Greetings, New pool owner/renter, complete noob

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T

Turboblu

0
Jun 16, 2015
40
Philadelphia, PA
Greetings all,

I am in the military so i move alot. I just moved near Philadelphia and founda house for rent that had a pool. It was a great deal for the yard/house/amenities so i grabbed it! This being my first time having to deal with a pool i had the Openings and Closings put into the lease for the owner to pay for. So on to my pool/problem. The previous tenant did not have this agreement and was responsible for everything i'm assuming. My pool had a tru-loc solid cover on so i was hoping for an easy opening. The pool company came to open and told me a few things weren't done right. First the pool level was too high for winter and also there was water in the basket near the pump. Luckily nothing was damaged during the winter and everything is running fine. The main problem is that the previous tenants did not clean the pool.......at all before closing it. The pool guy said that with the pool cover i had it should open pretty close to how i closed it. and it didn't look good. Mainly just tons of leaves and debris not really any Algae or anything. I only posessed a cheaper 4 part test kit which i did later in the day after the opening and everything seems "ok". i took a sample of water to Leslie's since my test kit is on order (k-2006, thanks to all my lurking on here) I don't have the sheet in fron of me but most everything was good.

FC-3
PH- 7.2
CYA-30

sorry can't remember the rest off the top of my head. the main thing is i wanted to know my CYA so I could start a SLAM hoping my test kit would arrive soon.

I put everything in the Pool calc and put in the required amount of Chlorine. Problem i have now is that i can't tell my FC until my kit gets here. But i want to keep progress until my kit arrives (anxious wife that wants her pool).

I've swept the bottom of the pool for leaves and after getting an entire tree's worth i think i'm starting to gain ground (very few leaves at all, buit i can't see the bottom to tell).

Again this is my first ever pool dealings (was a mountain lake kinda kid not a pool kid growing up) so any advice would be appreciated.

First pic is of the pool shortly after opening. second is from this morning after i put in chlorine at about 9pm to bring the shock level to 12 (according to pool calc). So the second pic is maybe 8-10 hours after adding chlorine. The pool guy said i'd need to probably backwash pretty often with all the debris but i haven't really needed to, is that normal?Pool 1.jpgpool2.jpg


Also i believe its around 10,000-12000 gallons (don't know depth) and Vinyl liner.
 
Welcome to TFP!!:handwave: and thanks for your service.

The K-2006 comes in sizes, designated by a letter. The basic K-2006 has .75oz bottles. Hopefully you got the K-2006-C to get the larger bottles that you want. Even then it is a little short on the reagent & powder for the FAS/DPD test. I would go ahead and order more R0870 & R0871 powder & reagent for the FAS/DPD test.

You seem to have a good handle on the process and are moving in the right direction. Until you get your kit you are more in a holding pattern, so don't push it too far, too fast.
 
I only got the basic kit for now. I'm sure i will order more but for now i just need somthing. I work all day and my wife has got my 16 month old and our 6 year old niece thats visiting for a couple of weeks. So asking her to do much is not a good idea. So i checked it before work and plan on checking progress after work and before bed. But like you said. I can't do too much because i'm guessing with FC right now due to my basic kit only being able to go to like 5 or somthing. But if my cheap tests show under 5 then i can obviously throw it in the calc to add but i need to maintain. Mainly i'm just skimming and making sure the pump is doing its job and adding bleach without going "crazy".
 
k-2006 kit shipped as well as ordered extra powder and reagent. Also ordered the cool magnetic stir-er thing cause i'm lazy lol. My wife is seeing a difference from just yesterday evening. So that makes her more confident in me (aka this forum's help and guidance) for dumping chlorine in the pool. She keeps asking me "are you sure you're doing this right". I had to say "I have an educated guess for now based off numbers for yesterday but i won't know for sure until the new test kit gets here". Coming from NC (my home-state) it should be up here to PA by tomorow or thursday.
 
Update as of this morning. Still can't "accurately" test my stuff (Kit is arriving tomorow according to UPS, so i should have it by around 2pm). So i found another thread on here about Bleach prices and found a store that was right across the bridge in Jersey called Ollie's that had 12.5% for 2.99 for 128fl oz. So i snagged like 3 cases (4 to a case) plus a couple stray bottles for a nice supply. Been kind of "safe" with the Chlorine since i can't test accurately. I'll check using the basic kit and if it has fallen under the 5 i can accurately add so i've been doing that. It did look better after i got home. The wife has babysitted it a bit (checking pump pressure and skimming) while my daughter was taking a nap. I see progress which is good.

When i backwash (just to do it cause i don't feel its clogged up yet, i don't see much dirty water or anything being ejected) makes me think its not filtering properly. And because i'm new i don't know if thats good or not. Its a DE filter so after finding the manual online (Hayward 3600 DE) i added some DE (just about a cup) hoping to maybe help (the opeing pool guy said he added some DE but didn't tell me how much).

Anyway Picture time

This was from yesterday when i got home about 4pm


This is from this morning after putting in the 12.5% (had ben using the 8.25% from walmart) last night.


It wasn't the sunniest this morning so that could affect the pic but it did look blue-er and also i could see the return vent nozzles much clearer/at all which to me is a good sign. Can't wait until my kit gets here so i can go "all in" and post up numbers.
 
I am very minimal on my knowledge of DE filters so hopefully someone else will be able to help with more info but from what I have read here....the filter has a certain amount of DE that needs to be added after a full cleaning. (Something involving removing the grids and completely washing them out.) Then, after you backwash you are supposed to add a percent of that full amount because you lose some DE when you backwash.

I'm not sure what those amounts are (The actual amount will depend on the size of the filter and I can't remember the %. Helpful huh? lol) I *know* someone with a DE filter will be able to help you find that if you don't already know it. :)

Good idea stocking up on the 12.5% from Ollies. Looks like you'll be ready to start your SLAM when your kit comes in!

Welcome to TFP. :)
 

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Beens said:
I am very minimal on my knowledge of DE filters so hopefully someone else will be able to help with more info but from what I have read here....the filter has a certain amount of DE that needs to be added after a full cleaning. (Something involving removing the grids and completely washing them out.) Then, after you backwash you are supposed to add a percent of that full amount because you lose some DE when you backwash.

I'm not sure what those amounts are (The actual amount will depend on the size of the filter and I can't remember the %. Helpful huh? lol) I *know* someone with a DE filter will be able to help you find that if you don't already know it. :)

Good idea stocking up on the 12.5% from Ollies. Looks like you'll be ready to start your SLAM when your kit comes in!

Welcome to TFP. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks!!! Glad you guys were recomended to me. The filter i have takes 4.5lbs and yes when you backwash they say put like a cup or so into it. I downloaded the manual so i got that going for me. Yea i'm just keeping Chlorine in the pool enough until i get my kit so i can truly start the SLAM properly.
 
pabeader said:
isn't there a way to make his 4 way kit give him something over 5? Seems like there is a way to dilute the sample. Might be more useful then just guessing???
Click to expand...

If there is please let me know!!! I am a hard-core researcher/by the book kinda guy so i hate guessing. When i do check using the basic kit (that was in the poolhouse) i am really just seeing if it has fallen below 5. If it has i can throw it in the calculator to be spot on. If not i have to be conservative with my Chlorine so i don't overdue it. Test kit should be here after lunch tomorrow so I'll be ready to do a full test/post up numbers when i get home from work. But if there is a way to get close results until then i would love it.
 
It depends. If it's the pink (DPD) color matching chlorine test it will just bleach out at high levels. If it's the shades of yellow (OTO) chlorine test then there are some guesstimates for the higher levels as it goes to school bus yellow to dark dark yellow to an orange and eventually brown but it's still technically just guessing and not accurate enough for a SLAM. I think you're doing good with what you have and with your kit coming tomorrow I'd just maintain it like you have been doing.

You're mainly keeping it from getting worse while you wait for your kit and avoiding wasting your bleach or damaging your equipment in the process.

Glad your kit will be in tomorrow! :)
 
what if you dilute the sample with filtered water? example:
you want 10ml total
use 5ml pool
add 5ml filtered
then test as usual but multiply result by 2
so if you 'see' the color 3 then you actually have 6
5 would give you 10

the dilution could be carried even further
you want 10ml
use 2 ml pool
add 8 ml filtered
multiply by 5

if your tester has 5 'boxes'
fill up to the top of the first one with pool
fill the rest with filtered
test as usual
multiply by 5

this is not a recommended way to test but it would give more range. Pool Geek would remind us that the margin of error goes up accordingly, but it would be better than flat out guessing. I would think...
 
Eh, it's not rocket surgery - only chemistry ;)

I wouldn't worry about it too much until you get your kit. Just guesstimate it with poolmath, you'll be fine. Even if you use 2X as much as you need it won't hurt anything but your pocketbook by a small amount.
 
I got home and it was around 4 for FC. My wife put a gallon of 12.5% about 2 hours ago. Pool Calc said 98oz so i just dumped the whole 128oz in. We will see what that does. maybe i can test my diluted chemistry in an hour or so and see what happens. Good news is i can see my pool return nozzles and i can see my leaf net down about 2 feet. almost able to see the bottom of the shallow end. I know there is a bunch of sediment on the bottom cause when i brush it looks like tan clouds coming up when i get to the other wall. I just want it clear enough so i can see what the heck i'm doing with the vacuum since i'm new to the whole vacuum thing. I hate aimlessly sucking when i don't know if i'm doing it right, i could have the head upside down for all i know, lol.
 

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