This is my first post on a blog ever but I am very thankful to have found TFP. I already found from looking at Pool School I've probably spent $100's this season that I didn't need to. I live 20 miles north of Pittsburgh PA, I'm a licensed self employed master plumber. I have a 16'x40' vinyl L shaped in ground pool, 16'x24'x3'D shallow and 16'x24'x8'D well. 30,000 gallons, 13yrs. old. It gets full sun most of the day. 1year old Hayward Pro-Grid DE3620 filter, Hayward 2 speed Super Pump, CircuPool RJ45 SWG and a used Pentair MiniMax NT 250TSI heater (10 years old). I have a 10 year old Aquabot Turbo pool cleaner. We like the water temp at 87-90 deg. I use a mesh safety cover in the winter. I have well water so I rely mostly on rain and sometimes use some well water which is moderate to high in phosphates. This year at opening I discovered a thick layer of silt on the bottom that I cleaned up and shocked with liquid chlorine and then started my SWG. I could not get my pool to hold any chlorine. The pool store tested my water and said that my salt was gone and needed to add 15-40# bags from their calculations. I purchased Solar Salt from a local hardware at 1/2 the cost of pool salt but I wonder if that's where all the phosphates came from? They did not tell me to add it a little bit at a time. With my SWG running at 100% 24/7 still would not hold chlorine. The pool store told me it was phosphates and proceeded to sell me treatment after treatment to remove the phosphates, still holding no chlorine. Then then they told me to shock my pool with 10-15 pounds of granular chlorine. I purchased salt test strips and found my salt reading at 5690. I am pumping out 7600 gallons and replenishing on Thursday to lower the salt level to 3200. My SWG seems to be working great now after cleaning the cell and the mess from all the chlorine I added. I purchased a TF100 and tested everything. CL-ok, pH-7.6, TA 110, Calcium hardness 325, Cyanuric acid 40. Once I replenish the water I will restabilize and bring it up to 80-90. I will check and make any other adjustments. I eventually would like to know the proper settings for my SWG but if I'm right it depends on current conditions, weather, usage, water temp. etc. I've been finding bluish white flakes in my pool cleaner and my heater has been short cycling, wonder if it's clogged and if there is some way to clean and descale it. I know that's a lot of info at one time but I'm so anxious to get a handle on my pool maintenance. I have lot's of other questions but right now I'm ready to start heading in the right direction with my pool. We really enjoy the time we have with it in the summer. Thanks.