Hey everybody,
I've been away from the forum for a while since everything seemed to be trouble free. ( that's the point, right? )
Over the Memorial Day weekend we were gone for 5 days. When we were about 100 miles away I realized I hadn't balanced the pool water before we left, and it had been at least 4-5 days since I had last checked it. When we got back, the FC level was 1, the pH was way above 8 and the CYA was only about 30 ( I had meant to build that up to 60 or 70 but procrastinated too long).
Last week I noticed a little bit of algae growing around the light bezel, on some of the plastic pieces in the pool such as the inset floater-rope attachments on each side of the shallow end, on the The Pool Cleaner vacuum unit and on closer inspection inside the vacuum hose as well. It was most noticeable in the Zodiac leaf catcher, on the plastic strainer and on the inside of the clear plastic housing. It sits just under the surface with still water in it most of the time when the vacuum is idle.
I adjusted the pH down to 7.4 (it took 3 days of adding 32 oz of acid per day [20 Baum - 31.45%]) and bumped the FC up to 11 and let it drift down to about 3.5.
Here are my questions:
Do I need to shock the pool at this point? ( haven't seen any further growth of the algae and the weather has been between 75 and 85 degrees F) If so, what should I raise the FC to and for how long?
I pretty much filled the hose with a strong solution of chlorine (43 oz in 4-5 gal. of water) and sloshed it back and forth for 4-5 minutes, which I think is sufficient to kill anything is the hose. The hose still had light deposit of green inside. Should it have been bleached to white if it was all killed?
What's the best way to remove the algae from the light bezel? Just a stiff brush or something stronger like a SS brush?
Do I need to worry about algae growing in the filter?
Here are the latest test results from about 10 min. ago. (using the Taylor FAS-DPD test kit)
FC = 6 ( had the SWG cranked up for the last couple of days )
pH = 8 ( I seem to have to add 16 to 24 oz. of acid at least twice a week to bring it down to 7.5. Any idea why so often? )
TA = 90 ( had it down to 60 back in mid-Feb. Would the quickly rising pH cause the TA to rise that quick? )
CH = 400 ( I drained and refilled to get it down to 250 back on Jan. 26. What would cause it to rise so quickly?)
CYA = 45 ( I still need to add a little over 4 lbs of conditioner to bring it up to 70 )
Salt = 3800 ( a little high - ideal is 3400 )
Temp = 82f
CSI = 0.35 ( seems ok? )
Thanks for the help.
Gary
I've been away from the forum for a while since everything seemed to be trouble free. ( that's the point, right? )
Over the Memorial Day weekend we were gone for 5 days. When we were about 100 miles away I realized I hadn't balanced the pool water before we left, and it had been at least 4-5 days since I had last checked it. When we got back, the FC level was 1, the pH was way above 8 and the CYA was only about 30 ( I had meant to build that up to 60 or 70 but procrastinated too long).
Last week I noticed a little bit of algae growing around the light bezel, on some of the plastic pieces in the pool such as the inset floater-rope attachments on each side of the shallow end, on the The Pool Cleaner vacuum unit and on closer inspection inside the vacuum hose as well. It was most noticeable in the Zodiac leaf catcher, on the plastic strainer and on the inside of the clear plastic housing. It sits just under the surface with still water in it most of the time when the vacuum is idle.
I adjusted the pH down to 7.4 (it took 3 days of adding 32 oz of acid per day [20 Baum - 31.45%]) and bumped the FC up to 11 and let it drift down to about 3.5.
Here are my questions:
Do I need to shock the pool at this point? ( haven't seen any further growth of the algae and the weather has been between 75 and 85 degrees F) If so, what should I raise the FC to and for how long?
I pretty much filled the hose with a strong solution of chlorine (43 oz in 4-5 gal. of water) and sloshed it back and forth for 4-5 minutes, which I think is sufficient to kill anything is the hose. The hose still had light deposit of green inside. Should it have been bleached to white if it was all killed?
What's the best way to remove the algae from the light bezel? Just a stiff brush or something stronger like a SS brush?
Do I need to worry about algae growing in the filter?
Here are the latest test results from about 10 min. ago. (using the Taylor FAS-DPD test kit)
FC = 6 ( had the SWG cranked up for the last couple of days )
pH = 8 ( I seem to have to add 16 to 24 oz. of acid at least twice a week to bring it down to 7.5. Any idea why so often? )
TA = 90 ( had it down to 60 back in mid-Feb. Would the quickly rising pH cause the TA to rise that quick? )
CH = 400 ( I drained and refilled to get it down to 250 back on Jan. 26. What would cause it to rise so quickly?)
CYA = 45 ( I still need to add a little over 4 lbs of conditioner to bring it up to 70 )
Salt = 3800 ( a little high - ideal is 3400 )
Temp = 82f
CSI = 0.35 ( seems ok? )
Thanks for the help.
Gary