New to Pool Test Kit

[melsteph]

Hi! Just want to say I LOVE this site. Have had 4 Intex pools through the years and relied on your site for lots of advice. Have never posted until now. I have an 24' X 52" AG Intex pool with sand pump and SWG - All new this year. I have had the same set up for the past three years, but bought all new equipment this year. I wanted to do things the TFP way and be successful so I also bought the recommented TFT Pool Teseting 2600 Kit. Have been practicing testing the past three days so I think I am now ready to put it all out here!
In years past, the SWG was a constant headache because of scaling on the plates. Had to have two cells, rotating through cleaning cycles, every 4-5 days. Fought high pH almost all summer. I was a frequent customer to the pool store so that is one reason I bought the fancy test kit, new SWG and want to try a different route.
Here are my levels as of now. Set up pool May 8th. Got things "balanced" by pool store, salt levels appropriate, and ordered test kit. I didn't get the kit until May 21 and had already had to clean scale deposit off new SWG cell. Tonight's test:
FC - 4
Salt - 4000
pH - 7.5
CH - 275
Alkalinity - 275
CYA 30 or lower. (I could see the black dot almost all the time)

SO! What am I doing wrong? Why the scaling? What do I need to bring in check and HOW to keep it that way? Pool is beautiful, clean, and sparkly. - For now.
Thanks again for all your great help! Lifesavers for sure!
Melissa
East Texas Farm

 

[jblizzle]

Welcome to TFP!

Scaling happens when the pH gets too high (in combo with CH and TA). This can happen locally in the cell while it is generating. If you raise your CYA to the recommended level, then you will not have to run the SWG as much, so scaling should reduce and the pH in the pool will not climb as fast.

Also if you can lower your TA, then the pH will not climb as fast.

 

[Divin Dave]

Hi Melissa,
Welcome from another East Texan. There are a few of us here.

Since you have a vinyl liner pool (like I do), Ch rarely is of concen for us. I notice your CH is 275. THats ok, not a problem at all where it is.
What I wonder about though, is what is the CH of the water that you fill and top off your pool with?
If your top off water has high CH, then that can also exasperate the scaling if PH and TA are out of range.

I would recommend testing your fill water as that could just be one more piece to the puzzle.

 

[melsteph]

Hello!
Thanks for any help! I am lowering the PH with acid in hopes of lowering TA -what I read on here to do. Also bought stabilizer at pool store today. So now, when do I add the stabilizer in hopes of balancing out the scaling problem? Had to clean plates last night again - two days later. Pool still looks pretty but chlorine is low and feel like im in a vicious cycle.
M

 

[jblizzle]

If you have no reason to believe you need to SLAM, then you can add the CYA anytime. I would suggest in 2 steps to avoid overshooting.