And away we go!!! Started conversion tonight. Lots of PIPs

[JasonLion]

Very nice! You are making excellent progress.

You are getting to the point where sunlight is consuming chlorine much more quickly than baquacil is. You might want to consider only adding chlorine in the evening at this point. That will take a little longer, but will save a dramatic amount of chlorine.

 

[TBWB]

For the past two nights FC is 15 at 11 pm, and by the next morning at 6 am we are down to 10. So are we just in a holding pattern until it holds overnight at 15?

We are dying to swim in it so we are going to trek to my parents pool across town instead. It's so tempting because it looks beautiful and we've never seen it this clear before! Lots of POP required at this point....

 

[TBWB]

Just for kicks, let me show off just how gorgeous this pool is!!

 

[jlevino]

That's a very nice pool!

 

[JasonLion]

Yep, you need to continue until the FC level is within 1.0 overnight. I doubt that it will be too much longer, though it might seem like forever.

 

[TBWB]

Allrighty, guys, we are ready to change our sand. Husband wants to get this done today while he can-- question- how much sand is needed for our pump?
We have a Hayward Vari Flow XL Sand filter.

I'm searching online and not finding any info. :/

ALSO-- the guys at the pool store told my husband CYA is the same as Muriatic acid. :?: I don't feel like that's true. Can we find CYA anywhere besides the pool store?

 

[JasonLion]

That looks like a Hayward Pro Series Top Mount filter. Now you need to figure out which size you have. If there isn't a name plate on the filter that says, you can measure the circumference and use that to figure out which one you have.

CYA and muriatic acid have nothing to do with each other. CYA is sold under a variety of names: stabilizer, conditioner, cyanuric acid, etc. You can find it at pool stores and pool departments of various big box stores (like Home Depot, Lowes, WalMart, etc).

 

[TBWB]

Nevermind, just read the label (duh!) and it says 300 lbs. Here we go....

He got the top opened and there is definitely some clumps of goo in there. I'll be back soon with pics.

 

[TBWB]

How do you suggest disposing of all this sand? Just dump it in the woods beside our house? I don't guess it's good for a sand box for my son, huh?

I'm about to run to HD or Lowes and get new sand while DH does the dirty work outside. I'll look for CYA there too.

Thanks for all your help!!!

 

[TBWB]

There are a lot of these size clumps of goo... not as bad as others I've seen on this forum.

Here's what it looks like inside--

And here's how we are keeping the sand from the main drain-- I covered it in Saran Wrap, then put one of my son's Nuby sippy cups ($1 at Walmart) over the pipe. It fits perfectly but is still small enough to get the vacuum pipe in there too. Not much room to work inside this thing!

 

[JasonLion]

No, it doesn't make good play sand. You can dump it in the woods, or use it as land fill, if you need any.

 

[TBWB]

Allrighty-- new sand is in and multiport is being re-assembled.

FYI so someone doesn't make the mistake I just made-- Home Depot sells pool filter sand that comes in .5 cu.ft. I had to guess at the weight and of course I guessed wrong and had to go back for more. Those bags (with a blue label) weigh between 34-40 lbs each.

So now we add the CYA and get the level up to 30 ppm?

And the big question is-- when is it safe for swimming?

 

[TBWB]

Oh, and what do we need to keep the FC levels at while the CYA is in there?

Thanks so much for ALL of your help guys! This place has been such a help (and money saver) to us.

 

[TBWB]

Oh, and what do we need to keep the FC levels at while the CYA is in there?

Man, I can answer my own questions if I would just go READ first. Maintain FC level of 15 until the CC holds for 2 nights in a row at .5.

 

[TBWB]

Here is a glance at our numbers today at mid day:
FC: 1 (will wait til sun starts to go down to get it to 15)
CC: .5
CH: 220
TA: 80
PH: 7.4 ish (I have a hard time judging this one)
CYA: just added 96 oz in two nylon socks. Will have to wait and see on this one.

 

[zea3]

Don't let your FC drop any lower! You are in danger of having no FC by the time you add more chlorine this evening, which can allow algae to start and prolong your conversion. Once you put the CYA in assume it is active and dose your pool accordingly. Go ahead and add (3) 96 ounce jugs of bleach to bump your pool up to 6 ppm. Tonight you can bring it back to shock level.

 

[TBWB]

Well that's what I get for ASSuming, huh? I added some bleach. Will test in a few hours when sun goes behind trees and see what the readings are. Thanks!

 

[TBWB]

I also forgot to add-- our water temp is around 93-94 these days.

 

[TBWB]

FC is up to 6 and CC is holding at .5. CYA has been in the socks all day but still not reading on the tester.

I wanted to show yall this ingenious device my husband rigged up for me. All that getting down on the concrete to test the water was killing my knees so my husband made me a scooper on a pole. We had a paint roller extender in the basement that he ductaped a Solo cup onto.

Works like a charm! No more crawling on the concrete!

And while I'm handing out tips... Be sure to choose a designated "bleach shirt" for adding the jugs of bleach. I've got white dots on several of my good shirts now, like a dummy!

 

[pepsiholic]

Looks GREAT! I converted last year and love it, as I'm sure you will. I actually ENJOY getting in my pool now. When I was using baquacil my water smelled and tasted funny (when I would accidently swallow a mouthful..lol) and now it's just so clean and sparkly that sometimes I just stand there and look at it...lol