Confused after Pool School :)

[Robione]

First off this is our first pool we just moved in 2 weeks ago. Pool looks ok just a little cloudy. I was reading about the filter pump in pool school. I went and checked my PSI while the pump is off and its reading 42 PSI? So I did a backwash and it went up to 52 PSI. By the way when we looked thru the sight window it was very yellow and had little bits of trash in it but then got clear after a minute or so. This was also out first time doing anything with the pump. The previous owner said the pump needs to run at least 8 hours a day. After reading I believe it should be 3 to 4 hours. Is there a way to get my PSI down or my gauge bad? How often should I backwash. Do I use any of the other settings on the pump?

Its a 17500 gallon pool.
Chlorine level is good but I need to raise the Ph level according to the pool store.

 

[JohnT]

Welcome to TFP!

Your gauge is bad. They fail often. You can get one fairly cheaply at a pool store or a farm store.

 

[Robione]

Ok I will get one this weekend. Thanks.

 

[Richard320]

Howdy, Robione!

Unsure of filter type? Not good, especially if you backwashed a Diatomaceous Earth filter and didn't recoat it. Look around the filter for a brand or a model number. Take a picture and post it. Compare it to the pictures in pool-school/visual_encyclopedia . Do something to identify it! It's important.

Next in importance, after having flow and filtration, is the pool chemistry. Don't trust the pool store. Just go back through some of the older threads and you'll see all kinds of horror stories. Keep studying Pool School, and read up on test kits. You'll need one if you want to have the pool perfect. I do all my own testing, never buy any magic elixirs from the pool store, and you can toss a dime in my deep end and call heads or tails. From the deck. Any day of the year.

 

[Robione]

Ok Its a Hayward sand filter.

I'm out of town and had my wife checking things as I read! LOL.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, Robione

Pool looks ok just a little cloudy.

This likely means you need to do the shocking process. First, if you have them, post a full set of test results. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/read_before_you_post

 

[Robione]

Ok I got the data and filter info:

 

[Robione]

BTW I have since added chlorine. 3 tablets

 

[linen]

BTW I have since added chlorine. 3 tablets

Stop adding tablets, according to the pool store results you posted, your cya is too high already. See: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/types_chlorine_pool

If the results above are correct (pool stores often get wrong cya values), then you need to do a drain/refill of your pool to get the cya down to ~50 ppm before anything else. The problem here is you don't really know if their results are right and therefore you don't know if you really need to do the drain refill. I would encourage you to get an appropriate test kit...see: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/pool_test_kit_comparison If their results are right, this will require draining about 45% of your water then refilling.

Then you can proceed with the shocking process using bleach/liquid chlorine to raise the FC level.

 

[linen]

By the way, that filter is about perfectly matched for you pool volume (although bigger is usually better, up to a point with sand filters).

 

[Richard320]

Ok Its a Hayward sand filter.

I'm out of town and had my wife checking things as I read! LOL.

Great! That means no harm done.

Everyone else has covered the rest of it.

 

[Robione]

Ok I got my test kit, how do my numbers look

[attachment=0:129kdzdh]uploadfromtaptalk1367030550480.jpg[/attachment:129kdzdh]

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[jblizzle]

Are your numbers on the left? FC is way too low. And CH of 8 is not possible, each drop is 10ppm.

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

 

[Vette]

Nice phone, I have its big brother
What test kit did you use? You want to worry about chlorine (FC) first. Since its cloudy, you want to shock. You can see the link above in Linens post.

- Posted from Galaxy Note II

 

[Robione]

Are your numbers on the left? FC is way too low. And CH of 8 is not possible, each drop is 10ppm.

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

Yes my numbers are on the left. Yea it should be 80 ppm. It took 8 drops.

Nice phone, I have its big brother
What test kit did you use? You want to worry about chlorine (FC) first. Since its cloudy, you want to shock. You can see the link above in Linens post.

- Posted from Galaxy Note II

Lol, Thanks. I added 2 Gallons of chlorine. More than I needed but it's going to rain tomorrow, I figured it wouldn't hurt. I will have to read up on how to shock it.


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[Robione]

Oh and I got a Taylor K2006

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[Vette]

Excellent!

 

[linen]

On the FC test use the 10 ml sample size and not the 25 ml sample...it saves reagents and you really do not need better than 0.5 ppm FC resolution.

For now everything look fine except for FC. As mentioned before, you need to do the shocking process: http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/shocking_your_pool

You shocking FC level is 13 ppm FC for your 30 ppm cya (from poolcalculator.com).

 

[Robione]

Ok after reading a little bit. I got my pump running and had added 2 Gallons of liquid bleach. I do have some "shock" powder should I add some or should the bleach be enough.

Also I have a chlorinator, should it have tablets in it and what should I set the little dial on the side of the chlorinator to? Up to this point I have been using one of those floaty things.

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[Robione]

Oh and the previous owner had the pump set to run 8 hours a day. From what I have read it only needs to run 3 to 4 hours a day? Is that correct?

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