Feedback on Pool House Water Test + Recommendations, and Intellichem Calibration

[pjt]

What model IntelliChlor do you have?

Use PoolMath. "Effects of Adding" --> "SWG"

integrated hot tub (5,000 gal)

That's a massive hot tub!

chem management and costs

With a SWG, chemistry management is very easy and costs should be minimal. You may need to add a little MA once a week. Might need CYA, calcium, and salt once or twice a year.

 

[rwemerson]

What model IntelliChlor do you have?

Intellichlor IC40. Signature updated.

Use PoolMath. "Effects of Adding" --> "SWG"

Today's testing show my TC and FC both under 1. Very little color. Thanks to your tip, I plugged the below into PoolMath:

• 1.4 24 hour SWG output (based on this thread)
• 40% SWG at 18 hour run time

PoolMath says that should raise FC by 2.0, but I'm pretty sure that's not happening. I've been testing TC and FC the last couple days and it appears to be dropping (today was the least color). Yesterday I logged it as a 1.

I tested CYA again with proper temperature and the dot did not disappear (last time zero cloudiness too with colder water and Pool Store had it at 5), could I be needing stabilizer? Based on the Chlorine/CYA chart, looks like I want to target 70-90.

That's a massive hot tub!

It is pretty big - that number might be high. I've been meaning to do some geometry on it (at least its' rectangular ).

With a SWG, chemistry management is very easy and costs should be minimal. You may need to add a little MA once a week. Might need CYA, calcium, and salt once or twice a year.

I was buying what I felt like was a lot of MA from my pool tech...it might have been that he was charging me $25/gallon! Now that I know how easy it is to clean that sensor and buy MA at the hardware store, I should stay be able to avoid feeding unnecessary MA. I've got a sunk cost on that equipment, but as I mentioned there's multiple parts requiring *annual* replacement. We'll see how the wallet feels when the time comes. I'll have a much strong sense of the "value" by then too.

 

[HermanTX]

PoolMath says that should raise FC by 2.0, but I'm pretty sure that's not happening. I've been testing TC and FC the last couple days and it appears to be dropping (today was the least color). Yesterday I logged it as a 1.

A SWCG does a great job of maintaining a chlorine level but if you want to raise it to 5ppm then use liquid chlorine. Set your SWCG to offset your daily loss due to bather load and UV.

I tested CYA again with proper temperature and the dot did not disappear (last time zero cloudiness too with colder water and Pool Store had it at 5), could I be needing stabilizer? Based on the Chlorine/CYA chart, looks like I want to target 70-90.

Definitely need to get your CYA increased to above 60. Suggest you do it in stages that you do not overshoot it. Put enough stabilizer in (use Pool Math - Effects of Adding) to get to 40, then wait several days. Test again and raise again if needed. Sometimes it takes CYA several days to mix thoroughly so don't be so quick to add more after a day or so.

 

[pjt]

avoid feeding unnecessary MA

Your IntelliChem is likely feeding unnecessary MA. It's your pool you can operate as you please, but I would have second thoughts about its continued use.

With TA under control, your acid demand should be minimal.