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dokwannabe35

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May 28, 2014
6
Anniston, AL
I have had my above ground pool for 12 years. We just replaced the vinyl liner a few weeks ago and therefore have a freshly filled pool. However, every year I struggle with balance. I feel like I know nothing more than I did 12 years ago. That was until I visited your site. I plan to put into practice everything you have a taught me thus far. However, when I used the pool calculator, it prompted me to use only 0.2 ounces of bleach. Now I do not have accurate figures for all the levels because 1) I have been using only test strips and 2) test like CYA is not available, but I am pretty sure I am going to need more than 0.2 ounces of bleach to make any difference. I know I need a better testing method. So my question is do they have a kit which includes all of the necessary chemicals to be tested. Please advise me on your best recommendation for what I would need. Thank you and love your site!


27ft above ground 19,300 gal
Northeast Alabama
12 years old pool with new vinyl liner
Sand filter Hayward multi-flo 70 gal/min
Hayward 1.5 HP pump not sure about the speed but would guess variable.
 
dokwannabe35 said:
I have had my above ground pool for 12 years. We just replaced the vinyl liner a few weeks ago and therefore have a freshly filled pool. However, every year I struggle with balance. I feel like I know nothing more than I did 12 years ago. That was until I visited your site. I plan to put into practice everything you have a taught me thus far. However, when I used the pool calculator, it prompted me to use only 0.2 ounces of bleach. Now I do not have accurate figures for all the levels because 1) I have been using only test strips and 2) test like CYA is not available, but I am pretty sure I am going to need more than 0.2 ounces of bleach to make any difference. I know I need a better testing method. So my question is do they have a kit which includes all of the necessary chemicals to be tested. Please advise me on your best recommendation for what I would need. Thank you and love your site!


27ft above ground 19,300 gal
Northeast Alabama
12 years old pool with new vinyl liner
Sand filter Hayward multi-flo 70 gal/min
Hayward 1.5 HP pump not sure about the speed but would guess variable.
Click to expand...
There are a couple test kits that will test everything for you. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/124-pool-test-kits-comparison Or skip the reading and just go to http://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html It will get you through the season and maybe part of next year before you need any more test reagents.

Your chlorine level is dependent on your stabilizer level (CYA) If you haven't added any stabilizer yet, you will have zero, and the bleach won't last but a couple hours in the sun. Zero CYA calls for a minimum FC of 1 and a target of 3 Free Chlorine. Poolmath shows me 2 qts 3 cups of 8.25% bleach to get to 3 FC. Here's how to use Poolmath.
 
It sounds like you may have something set wrong on pool math, did you enter the size of your pool correctly? (note pool math link at the top of this page is an updated version of pool calculator which is no longer supported and does not have an option for the new 8.25% bleach, etc.)
 
Richard320 said:
There are a couple test kits that will test everything for you. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/124-pool-test-kits-comparison Or skip the reading and just go to http://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html It will get you through the season and maybe part of next year before you need any more test reagents.

Your chlorine level is dependent on your stabilizer level (CYA) If you haven't added any stabilizer yet, you will have zero, and the bleach won't last but a couple hours in the sun. Zero CYA calls for a minimum FC of 1 and a target of 3 Free Chlorine. Poolmath shows me 2 qts 3 cups of 8.25% bleach to get to 3 FC. Here's how to use Poolmath.
Click to expand...

Thanks Richard for your reply! Here is what I have done. Filled with fresh water May 17th. Added only the 3" pucks of chlorine tablets maybe 4 times in the first couple of weeks before switching to the liquid bleach. I added aqua chem calcium hardness 2.5lbs two weeks ago and add 2-3 pucks a week of the Sodium Bicarbonate 86.60% by Arm & Hammer. I purchased the Taylor 2006 test kit which includes the CYA testing and here were my results.

0.6ppm free chlorine
0.2ppm combined chlorine
8.0 ph
130 TA
130 CH
43 CYA

The pool math is telling me to add this

0.1 oz. bleach 8.25% of 121 gal jug which is what I have
0.1 oz. (31.45%-20 baume) muriatic acid or 0.1 oz. of dry acid
0.4 oz. calcium chloride

Does all this sound right? After 12 years I have decided to finally try to do things right. Better late than never huh? Thank you again for your input!! I really appreciate the help!
 
bridgman said:
Are you sure you entered 19300 gallons for pool size (at the top of the PoolMath page) ?
Click to expand...

Sorry for jumping in here..... 19,300 gallons for a 27' above ground pool doesn't seem right. Even with a 54" wall a 27' Round pool should hold 17,400 gallons. I don't know exactly what kind of pool you have and not doubting you, but in order to calculate your chemicals right, make sure you have the correct figures.
 

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That's correct. If your water level is 4.5 feet, that's your volume. If your water level is at 4 feet, then you're at 17,100. Measuring the actual water depth will give you a very close estimate.

Based on your test results and 19K volume:

0.6ppm free chlorine
0.2ppm combined chlorine
8.0 ph
130 TA
130 CH
43 CYA

To bring your FC up to 7, which is the target level for FC, you need 189 oz of 8.25% bleach
To bring your pH to 7.4 you need 43 oz of MA to get you there.
No need to worry about calcium chloride. CH is fairly irrelevant to vinyl/AG pools unless it's very high, or perhaps VERY low.

Not sure why you were getting such low volumes...
 
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