Adjusting levels

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Locster

Locster

Member
May 28, 2020
24
Missouri City, Tx
Pool Size
16900
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
We had the pool built last fall and as a beginner have read the posts on ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry & Recommended Pool Chemistry. Bought the TK-2006 test kit and did the various tests this past weekend after the winter freeze in TX and have some questions on the results (FC 6, CC 6, pH 8, TA 90, CH 200, CYA 48). Downloaded the Pool Math App and logged the test results.

FAS-DPD - not sure if I did this test correctly but recorded the numbers
CH - level is outside range and App recommends adding 626 oz or 39 lbs of Calcium Chloride. Any suggestions where to buy as didn't find at HD or Lowes? This product should be spread across the surface of the deep end of the pool. Is there any thing else to watch out while adding this product?
pH/TA - levels outside range and App recommends lowering pH by adding 16 oz or 2 cups of Muriatic acid 31.45 %. After adding this product, does the TA need to be lowered?

Thanks for any feedback.
 
Mainly commenting to boot this post. Hopefully someone who knows about plaster will see it.

But if you CH is very low, I would not add any acid until you get it back up or someone else here says something different.
 
Locster said:
We had the pool built last fall and as a beginner have read the posts on ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry & Recommended Pool Chemistry. Bought the TK-2006 test kit and did the various tests this past weekend after the winter freeze in TX and have some questions on the results (FC 6, CC 6, pH 8, TA 90, CH 200, CYA 48). Downloaded the Pool Math App and logged the test results. Remember that chlorine is a consumable item. What you tested for FC and CC days ago may have changed by now. The FC test is the first of those tests, then you immediately add the 5 drops of R-0003 reagent and see if it turns pink? Yes pink- you again add and count the drops of 0870 reagent to determine your Combined Chloramines (CC). Those are the "cooties" as I call them. If the FC sample does not turn pink when adding the R-0003 reagent, you don't have any CCs. Yay! For these tests if you use a 10mL sample all your reagent drops will count as 0.5. So count your drops and divide by 2 and that is your answer.

FAS-DPD - not sure if I did this test correctly but recorded the numbers See above
CH - level is outside range and App recommends adding 626 oz or 39 lbs of Calcium Chloride.Is your pool plaster?? Any suggestions where to buy as didn't find at HD or Lowes? This product should be spread across the surface of the deep end of the pool. Is there any thing else to watch out while adding this product? That's about it- except after spreading in deep end, brush it around. Don't add other chemicals at same time, wait a while. Calcium gets hot as it has an exothermic chemical reaction.
pH/TA - levels outside range and App recommends lowering pH by adding 16 oz or 2 cups of Muriatic acid 31.45 %. After adding this product, does the TA need to be lowered? Muriatic Acid will act to lower TA each time you use it to lower pH. How low are you seeking to take your pH? Go slow.

Thanks for any feedback.
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You're welcome.
Maddie :flower:
 
You may not need to increase CH. You can achieve an acceptable CSI with the numbers you have. CH will rise over time with evaporation and top offs. How fast depends on the content of your fill water. If you haven't yet, check the CH of your fill water and post.

Maybe your CC result is really Total Chlorine or TC.

FC + CC=TC
 
Use 10 ml sample and added 12 drops of R-0003 so FC = 6. Sample turned pink but did not remain. Does sample have to remain pink to stop adding R-0003 reagent? I may have prematurely stopped and added 0870 reagent for the CC number.
 
Add powder R-0870 to 10 ml sample.

For FC test, add R-0871 counting drops. Multiply by 0.5 for result (12 drops = 6 ppm)

Use the completed FC sample and add 5 drops of R-0003. If the sample remains clear CC is 0. If it turns pink, add R-0871 counting drops. Multiply by 0.5 for result CC.

Extended Test Directions:

Extended Test Kit Directions Archives

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
I had mis-quoted the reagents above for the FC/CC test as I don't have the kit in front of me. I was following the laminate card instructions from the kit. Will redo the FAS-DPD test as the link provided has more details (thanks Rancho). Any comments on the CH and pH/TA being out of whack?
 
On your FC test, when adding the powder R-870 to your 10ml sample ,it should turn pink, indicating you have some level of chlorine. then count drops of R-871 as indicated until the 10ml sample turns "colorless" - it may not be "clear" but it should not be pinkish. That is the end of your FC test. Then immediately add the R-003 drops (5 drops) and if the 10ml sample remains "colorless" i.e.. no pinkish then your CC is zero. If it does turn pinkish after adding R-003 then add the R-871 drops, counting again. Normally you should not add more than 1-4 drops of R-871 while doing the CC test unless you have a lot of gunk in your pool. So you get for example a FC of 6.5 and a CC of 0.5 (EXAMPLE ONLY)

With regard to CH and pH - please test your fill water tap and post that info so we know what you fill your pool with before adjusting CH.
 
Redid the test resulting in FC = 1 & CC = 1 which means no chlorine and should chlorinate based on the PoolMath calc. Use household bleach (Walmart) or trichlor tablets (where best to buy)? Any particular method to add the beach? Tablets go in the auto in-line feeder but trickier to get the weight required to chlorinate and assume there are steps taken for this method. Just saw a video that TFP doesn't recommend using chloride pucks as it could lower the pH. Thanks for schooling me.
 
Last edited:
Locster said:
Redid the test resulting in FC = 1 & CC = 1 which means no chlorine and should chlorinate based on the PoolMath calc. Use household bleach (Walmart) or trichlor tablets (where best to buy)? Any particular method to add the beach? Tablets go in the auto in-line feeder but trickier to get the weight required to chlorinate and assume there are steps taken for this method. Just saw a video that TFP doesn't recommend using chloride pucks as it could lower the pH. Thanks for schooling me.
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My suggestion would be to go to Leslie's and buy a 4 gallon box of Liquid Chlorine (LC) for about $20. It is 12.5%. Alternatively you can go to Pinch A Penny and purchase a 2.5 gal jug for about $8 It is 10%. However, you have to buy the plastic jug on your first purchase (about $8 as well) then you just do an exchange program (like propane bottles) when you buy more LC. After 10 refills you get a free LC fill thus you get your money back on the plastic jug purchase. Add LC per Pool Math.

Adding pucks increases your CYA which is more of an issue over time. That is why the TFP method is really based on using a SWCG or liquid chlorine.

EDIT - I wanted to add that a CC of 1 indicates that you may have some algae growth but before taking any drastic actions, lets get your FC level up to the recommended range. I think you stated earlier your CYA was 50 so put that in Pool Math to get your recommended target for FC.
 

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Added 103 oz LC (10.5%) per Pool Math (target FC 6) last night and recheck the FC this morning. 10 ml water sample, added 3 dips of R-0870 for sample to turned light pink but did not disappear. Then, added one drop R-0871 and water turned colorless for FC of .5. Is that correct and have to add more LC?
 
Locster said:
Added 103 oz LC (10.5%) per Pool Math (target FC 6) last night and recheck the FC this morning. 10 ml water sample, added 3 dips of R-0870 for sample to turned light pink but did not disappear. Then, added one drop R-0871 and water turned colorless for FC of .5. Is that correct and have to add more LC?
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Definitely would add more LC. You started with a FC of 1 based on earlier test and if you were targeting 6ppm with the addition of LC, then you loss 5.5ppm per the math calculations. Now your LC could be less than 10.5% so there is some variable to this i.e. you really did not get up to 6ppm. I would add another gallon of LC. Also, you only need to add 2 scoops max of the powder for the FC test. Adding more does not make it pinker. Ensure you swirl it good then add the R-0871 drops. You want to get your FC up so you can also get a accurate CC test done as well. With a CYA of 50 your target FC is 6-8ppm.
 
I did the SLAM process yesterday afternoon adding 3+ gal LC (Pinch A Penny) for CYA 50 / FC 20 (confirmed FC level last night). Just this morning retest the FC is 30, which I'd stopped after 60 R-0871 drops despite sample was faint pink and not clear. As the sample was not clear, I wasn't sure if I should proceed with the CC test but did anyways adding R-0003 & R-0871 but stopped after 12 R-0871 drops as sample color did not go clear.

FC level went up overnight. Is that possibly or I did the SLAM process wrong? Pump was running 24/7 during the process, no algae, no leaves/debris in pool/spa, and water is clear in both pool/spa.
 
Are you stopping the FC test the moment it goes clear ? If you wait a minute it goes pinkish again and will take an untold # of extra bogus drops that don’t count.
 
Retested and got FC 11 CC 2 and will test in the morning. Curious if I lost that much chloride from this morning's test or invalid results this morning as sample color did not go clear as LC level was still high.
 
Locster said:
Retested and got FC 11 CC 2 and will test in the morning. Curious if I lost that much chloride from this morning's test or invalid results this morning as sample color did not go clear as LC level was still high.
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I like to use the word "colorless" rather than clear. After adding the powder the 10ml sample should turn pink indicating you have chlorine. Then add the R-0871 drops until it goes colorless (it may be a little cloudy so not clear) but not pink either. Once it goes colorless then add the R-003 drops to test for CC. Do not delay because if you let the sample sit (before adding R-003) it does return some pinkish - so don't let this confuse you. Hope this helps.
 
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I'm following the FC test steps but in some of my prior tests the sample does not go colorless and remains a very faint pink color even after many R-0871 drops. Would a very faint pink color be considered colorless or not? Let's see how the test goes tomorrow morning. Thanks everyone.
 
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