New Pool and the Chlorine and Alkalinity is low

[Reddogdan]

I want to get started right and i'm already lost. The pool is only two weeks old and I don't understand the inline chlorinator. I currently have it set on 4 1/2 with 3 three inch tabs. I cant seem to get the FC up to 1 without shocking. Any guesses? Add more tabs? crank it to 5? Thanks for the help, i'm sure i'll be around for awhile.

FC .5
TA 70
PH 7.6
CH 400
Temp 81

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I assume by CH in your test you actually mean the chlorine (FC). What is your stabilizer level (CYA)? How are you getting your test results?

Generally we do not recommend the use of tablets due to the continual build-up of CYA which in turn requires higher FC levels, see FC/CYA Chart. But, since your pool is new, likely your CYA is too low and you are losing all the FC to the sun. Best solution is get a Recommended Test Kit, add stabilizer separately up to 30-40ppm, and then maintain the FC with bleach.

Have you seen and read Pool School?
Start with these articles:
ABCs of Water Chemistry
Recommended Pool Chemicals
How to Chlorinate Your Pool

EDIT: And BTW, you TA is fine if you switch to using liquid chlorine. If you are going to continue to try to use pucks, then you should raise the TA using baking soda up to around 100ppm. See the poolcalculator to determine the amount needed.

 

[Reddogdan]

Yes FC instead of PH. I have since edited. I am using the Pentair 78HR kit that came with my startup and the water hardness kit to keep up with my daily numbers for the first month to not void my warranty. Every three days I go to Leslies to get more detailed readings. These are the readings from two days ago from Leslies: FC 1, CH 110, CYA 55, TA 50, PH 7.6 . We were told to schock the pool and add 15 lbs for hardness plus.

 

[jblizzle]

If you spend any time reading here, you will quickly realize that:
A: pool store testing is worthless (as are test strips
B: mixing our advice with that from a pool store is not going to work.

Recommendations in my previous post stand.