Thanks, Dave. It is good to know that nothing in particular is causing the CH to go down. CYA may go up some since I am also using Trichlor in addition to bleach. Eversince I got the TF100 test kit, it swings from 35 to 45 (probably operator reading error???). Now that I am doing my own testing, I can monitor it closely. When it gets to 45 and stays there, I will quit the Trichlor. Now that I learned how to use the pool calculator better and watching the CSI, I have an idea what it is telling me. Thanks to all of you.
Help with interpreting CSI
- Thread starter kal2002
- Start date
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kal2002 said:After adding MA yesterday, here are my test results this morning:
pH - 7.3
FC - 2.5
CC - 0
TC - 5
TA - 90
CH - 400
CYA - 35
water temp - 80 degrees
CSI - -0.1
Your TC, FC, CC seem to be off. Are you sure you tested correctly?
Good catch. I always have trouble reading the TC results. I know the math does not work because I tested CC at 0 and FC at 2.5. The top 3 shades of yellow on the tester appear to be about the same to me when I held it up against a white background in front of the window. I still have the test sample water so I looked at it again. I held it up in front of the pc monitor and I can see the different shades of yellow on the tester better. It is really more like 2.4. Now it makes more sense to me. Thanks. Next time I test for TC, I will read the results up against the PC monitor instead.
- Nov 5, 2008
- 2,598
kal2002 said:You guys are so very helpful and I am learning a lot today. Thank you so much.
Yes, MA is strong smelling. This is my first time handling it. Next time I will hold my breath when I do the measuring.
So you are saying that each time I want to lower TA, I should lower the pH to 7.0 or 7.2. After TA drops, increase pH back to the normal range. And I can keep doing this process until I get to the desired TA level?
Another question: can I increase ph by adding borax instead or will this be too many chemicals in one day?
VERY IMPORTANT -- you will allow the pH to rise with aeration or just letting it rise over time, NOT CHEMICALLY.
You can to it fast, moving TA by maybe 10 points at once with dropping to 7.0 and aerating. Or you can do it slow, moving TA by maybe 3 points once or twice a week with normal MA additions that you do whenever the pH gets to 7.8 to bring it down to 7.2 or so.
It just depends on whether you want to mess with it a lot now or a little along the way. I've done it both ways and, eh, slow is fine for me now. If the CSI number on the Pool Calculator says you are in a bad range and correcting TA will fix that, then I'd work it faster. If it is just a matter of being out of the suggested range and having the pH rising, I'd work on it slowly.
Just know that TA is one of the last things you bother to fix.
And I suggest that you keep records in a book of these tests and what you have added. For example the trichlor tabs you added will have some calculated effect on CYA, so make a note that this should per Pool Calculator, add X ppm CYA to pool. It will show up eventually. If you use 5 or 10 or 20 tabs it will accumulate and eventually show on test, this way you won't be surprised.
Also, holding your breath is sort of doable, better to be up wind. Most important is eye protection. You can wipe it off your skin, but you can't get it out of your eye fast enough.
Hi anonapersona, I agree with you on your way of increasing and decreasing ph. If the pool calculator or the experts on this forum say that I need to adjust something fast, I will do it fast. Otherwise, I will do it gradually. That will get me into a routine to check and balance the pool chemistry. I will not increase the pH with chemicals now that I know aeration is a better way and there is no urgency for me to do so. Somehow the pH got to 7.8 on its own and I am sure it will do it again. I don't know how it got there because I did not start doing my own pool chemicals until recently.
I actually do keep track of all my test results and the chemicals that I used to balance the pool chemistry. Especially with the trichlor tablets, I want to know what the CYA will be when they are all dissolved in a week or so.
Regarding MA, I prefer not to have to mess with it and that was why I was thinking of using dry acid. It sounds like it is safer and easier to use.
I actually do keep track of all my test results and the chemicals that I used to balance the pool chemistry. Especially with the trichlor tablets, I want to know what the CYA will be when they are all dissolved in a week or so.
Regarding MA, I prefer not to have to mess with it and that was why I was thinking of using dry acid. It sounds like it is safer and easier to use.
- Nov 5, 2008
- 2,598
let me help you with the TC and FC stuff. The chlorine test in the blue box is always discarded if you have done the much more accurate test with the powder and reagents in the TF-100 kit. So, if you use the blue box and get TC = 5, the the kit says FC = 2.5 and CC = 0; you will record that FC = 2.5, CC = 0, and TC = FC + CC = 2.5, ignoring the blue box result since it is nearly impossible to tell the difference between 2.5 and 5.0 on that visual test.
The time to use the blue box is when your CYA is such that the lower limit for your chlorine is about 3. With this test you can be sure that the water is 3 or above, but you cannot tell how far above that. So, a test will tell you that the pool is OK, but not by how much. If you are adding chems to the pool every other day and your lower limit is 3, that is useful. One day the pool is OK, the next day you do a full test and add chems.
But, the box is of no use if your CYA is such that your lower limit for FC is 4 or 5 or more. The blue box can only tell you you messed up and total chlorine is too low, not by how much it is too low or what to do about it. So the blue box is not used all that much, except for the pH test which is critical as you know.
What makes pH go up or down is somewhat of a mystery to me. I know that in my pool it only goes up when left alone (probably due to a lot of aeration) and that it is influenced to do that by the TA which I lower over time with MA yet is raised over time with high TA fill water. Trichlor tabs lower pH a lot and TA a bit when I use them and I can tell that the tabs are gone when the pH bounces back up.
The time to use the blue box is when your CYA is such that the lower limit for your chlorine is about 3. With this test you can be sure that the water is 3 or above, but you cannot tell how far above that. So, a test will tell you that the pool is OK, but not by how much. If you are adding chems to the pool every other day and your lower limit is 3, that is useful. One day the pool is OK, the next day you do a full test and add chems.
But, the box is of no use if your CYA is such that your lower limit for FC is 4 or 5 or more. The blue box can only tell you you messed up and total chlorine is too low, not by how much it is too low or what to do about it. So the blue box is not used all that much, except for the pH test which is critical as you know.
What makes pH go up or down is somewhat of a mystery to me. I know that in my pool it only goes up when left alone (probably due to a lot of aeration) and that it is influenced to do that by the TA which I lower over time with MA yet is raised over time with high TA fill water. Trichlor tabs lower pH a lot and TA a bit when I use them and I can tell that the tabs are gone when the pH bounces back up.
Thanks for explaining the chlorine test in the blue box. That explains why the math never comes out to what I think the test says.
As far as the pH, I just lowered it 2 days ago and it went back up. I am wondering if the wind has something to do with it. It was not that windy here lately, just a little breeze from the delta in the evenings. But I can see the water being blown around. I am shocking my pool beginning this evening so I had to lower it again before I started the shock process. I expect it to go down since I am using trichlor. We'll see.
As far as the pH, I just lowered it 2 days ago and it went back up. I am wondering if the wind has something to do with it. It was not that windy here lately, just a little breeze from the delta in the evenings. But I can see the water being blown around. I am shocking my pool beginning this evening so I had to lower it again before I started the shock process. I expect it to go down since I am using trichlor. We'll see.
- Nov 5, 2008
- 2,598
Not surprising with the pH, mine goes back to 7.8 eventually even with TA at 60 and it was suggested that I not go below TA 60. However, with TA at 60 if I use trichlor tabs it sits at 7.5, 7.4, and TA drifts downward more.
So, yes, you will lower to 7.2 for shocking but don't expect it to stay there much.
So, yes, you will lower to 7.2 for shocking but don't expect it to stay there much.
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