Newbie- Need advice

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lswatson111304

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Jun 4, 2015
47
Franklin, Texas
Hey! Ok. So I have a 16x48 above ground pool. It has a SWG.
I realize I should have come here BEFORE starting, but that didn't happen so here I am now!
We filled the pool and put in 2 40lb bags of salt. Haven't done anything else.
I'm assuming we need to add the 3rd, but as I don't have any way to test the salt I tend to always err on the lower side of things.
I have a test kit, but from what I can tell it doesn't test the CYA. I haven't used it yet. I'm a little intimidated. I also have a 3way kit from Walmart that I've used to test my chlorine and pH. The chlorine is not measuring, the PH is high. I did once get a .5 reading for the chlorine.
So I have a couple questions, should I go ahead and add the 3rd bag of salt? How long do I need to run the SWG? Will that generate chlorine sufficiently? Or do I need to go ahead and add some to get it started.
I have the powdered PH minus. I haven't used it yet because all of this chemical stuff freaks me out! I'm paranoid I'll breathe some in or something and I forgot to go buy a mask. I have anxiety if you can't tell! LOL
Is the test I have sufficient for now?

OK found my test instructions and did a couple.
Chlorine is zero
PH 8.2
TA uhh I didn't add enough drops. I was at 16 drops and it started to turn pink then faded to clear. I watched a video after and see that I should have kept going.
 
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FC zero. Help!

Ok, I haven't ordered a cya test yet. I have a zero chlorine reading.
I have a SWG, I think I need to add more salt, I only added 2 40lb bags. Only once did that alone register a chlorine reading of .5. My PH had been high so I added some pH minus and it's down to 7.8.
Today I went out and added 2.5 cups of 8%bleach. That is all I have added at all since opening it. It brought the color up barely in the test shortly after adding it. At most to a 1ppm. I left for a couple hours and it's back to zero. Am I not adding enough for it to maintain? Do I need to add the extra bag of salt, and if so, do I need to turn off the SWG for a while? When I do run it, how long should it run for?
I haven't added any stabilizer because I don't have a cya test. I'm not sure what to add. Would it have any reading at all being straight from the tap??
My pool looks amazing. Somehow it's been up over a week and is still crystal clear. I don't understand how it isn't green yet?
Since opening I have added
-80lbs salt.
-2.5 cups liquid bleach 8%
-6oz pH minus

That's it.
My Chlorine is 0
TA 160
PH 7.8

I do have test strips, would they be sufficient for the cya until I can get one?
I'm using a Taylor test kit I found in my local general store. It is just short the cya test.
I also have the Walmart 3 way test and the chlorine has been the same on it as the Taylor when one shows low chlorine the other does too. If it's zero they both read zero.

Lastly, can my kids swim today? With the Chlorine at zero? The water looks great.
 
:wave: Welcome to TFP!!!

Realize that your test kit is also missing the most important test which is the FAS-DPD chlorine test ... this is what is required to be one of the Recommended Test Kits. It is also missing the CH test which is important in TX.

Technically it is not safe if the FC is not above the minimum level for your CYA according to the FC/CYA Chart.
 
Without know your CYA level, you do not know what level of FC is required.

You can certainly start using some bleach to try to keep a few ppm of FC in the pool.

If a SWG will not keep any FC in the water it is usually either due to the CYA being too low and all the FC being lost to the sun faster than the SWG can make it, or something is in the water consuming the FC faster than the SWG can make it.

When did you fill the pool?

You should start using PoolMath to calculate your chemical additions (like salt).

Please add your pool details to your signature as described HERE as it will help us help you.
 
Does your owner manual say how many ppm of salt you need? Let us know and we can help calculate if you need more. If you need more salt put it in, and supplement with bleach, using pool math to get you up to 3 to 4 ppm chlorine until your generator is up to speed. Also add enough stabilizer to get it up to 30 or so CYA. Also you can calculate your pool volume in galloms with poolmath. Best wishes
 
Does your SWG say if it is making salt? Or low salt?

Just to make it official, 0 FC is too low. It is not safe, not sanitized and will turn green with algae.

Did you add stabilizer/CYA? You need to set the chlorine level based on this chart, Chlorine CYA Chart

If your SWG is making chlorine but not enough either turn it up or run it longer to make more. But, in the mean time, add bleach. I use 8.25% plain bleach from the grocery store. It is important not let the chlorine level drop below the minimum for the cya level in your pool.

Here are some of my fave Pool School articles in case you missed any of them.
TFPC for Beginners
ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry

Here are the Recommended Levels for your pool.
Here is the Water Balance for a saltwater pool.
Here are the Recommended Pool Chemicals and how to add them.
Use PoolMath to figure out how much to add.

We really need you to add your pool info to your signature to be able to help, as shown here, Read This BEFORE You Post
 
I adjusted my signature, hopefully it helps some. Sorry about that. Ive been on my phone and its horrible to navigate.
Since earlier posting I added the 3rd bag of salt, so total it has had 120lbs of salt. I also added 6oz by weight of stabilizer. I didn't know if I should, simply because i cant test for that yet, but my pool wasn't maintaining chlorine so i was helping a little would help until I'm able to order a better test? I realize that may not be how it actually works, but I didn't know what else to do. The only CYA test i have is the strips and it is the lowest color.
For kicks before I did all that I tested my water again. Where the water pumps into the pool it measured chlorine, so the SWG is generating chlorine, but away from there I was getting a zero reading.
Just now I went out and took a sample from away from the jet, and I got a reading of about 1ppm. So its finally registering chlorine. My PH looks like it jumped back up again thought? I had it down from 8.2 to 7.8, but it looks to be back up to 8.2 again.
No codes, or alerts on the SWG, but it only has a few things like a light that will say high salt or low salt.
Do i need to order salt strips? Are those accurate?

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also, my pool manual calls for much lower numbers than pool school for a swg?
 

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6oz of stabilizer? That is all you have ever added correct? Your pool will need to be at a level of 70ppm eventually. I would stick to a much lower number for right now in case you need to SLAM. SLAMing is much harder with high CYA and you have left your pool with near 0 FC for a while it sounds like, which probably introduced algae.

If you have only added 6oz then add another 22oz of CYA. That will bring you to a reading of about 40ppm. Then you should be able to hold some FC.

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The CYA addition will also lower your pH for a while. Your TA is probably high which will cause your pH to creep up pretty quickly.

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Oh and ignore the Intex instructions on required levels. The only number of theirs you need to be concerned with is recommended salt levels.
 
Yes 6oz is all I've added period. I tend to err on the low side for everything in general and apparently that's not right for this! LOL
Should I add the 22oz now? Or wait until I can test? Or will a pool store be able to test just the cya so I know where I'm at? We live 45 miles from one but I'm going to that town tomorrow. My TA is high.
If the pool is still clear and I can get my FC up is there a chance I'll be OK and not have to SLAM? My kids are dying to swim and I haven't let them in except the first 2 days it was filled. Actually day 1 it only had about a foot of water in it lol.
 
BTW, CYA takes up to a week to show up on tests. Just assume it is 40 and go from there. Dont trust pool store tests ever!

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The only way to know that for sure is to perform an OCLT after your FC is stable.

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Does your test have DPD-FAS? If so then yes. Make sure your test has this reagent. If not add it to your order so you can test for CC.

http://tftestkits.net/R-0003-DPD-3-Reagent-for-K-2006-or-TF100-p8.html
 

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