Chemistry levels

[amgpjsmama]

My fiberglass manufacturer recommends 80-120 calcium hardness. My heater and salt cell manufacturer recommend 200-400 calcium hardness. I have an 11,000 saltwater fiberglass pool. What is a girl to do?!

 

[ajw22]

Run CH of 200-250 ppm.

Calcium Hardness - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Texas Splash]

Remember mama, those generic industry recommendations will never account for all of the variables TFP does. You're always better off sticking to TFP recommended levels. It's good you ask though.

On a side note, be sure to update your signature with all of your pool and equipment info. It helps us with each reply.

Create Your Signature - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[amgpjsmama]

Thank you! My plan is to raise CH to minimum acceptable level and see if that suffices.

 

[ajw22]

and see if that suffices.

How are you going to judge sufficiency?

 

[amgpjsmama]

How are you going to judge sufficiency?

I just learned about csi and lsi so I've been trying to keep in those guidelines but really I guess I will only know if my pool equipment doesn't corrode or build up. I use Pool Math and loosely Orenda calculator. I'm also very concerned about scale and etching on the fiberglass but again I guess you don't know until it happens. I used Jacks Purple a couple days before adding calcium. Hopefully that was the right move.

 

[ajw22]

I just learned about csi and lsi so I've been trying to keep in those guidelines but really I guess I will only know if my pool equipment doesn't corrode or build up. I use Pool Math and loosely Orenda calculator. I'm also very concerned about scale and etching on the fiberglass but again I guess you don't know until it happens. I used Jacks Purple a couple days before adding calcium. Hopefully that was the right move.

CSI and LSI is an index to predict if water could become corrosive or scale in terms of calcium carbonate.

CSI and LSI - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Etching is unique to plaster surfaces that contain calcium. Not fiberglass.

Scaling can occur on any surface under the right conditions.

 

[amgpjsmama]

CSI and LSI is an index to predict if water could become corrosive or scale in terms of calcium carbonate.

CSI and LSI - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Etching is unique to plaster surfaces that contain calcium. Not fiberglass.

Scaling can occur on any surface under the right conditions.

So what is your opinion on increasing calcium hardness to 200 per manufacturers recommendations on equipment? Fiberglass manufacturer says 80-120.

 

[ajw22]

So what is your opinion on increasing calcium hardness to 200 per manufacturers recommendations on equipment?

Do it.

Fiberglass manufacturer says 80-120.

Manufacturers often setup requirements that are impossible to meet. Nothing bad will happen to fiberglass at 200-250 PPM of calcium.

Manufactures often don't care about requirements of any other equipment other than theirs.

And if you were to ask them what would be the problem with higher calcium levels they cannot give you a scientific answer.

Many folks only have high calcium fill water. What are they supposed to do?

 

[PoolStored]

So what is your opinion on increasing calcium hardness to 200 per manufacturers recommendations on equipment? Fiberglass manufacturer says 80-120.

You are going to end up violating the FG manual (80-120) or the SWG/heater manual (200-400). Violation is inevitable.
CH, at the levels we are talking about, will not damage your heater with Calcium of 200.
Go ahead and run CH 200-250.
CSI etching is for a plaster pool. You can get scale in a FG pool, but your CH and CSI will have to be very high.

There is never any plumbing corrosion due to low calcium levels. It is all a misunderstanding from a long long time ago when someone was trying to figure out the ideal chemical levels for closed circuit boiler water at a time when the chemistry involved was only partially understood. That has carried forward.

Let's take this from a heat pump manual:


Yikes how to resolve all of this?:

1. FC must be 1-3. No, it depends on your CYA to avoid algae. Link-->FC/CYA Levels
2. TA must be 80-120. Maybe, if you are using pucks as they are acidic, without pucks, your pH rise will be high, and your TA should be 60-80. What Are My Ideal Pool Levels?
3. pH must be 7.4 to 7.6. Show me a pool, with a TA of 120, that doesn't require almost daily MA additions to maintain that level of pH. Or, show me a pool that has a pH that is stable in that range that doesn't have a TA of 50-60. They don't exist.
4. Salt must be 2700 to 5000...no, it depends on the chlorinator...they all have different ranges.

The only time that we see damage to heaters, or scale on a FG pool is with high CH (forms significant scale) and low pH (<7.0) which is corrosive to metals.

Here are the best recommendations:

1. Keep your FC for your CYA. Always follow this Link-->FC/CYA Levels
2. Keep your pH between 7.0 and 8.0...any of those values are just fine. When pH gets ABOVE 8.0, lower it into the 7s with muriatic acid.
3. You are in TX. I recommend you keep your CYA at 60 for a couple months until you can maintain your FC properly at this level of CYA. When you can demonstrate that, you can raise your CYA to 70. There is not much additional benefit of CYA above 60-70.
4. A CH of 200-250 will protect your heater and not damage a FG pool.
5. I would ignore TA and just manage your pH to keep it 7.0 to 8.0.
6. Get the manual for your T3. It will have a salt range. Maintain the middle of the range.

ENJOY YOUR POOL!!! Don't overthink it...

Sincerely,
PoolStored.

 

[amgpjsmama]

Thank you so much for this advice and I was definitely overthinking the whole thing. I will take this advice and relax! I really appreciate all the experience and expertise here!

 

[PoolStored]

 

[Maldravus]

My fiberglass manufacturer recommends 80-120 calcium hardness. My heater and salt cell manufacturer recommend 200-400 calcium hardness. I have an 11,000 saltwater fiberglass pool. What is a girl to do?!

Wow. We have nearly identical situations. I am in Texas with an 11,282 gallon fiberglass pool by Leisure Pools. Their recommendations for CH is also 80-120ppm. I also have a Hayward heat pump (in fact I believe the clip from PoolStored is from my owners manual) which recommends 200-400ppm. I have opened a support ticket with Leisure Pools to see if I can get some clarification on those recommended numbers. So far I have not heard back. My CH is currently ~200ppm and I have not been treating it. I do see some residual white buildup above the water line but I am unsure what that is. Just curious - which company manufactured your pool?

 

[amgpjsmama]

Ours is an Aviva Apex. Please let me know if you hear anything. I'm just curious what their response is to these situations.