PH to be between 7.2 to 7.6, CYA to be 60 to 80ppm, TA to be between 80 to 120ppm, CH from 200 to 400 ppm. SI from -.2 to .2. Salt from 2700 to 3400.

My current readings are TA - 140ppm, CH is 160ppm, PH is approx. 7.9. The Pool Calculator says I need to lower PH to 7.2 with 29oz of 31.5% Baume (muriatic acid). Is there a common name or brand for this at one of the big box stores (walmart / Home Depot)? How does one aerate the pool short of jumping in a playing around? Also, is there a recommended brand of salt strip testers that is carried at one of the big box stores, or, possibly at a pool store?
 

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