- Apr 29, 2021
- 16
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Hi all, new pool owner, just over 2 months in managing my water (filled on 3/7) and with some help on a previous thread, I've gotten my numbers where I want them with a few exceptions/questions. My pb had my pool mode set to run the vs pump wide open (3300rpm) which had the spa spillover and the bubblers (our only two water features) running for 11 hours a day. With some help in previous thread, I was able to set my pool mode down to 1600rpm (stops the spillover), and I configured some other speeds on difference circuits, and now run 9 hours a day, where 7 hours are at 1650 and 2 hours are at 2700 to circulate water through the spa.
I can get my pH down to 7.0 and within 2 days it was running 7.8 - 8.0. After reducing the pump speed and run time, I can hold in the 7's for maybe 3 days, but I am basically adding 1-2 gallons of acid every week to week and a half to stay in the mid 7's. I've been reading other posts about pH/rain/aeration/new plaster, etc and am wondering if this is to be expected with plaster only being 2 months old? Also read that aeration can cause the pH to spike, so I found the valve that controls the bubblers and have them off for now to test. I turned them off yesterday with a pH of 7.2 and today pH is 7.6. Would like to eventually have an actuator installed on the valve for the bubblers, but that is above my pay grade atm. My current numbers are:
FC - 5.5
CC - 0
pH - 7.6
CH - 210 (going to work on bringing this up to around 250 this week)
CYA - 70
TA - 70
My other question is around salt. Until yesterday, I've been relying on the IC40 to tell me salt content, but my taylor kit arrived yesterday. In the 2 months I've been managing the pool, I've added at least 4, 40lb bags (possibly 6, but not positive) of salt to stay in the 3000's and closer to 3600, according to the IC40. Yesterday, I tested with the taylor kit and read 3600, today reads 3400, all while the IC40 on the app is telling me 2900. We had 14" of rain in April (avg is 10") and have already had 10.5" this month, 6" of that in last 3 days and have already beaten the May avg. Plus, kids have been using the pool since early April, so assume splash out as well. Is it normal to have that wide of a range between IC40 and taylor test? IC40 is scheduled for first cleaning 6/1, but has only been running since middle of March. With the test kit, I can keep a better eye on the salt level, but if it gets to 2800 on the IC40, the low salt light will come on.
Thanks !
Chad
I can get my pH down to 7.0 and within 2 days it was running 7.8 - 8.0. After reducing the pump speed and run time, I can hold in the 7's for maybe 3 days, but I am basically adding 1-2 gallons of acid every week to week and a half to stay in the mid 7's. I've been reading other posts about pH/rain/aeration/new plaster, etc and am wondering if this is to be expected with plaster only being 2 months old? Also read that aeration can cause the pH to spike, so I found the valve that controls the bubblers and have them off for now to test. I turned them off yesterday with a pH of 7.2 and today pH is 7.6. Would like to eventually have an actuator installed on the valve for the bubblers, but that is above my pay grade atm. My current numbers are:
FC - 5.5
CC - 0
pH - 7.6
CH - 210 (going to work on bringing this up to around 250 this week)
CYA - 70
TA - 70
My other question is around salt. Until yesterday, I've been relying on the IC40 to tell me salt content, but my taylor kit arrived yesterday. In the 2 months I've been managing the pool, I've added at least 4, 40lb bags (possibly 6, but not positive) of salt to stay in the 3000's and closer to 3600, according to the IC40. Yesterday, I tested with the taylor kit and read 3600, today reads 3400, all while the IC40 on the app is telling me 2900. We had 14" of rain in April (avg is 10") and have already had 10.5" this month, 6" of that in last 3 days and have already beaten the May avg. Plus, kids have been using the pool since early April, so assume splash out as well. Is it normal to have that wide of a range between IC40 and taylor test? IC40 is scheduled for first cleaning 6/1, but has only been running since middle of March. With the test kit, I can keep a better eye on the salt level, but if it gets to 2800 on the IC40, the low salt light will come on.
Thanks !
Chad