First Readings with the TF-100, Confused..

[maggiem]

Hooray, I received the TF-100 kit today and WOW, I love it! So easy to follow. The plaster was done on the 30th and equip. began running on the 6th to it's still new.

I took some readings and they are:

FC 1ppm - tho I suspect this is actually at 0
Ph - was 8 earlier but 1.5 hours after adding 2 qts. muriatic acid, it is now 7.2. Is this ok? Suspect this will continue to bounce due to fresh plaster

T/A 130 (?) This one always confuses me because it never turns red but a deep bright pink. So going by the pink, it was about 130
CH 210 - again, it was more of a purple-blue and I stopped adding at 21 drops
CYA - I saw the dot the whole time

2 chlorine pucks in 2 skimmers currently. I have 2 buckets of calcium chloride. PB added some on the 6th (so cool how it heats up!) but we have not added any since.

In 2 weeks we turn on the SWG system so in the meantime, any thoughts on what I should do? Thanks oodles!

 

[JasonLion]

FC at 1 is fine with CYA near zero. You will want to see higher FC levels as the CYA level comes up, which should happen more or less automatically.

Lowering the PH was the right thing to do. With fresh plaster you will likely be lowing the PH frequently.

On the TA test, anything in the red family is fine, so pink is great. TA is a little high, but not a big deal. Lower the PH to 7.2 every time it gets to 7.8 until TA comes down to something more reasonable.

On the CH test, purple can be a problem, but anything bluish is great. Purple can indicate a floating end point, which can affect the results. A floating end point would make it read higher than it actually is, so you should definitely be adding some calcium.

How old is the plaster? You need to add some CYA, but no before the plaster is a couple of weeks old. The recommended CYA level for a SWG is between 70 and 80. CYA is easy to raise, and difficult to lower, so it is best to go about 3/4s of the way there, wait a week, test CYA again, and adjust further from there.

Tablets/pucks in the skimmer is fine as long as you are running the pump 24/7.

 

[maggiem]

Thanks for the reply! I'm so nervous with this new pool! The plaster is now 12 days old so the Ph bouncing so high is still normal I think.

I am hoping once the SWG gets going that we'll have more stable/detectable levels of FC. Will we need to add some CYA then? I don't think the SWG will be pumping out CYA right? The pool is 24000 gallons so according to the pool calculator, we'll need about 160 oz of CYA to get to 60 if the pucks aren't cutting it by then.

How much calcium should we be adding? What is a floating end point? We have 2 large buckets now. I know we need to dilute it and pour it away from the skimmers (I think LOL)

Thanks again!

 

[JasonLion]

The tablets in the skimmer are adding CYA very slowly. By the end of the third week the CYA level might be high enough to measure. At that point (three weeks) you should measure CYA, and add enough to bring you to about 60 or 70. Long term you want CYA around 70 to 80 for the SWG, but it is easy to raise and difficult to lower, so don't add too much right at first.

Yes, it is normal for PH, TA, and CH to all go up rapidly for the first three or four weeks. PH will continue to go up more slowly for the first year.

Wait to add calcium until it has been three weeks.