I'm going to need a lot of help

Jump to latest Follow Reply
I

imported_whodat?

0
Jul 3, 2012
32
south La.
:(
First, i hope this is the correct place to post a question.

I just bought a new house with a pool. The pool is a SWG and the filter? piece is made by aquarite. The pool looks ok to the eye other than some slight algae?/green slime on the liner which i scrub off about twice a week. When i moved in the previous owner gave me a tutorial on the pool. Basically he said to backwash it about once a week and keep the salt between 2700 and 3100. He said that is all you ever need to do.

Well i started reading this site and it seems that there is more i should do. I even called him and asked if he ever tested the PH levels or anything after a 'check cell' light came on. He said he has never done anything except add salt and that's what the pool guy told him.

I found on this site that the indicator is set to hours and i reset it and it went away. Well today i went to Leslies and bought a test kit. It's called 'total poolcare DPD test Kit'. I tested for chlorine and the water appears completely clear...Is this possible that i have NO chlorine? I also tested the PH and it was as red as it gets. So i guess it was 8.2

I'm worried that i have a broken pool :(

Also i asked the guy and he told me that he thinks the pool is 10,000 gallons but wasn't sure. I live in south la if that matters.

any help would be great.

thanks
 
Welcome to TFP!

I doubt anything is actually broken, but you do need to balance your chemical levels.

The test kit you got is fairly good. The only thing it is missing is the FAS-DPD chlorine test. The chlorine test it includes can only measure FC/TC levels up to 5 (10 with dilution and reduced precision) and is prone to giving false zero readings when FC is really high. The FAS-DPD chlorine test can measure FC/CC levels up to 50 by 0.5s.

The first step is to get a complete set of test results and post them here. Then we can give you advice about how to adjust things. Also, if you post the height, width, and depth(s) of your pool along with some info about it's basic shape we can help you get a better idea of how many gallons it holds.
 
Bookmark Two Websites: Pool School and Pool Calculator.

Pool Calculator will help estimate your pool volume. Break out a tape measure!

The test kit you bought is most likely a rebranded Taylor K-2005. It's almost complete. You're going to need to perform the shock process, and that is best done with a FAS-DPD chlorine test, which you can buy separately here.

I believe the pH reading - SWG generators tend to drive pH up. That is easily fixed with some muriatic acid, available at the pool store, or a big box hardware store, a lot of small hardware stores, or this time of year, possibly at Walmart or some other mass merchandiser. You want the stuff that says 31.45%/ 20 baume.

You'll also be needing bleach. Plain bleach, unscented, nothing special. Look for 6% strength. Or Pool Chlorine, which is the same stuff, but 12.5% or so.

Study up in Pool School about basic chemistry and how to shock your pool. Take a full water test - everything your test kit measures, and post results here, and we will guide you, whether you need a partial drain, or if you need stabilizer, whether powdered chlorine chemicals are called for, etc.
 
whodat? said:
here are my numbers. thanks again!

chlorine 0? it's just clear
PH 8.2
Alkalinity 110
calcium hardness 300
CYA test 28? or so? the highest mark on the tube was 30 and i could still see the dot but when completely full, i couldn't
Click to expand...
That's a very good CYA number! Just right for the shock process.

Your pH may be higher than 8.2, anything above that just reads as 8.2. You need to add acid to get that down to about 7.2. Definitely out of the pink colors towards orange.

Now the scary part: shock level for your pool is 13. Just to get it there initially will take 7 gallons of 6% chlorine. Less if you buy the swimming-pool stuff, which is 12.5%. And then you'll need to keep replenishing it every hour or two for a couple days. Some people have taken over a week to clear things up - every pool is different; it depends on how diligent you are and how hardy your strain of algae is. Check out my post - the last one on page one. just so you're mentally prepared.

Your test kit can't read above 5. So to do things right you need to add the FAS-DPD tester.

And you'll need a brush if you don't have one. Algae grows a slimy skim that protects it from chlorine. Brushing knocks it off so you can get in there and kill it. Your arms will definitely be toned when this is over!
 
ok i hope leslies sales this piece. I dont want to have to order anything else. its also going to take a while. Should i dump the 7 in there before i order the kit (if i have to) or just wait until i have it? I dont know if you caught what i said earlier but the pool looks great. There really isnt an algae problem. Maybe i can post a pic when i get off of work
 
Any algae is a problem, and the lack of chlorine is a health risk. Once you go through the shocking process for your pool the SWCG should keep enough chlorine in it to prevent algae from growing (unlike what is happening now) once you get it dialed in.

Am i crazy or did a post disappear from this thread? Did you not write about how to determine how much MA from the pool cal?

I think/though you did and if so once you put in your data the pool cal tells you how much to add

poolcal.jpg
 

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