First time opening!

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C

Chris.rago64

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2024
61
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
Pool Size
22000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi TFP friends!

Thought I'd document my first opening with my new-to-me pool. I've been reading a lot, have been through the ABCs and have read a lot of posts and am excited to get started.

Today, I got the safety cover off, got all the plugs out of the lines, and fired up the pump.

There's a Paramount IFC that seems to be doing something already getting the floor crud stirred up. I need to read up on these systems because I don't quite understand how they work in conjunction with my pool returns. It seems when they pop up from the floor, there's no water at all coming from my normal returns.

I'm going to let the pump do it's thing for a day before taking my first sample (TF-Pro kit is arriving tomorrow) and then I'll make sure I have the results posted or linked to my profile here. Followed up with a SLAM!

For now, this is all I have, enjoy the pictures, and wish me luck!

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After only a few hours of circulation the pool logs like it has substantially less debris in it. A ton of pine needles got through the skimmer and we're caught by the pump basket.

The IFC send to be doing a good job so far. May need to adjust the schedule on my variable speed pump to include an hour or so at a higher speed each day to have the pressure high enough for them according to some other threads I've seen.signal-2024-06-02-21-43-51-174.jpgIMG_20240602_202930.jpgIMG_20240602_202921.jpgIMG_20240602_202909.jpg
 
Here's a closer look at the liner, I don't think it can be set back into the track, it's pretty chewed up.

My TF-Pro kit is still within our faithful USPS logistics system but should still be arriving today. I plan to get a baseline test done to see what I'm working with in terms of CYA level, then I'll be starting the SLAM. I figured I'm not going to bother throwing any chlorine in until I'm READY to start this battle.

I did get the liner scrubbed and netted today, and cleaned out the skimmer and pump filter baskets again today.

I'm assuming scrubbing is helpful even prior to adding chlorine as the filter can start pulling out contaminants, right? Or am I wasting my time scrubbing before I start sanitizing?
 

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I'm surprised to find no CYA in the water.. at least not readable on my test kit. Did the drop test twice to make sure the first time I didn't mess something up. Going to do the sock method and add a few pounds to get up to 30 cya then start dosing with chlorine
 

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Ugh, all my chlorine was gone at noon when I tested. I dumped two and a half more gallons in, also squeezed out the rest of that CYA sock and loaded it back up. Pool math called for about 5 and a half pounds, and I think I was only able to stuff about 2 pounds into my dock the first time. I don't know if the algae consumed all the chlorine or the sun did.. I'll be back at the house tonight to test again once the sun goes down and get more chlorine in it.

I'll also be able to test tomorrow morning before sunrise this time to see if chlorine consumption slowed down over night.
 
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Status report.. cleaned out my cartridge filter today, scrubbed the pool tonight, added another 2.5 gallons of chlorine after the sun went down since my test results was 0 chlorine again. I have also now added the full 7 pounds of CYA that I bought which according to poolmath should have brought me up to 38, which seems like a nice level to be at for a SLAM (I know I need to round up to 40 for my calculations).

My biggest concern right now is that the algae/contaminants are consuming my chlorine faster than I can keep up. I added enough to bring me to SLAM level at noon and it was all gone by tonight when I added again. Am I at risk that the algae is just continuing to multiply because I'm not maintaining the levels?

It's really not possible for me to test and add chlorine more than 3 times a day right now. Also, I forsee this slam costing more than I bargained for. At this rate I'll be through three cases of chlorine by tomorrow and am going to need to buy a few more unless my loss starts to slow down.
 

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I'm hoping that my low levels of CYA contributed to some of the loss between my noon and nighttime reading. The CYA wasn't dissolved yet and it was a sunny day, so UV probably played a big role.

I'm moving into the house this weekend so I'll be able to test much more frequently soon.
 
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If you can only test/replace FC 3-4 times a day, then the FC consumption will be high. Do what you can, but frequency is key. No more often than every 2 hours. But slam early, often and as deep into the night that you can.
 
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And the process still works as long as you're above min FC. It just takes longer if you can't devote more time in the beginning where you're trying to halt a runaway train of growth. Once it becomes a mechanical battle filtering out the dead algae, the FC mostly holds all day.

I feel you on the supply dump, but you'll spend far less our way. The poolstore hit me up for $125 with every visit one way or the other and you'd be going every couple days right now. With each 'it's not working' visit they'd add more silver bullets to the purchase.
 
Thanks @newdude, I trust you guys. having seen enough other threads of people battling the same issues I thought I was mentally prepared, but I guess until I'm in the trenches myself I didn't know what it was really like.

This morning I had a problem that my variable speed pump was at a pretty low speed over night and it seemed to lose prime. I kicked it up some and it started moving water again. I think this probably hurt me some overnight with filtering out dead algae.

The pump seems awesome, but the screen is actually dead, so I have to fumble around with buttons trying to get it to work blind.
 
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