First time doing tests

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79TAKid

79TAKid

0
May 31, 2013
88
St.Louis, MO
Hey guys,

Just did my first tests with the TF-100 kit... Here's what I got:

TC - 0 I honestly couldnt even see ANY yellow
CC - --- I didnt do any other chlorine tests since TC was 0, or was that wrong of me?
pH - 6.8
TA - 45-50
CH - ~80
CYA - 0
Salt - ~700ppm

I guess I need to figure out how the pool calculator works and what exactly to do/buy now... And how my SWG works, I don't have any paperwork on it :?
cRJ4VlD.jpg

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Also, here is a link to my first thread with pics of the pool

what-s-my-next-step-t61515.html
 
How does the water look?

You need to get some CYA in the water. Whether you go up to 30ppm or 70-80ppm (for the SWG) depends if you need to go through the shock process.

You should generally be using the FAS-DPD chlorine test. The yellow OTO is really just a sanity check, but it does confirm you have 0 chlorine in the water.

Also your pH is too low and when you add CYA, that will lower it more. Use borax to raise the pH, I would leave the TA on the low side if you plan to use the SWG in the future.
 
jblizzle said:
How does the water look?

You need to get some CYA in the water. Whether you go up to 30ppm or 70-80ppm (for the SWG) depends if you need to go through the shock process.

You should generally be using the FAS-DPD chlorine test. The yellow OTO is really just a sanity check, but it does confirm you have 0 chlorine in the water.

Also your pH is too low and when you add CYA, that will lower it more. Use borax to raise the pH, I would leave the TA on the low side if you plan to use the SWG in the future.
Click to expand...

I can see the bottom but its cloudy... I need to look at the School page again and find the target levels.. I haven't bought anything to put in there yet either, Walmart is 2 miles away so I can run up there once I figure out what all I need. :|

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1obohyp.jpg
 
jblizzle said:
Shoot for a CYA of 30ppm, get the pH around 7.2 and then go through the Shocking Your Pool PROCESS with the SWG off.
Click to expand...

Alright. Stuff is starting to make a little more since now that i'm getting into everything but,

Borax raises the pH, what raises the CYA again?(stabilizer?? Reading over pool school again)

If I run up to Walmart, should I grab a 'food scale' so I can measure this stuff by weight? I don't have one and it's looking like it's necessary
 
Walmart will have the stabilizer/conditioner/cyanuric acid you need to raise the CYA.

You can get a scale or use your best estimate ... do you know your volume exactly? If not, then all dosages are estimates anyway.
 
jblizzle said:
Walmart will have the stabilizer/conditioner/cyanuric acid you need to raise the CYA.

You can get a scale or use your best estimate ... do you know your volume exactly? If not, then all dosages are estimates anyway.
Click to expand...


I dont know exactly how many gallons the pool is, I've been told "Roughly 16k gallons." I'll have to call the pool place back and tell them to actually pull out the paperwork on my pool this time.
 
jblizzle said:
My point was, most people do not know the volume exactly, so why measure all the chemicals exactly?
Click to expand...

It says

25mXAyj.png


Because I don't even know how to tell how much 70oz or anything close to that is :lol: I don't know what sizes the packages come in so I didnt want to add way way to much or something stupid :lol:
I guess i'll find out
 

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A 4 lb bucket in a 16k gallon pool will give you about 30ppm of CYA. Hang it in socks in front of your return jets and squeeze them when you walk by.

70oz / 16 = 4 3/8 lbs .... looks like the borax comes in 76 oz boxes at Walmart actually.

Your pH could be well below 6.8, so you may have to raise the pH a few times to get a good level.
 
jblizzle said:
A 4 lb bucket in a 16k gallon pool will give you about 30ppm of CYA. Hang it in socks in front of your return jets and squeeze them when you walk by.

70oz / 16 = 4 3/8 lbs .... looks like the borax comes in 76 oz boxes at Walmart actually.

Your pH could be well below 6.8, so you may have to raise the pH a few times to get a good level.
Click to expand...

Thanks :wave:

And this may sound dumb but I don't know the time frame on how long this takes. Does it take 10 minutes or a few hours before the levels rise when I put it in.

If I got get it all now, it'll probably 9pm when I put everything in. If I want to then raise the chlorine level, do I need to do that tonight or in the morning? Otherwise I wont have time until tomorrow evening after work.
So much to learn
 
To change the pH, you just add it and run the pump for an hour and can retest.

The CYA make take a few days to fully dissolve and up to a week to show up on tests. Once it is in the water, assume you are at 30ppm to determine your FC levels.

You want to get some FC in the water, but do not raise above 10ppm (maybe shoot for 5ppm tonight) until you get the pH set because the test is bad at high FC levels.

Leave the pump on all the time if you can.
 
79TAKid said:
jblizzle said:
A 4 lb bucket in a 16k gallon pool will give you about 30ppm of CYA. Hang it in socks in front of your return jets and squeeze them when you walk by.

70oz / 16 = 4 3/8 lbs .... looks like the borax comes in 76 oz boxes at Walmart actually.

Your pH could be well below 6.8, so you mand i now fond myself havoc to drain and Repto the pointay have to raise the pH a few times to get a good level.
Click to expand...

Thanks :wave:

And this may sound dumb but I don't know the time frame on how long this takes. Does it take 10 minutes or a few hours before the levels rise when I put it in.

If I got get it all now, it'll probably 9pm when I put everything in. If I want to then raise the chlorine level, do I need to do that tonight or in the morning? Otherwise I wont have time until tomorrow evening after work.
So much to learn
Click to expand...
I've read that the best time to put chlorine in a pool is no earlier than 2 hrs before sunset. I'm now using the bbb system advocated in this forum. I'm currently using 8.25% bleach from Walmart-- 2.98/ gal. I used to use stabilized trichlor pucks and stabilized shock, but my CYA went astronomical over the years-- now, I have to partially drain and refill my pool to get it lower.
 
stoney65 said:
I've read that the best time to put chlorine in a pool is no earlier than 2 hrs before sunset. I'm now using the bbb system advocated in this forum. I'm currently using 8.25% bleach from Walmart-- 2.98/ gal. I used to use stabilized trichlor pucks and stabilized shock, but my CYA went astronomical over the years-- now, I have to partially drain and refill my pool to get it lower.
Click to expand...

No time is really that much better although adding in the evenings allows the FC to work on any organics overnight without loss to the sun.

If you are shopping at Walmart, they sell 2 gallons of HTH 10% liquid chlorine that is actually cheaper than the 8.25% bleach.

The bleach is $0.30/ppm of FC [$2.98/(121*.0825)]
The HTH is $0.25/ppm of FC [$6.47/(256*.10)]
 

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