Hello - frustrated and trying to learn

[Mwoods]

I am in Georgia . We put in a pebbletech salt water pool 3 years ago. My husband has taken care of everything. Our pool builder taught him how to do everything. We also have a Dolphin robot. My husband has become incapacitated and now I am taking care of the pool. I am teaching myself. My husband isn't able to explain or teach me. I've got a test kit, and I am trying but the Doplhin quit working and it is in for repair right now. I can't seem to get a few of the leaves off of the bottom without it. The valves all confuse me. I have learned to backwash and rinse and I cleaned the salt cell once. I don't trust myself with reading the test kit, so I took a water sample to Leslie's and they are suggesting I add way more chemicals to the water than I ever saw my husband add. Then I read about this app, so I thought maybe this was a place I could get better advice and learn how to rely on the test kit I have instead of the pool store. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Edge70]

Welcome! There are many people here that will help you. To start your learning you could review this:

Pool Care Basics

You could also post some photos of your pool and equipment pad which would help people understand your pool setup. It may seem daunting but you will learn quickly and your find lots of help here . Which Test kit do you have?

 

[W.J.Christy]

Welcome. We got you. It may seem intimidating at first, but the step by step guidance and depth of knowledge available here can and will ensure your success. All we ask is for you to listen, ask questions and post the pics we ask for of your pool and the occasional pic of your pools progress.

 

[PoolStored]

My husband has become incapacitated and now I am taking care of the pool. I am teaching myself. My husband isn't able to explain or teach me.

I'm sorry this happened. My father became incapacitated at the age of 45, when I was 6. We took care of him at home until I was 17, and we could no longer care for him. I know the feelings when faced with this situation. Looking back now, 40 years later, everything turned out OK. Have faith the same will be true for you.

The valves all confuse me.

If you will post several pictures of your pool pad and equipment, we have A TON of folks here that can explain them and remove your confusion.

so I took a water sample to Leslie's and they are suggesting I add way more chemicals to the water than I ever saw my husband add.

My name here is "Pool Stored," because I was "Pool Stored." They took me for $1500 before I wised up and found TFP. It now costs me generally, less than $200 TOTAL to maintain my pool annually (Chemicals anyway). Your husband was smart to maintain your pool himself. You can do the same. There are literally 100s of thousands of individuals who have learned the TFP way (over 300K members).

Then I read about this app, so I thought maybe this was a place I could get better advice and learn how to rely on the test kit I have instead of the pool store. Any advice is appreciated.

It was helpful to me to print these test instructions out and keep them next to my test kit. After about a week, I didn't need them anymore, but they were super helpful. Now testing is like brushing my teeth. Simple.

Extended Test Kit Directions Archives

www.troublefreepool.com

We are here to help and there are a bunch of SUPER smart individuals with years of experience to help you.

Welcome to TFP!

This link may provide you some inspiration: (click it)--> How Clear is TFP Clear?

 

[Mwoods]

I have the Taylor K2005 kit. I tried to upload a picture of it, but it said the file was too large. I'm going to try to load a pic of my panel and valves. Thank you so much everyone. My pool is saltwater, pebbletech 12x26 rectangle 3.5 -6 ft deep pentair pump, sand filter, intellichlor salt generator and Dolphin robot. Heat pump .

 

[PoolStored]

GREAT! This is Super helpful. On the INPUT side, it looks like you have a main drain and a skimmer. Is this correct?

So, using this picture, you can see it says "OFF" at the bottom of the handle. This is because there is a door that is closed, closing off that pipe. That means the pump is pulling from the pipe on the right. If you were to change the "off" area of the handle to the right pipe it would close that pipe off from the pump. If you were to move the off to the left side of the picture, both pipes will be open to the pump. This valve controls where you are pulling water "FROM." My guess is that it is pulling from the skimmer at this point.

You can verify by leaving the valve alone and look into the skimmer. Is it working? If so, the pipe coming in from the right is coming from the skimmer and the other is the bottom drain.

 

[PoolStored]

Now the output. Can you confirm you have three "waterfalls," that I can see from the pictures? Do you also have a "return?" it will be a white colored "jet" or water return under the waterline?

If so, here is the output configuration. The valve that is at the top of this picture is the same as the input. The "OFF" portion of the valve is a gate shutting off that pipe. In the current position, it is allowing water to flow to the right and NOT allowing water flow towards you. The water flowing to the right then goes through three other valves that are currently open. (the handle is to the left and the gate "off" is to the right, allowing water to flow to the waterfalls. If you turn them 90 degrees clockwise, they will close and not allow water to go to each of the waterfalls.

I hope this makes sense.

 

[Edge70]

You've got a great looking pool there. In terms of the equipment, PoolStored has explained things very well which should help you understand the equipment a bit better. If you need help with maintenance, we would need to know you test results to ensure your water chemistry is on point. If your having trouble using the test kit, that's not as intimidating as it looks either. Once you do it, it will become very easy moving forward. Let us know if there's anything else you need. Thanks!

 

[B.lu]

Welcome! You'll be in good hands here. Everyone is so helpful. When you first start testing, it is intimidating but quickly becomes second nature. Take the tests one at a time. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to while you learn the process. We have all been there! You have a gorgeous pool

 

[dfwnoob]

I have the Taylor K2005 kit.

We'll turn you into a pool care expert before you know it! Fortunately, you've already got 98% of the test kit you need! Buy the Taylor K1515A FAS-DPD chlorine test (you can get it on Amazon for $35) and you'll turn your kit into the recommended K-2006. For now, though, we can go off the results of your 2005 until you get the K1515A.

 

[Flying Tivo]

I have the Taylor K2005 kit

Make sure you add the speedstir, this will help you for better and more consistent testing.

 

[B.lu]

Make sure you add the speedstir, this will help you for better and more consistent testing.

I second that. It also makes it more fun

 

[koffey]

Welcome and you're in great hands here. Sorry to hear about your SO.

 

[Steve-D]

Welcome and good luck...the people here are super helpful so don't be afraid to ask ANYTHING. No question is stupid...we were all beginners once.

The first important lesson is that the while the pool store folks may want to be helpful their driving motivation is to sell you chemicals. Trust your own testing and the advice that you get here over the pool store guys.

The testing gets easier with practice. Before finding TFP I questioned my reading of the CYA test as it is one of the more subjective tests (unlike drop tests where x drops = y result). TFP has a great set of instructions for the CYA test including a "this photo" link that clearly shows you what you are aiming for. Just remember that you always round up your reading to the higher number...if your tube shows between 40 and 50 then the correct reading is 50...there is no "45".