Another Newbie Here

[unixfreak]

Greetings all,

Happy to be a member of the site. I was a bit intimidated with managing my pool last year after we got it.... and didn't pay much attention to it other then throwing a sack of shock and a chlorine puck in it every now and then. I closed the pool and when I opened it 10 days ago I had a green swamp (sorry no pics). It was complete with tadpoles, frogs and who knows what else. There was a lot of pine straw on the bottom. I also had to clean the impeller as it clogged up with pine straw.

For the past week - I've been added 2 lbs of shock every night when I get home from work (at midnight). I still can't see the bottom but I think I'm moving in the right direction. I ordered and received the TF100 test kit and here are the numbers as of this morning:

PH 6.8
CYA 0
CH 150
TA 40
FC 6
CC 1
TC 7

Any advice would be appreciated regarding those numbers.

 

[cramar]

- gotta get CYA up
- gotta get Ph up
- gotta get TA up
- looks like a shock might be in order

Bit of work to do there, are you using pool calculator.com?

 

[Richard320]

Yeah, what he said.

Welcome

 

[unixfreak]

Been doing 2 lbs of shock every night. Should I start shocking during the day as well .... and add bleach ....etc.

I'm new to the calculator as well. I'll check it out. Looks like a fantastic tool! I'm taking the bull by the horns this year and am actually enjoying the new knowledge and challenge.

 

[jblizzle]

What kind of "shock" are you using, we prefer liquid chlorine / bleach.
It is either adding CH which you do not need, or CYA which you do need some of.
Read the articles below:

Defeating Algae
Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis
Shocking Your Pool

 

[unixfreak]

I think it's aqua chem and the active ingredient is Dichlor. I bought the stuff at BJs. You're right, I don't need to add any more CH. I'll get some 8.5% bleach at the store this evening.

 

[Richard320]

I think it's aqua chem and the active ingredient is Dichlor. I bought the stuff at BJs. You're right, I don't need to add any more CH. I'll get some 8.5% bleach at the store this evening.

Dichlor adds CYA - lots of it! And since you need both... Just don't try to add all the CYA at once, or you'll shove FC through the roof.

Check out "Effects of Adding Chemicals" at the bottom of http://www.poolcalculator.com/ Be sure you enter your pool's size at the top.

 

[cramar]

Remember that CYA takes a bit to show up in your tests, if you added stuff with a CYA component to it don't forget to factor that in if you go to add more or else you can end up with too much.
Definitely read, and re-read pool school a few times, that will prevent you from spinning your wheels, especially if your going to shock the pool properly.

 

[unixfreak]

Last night I added 8 lbs of borax and 10 lbs of baking soda and tested this morning. Here are the numbers:

CL 0.5
CYA 0
TA 130
PH 7.6

The glaring number to me is the CYA. I was wrong about the type of shock that I was using. It's main active ingredient is calcium hyphochlorite. The brand is hth "super shock it".
The chlorine pucks that I have are trichlor-triazinetrione. I put a couple of those in the skimmer today as well as a bag of that shock. I also swept the pool.

Thanks so much for the help.

 

[jblizzle]

It is going to take too long to get the CYA up using a couple pucks at a time. Best to add CYA separately up to 30ppm to protect the FC from the sun.

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

 

[unixfreak]

Any recommendations on what stabilizer to purchase? 4 lbs. looks like a starting point.

 

[Richard320]

Any recommendations on what stabilizer to purchase? 4 lbs. looks like a starting point.

As long as it shows 98% or better concentration and no copper, whatever is cheapest.

 

[duraleigh]

It's all the same stuff pretty much. It should be at least 96% CYA but most are that or greater.

 

[unixfreak]

Numbers are looking better.
CL 2
CH 100
PH 7.2
TA 110
I'm still not seeing the dot disappear. So I'm assuming that my CYA is either not giving me a reading yet ... or it's close to 0. I have not put any stabilizer in it yet. I'm shocking at night with 65% cal-hypo and leaving a trichlor puck in the skimmer. I'm seeing the bottom for the first time although it's still a little cloudy. Kids are swimming in it and having a blast.

Thanks for all the help.