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Asm8666

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May 12, 2014
3
Danbury North Carolina
Not a pool newby and I'm normally have been really on the money with my self testing and pool maintenance for the past 10 years. UNTIL THIS SEASON!!! I have a 17100 gallon above ground vinyl pool. I CAN NOT get it clear and the TA is going everywhere with each test. It looks like swamp water!!! Ive become somewhat of a stalker on this site the last week and am doing anything I see on here that even comes close to whats going on with this pool. WE HAVE NO POOL TESTING OPTIONS NEAR HERE so I have no back up. Below are the specs

17100 gal above ground pool
in FULL sun all day
I have a top of the line (just bought last season) Hayward sand filter but we add ZEO and DE as media not sand
I have always used triclor tablets in the skimmer per recommended package dosage for a FC of 3
I use baking soda for TA
aquachem's PH up or down depending upon need
I have always used test strips that measure FC PH TA CH CYA and until now have never had a problem.
Now using 8% clorox per poolmath calculations

My PH and TA are all over the place with each testing Why is that/
ROUND 1 LEVELS
PH 6.8
TA 40
FC 5.0
HRD 100
CYA 220
ADDED BAKING SODA AND CLOROX AND DID A 40% WATER EMPTY AND REFILL (EST) PER THIS SITE POOLCALCULATOR
PH 7.8
TA 150
FC 10
HRD 100
CYA 100
Dropped the ph back to 7.0 with PH down and the TA came down to 100 so I aerated to bring the PH back up over night
ROUND 2 AS OF 7AM THIS MORNING
PH 7.2
TA 120
FC 10
CYA 135
I SLOWED THE AERATION, EMPTIED AND REFILLED more water AND ADDED 1 GALLON OF CLOROX (8 TOTAL IN 2 DAYS)
STILL GREEN
ROUND 3
as of 1pm today
PH (DROPPED BACK) 6.8
TA 120
FC 10
CYA 100
I INCREASED THE RATE OF AERATION ONCE MORE
BUT THE POOL IS A LIGHTER GREEN BY 3 SHADES...RIGHT DIRECTION??
WHAT AM I NOT DOING???? WHY IS THE PH AND TA SO UNSTABLE? WHERE SHOULD MY FC BE IF I GET IT CLEARED USING CLOROX? CAN I EVER GO BACK TO TRICLOR TADS ( MUCH EASIER TO DEAL WITH WEEKLY) HOW HIGH CAN MY CYA BE FOR THIS POOL?
 

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Welcome. Where are you located? Please add your location to your profile and equipment to your signature. Being out door does not tell us anything. Location is key to give you adequate advice with your weather. You're using test strips which are.... all over the place. They are unreliable.


You have options and that is a TF100 or a K2006. You will get a better test kit with more regants with the TF100XL. There is no way around the test kit. You need one.

As you can see your CYA is up and down too. You need a drain refill but we can't advise on that until you get the TF100. You're actually spinning wheels at this point until you make the first move to the TF100.

Read Pool School. Knowledge is power!
 
Welcome to TFP!

Your largest problem seems to be unreliable testing. Without dependable test results it is often very difficult, sometimes impossible, to get things fixed up. As Casey said the TF100 or K2006 are the best kits to get, reliable consistent results across a wide range of conditions.

Also, if your current testing is even vaguely correct, your high CYA level is a definite problem.
 
Your biggest problem is the testing strips. They are not even close to the real test kit results.

Your next problem will be the CYA I bet BUT until you get a good test kit there is no way to know just how bad it is.

Once you get your good test kit post your results.

You CAN clear your pool up with TFP!
 
Yours is a textbook example of what happens with test strips. I will add my voice to the crowd advocating for the TF100 or K2006. The TF100 is the one you want, with the XL option and SpeedStir.

As Casey has said, Pool School is where you need to be. Click on that link in the upper right corner, and let the learning begin!
 
Asm8666 said:
Not a pool newby and I'm normally have been really on the money with my self testing and pool maintenance for the past 10 years. UNTIL THIS SEASON!!! I have a 17100 gallon above ground vinyl pool. I CAN NOT get it clear and the TA is going everywhere with each test. It looks like swamp water!!! Ive become somewhat of a stalker on this site the last week and am doing anything I see on here that even comes close to whats going on with this pool. WE HAVE NO POOL TESTING OPTIONS NEAR HERE so I have no back up. Below are the specs

17100 gal above ground pool
in FULL sun all day
I have a top of the line (just bought last season) Hayward sand filter but we add ZEO and DE as media not sand
I have always used triclor tablets in the skimmer per recommended package dosage for a FC of 3
I use baking soda for TA
aquachem's PH up or down depending upon need
I have always used test strips that measure FC PH TA CH CYA and until now have never had a problem.
Now using 8% clorox per poolmath calculations

My PH and TA are all over the place with each testing Why is that/ In two words, TEST STRIPS
ROUND 1 LEVELS
PH 6.8
TA 40
FC 5.0
HRD 100
CYA 220
ADDED BAKING SODA AND CLOROX AND DID A 40% WATER EMPTY AND REFILL (EST) PER THIS SITE POOLCALCULATOR
PH 7.8
TA 150
FC 10
HRD 100
CYA 100
Dropped the ph back to 7.0 with PH down and the TA came down to 100 so I aerated to bring the PH back up over night
ROUND 2 AS OF 7AM THIS MORNING
PH 7.2
TA 120
FC 10
CYA 135
I SLOWED THE AERATION, EMPTIED AND REFILLED more water AND ADDED 1 GALLON OF CLOROX (8 TOTAL IN 2 DAYS)
STILL GREEN
ROUND 3
as of 1pm today
PH (DROPPED BACK) 6.8
TA 120
FC 10
CYA 100
I INCREASED THE RATE OF AERATION ONCE MORE
BUT THE POOL IS A LIGHTER GREEN BY 3 SHADES...RIGHT DIRECTION??
WHAT AM I NOT DOING???? WHY IS THE PH AND TA SO UNSTABLE? WHERE SHOULD MY FC BE IF I GET IT CLEARED USING CLOROX? CAN I EVER GO BACK TO TRICLOR TADS ( MUCH EASIER TO DEAL WITH WEEKLY) HOW HIGH CAN MY CYA BE FOR THIS POOL?
Click to expand...

With one of the recommended test kits, you will find that the numbers don't change as much as you are finding with the strips.

Your CYA, once you get a kit, should be lowered (by water replacement) to around 40 for manually chlorinated, or 80 for a Salt Water chlorine Generator (SWG). You then follow the SLAM instructions in Pool School to clear your pool.

Look at the bottom of PoolMath, and you will see that tabs add CYA along with FC. You will need to stop using them, unless you want to repeat the green pool saga.
 
When did you put zeo in ? This is only our 2nd season, so I am a NEWBEEE. I will say the zeo is gone, we dumped the 22" sand filter full of zeo and went with 250lb of sand, We were having to backwash 2 or 3 times a day, because you could see the **** blowing back in the pool. Our pool would not get clean. 3 days after zeo replaced it's clear as a bell. I wondered last year how the pool got so cloudy so fast, but that was 1st year. You will like the TF100 kit. It's a must
 

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Ok got the k-2006 kit in. Whew!! I loved chemistry in college but wow!! With that being said I think I did ok. Here are the results
PH 7.6
FC 35
CC 5.5
TA ( could not get a reading due to the FC... So I read in the Taylor manual)
Cya 140.... Tested 2 times and used both methods listed in the manual. Got the same results
And before any body hits me with the drain and fill comments we have been doing that for a week... Really slow well water...
So I plugged everything I knew in to POOL MATH and since my pool is green I'm making the algae my first casualty!!
Calculations are saying get my FC to 55 for slam level... Did I get this right?? I'm still working on the refill thing to get the cya down... STUPID TRICHLOR TABS OVER THE WINTER AND SEVERAL SEASONS!!
If I'm on the right track whats next if I see clear water again? Is my PH anywhere close with these chlorine levels and if not should I worry about that right now. The bleach was already in... I'm impatient sorry
 
I would say first gate your CYA down to. Reasonable level.......THEN SLAM. The target chlorine for slam is dependent on your cya #. So fix that before targeting really high slam level.

Take a breath.......it will all work out.
 
You are going to go through truck loads of chlorine with a CYA level of 140ppm. You will run out of your test regents to do the SLAM in less than a week because the K2006 kit does not have near as much as the TF100 but it works just the same.

It is unreasonable to SLAM the pool with that high of a CYA level and you should really consider doing another drain/refill as much as it pains you to read it. I'm sorry it's a hard lesson to learn. We want to help you but with a CYA level so high, I doubt anyone would give you the green light to SLAM without at least 2 more drain/refills. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news.
 
Check and see if there is anyone that can/will bring water in a truck to you. Of course make sure the water is good doing a test before they bring it in. It might cost you some BUT you are going to have to use SO much bleach with your CYA that high it might pay off in the end.

Kim
 
Asm8666 said:
Ok got the k-2006 kit in. Whew!! I loved chemistry in college but wow!! With that being said I think I did ok. Here are the results
PH 7.6
FC 35
CC 5.5
TA ( could not get a reading due to the FC... So I read in the Taylor manual)
Cya 140.... Tested 2 times and used both methods listed in the manual. Got the same results
And before any body hits me with the drain and fill comments we have been doing that for a week... Really slow well water...
So I plugged everything I knew in to POOL MATH and since my pool is green I'm making the algae my first casualty!!
Calculations are saying get my FC to 55 for slam level... Did I get this right?? I'm still working on the refill thing to get the cya down... STUPID TRICHLOR TABS OVER THE WINTER AND SEVERAL SEASONS!!
If I'm on the right track whats next if I see clear water again? Is my PH anywhere close with these chlorine levels and if not should I worry about that right now. The bleach was already in... I'm impatient sorry
Click to expand...
Unless I've missed something, you haven't provided any details as to your pool and equipment. Put the details in your signature in your profile. See mine below.
 
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