Guidance needed

[drjsparker]

Greetings! I’m a relative newbie when it comes to pools… We finished ours up in the fall last year… Very long story short, our pool builder died just after we shot the gunite… I GC’d it from that point forward. Learned some things along the way, but still have a lot to go.

We started it up with fresh water using the Orenda system, and converted it to salt this summer. I deliberately kept the same pool company that did the start up for the first year, but would like to take it over… My understanding is that saltwater pools are just about idiot-proof, but I’d like to make sure I’m not missing anything.

With that said, my summer routine has been to run the pool/spa pump (it’s a variable speed pump, but it was initially set at 2700 rpm) from 8 in the morning until 8 at night. Now that it’s winter, I’ve reversed that. My robot runs every morning from 6 to 8. I keep my salt level right around 3200. My Intellichlor looks like it’s been set at 70% pool output and 0% Spa output. The pool company has had my chlorinator anywhere from 4 to 1… I’m honestly not sure why it’s even in use.

I suppose my question is, is there anything that I need to tweak or do differently? As well, are there any other numbers I need to keep my eye on other than keeping the salt level around 3200?

Thanks in advance!

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

Do you have tablets in your Pentair 320 chlorinator? There is no reason to be having the chlorinator if you have the SWG and the tablets may be damaging your heater.

Show us pics of your pool equipment pad.

What test kit do you use?

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[drjsparker]

Welcome to TFP.

Do you have tablets in your Pentair 320 chlorinator? There is no reason to be having the chlorinator if you have the SWG and the tablets may be damaging your heater.

Show us pics of your pool equipment pad.

What test kit do you use?

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Thank you!

There are currently no tabs in the chlorinator… The ones that the pool company put in have been used up. I went ahead and turned the chlorinator off completely. I’ll have them stop refilling it.

I have these two test kits, but I’ve never used them. Thus far I have just relied on the salt reading in the Itellichlor section of the Pentair app to let me know if I need to add salt.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Doc,

While saltwater pools are the easiest type of pools to take care of, they are by far not "idiot-proof", as proven here over and over again.

Without testing your pool water you have no clue how well, or not so well, your chemical balance is..

Your salt system has no brain.. It just does what you tell it to do.. It has no clue if your chlorine level is too high or too low. You are the cell's brain, you need to routinely test and adjust the cell's output up or down as required.

You should take a good read through our pool school.

Start with this... Pool Care Basics

The good news is that once the water gets cold, not much will grow in it, so you have all winter to get this figured out.

Also.. Your cell will no longer work once the water temp is below about 52 degrees. When this happens you need to use Liquid Chlorine to sanitize your pool. It does not take much in the winter..

I am going to send you a PM on a totally different subject. Please watch for it.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[ajw22]

We cannot begin talking about if your IntelliChlor % is correctly set or needs winter adjustment without knowing your water chemistry.

And your K-2005 test kit is missing a key test.

The Taylor K-2005 is a test kit that gets pushed by many larger “pool stores”. It tests pH, TA, CH, CYA VERY well, but it’s shortfall is how it tests chlorine levels. The K-2005 uses a “DPD” chlorine test which has three very large pitfalls:

1. The DPD chlorine test will NOT show accurate results above 5 ppm. This is an issue if you wish to follow TFP methods, as we teach that it’s best to maintain a ratio of chlorine to CYA, see the Chlorine/CYA Chart, not just a firm 1-4 ppm.

2. The DPD chlorine test uses “color-matching.” You add a few drops of reagent to the water and then match the pink sample color to the comparator. It’s easy to mismatch the true levels.

3. Perhaps worst of all, the DPD chlorine test's pink sample color can "bleach out." If the chlorine is well above the 5 ppm limit, the pink sample color after the reagent is added can fade out or even remain clear. This can lead one to believe the chlorine level is MUCH lower than reality, potentially leading to adding even more chlorine to the pool.

In short, the K-2005 is a good kit.........it’s just not very accurate in chlorine testing.

TFP Methods requiring FC of more than 5 ppm, such as the SLAM Process and higher CYA levels, cannot be tested with the DPD chlorine test in the K-2005. You need the FAS/DPD chlorine test found in the TF-100, Taylor K-2006 or K-2006C.

If you have the K-2005 you can separately buy the FAS/DPD Chlorine Test to make your kit equivalent to the K-2006.

Get the FAS/DPD Chlorine test, download PoolMath, and post a complete set of tests here and we can discuss your next steps.

 

[ajw22]

I hope you do not spend a lot of time in your spa or have large numbers of people in the spa since your IntelliChlor cell, where it is placed, cannot add any chlorine to the spa when high usage depletes the chlorine.

 

[Bperry]

Thank you!

There are currently no tabs in the chlorinator… The ones that the pool company put in have been used up. I went ahead and turned the chlorinator off completely. I’ll have them stop refilling it.

I have these two test kits, but I’ve never used them. Thus far I have just relied on the salt reading in the Itellichlor section of the Pentair app to let me know if I need to add salt.

Just in case you didn’t realize, a salt pool is still sanitized by chlorine and not salt. The salt is just in there to be temporarily converted to chlorine and you have to test for chlorine levels the same as any other pool.