HI, I am new at all this

[Minni]

Hi everyone, I greatly dislike my pool and I can't swim. I am hoping to change both of those this year. I bought a house in the western side of NYS 1/2 way though the season last year with a Inground, saltwater, freeform, vinyl lined pool. I spent a heck of a lot of time fixing and dealing with hardware and water last year. I realized I got some super bad information from pool shops and I spent some time over the winter reading leaning and lurking on here.

It has a new pump and filter, which I am questioning if they are installed right by the pool company, an very old heater, 3 year old liner, and a newish SWG.

This year I bought a saltwater pro test kit from TFtestkits, I subscribed to the pool math app, and I got rid of all the crazy combo chemicals left by the previous owner like the super duper ultra kill everything shock now in tropical sent. So far I think I am off to a good start.

My present todo list is to try to add salt and CYA to the right levels and from those slow additions try to figure out in reverse how much water I actually have. I have a cleaning plug for the SWG coming Friday so I can finally clean that thing out correctly, if I can get it out of the plumbing. I am also starting to get some quote for safety cover replacement since the one that came with the pool was more flex seal than cover. Dealing with a little algae, but maintaining it while I try to get the SWG cleaned and salted so it works, and the CYA to a level that is, well not 5 so I have a chance to maintain the pool when I get to SLAMing the thing.

I have already learned a lot and appreciate the info and contributions here. I really want to get this to at least not troublesome, if I can't get it to trouble free

 

[PoolStored]

Welcome to TFP!!!

I got some super bad information from pool shops

Welcome to #TeamPoolStored!

I have a cleaning plug for the SWG coming Friday so I can finally clean that thing out correctly, if I can get it out of the plumbing.

Careful with cleaning a SWCG...Read section on cleaning here:

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

Dealing with a little algae, but maintaining it while I try to get the SWG cleaned and salted so it works, and the CYA to a level that is, well not 5 so I have a chance to maintain the pool when I get to SLAMing the thing.

I'd get your CYA up to 30 and start your SLAM to get rid of the algae. You can deal with the SWCG later. Get a head start on cleaning up the pool...SLAM Process

 

[Newdude]

This year I bought a saltwater pro test kit from TFtestkits, I subscribed to the pool math app, and I got rid of all the crazy combo chemicals left by the previous owner like the super duper ultra kill everything shock now in tropical sent. So far I think I am off to a good start.

You are sitting PRETTY my friend.

@PoolStored has you well covered to start. The TFP army is at your disposal when need be.

 

[Minni]

Welcome to TFP!!!


Welcome to #TeamPoolStored!


Careful with cleaning a SWCG...Read section on cleaning here:

SWG How It Works - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com

I'd get your CYA up to 30 and start your SLAM to get rid of the algae. You can deal with the SWCG later. Get a head start on cleaning up the pool...SLAM Process

Thanks for that info I did pick up some cleaning vinegar to prep for this since it seems less damaging to me, and prolly the equipment in turn. I don't think it has ever been cleaned, so I am guessing it is not so great. I am a little worried about getting it off which is going to be a trick since it looks like the previous owner use some PVC solvent on the unions, if that is the case its going to be a pain in the butt.

I just added the CYA Monday so I am trying to let that get into solution a little more before I go double check my reading since that test is very subjective. Further complicating matters I don't really know the volume of the pool, but based on how much a bag of salt moves the salinity I think I might have less water than I initial assumed, or the temp is rising, I understand salinity testing is not totally accurate at low temps.

Once the CYA gets in there a little more I'll go for the grand SLAM, I want to be able to backwash without loosing all the CYA I added. The algae is not insane just noticing some appearing on the walls and being stubborn. It's also worth mentioning that when we opened the pool we discovered that we have an issue with crane fly larva. I conservatively pulled out 20 gallons of dead worms, so the load of organic matter on the pool was high. It's been running for about 10 days 24/7 with lots of vacuuming to get it clear.

I am getting some strange pH reading from that test kit, I need to investigate more too.

Thanks guys happy to have found this. Also happy I learned I don't need to buy 200 lbs of calcium lol

 

[PoolStored]

Thanks for that info I did pick up some cleaning vinegar to prep for this since it seems less damaging to me, and prolly the equipment in turn. I don't think it has ever been cleaned, so I am guessing it is not so great. I am a little worried about getting it off which is going to be a trick since it looks like the previous owner use some PVC solvent on the unions, if that is the case its going to be a pain in the butt.

Why don't you wait. You may not need to clean the cell. Let's get the pool cleaned up and test the operation of the cell before we take stuff apart...

I understand salinity testing is not totally accurate at low temps.

Salinity testing is not temperature sensitive...

I want to be able to backwash without loosing all the CYA I added.

Backwashing will not reduce cya appreciably...

I am getting some strange pH reading from that test kit, I need to investigate more too.

Post a picture of the pH test.

 

[Newdude]

While you may need to undo the past if there is scale in the SWG, going forward, it likely won't ever need cleaning again.

If there is buildup on the plates, use a popsicle stick or such to knock down as much as you can. Rinse well and then try the vinegar for whatever is left.

 

[Minni]

Why don't you wait. You may not need to clean the cell. Let's get the pool cleaned up and test the operation of the cell before we take stuff apart...


Salinity testing is not temperature sensitive...

Backwashing will not reduce cya appreciably...

Post a picture of the pH test.

I can wait on taking it apart. I am assuming that because the three hour average salinity is way the heck off, that it is in need of a cleaning, also I think it has been in there 2+ years and likely never cleaned, most of the pool equipment was maintained poorly so it wouldn't surprise me if its not in super happy condition.

Salinity at low temp did come from the pool shop guy. I couldn't find anything chemistry wise to support it IDK not listening to them anymore.

I thought the CYA gets kinda trapped by the filter and chills there untill it gets entirely in solution? I did dissolve it in a sock in the skimmer trick. Regardless I'll trust you on that. I had my reading checked for CYA to be sure I have the right FC level to SLAM with.

For the PH I am collecting water one foot under the surface with a inverted bottle, anytime I have a chemical uncapped I wear gloves just to not contaminate anything, I even washed everything out with distilled water. The pool shop just tested it at 7.5. Adding 5 drops with a completely inverted dropper. Testing indoors, literally everything else I have tested come up darn close to the pool shop with the fancy equipment other than PH, which should be the easy one

I think I am going to have to wait to start the process till the morning as I won’t be able to adjust the chlorine much to maintain till tomorrow. I know I can look this up but if I overshoot FC a bit is that a problem? Not knowing the volume of water makes it semi hard to predict the resulting FC from an addition.

Thanks again.

 

[PoolStored]

I can wait on taking it apart. I am assuming that because the three hour average salinity is way the heck off, that it is in need of a cleaning, also I think it has been in there 2+ years and likely never cleaned, most of the pool equipment was maintained poorly so it wouldn't surprise me if its not in super happy condition.

The recommendation is that it is usually good to focus on one problem at a time. You should focus on Algae...lots of owners futz with SLAM and equipment, then the equipment goes south and the slam is off leading to more algae.

Salinity at low temp did come from the pool shop guy. I couldn't find anything chemistry wise to support it IDK not listening to them anymore.

Nice.

I thought the CYA gets kinda trapped by the filter and chills there untill it gets entirely in solution? I did dissolve it in a sock in the skimmer trick. Regardless I'll trust you on that. I had my reading checked for CYA to be sure I have the right FC level to SLAM with.

Only if you dump it into the skimmer line. If you did the sock, it is all good. In 24 hours you can retest. Takes a bit to circulate.

For the PH I am collecting water one foot under the surface with a inverted bottle, anytime I have a chemical uncapped I wear gloves just to not contaminate anything, I even washed everything out with distilled water. The pool shop just tested it at 7.5. Adding 5 drops with a completely inverted dropper. Testing indoors, literally everything else I have tested come up darn close to the pool shop with the fancy equipment other than PH, which should be the easy one

Looks like 7.9 on the Taylor. Trust that one.

I think I am going to have to wait to start the process till the morning as I won’t be able to adjust the chlorine much to maintain till tomorrow. I know I can look this up but if I overshoot FC a bit is that a problem? Not knowing the volume of water makes it semi hard to predict the resulting FC from an addition.

No problem. When you do your addition, test 30 minutes later. If you overshot, increase pool volume by 500. If you undershot, decrease pool volume by 500.

 

[PoolStored]

Can you please post a full set of results?

Or better yet, in pool math, upper right gear. Scroll to bottom and enable sharing with TFP...then we can see your logs.

 

[Minni]

So I registered for the app with my Apple ID login, so it didn’t link to the forum. I’ll have to export login correctly and import and I’ll try to get that done after work today. I am going to take some chlorine readings and do the math to start the SLAM in about 45 min ish because my day has been crazy.

 

[Minni]

For now at least I can ss it.

 

[PoolStored]

Looks good! We only read CYA at the lines, not in between. Your CYA is 30.

Go SLAM!

 

[Minni]

Tested FC at 3.5 turned off SWG added 156OZ of 12.5% bleach and tested after an hour of running at full pump, FC was at 10.5. That is lower than expected for the addition so I am going to adjust the volume of the pool upward by 500 and make additions based on that number. the resulting FC after the addition would mean I have 2k gallons more than I thought I did, which would be rather surprising based on how salinity tested after additions. Either that or it is getting consumed rapidly by Crud in the pool and high UV day with medium low CYA... or it didn't mix all the way yet either way I am going to add the assumed amount for 500g more than my previous assumed amount to raise me 1.5FC to SLAM level.... unless you think I missed something, though I tested FC twice.

 

[Minni]

Okay I figured it out I think the pool store that sold me the bleach at the beginning of the month sold me 4 jugs that have a best before date in the past. Pool store strikes again. I don’t think I can trust the concentration is accurate so I added 28 more oz to try to get it to the 12 needed.

 

[Minni]

Moved over the app data and shared. I have been maintaining the SLAM, the pool is eating chlorine, I mean it’s the breakfast of champions for the pool at this point. A bunch of garbage has come to the bottom I didn’t know was even in there, looks like this was a bigger problem than I realized. Shockingly it actually looks markedly better already. Going to vac it out this evening.

 

[PoolStored]

Logs look good. Slam on!

 

[Minni]

Thanks I see my welcome thread was moved, sorry this turned into tech support. Sun is basically set so I made some additions and vacuumed and maintained it’s 55 out so I did it till I got too cold to mess with water. Personally I am surprised at the amount of chlorine consumed in such a short time. It really does look better than I have ever had it even after months of trying last year. I’ll keep on logging and going with it. Thanks for your continued assistance.

 

[PoolStored]

Thanks for your continued assistance

You are welcome.

Keep up your pace and this slam will go my quickly.

 

[V___25]

Okay I figured it out I think the pool store that sold me the bleach at the beginning of the month sold me 4 jugs that have a best before date in the past. Pool store strikes again. I don’t think I can trust the concentration is accurate so I added 28 more oz to try to get it to the 12 needed.

Generally, the dates on gallons of chlorine are the date it was manufactured and are written in Julian date format. Does the jug say "best before" or it just it date? I just don't want to see you use more chlorine than necessary if the stuff you got is actually fine.

 

[Minni]

So my last addition was at 8 pm yesterday, sunset was at 8:45 pm last test was a little after 10pm and the FC target was spot on. This morning sunrise was at 5:40am ish I got a sample around 7:15am.

My FC loss was .5

My CC 0 which is cool never seen that

My water looks stellar - actually the whole pool does, steps spa, even the skimmer backer look nice and clean.

I have some sand/ dirt looking stuff that ended up near the main drain this morning. I can’t get a sample of of it because it is too fine. I have a feeling this is the .1% of the 99.9% salt I added 80lbs of Wednesday that is still settling out with lower winds causing less water turbulence. Good part is I don’t think it is algae and I don’t see any dead or alive.

I think I meet exit criteria. This worked very well. Cleaner and clearer than I have ever seen.

I am going to stop additions, and give it a day before adding CYA to just be sure nothing comes creeping back.