Please HELP!?!

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Shannon78

0
Aug 10, 2012
6
Campbellsville, KY
Hi :) I'm new at using a forum and this is only my second season with a pool, so please bear with me. The first season was pretty much hit and miss, but somehow we managed because at first we didn't know we had to balance the pool with the SWG. This year, we have picked up a lot of info, and we have already learned a lot from this site, so thank you already :) but we are still having some trouble and could really use some help. Currently, I am using aquachem salt pool test strips and the salt ppm is reading 3330, and the SWG is running good with no errors of too high or too low. I am using aquachem 6-way test strips and the readings are: Total Hardness 100ppm (low), Total Chlorine 0 (very low), Free Chlorine 0 (very low), Bromine 0 (very low), pH is at least 7.2 (ok), Total Alkalinity 120ppm (ok/low), Stabilizer 0 (very low). These are current readings...before these readings we have put in 6 40lb bags of salt, pH up, total amount of stabilizer for size of pool, cell boost, algaecide, and shock about 2 weeks ago. The SWG hasn't been run for 2 or 3 days tho, which is why I think the clorine levels are low right now and from the rain we had a few days ago. Oh, the water is maybe slighty cloudy. I'm sorry if this is too long, I just didn't want to leave anything out, but any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Shannon
 
Do you have the SWG turned off, or is it supposed to be running but isnt?

I was told, and believe, that you should let the SWG tell you when it is happy. In other words, I never add salt based off of my salt test.... I only add salt based of the reading of the SWG.
 
How long ago did you add your stabilizer and how much did you add? If it was more than a week it should be showing up on your test. TA of 120 is not low, it is ok but you don't want it going any higher. You need to keep chlorine in the pool at all times. Since it has been a few days since you added chlorine and the water is getting cloudy you need to perform the shock process on your pool. The shock process is not a one time mega dose of chlorine but a process of raising the pool the shock level and keeping it there until the process is completed. Form more information read shocking your pool and defeating algae.
 
head gamez said:
Do you have the SWG turned off, or is it supposed to be running but isnt?

I was told, and believe, that you should let the SWG tell you when it is happy. In other words, I never add salt based off of my salt test.... I only add salt based of the reading of the SWG.
Click to expand...

Hi :) thank you for your help! Yes I have had it off the past couple of days because I didn't know if it would be hard on the SWG with the pool not balanced correctly, which I read somewhere, lol, but I can't remember where, that it can be hard on them. Not really sure about whether it is or not, but I didn't want to damage the SWG. I have to go by the SWG, it will error if the salt is too low or too high, but I think the salt level is good, no errors either way. Thank you :)
 
zea3 said:
How long ago did you add your stabilizer and how much did you add? If it was more than a week it should be showing up on your test. TA of 120 is not low, it is ok but you don't want it going any higher. You need to keep chlorine in the pool at all times. Since it has been a few days since you added chlorine and the water is getting cloudy you need to perform the shock process on your pool. The shock process is not a one time mega dose of chlorine but a process of raising the pool the shock level and keeping it there until the process is completed. Form more information read shocking your pool and defeating algae.
Click to expand...

Hi :) thank you for taking the time to help me! I added the stabilizer about 2 weeks ago, we just put the pool up a little over 3 weeks ago, lol, we missed out on the pool during the hottest month :(. The stabilizer is aquachem balance+protection, 3lb container, and I ended up putting the whole container in...the directions said to put 1lb for every 4000g for fresh filled pools, so I put almost the whole container in, and when it still was reading low a few days later, I put what was left in it, but it is still reading low. Should I add more stabilizer? I am really interested in using the BBB's and any info would be great, I've been trying to read up on as much as I can on here :). Thanks for the advice on the TA :) Oh, not sure if it's cloudy, but the pool looks hazy so to speak, it doesn't have the sparkle like it did at first, that is the same as being cloudy right? Is it safe to run the SWG with the pool not balanced correctly? I just didn't know for certain and didn't want to damage the cell. But I will go turn it on and set it to boost and get the chlorine levels back up so I don't make more of a mess of things, lol :) I will definitely read up on everything, thank you for your help! P.S. I just went and read up on the shocking process and read the last part about the SWG's, so I will be going to buy some shock for the pool later today. Thanks again :)
 
Your best first step would be ditching the test strips which are inaccurate and getting yourself one of the recommended drop based test kits. Hard to really advise using the potentially incorrect test levels.

BBB is about understanding your pools chemistry and adding only what the pool needs.

Not sure where you have been reading some out this info, but you will find excellent information here.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
jblizzle said:
Your best first step would be ditching the test strips which are inaccurate and getting yourself one of the recommended drop based test kits. Hard to really advise using the potentially incorrect test levels.

BBB is about understanding your pools chemistry and adding only what the pool needs.

Not sure where you have been reading some out this info, but you will find excellent information here.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
Click to expand...


Thank you :) I had picked up the test strips from Walmart, but I will stop by the pool store and check out their test kits then :) lol, yeah, I've been reading so much everywhere, then luckily I found this site and thought I better stick with the info on here!Thank you for what you could help me with :)
 
The key to a good test kit is the FAS-DPD chlorine test. Very rare to find locally but you can ask ... Don't let them tell thou the DPD test is the same thing.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 

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It sounds like you're a bit mixed up with conflicting information sources and reliability.
I'd commit to one source (obviously TFP one has been the best for *me*, and am confident in the folks here). Just don't pick and choose which steps to follow and ignore other steps in the process if you want to take charge of your water.
Just do what the folks here recommend and you'll simplify your pool life. Honest!
Ditch the test strips (personally, I'd ditch Walmart too, but that's just me. LOL) Strips suck. Get a test kit here that I'm sure you've seen folks mention. The TF-100 is a big girl's test kit. You'll be taking responsibility for the accuracy, but likewise your results will be far more reliable than some pool store testing (where it serves their financial interest to tell you something is wrong and "buy this!") or strips.
Why did you put all those random chemicals(cell boost?? Algaecide? pHup? into your pool without knowing what it actually needed? STOP!! You could be adding problems far worse than possibly fixing what ails ya. :hammer:
Consider the SWG as your baseline chlorine provider, but when you need to treat something (ie Shock the pool with a big prolonged blast of chlorine to kill cooties) you want to add bleach. Nothing else! The SWG can't provide the high level killing needed to fix problems, but does a bang up job of preventing them at a low constant level. Capice? If your water is already cloudy you've most likely got cooties. The big girl's pool test kit (TF-100) will help you determine what's going on. Buy one. Use it. Post the results here and let the genius pool chem wiz's guide you.. they ain't trying to sell you anything and we all love our pools so much we love love sharing the good information to let you enjoy yours too! :lol:
 
this is what is in your near future.....BBB for life
pool2.jpg
 
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