Brand new pool owner- yellow or mustard?

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red-beard said:
www.troublefreepool.com

What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?

Use our tool to find ideal chemical levels for any swimming pool. Check TFP recommended levels on pH, free chlorine, cyanuric acid, and more.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

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It only had two options - pool type (plaster) and santizer type (liquid chlorine). They must have removed the location. I'm kinda surprised by a few of them. I would like to see the change due to being in Florida, high UV levels for 9 months.
 
tkbutler4 said:
It only had two options - pool type (plaster) and santizer type (liquid chlorine). They must have removed the location. I'm kinda surprised by a few of them. I would like to see the change due to being in Florida, high UV levels for 9 months.
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If you notice that with Plaster selected as pool type, the only difference whether you select LC or Salt Water is the CYA levels are different. All else the same. The pH, TA and CH levels are not related to your location - i.e. UV exposure.

The purpose of that is that a SWCG makes a little bit of Chlorine while pump is running - so that higher CYA keeps it more stable from burning off. You will note if you look at the CYA/FC chart that the levels for FC are lower using a SWCG vs. LC. This is because of the constant addition of chlorine by a SWCG. Whereas LC is more of a dose per day - so it raise FC initially and it gradually depletes throughout the day until the next dose.

FYI - I dose twice a day with LC. Once in morning and once in late afternoon. This helps keep a more constant level of FC in the pool.
 
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How high is too high of a water level? My motor sounds like it’s gonna explode?
 

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If the water drops below the midpoint of the tile, it is time to add water. Too high is where water starts to go out the overflow drain. A couple of inches up should not negatively affect the pump.
 
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tkbutler4 said:
My motor sounds like it’s gonna explode?
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Did you get rain or overfilled? High water level shouldn't change the sound of the pump.

The water level should about halfway up between the bottom and top of the skimmer mouth.

Check to make sure your weir door (skimmer flap) is not stuck in the closed position.

Make sure the pump basket is full of water.
 
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Rancho Cost-a-Lotta said:
Your CYA is good. It's right in the middle of the recommended range. See how it works for you.


I'm assuming in Florida, you probably get a good amount of rain overflow and you live in a humid climate. You first reported CH level was 100 ppm (with no recent drain/water exchange), so that means you probably don't experience significant (if any) CH increase over time. A CH of 200-250 would make your pool easy to manage. You won't have to fight to keep pH down and TA should be pretty stable. Here are some numbers I ran on Pool Math. The last row shows CSI. If you can keep your pH and TA stable as shown, you can keep CH down to 200. Lower TA and pH levels will increase the aggressiveness of your water. You'll have to monitor your CH level. If you have to drain down your pool or experience overflow due to rain, CH level will drop. I would not recommend keeping it under 200 ppm.

View attachment 435042

What do you think?
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I mean I have no clue so I’m just doing what you guys recommend. So thanks!
 
red-beard said:
If the water drops below the midpoint of the tile, it is time to add water. Too high is where water starts to go out the overflow drain. A couple of inches up should not negatively affect the pump.
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Can you see where mine is in the photo? It’s been raining so much, and I’m not sure I have an overflow.
 
It is hard to tell for sure, but I looked at all of your pictures (including the ugly green ones!) and there does not seem to be an overflow drain. If that is the case, when the pool is full, it will overflow the sides. The pool being too full will not hurt the pump. Too low can hurt the pump. You could drop a submersible pump into the pool to drain out some water if you think it is too high. Most pools have a place where water drains out if the level gets too high.
 
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red-beard said:
It is hard to tell for sure, but I looked at all of your pictures (including the ugly green ones!) and there does not seem to be an overflow drain. If that is the case, when the pool is full, it will overflow the sides. The pool being too full will not hurt the pump. Too low can hurt the pump. You could drop a submersible pump into the pool to drain out some water if you think it is too high. Most pools have a place where water drains out if the level gets too high.
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Thanks for checking this. Now it’s up to the white tile. As long as it doesn’t bother anything I’m not concerned. But the motor always sounds way different when it’s that high.

I have to add about 7-8 cups of FC per day. Now my main concern is, what am I supposed to do when I have a trip? My CYA is 50-60. I don’t want to return to have to SLAM it every time!
 
tkbutler4 said:
Now my main concern is, what am I supposed to do when I have a trip? My CYA is 50-60. I don’t want to return to have to SLAM it every time!
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Several options depending on the length of your trip.
You can batch treat - bring your FC up to SLAM level and let it dwindle down while you are away. However, you need to pre-calculate if this would work. If you are losing 4ppm per day (example only) and your CYA is 60 then SLAM level is 24 ppm. You want 5 ppm as minimum when you return. So you can let it decline 19ppm (24 minus 5). If you lose 4 ppm per day ten you can be gone 4 days (4 x4=16ppm of loss).

Another option is to add both LC and some trichlor pucks. You can still bring up FC close to SLAM, add 3-5 pucks and that will give you a little buffer plus help with your pH because the pucks have acid in them.

Yet a third option (for very long trips) is to solicit a friend or neighbor to come by after 3 days and leave them several gallons of LC, They can pour 1 in and come back again in 3 days. This assumes you still bring your FC up to SLAM before you depart.

You need to understand what your FC loss will be daily and how you cannot let it drop below the minimum per the FC/CYA Levels. I did the third option when I was away over 4th of July for 9 days. Pool was crystal clear and had 9ppm when I tested.
 
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Here’s something new. I added 4-5lbs (whatever the clorox bag comes in) of calcium to the pool on Tuesday and it should have raised it by 50 but didn’t. Why wouldn’t it?

FC: 3.5
AK: 89
PH: 7.5
CH: 200
CYA: 50
 
Are you sure you didn't add CYA (chlorine stabilizer)?

1658450187746.png

5-pounds if calcium chloride should increase Ch by ~50 ppm, a difference of only 2 drops on the test.
 
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tkbutler4 said:
Thanks for checking this. Now it’s up to the white tile. As long as it doesn’t bother anything I’m not concerned. But the motor always sounds way different when it’s that high.

I have to add about 7-8 cups of FC per day. Now my main concern is, what am I supposed to do when I have a trip? My CYA is 50-60. I don’t want to return to have to SLAM it every time!
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Do u take alot of trips? If so, a salt water chlorine generator would add chlorine to your pool daily whether u were home or not. It also takes the jug lugging out of the equation mostly cuz u make your own chlorine in your backyard 🤩
 
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Mdragger88 said:
Do u take alot of trips? If so, a salt water chlorine generator would add chlorine to your pool daily whether u were home or not. It also takes the jug lugging out of the equation mostly cuz u make your own chlorine in your backyard 🤩
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Any advice where how to start researching this? Brand type size etc?
 
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Read up on the links that Herman posted.

basically u want a swg that is rated for at least 2x’s your pool’s volume. So 20k gal or more for your 10k gal pool.
Bigger is better (the units take up the same space regardless of cell size).
Get the biggest one that’s in your budget.
The bigger the cell, the more fc it produces in 24 hrs. All swg cells have a finite life span of roughly 8-10k hrs @100%.
Oversizing allows you to run the cell less time or at a lower percentage to produce the fc u need daily- meaning the cell will live longer & u will have plenty of fc at your disposal.
For example- a 15k gal rated cell means that it is designed to adequately chlorinate a 15k gal pool if operated at 100%, 24hrs a day. This doesn’t leave much wiggle room & in sunny, hot Florida, with a long swim season the 8-10k hours of runtime will occur within a short time period & you would be replacing your cell.
The upgrade from 1 size to the next is generally a good value when compared to the chlorine output you receive over its lifespan.
 
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