Getting Balanced

[SilverJK]

I have just received my Taylor 2006 Test Kit and this is the first time I have performed all tests without the pool store.

Here are my Readings

CYA = 30
TA = 130
PH = 7.2
CH = 300 (not confident about this one)
FC = 13
CC = .5

I realize that my CYA is low and that others I'm not sure how far away I am from where I should be. Can I get some suggestions what I should work on or is there any other information I need to provide?

Thanks

 

[pwrstrk]

1 for your SWG your CYA should be in the 70-80 ppm range.
2 PH should be 7.5-7.8. range. The SWG will make your PH drift up.
3 don't worry about CH with the vinyl liner unless you get real high.

For your FC look at the chart for SWG. pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

 

[jblizzle]

Your CYA is pretty low assuming you are using the SWG. The FC is a little high, were you trying to SLAM? If not, let it drift down by lowering the output of the SWG.

Once you raise the CYA, you will likely have to further reduce the SWG output and/or shorted the pump run time.

Note that the pH test reads artificially high when the FC > 10ppm. Surprising that your pH is that low with a SWG unless you have been adding a lot of acid.

 

[SilverJK]

I have been adding Muratic Acid every few days and recently as of yesterday; also cleaned my SWG and poured excess in pool. I have been reading it with a home depot special kit and it shows more than the taylor kit I just got.

I had the SWG set to 33 and the pool store told me it was way too low; I have it set to 75 at the moment and usually run the pump between 10-12 hours a day. I was actually not trying to SLAM, just keep a good guesstimate on the pool's condition and balance. What is a good starting point with the SWG output percentage?

I know the TA could be a little high, but I'm assuming it will keep coming down thru me continuing to lower the pH.

I still have 4lbs of stabilizer that the pool store sold me that I didn't put in due to an algae problem last time. I will add that thru the skimmer tomorrow and test again in a week. According tot the pool calculator, that still leaves me adding 5 more lbs, is that correct?

Thanks again for the awesome quick responses. I really like the generosity and expertise here.

 

[pwrstrk]

I would add the stabilizer in a sock and hang it in front of the return. We don't usually add it directly in the skimmer. It can take up to a week to fully register on a test.

As for the SWG I don't have one, so I can't advise on where to set it.

 

[jblizzle]

Put the CYA in a sock and hung in front of a return jet. Do not dump it in the skimmer ... nothing gets added through the skimmer. 4lbs should raise your CYA by around 18ppm ... so yeah probably another 4-5 pounds after that.

Well clearly you have too much FC. So lower the % output and/or shorten the run time ... you should not need to run 10-12 hours per day:
pool-school/pump_run_time

I would suggest shortening your run time to 8 hours at the most and dropping the % out some ... then see where your FC goes ... it is trial and error.

 

[BoDarville]

As the others have said, the chlorine / CYA ratio is the first thing to get nailed down. The target CYA for a SWG pool is 70-80 ppm.

CH = 300 (not confident about this one)

More detailed instructions for this and all other tests can be found at: Extended Test Kit Directions

 

[SilverJK]

I'm going to go buy a sock big enough that I can use for this purpose. Is is safe to swim when adding stabilizer, right?

I've been looking for examples of this (pictures), but I will wing it and see how it goes.

 

[jblizzle]

Safe to swim.

Do not let the sock contact the liner and it could cause fading.

 

[SilverJK]

How do you hang it over the side without the return possibly pushing it to the side? Shoud I use my steps (have 2 returns there)?

I'm confused now.

 

[jblizzle]

The "return" is the jet of water entering the pool ... it should be pushing the sock away from the wall.

Just tie the sock to a pole and dangle it out in front of the water stream.

 

[SilverJK]

Okay, thanks.

1 more question about FC.

I ran the SWG at 50 today for about 9 hours (turned off/on when I left and came back from work) and it read 20 free chlorine. Am I doing this correctly? Could it be high since I just turned off the pump? Could it be super efficient since I just cleaned it?

 

[jblizzle]

I have no idea. What FC level did you start at?

The spec of 1.45 lbs of chlorine output means at best it could generate a little over 6ppm of FC in your pool if it was running for 24 hours on 100% ... so something is "off"

 

[SilverJK]

I calculated it at 16 yesterday and I did nothing but run the pump for about 9 hours; 50% SWG.

I listed all of my calculations in the beginning of the thread.

 

[Wildcat]

Is it possible you forgot to divide the number of drops by two? I only bring it up because I have done things way dumber than that!

 

[SilverJK]

Sadly, no. I added 40 drops at the 25ML . I just realized that I should have used .2

I'm actually at 8 for FC; that's much better.

 

[jblizzle]

Well, with the 25ml sample, each drop is 0.2ppm ... so 40 drops is a FC of 8ppm.

Use the 10ml so each drop is 0.5ppm.

So what you thought was 16ppm yesterday was actually 6.4ppm, meaning you got a 1.6ppm rise with the SWG running.

EDIT: And using the possibility of getting 6.4ppm by running for 24 hours at 100% ... and correcting for your 9 hours @ 50% : 6.4 * 9/24 * .5 = 1.2ppm ... so that is pretty close to what you saw.

 

[SilverJK]

Thanks everyone! Please excuse my stupidity on this as I hope to get better (and not make stupid mistakes).