New Pool with SWG

[lovemy3azboys]

Just filled our new AGP Sunday night, got the SWG working & tested the water yesterday afternoon with the cover on using the Taylor Basic kit & the FC was at 2. Had it covered until this morning when I ran the Intex AWG 6 hrs, which would have shutdown 2.5 hrs ago. Now the test is showing completely clear, no FC. We never added CYA, thought we'd try just going by the directions on the SWG of running the SWG longer without CYA. I now see that's not possible. So now what do I do? Run the SWG another 6 hrs & add CYA now? Afraid that might not be enough...

 

[JasonLion]

You need to manually add chlorine each evening until you can get the CYA level up and all of your other levels balanced.

 

[lovemy3azboys]

You need to manually add chlorine each evening until you can get the CYA level up and all of your other levels balanced.

My FC was at 2 yesterday, which I thought was the lower end of acceptable, it burned off due to no CYA, I believe. Cant I run the SWG another 6 hours to get it back to 2 & add the 0.6 CYA as recommened by Intex manual? I dont understand why I need to add chlorine & I dont know how much or what kind. I never learned about chlorine since we were buying a swg.

The PH was good yesterday & when I tested it half hour ago it seemed a little high. I just checked it again & it's below the 6.8 listed on the test. Can that be?

What other levels do I need to check & balance? Thanks for your help, I'm so confused...

 

[New2Me]

I never learned about chlorine since we were buying a swg

People leave the "c" out all of the time! What you bought is really a "swcg" which stands for Salt Water Chlorine Generator, and you really need to understand how chlorine works to keep your pool safe, whether you generate it yourself, or pour it out of a bleach bottle. Pool Schoolhttp://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/ is where I learned about it, and I highly recommend it for you, too!
You'll learn to really love that little swg after you get to know it!
Good Luck, best wishes and have fun swimming!

 

[Bama Rambler]

The advice above is very good. Especially the part about Pool School. You need to learn how to maintain your pool so you'll know when it's sanitary.

 

[zea3]

Anytime you have 0 FC in the pool and are using a SWCG, you need to add liquid chlorine to bring the FC level to the top of the recommended range until the SWCG is able to maintain your desired FC. This will save unnecessary wear and tear on the SWCG and you won't risk the FC dropping to 0 and getting the beginnings of an algae bloom.

Liquid chlorine can be 6% plain laundry bleach, or the stronger concentrations of 10-12% sold in pool stores. Use the pool calculator to tell you how much to add.

 

[lovemy3azboys]

Added liquid CYA last night & this am, it's at 50 right now. After running swg this am it was still only 1 so now I completely understand why I need liquid chlorine. I just calculated & added liquid chlorine, I will check again in a few.

Question: I bought the TF testkit which came with a Taylor Basic test kit, does this test FC or total chlorine? If neither of these tests FC what do I need to test the FC?

I've read much of the pool school & .I think I figured out I need the FC to be 4-5 on our AGP. But I read conflicting info on the CYA, once I get the FC to 4-5 where do I want my CYA?

Thanks so much for your patience with me...

 

[dmanb2b]

You'll want to test FC and CC with the Fas-dpd test.

Chlorine Drop test - If you need to......1) measure Chlorine levels accurately or 2) higher than 5ppm or 3) test for Combined Chloramines…perform the Chlorine Drop Test. (FAS/DPD)
1. Rinse and fill the “Chlorine only” graduated cylinder to the 10mL mark
2. Add ONE heaping scoop of the R-870 powder and swirl to mix. (It may not all dissolve….don’t worry) The solution will turn pink. (unless you have no chlorine)
3. Next, carefully add R-871 solution one drop at a time. Count each drop and swirl until the solution turns back to clear. Multiply the number of drops you added times .5 (14 drops X .5 = 7ppm)
4. Record your results as FC (free chlorine)
5. To test for Combined Chloramines, add 5 drops of R-0003 to the solution and swirl. If it remains clear, you have no CC’s. If it returns back to pink, add R-0871 as before, counting and swirling between each drop. Once the solution returns clear, multiply the added drops times .5 again…..this will be your CC reading. Record it. The total of FC and CC should be recorded as TC (total chlorine)

 

[JasonLion]

The Taylor K-1000, included inside the TF100, measures TC. For FC & CC follow what dmanb2b said.