Greetings, New pool owner/renter, complete noob

[kimkats]

Turbo! Dude! You are doing a great job already even without a good test kit! Just look at the water! WOW!

Will you go out and look at your gauge for me?

-Turn off your pump. Does the gauge go down to 0? It NO stop right there. If needs a new gauge.

-IF yes turn pump back on. Where is it now? Write it down. Backwash the filter and add DE. Turn pump back on and write down where the gauge is now. THIS is your "clean pressure". This is a VERY important number. write this one down on something that you will keep with your test kit for your records.

I have a small notebook I keep track of all of my testing results in. That has helped me see patterns. This will help you learn your pool and what it wants each day.

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

*Update

So i got my test kit yesterday and hit the ground running. I tested everything and got some wierd results. I guess my guestimates were wrong about my chlorine levels. My FC was super high. I'm thinking that my below average previous test kit was giving me false readings or washing out so much i thought i was low (.5-1) so i added according to Pool math. Boy was i wrong. Another thing was the Pool store was wrong( surprise, surprise) about my levels. they said i was ok CYA -30 etc etc( which is what i was basing my guestimated SLAM about). I tested everything at about 6pm and this is what i got.


FC - 35
CC - 2.5
PH - high but with such high FC does it matter?
TA - 230
CH - 300 (vinyl liner so i heard not a big deal)
CYA - 0

sooooo CYA 0. Thanks pool store. and thanks bad test kit. So i ran to get stabilizer and because i wanted to get an appropriate level fast, i bought a gallon of the liquid(more expensive) and then about 1.5 of granuals. According to pool math that would get me around 40-45. to be on the safe side with CYA (tested 3 times), I put in the gallon of liquid (32ppm in 10,000 gallons) in and then about 1/2 of the granualrs in a sock hanging in the skimmer but nowhere near blocking it. After squeezing it every 15 minutes i went to bed.

Woke up this morning and ran tests again.

FC- 30
CC - 2
PH - didn't bother this time
TA - 230
CA - 300
CYA - 35


Sweet. So now i guess i'm just letting the FC fall to SLAM levels. How do i bring my TA down when i can't accurately measure PH right now?. Just maybe "say" i have 8.0 pH in pool calc and add accordingly??

Kinda aggravated that i put so much chlorine in all due to false readings from a below average test kit. I'm hoping the fact that i didn't add Chlorine since yesterday morning and its going to be sunny today will help lower the FC, especially since its still fighting alot of stuff. Makes me wish it was cloudy and rainy yesterday. otherwise it would have been even lower by now.

 

[kimkats]

You are doing great! You have it all figured out and I see that you understand what you are doing and how to do it.

-TA- you are correct. You cannot really work on it yet as the high FC messes with the PH readings. TA is the LAST thing we work on when getting a pool balanced.

Right now work on the FC and CYA. I would not test CYA again for about a week. The powder takes about a week to show up on the test.

Your going to LOVE having such control of you pool!

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

I'm sure my cloudiness is due to high PH - TA. I've got blue green water just cloudy. I might drop a little acid in it today to say drop it from 7.5 to 7.0 or somthing to be safe. i remember the pool guy that opened the pool saying that they dropped in like 20-25 lbs of baking soda to get the PH up. Now that i've been on the site and use the CALC i've realized that i probably had a TA of like 50 when i started and now i have 230 cause of all the baking soda they added. Thanks for the extra work pool guys.

 

[kimkats]

Turbo Please do not mess with the PH until the FC comes down to just below 10.

The test just does not work for PH. I don't want you chasing your tail with wrong results.

And the chant goes up around TFP-----------Fire the pool guys! They make more work!

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

Turbo Please do not mess with the PH until the FC comes down to just below 10.

The test just does not work for PH. I don't want you chasing your tail with wrong results.

And the chant goes up around TFP-----------Fire the pool guys! They make more work!

Kim

Will do...guess i'm in a holding pattern. I hate waiting. lol

hopefullly the FC will drop quick since i got plenty of stuff in the pool for it to eat. I get my XL option delivered today and my fancy magnetic stirrer since i'm not coordinated enough to swirl and drop, lol.

 

[kimkats]

I know! I HATE waiting but.............do it for me this time.

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

Update2*

Super stirrer hasn't shown up (Thanks USPS) so i went out and did it the old peasant way.....by hand. Was very happy with my downward progress from my Sky high numbers.


FC - 21 (down from like 35-40 last night!!!!)
CC - 1 (down from 2 this morning)
TA - 200 (down from 230 this morning, i guess the lowering FC is making the TA come down??)
CH - didn't measure I'm vinyl and i'm not concerned
CYA - 40 (maybe a hair under like 39)

So I like my progress, dropping almost 20 since last night and 15 from this morning! So hopefully late tonight or definitely by tomorrow morning I'll be at least under 10 to measure a proper PH.

Don't worry Kimkats, I've done nothing but look at my pool and skimm it.

No touchy touchy. lol

Looking forward to getting leveled out so i can SLAM this beast. I've been taking pics to pass on to the Landlord, who lives in Hawaii, to show her how bad the previous tenant left the pool and also as proof since she will be reimbursing me for spending all this extra money to open the pool (since the lease states she pays to open the pool).

Scott

 

[kimkats]

I had forgotten you are renting! OUCH! Oh well at least you will have a clear, safe pool to enjoy in a little while!

LOL Good job waiting! At least I did not say NO. It was only WAIT!

One of my Kindergarten kids told me the only word worse than wait was no LOL

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

lol I am renting but i have a 2 year lease and potentially more (as long as they will have me). In the military I'm only guaranteed to stay in one place for a max of 4-5 years and i haven't lived in a place i want to buy quite yet. The good thing about finding this site is that next year i know it will be closed right and will have access to my pool much faster than this mess I came into.

 

[cowboycasey]

Just saw your thread, you are doing awesome.. Keep it up..

 

[kimkats]

We have a saying about opening and closing a pool.

Close late and open early!

Much easier to do when it is still burrrrrrrrrrrrr out there!

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

Just did another quick test.

FC - 17.5
CC - 1.5
TA - 200-210
didn't really bother with the others for now since i doubt they have changed.

So i dropped another 4 FC in a 4 hour period so I'm looking good to be under 10 by first thing tomorrow morning. Then i can level out PH/TA depending on the levels. I know TA will have to come down, I'm still running around 200-210. What number should i shoot for???

Then hopefully if i can get the TA and PH balanced by tomorrow afternoon/evening I can officially start my SLAM.

The wife got some confidence back in me when i told her that i got the CYA to 35 which is exactly where I told her it was going to be after the liquid stabilizer. And then this afternoon it was closer to 40 so if that little bit of granuals I put in are still mixing it shoudn't go over 45 according to Pool Calc. Plus she stop saying "call the pool people" when i told her the reason our TA was so high was due to the 20+ pounds of Baking Soda they put in at opening.

 

[kimkats]

We have your back Turbo! LOL

Your CYA may get a little bit higher. The powder CYA can take up to a week so show up on the test.

I am going to give you a link to the chemicals so you can learn on your own. (Sorry the teacher in my coming out LOL)

Pool School - Recommended Levels

I will tell you that my PH likes my TA to be about 90. BUT every pool is different. After a while you will learn what your pool likes.

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

We have your back Turbo! LOL

Your CYA may get a little bit higher. The powder CYA can take up to a week so show up on the test.

I am going to give you a link to the chemicals so you can learn on your own. (Sorry the teacher in my coming out LOL)

Pool School - Recommended Levels

I will tell you that my PH likes my TA to be about 90. BUT every pool is different. After a while you will learn what your pool likes.

Kim

I only put in like .5-.75 pounds of CYA via powder so if it does go up I should still be very much ok.

I tested first thing this morning and i was still a little high on the FC to take my PH (13) but as of now I am

FC - 10
CC - 1
PH - 7.6
TA - 210
CH - 300

I went to Home depot and picked up some muriatic acid but it seems to be the 22% kind (its all they had).

Just curious how much does dropping my PH from 7.6 to 7.0 bring my TA down to, on average?? Like "per time" I drop it.

 

[kimkats]

OH good question! I have NO idea! I think someone will be along shortly that will know the answer. I will check back to check in.

Kim

 

[Beens]

Here's a very untechnical reply...

I think that's something you can figure out with the bottom section of pool math maybe? Like, if you know that you need x amount of acid to lower your ph from 7.8 to 7.0 (picking random levels here) you could go to the bottom where it has "effects of adding chemicals" and put your "x" number in and it will tell you the effects?

I've never used it but I think that's what it does. LOL (I have no experience with that. My pH never changes so I never remember which things (muriatic acid, borax, soda ash, etc) change what in relation to pH and alkalinity)

 

[kimkats]

BEENS! I think you got it! I am going to play with that!

Kim

 

[Turboblu]

Test results from after about 45 minutes after added muriatic acid

FC - 9
CC - 1
PH - 7.0
TA - 180 (down from 210 in one hit)
CH - 290

I'm aerating the water now (have the return pointed upwards to bubble) so I'll check to see if the PH goes back up to 7.5-7.6 in the next 30 minutes-1 hour. Then back down we go with the PH/TA using Muriatic acid. hopefully i can start my SLAM around sundown so i can get this party started.

Scott

 

[kimkats]

Scott! You did it! You can go ahead and SLAM with your numbers like they are!

The TA is the last thing you worry about. It is something you can work on when the SLAM is done!

The waiting is OVER! SLAM that pool!

Please take a pic now and share it. Plan on taking a pic each day so we and you can see it clear up. There will come a time that you will not think anything is happening but the pic will show the color changes.

Kim