CYA chemistry help please

[Mermaid Mama]

Since receiving my test kit I have never gotten that little black dot to disappear. Last summer, I put in 4 lbs in the sock at the beginning of the season and dissolved but the water balanced and didn’t have any algae issues so I didn’t worry about it.

This season, I dissolved 4 lbs again over the last month but that dot is still these. I am pretty confident I am doing the test properly and the water gets cloudy but not doesn’t disappear and I read that means only trace amounts in the water. Both years, I have used the Pool Mate brand called Stabilizer & Conditioner in case this product has any known problems.

We are slamming now bc I took my littles on a mommy vacation and daddy let the pool get some green patches in the corners. It was only 3 days so I was able to scrub them out and starting the slam today bringing FC to 12

Questions:
1) I think I found one error in my process, I was supposed to use 5 lbs and I only used 4 but would it burn through it that fast? (We have Intex vinyl pool that we manually chlorinate. PoolMath & test kit say shoot for 45) I am confused bc I have read people only add CYA once a season.
2) Is my R-0013 reagent expired at 3-4 years old? Had test kit for hot tub that wasn’t in the sun so didn’t use CYA part of the test until last summer when we got the above ground pool.
3) Should I add another 5 lbs? I have read it’s not easy to get CYA out, if I over do it so wanted to ask the experts first?

 

[JohnT]

How many gallons is your pool?

 

[Mermaid Mama]

How many gallons is your pool?

14,364 gallons. I updated my profile, sorry about that. It’s been awhile since I logged in.

 

[proavia]

The CYA reagent is one of the most stable reagents. That beinng said, if your testkit reagents are 3 to 4 years old it would be to your benefit to replace them all.
What testkit do you have? You can order refill kits from TFTestkits.net

Fill out your signature with your pool, pool equipment (including manufacturer and model number) and testkit info.

 

[Mermaid Mama]

The CYA reagent is one of the most stable reagents. That beinng said, if your testkit reagents are 3 to 4 years old it would be to your benefit to replace them all.
What testkit do you have? You can order refill kits from TFTestkits.net

Fill out your signature with your pool, pool equipment (including manufacturer and model number) and testkit info.

It’s TF-100 and received it June 2019 so not quite as old as I thought.

 

[proavia]

Has it been stored in a climate controlled environment (inside in the AC)?
If so, you are about at the limits of many of the reagents. If not, the reagents are most probably compromised.

 

[Mermaid Mama]

Has it been stored in a climate controlled environment (inside in the AC)?
If so, you are about at the limits of many of the reagents. If not, the reagents are most probably compromised.

Yes, in our basement, we run window units in summer and in the winter it stays pretty warm bc it’s only dirt on one side and the other three are considered walk out walls. The kit is stored in an old refrigerator that is not plugged in. The detailed chlorine test is still good bc I frequently compare it against the fast tests that I have a couple of. So I feel pretty confident about the accuracy of both chlorine and pH but I will order new reagents. Thank you.

I saw the pictures of the black dots at beginning, middle and end of the CYA test. My test looks like the middle test picture when my cylinder is completely filled to the top. I also have repeated the test by filling the bottle back up but I don’t get different results. The reagent is almost gone.

Is there anything that could be making the 4 lbs of CYA disappear or not show up on my test? It was completely dissolved in a sock a month ago. Also, the CYA product was brand new and was not left over from the year before.

 

[proavia]

For the CYA test...

• Outside in bright sunlight
• Back to the sun
• Fill test tube to first line
• Hold test tube at waist level
• Glance into the tube, see the dot? Yes, go to next step.
• Fill to next line, glance into the tube, see the dot?
• Repeat until you don't see the dot when you GLANCE into the test tube.
• At that poont, read the number on the line and round up to the next higher number. If you can't see the dot at 30, but did see it at 40 - CYA is somewhere between 30 and 40. Round up to 40.

As you know, you can pour the solution back into the mixing bottle and repeat the test using the same mixture a few times. If you do, do it 3 times and average out the reading.

 

[Mermaid Mama]

For the CYA test...

• Outside in bright sunlight
• Back to the sun
• Fill test tube to first line
• Hold test tube at waist level
• Glance into the tube, see the dot? Yes, go to next step.
• Fill to next line, glance into the tube, see the dot?
• Repeat until you don't see the dot when you GLANCE into the test tube.
• At that poont, read the number on the line and round up to the next higher number. If you can't see the dot at 30, but did see it at 40 - CYA is somewhere between 30 and 40. Round up to 40.

As you know, you can pour the solution back into the mixing bottle and repeat the test using the same mixture a few times. If you do, do it 3 times and average out the reading.

Thank you for this but I do everything you have listed. It gets very cloudy like in the middle picture of this test picture but still always see the dot at a glance so what’s next? Do I add another 2 lbs and test again or another 5 lbs since test is showing trace amounts?
Also, could this be affecting my CYA? Just thought of this.
1)We did get a ton of rain yesterday from that tropical storm. Like 9 hours of rain my friend told me bc I was at the beach. It overflowed the pool and we still had to let more out two separate times today bc it was still too full and had more rain today.
2) 1-1.5 Months ago, I put the first batch of 3 lbs of CYA in the sock in front of my return. About a week after, while it was still dissolving in the sock one of our hoses came off and it drained about one quarter to one third of the pool. We added water but I didn’t think it was relevant bc the pump stopped during this time and the CYA felt like it was mostly still in the sock when I squeezed it. It was super crunchy and felt like not being squeezed kept a lot from being released. When I did this I could see a massive amount of CYA going into the water.

 

[proavia]

If you are confident in your testing....

• Pick a goal for your CYA.
• Test CYA after running your pump for 30 minutes.
• If test solution is cloudy and you can still see the dot when tube is full, call your CYA 20. Or use whatever actual result you get.
• Use PoolMath to determine how much to add.
• Add that amount to a sock and put in front of a return.
• Squeeze after 30-45 minutes to more quickly disburse the CYA into the pool water.
• Dose FC based on your targeted CYA using the FC/CYA Levels.
• Retest CYA a couple of days after it is dissolved in the pool water.
• Continue to dose based on CYA using the FC/CYA Levels.

I see you are sharing your PoolMath logs, but haven't entered any data in 2 years. And the volume shows 350 gallons. Suggest you update that and use PoolMath to post a complete set of current test results.

 

[Mermaid Mama]

If you are confident in your testing....

• Pick a goal for your CYA.
• Test CYA after running your pump for 30 minutes.
• If test solution is cloudy and you can still see the dot when tube is full, call your CYA 20. Or use whatever actual result you get.
• Use PoolMath to determine how much to add.
• Add that amount to a sock and put in front of a return.
• Squeeze after 30-45 minutes to more quickly disburse the CYA into the pool water.
• Dose FC based on your targeted CYA using the FC/CYA Levels.
• Retest CYA a couple of days after it is dissolved in the pool water.
• Continue to dose based on CYA using the FC/CYA Levels.

I see you are sharing your PoolMath logs, but haven't entered any data in 2 years. And the volume shows 350 gallons. Suggest you update that and use PoolMath to post a complete set of current test results.

Update possible problem found: After thinking about everything you told me about old or unkept pool testing I decided to the pool store to get CYA bc their products are surely fresher then Amazon. I got a 4 lb bag that was identical as the previous bag except the brand name says Aquabrite. The product looked and felt the same and everything on packaging the same fonts and colors and ingredients.

I put 2.5 lbs in the sock about 2 hours ago and just went to give it a squeeze. And it was totally different then previous product from Amazon. It was like baby powder inside the sock. Previously it’s like rock salt and took over 2 weeks to dissolve and that wouldn’t happen without constantly squeezing it.

I am wondering if I received a counterfeit product bc that has happened to me with several other products. I also had a painful incident setting up the pool and getting defective bags of pool sand that was WAY to fine and it got shot into the pool for awhile until Trouble Free Pool Pros helped me to figure it out. You think this could be it?

 

[Mdragger88]

It is surely possible that u got a defective product previously, so retest cya tomorrow & see where u are.

 

[proavia]

That is one possible scenerio. Testing CYA tomorrow or Monday may help determine that.

 

[Mermaid Mama]

That is one possible scenerio. Testing CYA tomorrow or Monday may help determine that.

Must be defective CYA, bc I just tested and got a very solid 30. First time the dot has ever disappeared so must have received defective or counterfeit product from Amazon last year as well bc it was really difficult to dissolve then and last month.

I checked PoolMath, if I had an existing score of 0 to bring it to a 30 it says to add just over 3 lbs and the the 2.5-2.75 lbs added this morning isn’t quite dissolved. I did the test exactly the same as every other time but that black dot disappeared completely this time. Yay! Thank you so much!

Weird I have gotten defective pool sand from Home Depot and now CYA from Amazon. It’s kind of fishy another brand would have the exact same packaging like that and I majored in Marketing.

 

[Mdragger88]

Glad u got that sorted out! SLAM Process away & follow the FC/CYA Levels

 

[Mermaid Mama]

Glad u got that sorted out! SLAM Process away & follow the FC/CYA Levels

I ran the CYA test again after the 2.5-2.75 lbs fully dissolved it’s at 50.

Checked to see if I bought the CYA from a third party on Amazon so that I could share that info here but it came from Amazon directly.

Not sure if Pool Mate is a respected company or not but I now know received two summers of bad product from them. Copying another company’s packaging almost exactly is not what quality company’s do.
From my Amazon history this is what I ordered. Amazon.com : Pool Mate 1-2604B Swimming Pool Stabilizer and Conditioner, 4-Pounds : Garden & Outdoor