Chemistry levels

[lucky lyn]

Moved from here.
I am reading this thread with trepidation. It is a lot to process and I am in Florida too. We are getting ready to convert our 18k vinyl lined pool to a SWG and have been focusing on getting my pool balanced in preparation for the transition. We are purchasing a Hayward system. I am in an uncomfortable discourse with the selling agent/ pool store over how much CYA I need to raise my pool to in preparation for the change. Sent my husband in this morning with a water sample to validate my CYA reading which is lower than I like and to pick up some stabilizer. Agent sent him home with about 1/2 of what I will need. Follow up call with store confirmed that she only wanted to raise my cya to 40. My target is 60. Am I misunderstanding the levels for start up? Prefer to avoid concerns about unknowns. lyn

 

[mknauss]

Go to Walmart or Home Depot and get some stabilizer. Not a rush until you start up the SWCG. Right now, with liquid chlorine, a CYA of 40 is OK, even a little low for your climate.

 

[lucky lyn]

Thank you for the advice. We have had a lot of rain lately and all my numbers were down. I will start adding the stabilizer and have my husband pick some extra up when he is out. Thank you. lyn

 

[lucky lyn]

Chasing balance on this pool and new SWG system. Concerns that the installer did not add sufficient salt on start up for the Pentair I40 for an 18k pool with 500 G spill over spa. We have since added more. Company that sold us the system argued with me over the CYA level required. We added more stabilizer. Things were looking better last night. Free Chlorine level climbing( 6.6)and need to step back the production. Do not understand shift I saw this morning with drop in CYA, CH, and Salt over 18 hour span. Where should I check? Readings were as follows this morning: FC 6.6, PH 7.7, TA 75, CH 200, Cya 60, Salt 3000. CSI -0.35. This system requires a minimum of 2800 to even function and prefers level above 3400. suggestions? lynn

 

[mknauss]

The only way CYA, CH, and salt levels change over night is removing water or adding chemicals that effect those levels. Did it rain a lot yesterday?

If the IC is happy with the salinity, you are happy. In your area, where you get rain and possible overflow that will reduce the salinity in the pool, keeping the salinity at 3400 ppm or so is fine. But the IC will work just fine to 2800 ppm. Mine is at 2900 ppm right now. I do not have the potential loss due to overflow so that is where I tend to have the salinity.

 

[lucky lyn]

Thank you for responding. We have had some rain but I am so accustomed to downpours, I did not give it much notice. Rationale makes sense. The system can not make up its mind about where it wants the salinity level and is sending mixed messages with flashing green lights and red lights. Today things seem more stable but this little cell is requiring all my attention to learn her ways. I took two water samples to two different pool stores, one to the seller of the unit, to cross compare my readings. It was laughable. Neither provider confirmed all my results but between the two of them, all the points concurred. They simply had some bizarre readings on differing points like a 4ppm spread on Chlorine , 200 point spread on Calcium Hardness,30 point spread on stabilizer, and 800 point spread on salt. Think my husband is finally convinced that my measures trump theirs lol. This system simply requires more attention than we are used to affording it. My readings this morning placed my FC at 6.8, PH at 7.7, TA at 70, CH at 210, CYA at 60, and salt at 2600. My CSI was -0.35. I added a bag of salt, 8 oz of Muratic, and 1.4 lbs of stabilizer. We will run the pump tonight, dial back the production to 20%, and test in the morning. All suggestion are sincerely appreciated. lynn

 

[mknauss]

Looks to me you are dialing it in well. What SWCG is this? Can you add it to your signature?

 

[lucky lyn]

Will add information to signature. Unit is Pentair Intellichlor, Model IC40. Where do I go into edit my info.? I tried editing above and it wants to edit my entered message not signature. It has been a few years since I set my signature up.

 

[mknauss]

Where do I go into edit my info.?

Create Your Signature - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[mknauss]

I would be surprised if you can run much below 40% generation if running the pump 24 hours per day. That would add 3.7 ppm FC per day. Normal pool use and UV impact in your climate should consume that level, unless this pool is under a screen enclosure.

 

[lucky lyn]

We added a pool screen last year. I have not noticed a reduction on chlorine demand. Thanks for the heads up on the feed level. I do not plan to run the pump 24 hours a day. System wants 2 chlorine cycles in 24 hour period and I will accommodate that. My level was a tad high at 6.6 yesterday. I will take some readings and check for amount of drop today and move it back up to 40. Think I found where to edit my signature and made changes. Do you run your system during the day or night? Mine runs in the day at this time. lynn

 

[mknauss]

If you are not running 24 hours per day, you need to up the generation %.
What do you mean by "System wants 2 chlorine cycles in 24 hour period"?
6.6 ppm FC is fine. Sounds like you are using a K2006? Use a 10 ml water sample for FC/CC testing. One full scoop of powder and each drop of reagent to clear is 0.5ppm FC.

I run my system during the day. Essentially during the times the sun is on my pool. My IC40 for a 6000 gallon pool is very oversized so I have lots of flexibility.

 

[lucky lyn]

You are spot on with my test kit. I use the K-2006C with the K-1766 and spin stir unit. Thanks for the suggestion to use the 10 mil water sample and one scoop. Worked fine. Today's readings put me at 6ppm for Chlorine, 7.5 for PH, TA at 75, C hardness at 210, and CYA still seated at 50+. Salt is up to 3100. CsI is -0.5 so playing with the variables a bit seemed to indicate I could raise things a bit by adding in some Calcium, one more bag of salt, and 25 more ounces of stabilizer. Turned off the chlorine generator to add the salt, pulled the cleaner out so it wouldn't eat my salt, and will use the run time to feed in the stabilizer and and calcium. Tomorrow I will see where I am with numbers and address the ph and alkalinity. The old math page is suggesting Borax and pot ash. Rather not go with pot ash. Did that 7 years ago and it was a mess I thought my spouse would never forgive me for. I have never tried Borax. What are your thoughts? Thanks, lynn

 

[mknauss]

Sounds like a good plan. No need for borax/soda ash/pot ash.

 

[lucky lyn]

Thanks.......it is all about getting to know her all over again lol. Appreciate the help. lynn