I"ve been trying to get this pool "balanced" since June and am still struggling. But I'm not sure if I should be that concerned about it - the water looks great, no smells, no cloudiness, no complaints of stinging eyes. We keep the solar cover on when no one is in it (only use pool about 1-3 hours a day).
I've been using both the test strips and the 6 part test kit from walmart. I'm reluctant to get the recommended test kit with less than 6 weeks before we probably have to close for the season and then have the chemicals sit around for 8 months.
I am trying to get TA balanced and CYA at the correct level. I have tried aerating with positioning return jet to break above surface and no solar cover for 24 hours (about a week ago) to raise PH so I could treat with muriac acid. It didn't seem to do anything except make the water cooler (dislike). I continued to keep the return jet breaking the surface and pool cover partially on.
Last night I got fed up with waiting and added a box of Borax in hopes of getting the PH up. That worked, but I took a sample to pool store to make sure I was doing it right just because FC was so different from drop and strip test since adding Borax. He recommended adding stabilizer and getting ph down (it was 7.8 this morning). He said the chlorine was great (it looked pretty yellow to me). He was also concerned about water being too soft. Is that really a concern for a vinyl pool?
Test strip says:
PH 6.2
FC 2
TA 120
CYA 20ish
Drop tests say:
PH 6.2
FC 5-10 (doesn't seem that high)
CYA just started showing up but ran out of reagent
TA 120-140
I added a bottle of muriac acid this afternoon and got the above results tonight. I added a box of borax tonight to get PH up. I also added 4 lbs of stabilizer from Walmart via the sock method. I will report my results in the a.m. I know CYA won't change but I am getting nervous about the chlorine level. Am I freaking out about nothing when everything is looking so good?
I've been using both the test strips and the 6 part test kit from walmart. I'm reluctant to get the recommended test kit with less than 6 weeks before we probably have to close for the season and then have the chemicals sit around for 8 months.
I am trying to get TA balanced and CYA at the correct level. I have tried aerating with positioning return jet to break above surface and no solar cover for 24 hours (about a week ago) to raise PH so I could treat with muriac acid. It didn't seem to do anything except make the water cooler (dislike). I continued to keep the return jet breaking the surface and pool cover partially on.
Last night I got fed up with waiting and added a box of Borax in hopes of getting the PH up. That worked, but I took a sample to pool store to make sure I was doing it right just because FC was so different from drop and strip test since adding Borax. He recommended adding stabilizer and getting ph down (it was 7.8 this morning). He said the chlorine was great (it looked pretty yellow to me). He was also concerned about water being too soft. Is that really a concern for a vinyl pool?
Test strip says:
PH 6.2
FC 2
TA 120
CYA 20ish
Drop tests say:
PH 6.2
FC 5-10 (doesn't seem that high)
CYA just started showing up but ran out of reagent
TA 120-140
I added a bottle of muriac acid this afternoon and got the above results tonight. I added a box of borax tonight to get PH up. I also added 4 lbs of stabilizer from Walmart via the sock method. I will report my results in the a.m. I know CYA won't change but I am getting nervous about the chlorine level. Am I freaking out about nothing when everything is looking so good?