- May 25, 2020
- 83
- Pool Size
- 14432
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Last summer I posted a similar thread around my CH and salt rising. I just ran the full test suite today and I'm seeing an increase in CH and salt again and I don't want it to get out of control like it did last year before I did a full drain and refill (on Nov 8, 2022). You can see my logs here.
Since that thread, I took the advice of what was written and had my soft water plumbed to my autofill and have been using that to autofill the pool this summer. On Nov 15 after the re-fill, i tested my CH at 250 and salt at 3200, keeping them at the low range as suggested. By Dec 11 the CH already made its way up to 300 (salt stayed at 3200) and it seemed to stay at that level a month later on Jan 14 (salt actually fell to 3000, but that seemed acceptable). I thought "Great! the soft water autofill is working as expected!" and that my problems had gone away. The Feb 18 test revealed the same readings so I was super happy and moved on with my life. On March 20 CH went up to 325, no issues (salt stayed the same).
April 16 tests revealed CH at 350 and salt back to 3200. May 27 readings had CH at 375 and salt at 3600, so I started to worry a bit again as we were heading into the dead of summer in AZ which is when i saw the dramatic rises last year. Sure enough, tests on June 24 revealed CH at 475 (salt went to 3400) and July 22 had CH at 500 and salt at 3600. Fast forward to today's tests and i'm at 575 with CH and 4000 with salt.
As suggested in the prior thread, I've been trying my best to keep the pH levels between 7.2-7.8, refilling 24oz of MA basically every 3-4 days (if I miss the 3-4 days I add more, maybe 30-40oz or so). I'm starting to grow a bit more concerned that something is going on with the pool that is not in my control, but I don't know what that would be. Why am I seeing such rises in CH and salt, especially having the autofill plumbed to use soft water?
There was one time when I saw my salt tank pretty low on salt so I immediately filled it, but overall i've been pretty good about keeping up with the salt levels in my WS.
Since that thread, I took the advice of what was written and had my soft water plumbed to my autofill and have been using that to autofill the pool this summer. On Nov 15 after the re-fill, i tested my CH at 250 and salt at 3200, keeping them at the low range as suggested. By Dec 11 the CH already made its way up to 300 (salt stayed at 3200) and it seemed to stay at that level a month later on Jan 14 (salt actually fell to 3000, but that seemed acceptable). I thought "Great! the soft water autofill is working as expected!" and that my problems had gone away. The Feb 18 test revealed the same readings so I was super happy and moved on with my life. On March 20 CH went up to 325, no issues (salt stayed the same).
April 16 tests revealed CH at 350 and salt back to 3200. May 27 readings had CH at 375 and salt at 3600, so I started to worry a bit again as we were heading into the dead of summer in AZ which is when i saw the dramatic rises last year. Sure enough, tests on June 24 revealed CH at 475 (salt went to 3400) and July 22 had CH at 500 and salt at 3600. Fast forward to today's tests and i'm at 575 with CH and 4000 with salt.
As suggested in the prior thread, I've been trying my best to keep the pH levels between 7.2-7.8, refilling 24oz of MA basically every 3-4 days (if I miss the 3-4 days I add more, maybe 30-40oz or so). I'm starting to grow a bit more concerned that something is going on with the pool that is not in my control, but I don't know what that would be. Why am I seeing such rises in CH and salt, especially having the autofill plumbed to use soft water?
There was one time when I saw my salt tank pretty low on salt so I immediately filled it, but overall i've been pretty good about keeping up with the salt levels in my WS.