Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

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Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Looking forward to hearing tomorrow’s test result!
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Here are the new results...

Saturday
9:30am added 2 gallons 10% liquid chlorine to SLAM the pool (since I started out with 2.5ppm the day before)
3:50pm (6.5 hours later) tested for CYA (since the sun was out) at 90 I can still kinda see the outline of the black dot but at 80 it was completely gone (so I'm going to stick with 90 since that's what I got the day before)
7:30pm (10 hours later)
FC 9ppm
CC 0.5ppm (TC 9.5ppm)
CH 350ppm (13 drops it was still purplish color/14 drops definitely blue)
TA 150 (14 drops looked purplish/15 drops pink)

OCLT result...with the pump running overnight
Sunday
7:40am
FC 8ppm
CC .5ppm (TC 8.5ppm)

The water looks clearer but I don't think it passes the quarter test
Should I continue to SLAM?
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Joodee said:
The water looks clearer but I'm don't think it passes the quarter test
Should I continue to SLAM?
Click to expand...
You technically passed the OCLT, but I'd give it one more day of keeping the FC at shock level.

Ignore the CH and TA, they are just a distraction during a SLAM Process. You can also ignore TC, we don't use that number for anything.

If you are off today give it a hard push. Test FC and readjust back to shock level every 2 hours. Remember, with a CYA of 90 your shock level is 35. It's going to take a bunch of chlorine to get to that and keep it there.
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Thanks Tim5055

I don't think I technically SLAMmed the pool yesterday (just used PoolMath to bring the Cl level to 10) I will recalculate it to bring it to 35 today.
I did go out to sweep again and there's still "dust" that i can see as the brush passes on the steps.

Also, when you talk about how clear the pool is and passing the quarter test, I'm assuming that the quarter would be in the deep end of the pool? If so, then no I don't think I can see George. However if it's in the shallow end (bottom of the steps) then yes I can definitely see the quarter.
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

So I had a previous thread about high CYA (and I appreciated all the help about SLAM-ing it, but because I needed 8.7gallons of Cl to SLAM at 35 possibly every few hours, in the end my husband decided that we should just drain half of the water (CYA 90) and start fresh again (no more going to Leslie's!)

Question- what are my next steps in getting it ready for use? (which order of chemical balancing do I follow?)
I read somewhere 1) TA 2) pH 3) CH 4) CYA 5) Cl

I'm still in the process of refilling it. How long should I run my filter before I test the new water? Should I wait a day before I start balancing?

THANKS IN ADVANCE for your help!
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

When you get full, run a full set of numbers. Then we’ll be able to see where you need to start.
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Here are today's numbers (TF100)
Ran the filter for 5.5 hours before taking sample

Cl 1ppm
pH 7.8
FC 1ppm
CC 0.5ppm
CH 175ppm
TA 80
CYA 45?? 40-50 (I read this about 6 times and it kept coming back as I can still see it (just a little) at 50 but I couldn't see the dot at 40)

Should I go ahead and start the SLAM process?
Or get these balanced in rank order first? #1TA, #2pH, #3CH, #4CYA, #5Cl

Thanks again!
Judy
 
Re: Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

1. First thing is Chlorine - it is low for your new CYA of 40 or 50 (I say 40 since the dot is gone). See Chlorine Chart: Target is 5-7 (3 min), 16 for a SLAM

2. PH is right at the top of the acceptable range and so it could be adjusted down with MA to 7.5-7.6 for normal use - 7.2 PH if you are going to SLAM

3. CH - Your number is just a bit low - but you will be increasing this amount with each pool top up if you are using city water. You could bump this up to around 250 and be good for a while. I did that with our new fill water 3 years ago - with our winter rains diluting it, and top ups increasing it, we are now sitting at around 350.

4. TA - Seems OK at this point, and it will lower a tiny bit by the lowering of the PH with MA addition - IF you do decide you want to lower the TA further you can start by lowering PH to 7.2 with Muriatic Acid and aerate the water to drive up the PH back to the correct level. However, 80 isn't that bad of a value and is the last number to worry about working on.

Biggest issue is making sure your water is clear (read heads or tails on a coin in deep end) then make sure you pass a OCLT...If not then you need to SLAM. Follow the instructions and test and add CL as often as possible and you will be done quicker.
 
Re:  Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

THANK YOU!
I went ahead and started to SLAM (bringing it up to 16ppm) before I got your reply.
Do I wait a few hours before I bring the pH down to 7.2? Or go ahead and add dry acid now? If I add acid now, should I then wait a few more hours before I do a OCLT?

The water was super clear in the morning before I started the filter (since we drained half the pool, we also powerwashed the concrete around and there was some dirt/sediment that went in. I've been brushing every few hours to clear it up. The polaris is getting a good amount of it)
 
Re:  Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Joodee said:
THANK YOU!
I went ahead and started to SLAM (bringing it up to 16ppm) before I got your reply.
Do I wait a few hours before I bring the pH down to 7.2? Or go ahead and add dry acid now? If I add acid now, should I then wait a few more hours before I do a OCLT?

The water was super clear in the morning before I started the filter (since we drained half the pool, we also powerwashed the concrete around and there was some dirt/sediment that went in. I've been brushing every few hours to clear it up. The polaris is getting a good amount of it)
Click to expand...
You jumped the gun just a little. The pH test is inaccurate at chlorine levels above 10, so at this point you can't adjust pH. While talking about pH, why dry acid? Dry acid adds sulfates. At low or medium levels sulfates aren't a problem, but if they build up to a high enough level they can cause problems. But, you have it and can use it so, dry acid is best added by pre-dissolving it in a bucket of water and then pouring that slowly in front of a return.

For now ignore CH and TA. The goal is to clear the pool. Once that is done you can worry about the fine details.

With a little luck the FC will be below 10 in the AM and you can adjust the pH before you bring the FC back to shock level.
 

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Re:  Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Oh Drats! I was being impatient and wanted to get a jump start :/

Should I go ahead and test for OCLT tonight/morning? And then adjust pH if the FC is below 10 in the morning?
If it is below 10, then I can go ahead and adjust pH to 7.2 (or 7.5) with my dry acid (The reason why is because I have it from Leslie's (it's a small bag) when my pH was 8.0 when I had them test my water. Should I go ahead and use some of that or do you think muriatic acid is better? I have no idea what my sulfate levels are)

When do I bring the FC back to shock level (16ppm)? Immediately or wait ~4hours to let the filter run with the acid?

Thanks again!
Judy
 
An Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is the last thing you do when you are seeing if your SLAM Process is complete. First you need CLEAR water. Then less than 0.5 CC, then pass the OCLT.

Once you are able to test pH and add the sufficient acid, wait a few minutes and then add the LC to raise to shock level. Be sure the pump is running and you add the MA and then LC slowly at the pool return. If you like, push your brush around the area between the two chemical adds.
 
Re:  Help...took the advice from Leslie's and now my pool is out of whack

Joodee said:
I can go ahead and adjust pH to 7.2 (or 7.5) with my dry acid (The reason why is because I have it from Leslie's (it's a small bag) when my pH was 8.0 when I had them test my water. Should I go ahead and use some of that or do you think muriatic acid is better?
Judy
Click to expand...
Judy, go ahead and use the dry acid, a little won't be the end of the world, just use MA moving forward.

Marty has already answered the timing question
 
Ok so I'm just going to check FC until it drops below 10.
I will check pH again as well to see where it's at.
Then bring pH down to 7.2 with my dry acid since I'm going to shock at high Cl levels (thanks for the tips on how to add it)
I'll wait a little bit and add enough LC to raise it to shock level (this is SLAM right? with my CYA, I'm looking at 16ppm)
Then check for clear water and test for low CC and pass OCLT to see if I'm done with SLAM??

Then I deal with CH and TA...
 
Joodee said:
Ok so I'm just going to check FC until it drops below 10.
I will check pH again as well to see where it's at.
Then bring pH down to 7.2 with my dry acid since I'm going to shock at high Cl levels (thanks for the tips on how to add it)
I'll wait a little bit and add enough LC to raise it to shock level (this is SLAM right? with my CYA, I'm looking at 16ppm)
Then check for clear water and test for low CC and pass OCLT to see if I'm done with SLAM??

Then I deal with CH and TA...
Click to expand...
Sorry, I had to scan back up the page to find your CYA. You said the dot disappeared somewhere between 40 and 50, so in the abundance of caution we always round up. Call your CYA 50. So, your shock/SLAM value is 20, not 16.

Everything else appears correct -

Have a great night.
 
Remember that you will be testing FC and dosing with LC several times per day during SLAM. More often the better.

Take care
 
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