Please help on beginning this method of pool maintenance.

Jump to latest Follow Reply
C

Cas

0
May 11, 2015
16
Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Hello everyone. I am a new member after reading this site for the past year and am excited to try this method of pool care. I am just opening my pool this year and this is my first post. I have used Pristine Blue in my pool since installing it seven years ago. I drained out nearly half the water and refilled this year. I just received my TF-100 and have the following results.
FC 0
PH 7.2
TA 130
CYA 0
The pool is slightly green on the bottom from pump issues at the end of last season but I have installed a new pump. I have never used stabilizer but want to start off on the right foot this year and only use bleach, baking soda, or myriatic acid to maintain my pool. I have read through several posts and all of the pool school information but I'm still not sure if I should add stabilizer to get those levels up to between 30 and 50 before I try to slam the pool or what I should do next. I'm sorry if I should've figured this out through reading other posts but I just want to be sure that I do everything right. If anyone has any advice on what steps to take next I would really appreciate the guidance.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Have you tested your copper level recently? Might be worth doing to see if more water replacement might be a good first step to lower the need to use sequestrants.

If you think you are ready to proceed, then use PoolMath to add about 30ppm of CYA to your pool and then start to follow the ShockLevelAndMAINTAIN Process.

BTW, with a TA of 130ppm, you may never need baking soda. We are not about using specific chemical, the TFPC method is really just about understanding your pool’s chemistry and through accurate testing, adding only what the pool NEEDS and not what someone wants to sell you.
 
Hi Cas!
Weclome to TFP and congrats on getting that outstanding test kit and even more so, taking control of your own pool.

First, you want to go ahead and add enough CYA to get you to 30ppm. Thats where you want it for slamming.
Do you know how to use pool math yet? If not, heres how
Top left, enter how many gallons of water you have
in the boxes on left, enter your test resut
in boxs to the right of that, add the level you want to get to
then click calculate.

Pool math will tell you how much of something to add.
http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html

leave your pH where it is.

Then go ahead and enough bleach to get you to slam level for a CYA of 30.

No need to test CYA again after addidng it. It will take a week or so before it will finally show up in the test.

hopes this helps get you started.
keep us posted on how it goes!

If there is anything more you have a question about, or dont understand, just let us know.
 
Wow! Thank you so much for the quick responses! I have been playing around with the Pool Math for several months so I would be able to use it when the time came. I tend to over prepare. Some people may think I'm a little anal, I like to think I'm thorough. ☺️ I had purchased testing strips that tested for Pristine Blue but if I'm correct after what I have learned from my reading I believe it was actually testing for copper. Knowing I was switching to this method I have not added Pristine Blue since May of last year and the test strips have shown a level of zero for Pristine Blue since July of last year. In order to get my CYA to 30 Ithe Pool Math calculator says I should add 110 ounces of stabilizer. Here is my next question and then I think I'm good to go. I'm not sure how to go about using the sock method to add that much of a powder as it obviously won't fit in one sock. Do I just use however many socks it takes to get it in there at the same time? I was going to ask if I needed to wait until CYA level tests 30 ppm before starting the SLAM process but you are so good you anticipated my question before I asked it! So if I understand correctly I need to add the 110 ounces of stabilizer all at once then immediately add 489 ounces of 8.25 % bleach to raise my FC level to 12. Then I will continue with the SLAM process as described at Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain. Thank you both so much for your valuable time and advice! It is much appreciated.
 
You can hang as many socks as you want to get it in. Just do not put all of them in the skimmer as it might mess with the water flow.

I hang my socks in front of the return. I use a bungee cord and wrap it a couple of times around the sock and us the hooks to secure it to the top rail of the pool.

SLAM as if the CYA level you are shooting for is already in the pool.

Happy SLAMing!

Kim
 
Cas,

Welcome to the forum. :wave:

Do you have a picture of your pool water? Does the slight tint of green remain? You are on the right track for sure but a picture often gets everyone on the same page.
 
Cas,
you can hang a couple of socks of CYA in front of a return. Tie the socks to a pole or something to suspend them in the water.
Dont let the socks rest agains the side of the pool. The acid can stain your pool surface. they need to 'float'.
Throw another 1 sock in the skimmer. Give them a good squeeze every so often to help the CYA dissolve.

Personally, I have an old pillow case that i put CYA in, tie it closed and hang it from my pool pole in front of a return.

110 ozs is the correct amount to add for your size pool.
 
Thank you so much everyone! It took two really long socks but I got it in. I have a fountain on my return so I hung them from that. They were not against the pool wall; thanks for that tip! �� I went out and massaged the socks until the stabilizer was all deposited into the pool this evening. It was great to see clouds of product and no grains. The sock trick is genius. I started the slam process this morning and it is going well so far. The water has already started to clear quite a bit. I will take a picture tomorrow and see if I can figure out how to post it. Again, I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to respond and help me. I'm looking for this to be my best pool summer ever. ��
 
Hi Cas,

It's great to hear all is going well so far and you got your CYA in the pool without any problem.
:)

Keep us posted! We want to see the sparkly clear end result.
If you have any questions, ask away. That's what we're here for.

By mid summer, you will wonder how you ever thought it was confusing and a problem to keep a crystal clear pool.
It's easy, easy, easy!

To post pics, the easiest way is download them to photobucket.
Then start your post...
then open another window in your browser and go to photobucket
Then find the pic you want to post, and click on it.
When you click the pic, it enlarge and you will see 3 lines of code at the right side of the screen beside the pic
Click on the one that says IMG, and it will automatically copy the code to your clipboard
Then come back here, and paste the code into your post.
When you click the Submit button, the pic will show up.

hope this helps,
 
Just an update...I haven't figured how to load pictures yet (I'm using my iPad so no flash player may be the problem) but I will try to get it figured out soon. SLAMMING was amazingly simple! This morning my FC loss was 0.5 and my CC was also 0.5. My water is completely "green free." I can easily see the bottom of my pool but it is slightly cloudy towards the bottom but it is clearing up as we speak. Divin Dave said it could take a week for my CYA to show up on the test so since my water is still improving hourly I think I will wait a couple of days and then retest everything. My FC this morning was 10.5 as I was just completing the SLAMMING process so I would think it should be ok for a couple more days. I was totally overwhelmed when I first started trying to learn from this site last summer and get my nerve up to try it this year. The first couple of days were a little intimidating (I will admit I actually put two tube socks just laying in my skimmer for a whole day before I realized there was an actual skimmer sock, now I have a knee high correctly LINING the skimmer basket). It has already got so much easier! Just knowing that I have someone to get advice from makes all the difference in the world. I just wanted to say thank you again and let you know my pool is clearing up and I will try to get pictures posted soon.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
Hi Cas,
if slamming was amazingly simple, then it will be a breeze for your from now on.

I would highly recommend keeping your FC at slam untill ALL cloudiness is completely gone and the water is perfectly clear. All to often, that last couple of days means a difference between a great slam and your home free quick, and a so so slam, and you struggle with slight cloudiness for longer than expected. So, keep going. SLAM till perfectly clear.
 
Ok I will check my FC and get back to it. I thought I read that it could take up to a week for the water to completely clear after slamming. It must have been during slamming. Would it be ok to wait until water is perfectly clear to do the overnight FC loss test again? Or am I good on that since all of the green is gone and I passed the criteria this morning?
 
I just added the stabilizer three days ago so I thought I needed to wait close to a week to get an accurate reading. I can certainly check it now. I was under the impression that it took several days to show up and I sure didn't want to add more too soon and wind up with too much. I'm on well water so replacing water would not be something I would want to do.
 
I just wanted to thank you for your help and for keeping me on track with continuing to SLAM until I met all three of the criteria. Tonight my pool is absolutely crystal clear and beautiful. :) I had noticed at the end of last summer that I had started getting a rough feeling texture on the bottom of the pool around by where the return is mostly. Now the whole floor of my pool has that rough feeling texture on it. Any ideas what this could be?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply