Got my TF pro kit and tested, now what?

[Texassaltpool]

Okay, my TF-100 test kit came today and I did all the tests on the directions and here’s what I got.
Free chlorine 2.5 ppm
Combined .5
Total chlorine 3ppm

PH 7.6/7.7

CYA 30
Calcium hardness 500

Total Alkalinity 130
So what is the next step in figuring out exactly where I want my chlorine level and how to figure out the amount to add?
We have been adding a gallon a day to maintain until the test came but did not add any today yet. Thanks!!!

 

[ajw22]

The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship

Managing your cyanuric acid and Free Chlorine levels is key to stabilizing your pool. Learn how these two items affect each other.

www.troublefreepool.com

For CYA 30 you want a target FC of 4-6 and a minimum of 2.

Add LC to raise your FC close to 6.

Have you downloaded PoolMath ?

 

[Newdude]

Add LC to raise your FC close to 6.

+1. Minimum sounds way too acceptable for my tastes. In reality it’s a DEFCON 5, we aren’t quite at war yet ……’minimum’.

You don’t want to be at minimum. You don’t want to think about being at minimum, you don’t want to approach minimum. For a CYA of 30, it is safe to be as high as 12 PPM FC. There is no leeway if you fall below.

Expect to lose 2-4 ppm daily to UV and swimmers. You are probably on the higher end of the average daily loss because Texas is a good 250 miles south of H-E-

 

[dntboles]

@Texassaltpool Congrats on getting your first reliable results. That's the first step in know where to go next.

Before you get too far, bookmark this page Pool School - Trouble Free Pool Then you can go back to it any time you'd like.

You're definitely going to want PoolMath. Once you've plugged in your info (salt, plaster/vinyl, pool volume, etc) it will tell you how much of whatever you need to add to get to where you're headed.

Based on your username, it seems you have a salt pool. (That's Aggie logic, there) The actual target levels are based on your pool type. Running a SWG changes the target some. You can go to What Are My Ideal Pool Levels? - Trouble Free Pool and plug in your info to get the targets. For example, you'll run CYA a little higher with a salt pool, which will also drive up your chlorine target. There are a variety of reasons that I won't get into but I can assure you that you're in the right place. You now have the right test kit to get the right data to know where you're starting. TFP Pool School can help you understand where you want your numbers to go. PoolMath will help tell you what to do to get there. And the friendly folks here will explain why.

 

[Texassaltpool]

I have downloaded the pool math app but have not input all my info since right now we are operating as a liquid chlorine pool. We can’t turn the salt system on for another week because of the new plaster. So I know I’m going to have to relearn everything then lol but I wanted to make sure we were starting with the right levels when we turn the salt system on. It is hot as heck in central Texas right now so we have been adding a gallon a day hoping that was keeping levels good while we waited for the good testing kit.

 

[Texassaltpool]

Seems like maybe my cya is to low as well?

 

[ajw22]

Seems like maybe my cya is to low as well?

CYA 30 is fine for a startup using liquid chlorine.

Once you get past 30 days and start your SWG you can raise your CYA to 60-70.

 

[Mdragger88]

You may want to bump it to 50 now then aim for about 70 when you get the swg going. Since it’s pretty hot & sunny in texas.
cya & salt are the two you wanna add in stages so u don’t overshoot as that will lead to having to replace h2o.
For now you follow the liquid chlorine side of the FC/CYA Levels and dose to the high target for your cya at the time.
You can set up poolmath with your basic info then add the swg stuff later. I have my swg info in there & run my pool with liquid chlorine numbers. You can set the target

 

[dntboles]

Once you switch on SWG, this calculator might be handy. GitHub - lightmaster/SWG-Runtime-Calculator: A spreadsheet to help calculate what percent and how long to run your Salt Water Chlorine Generator

Before I started using that, I would be a little low, then increase percentage some, but my concept of "some" wasn't even close to enough. Using this, I can get a better feel for what I'll need. I recently doubled my SCG output to keep up with UV. I'm up to 4 ppm each day of usage. At least it's been a cool summer, or it would be even higher.