When and what conditions to test?

kwamhoff · May 15, 2015

Do i test in the morning or evening? With the pump on or off?
If I test with the pump on, should it be running for a certain amount of time before I test?

I am getting my Taylors kit on Sunday. I am so over chain pool stores lack of knowledge and Bog box stores selling stuff that actually makes more problems.
Thank you to the admins. I had gone through TFPC's Pool school tonight and want to punch some pool store employees.

Richard320 · May 15, 2015

You'll need some bright sunlight to do the CYA test. Otherwise, time of day doesn't really matter. Whatever works best for you. The pump should be on for at least half an hour before you test and half an hour after you add something.

Azgirl71 · May 15, 2015

Welcome to TFP and congrats on taking over your pool! Richard covered the rest.

JVTrain · May 15, 2015

Personally, I like testing in the evening/night after the sun has hit the trees. It's a good time of day for me and I have my pump timer set to start for it's evening cycle for about 1 hr before I usually test. I also like this time of day as when I need to add bleach to the pool, the FC for the day will be at it's highest point overnight and not be consumed by the sun in any way until 8 hours later. Allows my FC to be closer to the target level for more hours in the day.

Welcome to TFP and good luck! Ask lots of questions if things aren't clear after perusing Pool School and searching for similar topics on the forums. It's a lot to soak in, but once you put it into practice it will all come together.

Isaac-1 · May 16, 2015

Remember once you get everything balanced and you get to know your pool's trends you don't have to do all the tests all of the time. For me that means testing FC/CC about 2- 3 times per week, pH every other week (my pH is very stable, and rarely needs adjustment), CYA about every 2-3 months, TA and CH 3-4 times per year (vinyl pool that does not need CH, and very low CH fill water).

kwamhoff · May 16, 2015

I made the unfortunate mistake of spending hundreds of dollars at a pool supply store on CYA reducing solutions, Phosphate solutions, over priced Chlorine, conditioners, and everything else under the sun. I guess they saw me coming. 2 rounds of Bio-Active and my CYA level never changed. Ordered my Taylors kit yesterday off Amazon. Does anyone know of a good software to track pool test results. I love the pool math spreadsheet however I would like to track trends and gain a pool history... Any suggestions?. Also I hm totally against Big Box stores and chains at this point but I did see that Lowe's sells a 12.5% bleech solution. Any comments?

Richard320 · May 16, 2015

kwamhoff said:
I made the unfortunate mistake of spending hundreds of dollars at a pool supply store on CYA reducing solutions, Phosphate solutions, over priced Chlorine, conditioners, and everything else under the sun. I guess they saw me coming. 2 rounds of Bio-Active and my CYA level never changed. Ordered my Taylors kit yesterday off Amazon. Does anyone know of a good software to track pool test results. I love the pool math spreadsheet however I would like to track trends and gain a pool history... Any suggestions?. Also I hm totally against Big Box stores and chains at this point but I did see that Lowe's sells a 12.5% bleech solution. Any comments?

A lot of that Lowe's pool chlorine sits outdoors in the heat for long periods of time, slowly degrading. It won't be 12.5% for very long.

If you can see a date code stamped on the box, you might be able to decode it and decide if you want to buy.

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kwamhoff said:
I made the unfortunate mistake of spending hundreds of dollars at a pool supply store on CYA reducing solutions, Phosphate solutions, over priced Chlorine, conditioners, and everything else under the sun. I guess they saw me coming. 2 rounds of Bio-Active and my CYA level never changed. Ordered my Taylors kit yesterday off Amazon. Does anyone know of a good software to track pool test results. I love the pool math spreadsheet however I would like to track trends and gain a pool history... Any suggestions?. Also I hm totally against Big Box stores and chains at this point but I did see that Lowe's sells a 12.5% bleech solution. Any comments?

A lot of that Lowe's pool chlorine sits outdoors in the heat for long periods of time, slowly degrading. It won't be 12.5% for very long.

If you can see a date code stamped on the box, you might be able to decode it and decide if you want to buy.

PS: use the search box for spreadsheets.