Are these numbers Liquidator Ready?

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lightingguy

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LifeTime Supporter
Jun 17, 2010
511
Glendale, CA
So between the years of pool service :roll: and then the 8 months we got "pool stored" we've ended up with the following numbers.
Why would you even sell Cal-Hypo in Southern California? :rant:

FC : 6 - 9
CC : 0
TA : 140 (Working on this, Down from 250 :?
PH : 7.0 - 7.5
CYA : 120
CH : 1050 :shock:

I'm in Southern California so am reluctant to drain.

I;ve seen some indepth discussions on high CYA contributing to WS build up.

I'll be adding Borates soon and can continue to work on TA..... But between the CH and CYA it seems the consensus is my SI would be through the roof. I'm unsure how to calc the SI at the high FC and Ph levels inside LQ.

Chem Geek posted
"80 ppm FC --> pH 8.19 --> SI +0.69" with 50 ppm borates but significantly better CH and CYA numbers.
I can only assume my problematic numbers would put SI well above 2 but have no way to calculate it.

Are there any LQ owners operating successfully at these numbers?

Thanks
 
Re: Can these numbers be made Liquidator Ready?

I have my CYA at 40, and I still seem to get WS. It settles on the bottom of the LQ (like it is supposed to), but I also seem to be seeing it building up on the funnel a bit. I was using Wally World bleach (6%) almost exclusively, but I have started to go to the supply house (what a hassle!) to get the 12.5% stuff to see if there is any change. Nothing is plugged (of course I have the 3/8" upgrade on my LQ though :cool: ) and I am maintaining 5 ppm levels, but I am observing WS and would like to see if I can find the source and avoid it.

Bama Rambler has a post going on WS in the LQ (I have not put my info in yet :oops: ), and I hope that somehow we can figure out what makes it occur. I'm going to keep experimenting on my unit, and I'll post info if I learn anything.
 
Re: Can these numbers be made Liquidator Ready?

Have been considering R/O. I'm gonna need to drain the pool in the next few years anyway though - plaster is toast, main drain was filled due to leak by previous owner, etc.

CYA is definitely in the 120 range via a number of tests. Strips, pool store and TF100 all point towards that number. My black dot disappears right before the 100 line. Have been operating at a higher FC level for a few months now without issue. Considering how far the pool has come from the swamp and pool store chaos we had I'm not in a panic over the numbers though realize they are not optimum.

Interest in LQ is having a less demanding chlorine schedule. I travel quite a bit, but am home at least once a week. Current 24 Hr FC drop is 1.36 ppm with full sun so LQ seemed like good choice for a once a week fill.
 
Re: Can these numbers be made Liquidator Ready?

lightingguy said:
We're up in Glendale/Sunland area. Slightly out of your area Bruce

Thanks for the responses.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I serve a limited area :cool: Now if I could just clone myself and have a couple hundred R/O rigs........

Sounds like you are doing fine, especially if you are planning a replaster in the semi near future. They will obviously need to drain the pool to do that work, so hang in there!

I honestly don't think that you will be able to just do a once a week fill on a LQ (and hold the FC you need with your CYA levels, even with the upgrade!) though. I typically fill mine twice a week to maintain a 5 ppm residual. My pool is about 24,000 gallons, and all my numbers are spot on (thanks to TFP!) and I can't get by with just once a week. I don't want you to be disappointed if you go that route and come home one week with no chlorine in the LQ and a green pool :shock:
 
Bruce,

Thanks for the reply

I'm currently adding approx 2.45 Gal 6% a week to keep my FC levels between 6 and 10. This has worked out pretty consistently for 2 months since we conquered the pond. I'm a little new with the Chemistry but an 8 gal supply and a 3 gal need seemed like enough headroom to be workable. Is there something I'm missing?
 
If you are able to keep up with the amounts you are adding now, then you would be able to keep up with a LQ also. I probably go through about 5 gallons a week in my pool (I could probably increase the CYA in my pool a little bit, but I prefer not to!) with the LQ set at about 3 right now (I do have the upgrade and use the 12.5% chlorine). I would not want to be a part of misleading you on the LQ's ability to keep up if you go that route, so I felt like I needed to voice my concern. Lord knows there is enough misinformation out there (isn't that why we ended up finding this page, to get the facts?!) already!

One of the things that I see on a daily basis is people over selling things (in my area, SWCG are the biggest "lie" I hear. They get pitched as a "set it and forget it", which is untrue, and also a disservice to SWCG. Unfortunately, most pool guys in my area "sell" them this way :evil: If the pool guys would state that they are great units, but do require some attention periodically, then they would be doing a much better service to the units.). I like to tell the truth as to what to expect from anything that I am asked about, and not oversell. That was my biggest concern with you and a LQ, that you get told that it will maintain your pool while you are gone. Again, it sounds like in your case it will, but that is just not true of every pool!
 
Forgot one other point: The LQ suggests not adding more than 4 gallons of chlorine (bleach) at any given time. There is also a white tube indicator of the maximum fill area for the chlorine attached to the end of the black fill funnel. You will not be able to completely fill the LQ to the top of the unit; only about half way.
 

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Sorry, just don't want to get any "nasty-grams", so thought I better clarify: I am not saying SWCG are a "lie". I am saying that the way they are often sold are a lie. People expect way too much out of a SWCG, based solely on what they are told by the sales guy/gal. If they were sold more truthfully, they wouldn't come with the expectations of which they cannot achieve based on these "lies".

Hope that clears things up :oops:
 
Bruce, I interpreted what you said as SWG are sold somewhat like the tab feeders...they appeal to the mindset of 'turn it on and forget it'. Well, truly, no system should be sold that way. Unfortunately, many many pool companies, in order to get the sale and overcome the 'is it hard to maintain' thing, portray the automated systems as the end all be all and turn it on and swim and forget it....I'd venture an unofficial guess that roughly half those who have put in a pool wouldn't have put it in if the pool place told them that we need to test our water daily on some things...we want all the ease and none of the learning curve...sorta like the car that parallel parks itself...while that's a nice feature, but sheesh, isn't in nice to actually KNOW how the process works?

I like the idea of the SWG to make what I'm doing now after 7 seasons of winging just a little less hands on. If I were putting a new pool in, I'd have a SWG, but I would still be monitoring the chemicals in the water rather than just the panel on the wall. As it is, I want to just stick with bleach or LC for now and I don't want to spend a lot on this existing system, so the LQ was the right option for me. I think most of us on this forum 'get it' and need something to cover us for a few days while we are on vacations or weekends away without burdening our families and friends beyond grabbing the mail and paper....
 
Thanks for keeping my expectations in check. I totally appreciate there is no "set it and forget it" solution.

But to get this thread back on track :)

Any LQ users successfully running with CH in the 1000 range? CYA in the 100 Range?

Thanks,
 
If you're successfully maintaining your pool with CH that high a LQ with the 3/8" upgrade might work for you. I fill my LQ with 8 gallons at a time. and it'll last me two to three weeks. If you're using 2½ gallons a week you should be able to go a couple of weeks on a fill.
 
Bama Rambler said:
I fill my LQ with 8 gallons at a time.
Click to expand...

Why do you think they suggest not adding more than 4 gallons at a time?

Getting back on track (sorry lightingguy!)....... I would venture to bet that not many people have CH over 1,000! CYA over 100 I see all the time, but your CH is very high and unusual (at least from what I have seen in the past 15 years!).
 
You nailed it, poolgirl :party: :goodjob: Sometimes I wonder if what I thought I said really came across as what I thought I said! Thanks for having my back!

Don't want to be stepping on anyone's toes :cool:
 
simicrintz said:
You nailed it, poolgirl :party: :goodjob: Sometimes I wonder if what I thought I said really came across as what I thought I said! Thanks for having my back!

Don't want to be stepping on anyone's toes :cool:
Click to expand...
No prob...
Got nothin else to do since the pool is clean and I'm still stalking Matt..errr...UPS.. :mrgreen:
 
Thanks Bama. I'll give it a shot. I really do need something that can hold the pool's hand for 6 days or so.

I'm surprised that 1000 CH is particularly uncommon - at least in the west. The h20 comes out of the tap at 400. Low rainfall, high CH fill water and the bucket of Cal Hypo my wife put in the pool before we took the time to educate ourselves..... It was painfully easy to get here.

Anyways, for $200 it'll be an interesting experiment none the less.
 
CYA at 100 or high presents a number of significant challenges, none of which have anything to do with the Liquidator. If you ever get algae you are going to have a very hard time fighting it.

With your high CH and high TA levels you are very close to having problems with scaling. You need to keep a close eye on your PH and make sure it doesn't go above 7.5.
 
Thanks Jason. We are working the High CH recommendations found on this site with success. We had a large algae issue about 3 months ago and were able to overcome it once finding this board. Thanks by the way - this board is really something.

There was some LQ discussions about high FC levels inside the LQ itself pushing Ph up into the mid 8's thus causing calcium precipitation regardless of overall pool ph. This seemed particularly problematic with high CYA numbers.

Really just curious if anyone has been successful operating LQ for any period of time with aggressive WS precipitation which I am almost assured of having.

One way or the other we'll have a good data set for Bama's questionnaire by the end of summer. :wink:
 

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