First time pool owner

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Ruth that is a nice looking set up.

One thing I would like to "teach" you is about your filter gauge--Does the dial move? The one that says clean/dirty.

With a filter you make sure it is clean (we will teach you how to do it). When you know it is clean you make a note of the pressure. IF the dial turns you put it there. Once you pressure rises about 25% over the clean pressure you know you need to clean it again.

You are going to be fun to teach. You already have a test kit (so you listen)! LOL

Kim
 
Kim, I know the Guage moves because last week it was on a different number. It was still in the clean range, I just can't remember the percentage.

And yes, I listen! I can't wait to learn how to have a great looking pool. It already is pretty. Just want to know how to use all the equipment properly!
 
Ruth what I was asking about is if the outside part of the gauge moved. On some gauges the part with the words on it moved so you can set it for YOUR setup.

Every pool is different. What is the clean pressure for mine will not be the clean pressure for yours. It is very important that you do not rely on the printing on the gauge to tell you when to clean it.

Kim
 
Hey all. I got my test kit yesterday and was finally able to test today. Hope I did this right.

FC.15
CC.05
TC.20
CH 150
CYA 20
TA 160

I did TA test twice. Does it all need to turn red or just the drops?
 
RuthN said:
Hey all. I got my test kit yesterday and was finally able to test today. Hope I did this right.

FC.15
CC.05
TC.20
CH 150
CYA 20
TA 160

I did TA test twice. Does it all need to turn red or just the drops?
Click to expand...
Double check the math on the chlorine tests. I suspect there is a problem with the decimal points.

If the FC is really that high, the color change was probably blue>yellow instead of green>pink. The results are still valid. You want to see it change color is all. If it wasn't that high, the red they speak of is more like Barbie pink.

What about the pH? If FC really is 15, don't bother. It will read falsely high.
 
Yeah for test kits!

Okay lets go over your results:

FC .15 How did you get .15? Walk me though what you did please.

CH looks a little low. We will work on that.

CYA is low. That is an easy one. Go to Walmart and buy some to put in. Let me know when you get it.

TA is high. BUT I need the PH results before we move forward on that. The water in the tube should change to redish. What I THINK you are seeing is the drops "flash" red but turn back to green........We will work on that after PH results.

Kim
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You need to get your Cya up and your FC up pronto before you end up with algae. I'd use pool math and add enough conditioner for 50 to 60 cya target and 6 to 7 FC. Use stabilizer and bleach. We don't even know if your swg is working so dont rely on it right now. Let's get your chems stabilized then turn the swg on to evaluate its performance.

- - - Updated - - -

That's assuming you know for sure that the brown stuff is dirt and not algae. If you have any reason to believe you have algae DO NOT raise your Cya to 50...raise it to only 30 and bring your FC above 12. I would do this anyway and do an OCLT before raising cya above 50 for your swg.
 
robertmee said:
You need to get your Cya up and your FC up pronto before you end up with algae. I'd use pool math and add enough conditioner for 50 to 60 cya target and 6 to 7 FC. Use stabilizer and bleach. We don't even know if your swg is working so dont rely on it right now. Let's get your chems stabilized then turn the swg on to evaluate its performance.

- - - Updated - - -

That's assuming you know for sure that the brown stuff is dirt and not algae. If you have any reason to believe you have algae DO NOT raise your Cya to 50...raise it to only 30 and bring your FC above 12. I would do this anyway and do an OCLT before raising cya above 50 for your swg.
Click to expand...

It's neither. It's staining. I actually got in the pool today for an extended period of time and there is no grit or slipperyness to the bottom of the pool.

- - - Updated - - -

I've got conditioner in the skimmer right now. I'll check CYA again in a couple of days. As far as the SWG goes, the previous owners had it on a timer as far as I can tell. It was reading 85%.
 
I did testing again today. The only thing I've done is added conditioner. Some of these numbers are ridiculous. I don't know how to use the equipment....swg, etc. There's a timer and I haven't changed any settings since I moved in. They are the previous owners.

Here are my numbers

FC. 1.5
CC..5
TC. 2.0
CH. 50
TA. 250
CYA. 20

Water is clear and no signs of algae...yet. I HAVE not knowing what I'm doing.
 
Well... you don't have algae, so that's a BIG plus. If the basic chemistry seems difficult, a SLAM would completely flummox you. It doesn't look all that bad to me.

I'm curious about the CYA. How much did you add? And are you doing the test right? And could you have possibly mixed up baking soda and stabilizer somehow? Or did you have to add a lot of water or get a lot of rain? The CH shouldn't have come down and the TA shouldn't have gone up and you know the CYA should have raised some.

The critical readings are the pH (You didn't post it again) and the FC. If CYA is really only 20, you actually have enough FC in the water.

I know that's a lot of questions, but it will help us get you straightened out. In a couple weeks the light bulb will go off and it will all make sense. You just have to do it a while to really learn this stuff.
 
Richard320 said:
Well... you don't have algae, so that's a BIG plus. If the basic chemistry seems difficult, a SLAM would completely flummox you. It doesn't look all that bad to me.

I'm curious about the CYA. How much did you add? And are you doing the test right? And could you have possibly mixed up baking soda and stabilizer somehow? Or did you have to add a lot of water or get a lot of rain? The CH shouldn't have come down and the TA shouldn't have gone up and you know the CYA should have raised some.

The critical readings are the pH (You didn't post it again) and the FC. If CYA is really only 20, you actually have enough FC in the water.

I know that's a lot of questions, but it will help us get you straightened out. In a couple weeks the light bulb will go off and it will all make sense. You just have to do it a while to really learn this stuff.
Click to expand...


Hey Richard! I loved chemistry in high school. Lol. It's just frustrating because I don't know what I'm doing.

As as far as CYA....I've only done half a bucket so far, but I expected SOME kind of increase. We had a 10 minute rain burst yesterday evening and I've also had to add water to the pool to get it back up to half of the skimmers. It was pretty low.

as far as the ph, I forgot again. It is sitting a little higher at 8.2. First result was 7.8 a week ago.
 
Ruth you know what? I think it might be helpful for you to ask a pool person to come show you how to work your equipment. You want to make sure to tell them what kind of filter you have.

Tell them you want them to show you how to work everything and how to take it apart to clean and care for. They should not charge you that much.

Take pics and write notes as they are doing the work.

Once that is done come back here and share what you learned or do not understand.

We can and will help you but not being there makes it harder. You really need to see what to do.

Kim
 
I called three different places today for help with equipment. I'm not really interested in paying $150 for one hour. I have a good grasp on what the equipment does. I've read through the manuals. My questions are this.

everything is hooked up to a timer. What I don't know is

When does the swg run? Everything I've read says it runs with the pump on high speed. So if I have the pump and cleaner running on high speed for four hours, is the swg also then running for four hours and is that enough?

also, should the pump be running on low an additional four hours? Overnight?
 
Ruth that is a good call! OUCH!

I am sure we can walk you through doing just about anything. It might take some reasking to make sure you understand what we mean and we understand what you are doing.

Ruth for the pump run time.....How is your FC at the end of the day when the sun is off the pool? THAT will tell us if the SWG is running long enough.

I THINK the SWG is working/running when the pump is on. I will let someone else tell me if we correct.

Kim
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply