I think my IC-40 is finally giving up the ghost ... now IC-60 Installed

[JoyfulNoise]

I added my last bag of POOL GRADE POOL SALT (specifically formulated for SWG and plaster pools …. Guaranteed to not raise pH or make my chlorine less effective …. I’m so glad the informative pool store clerk helped me out with those useful nuggets of truthiness).

IC60 Readout = 3300ppm
K-1766 Test = 3300ppm (I used a 20mL sample)

My chemicals are all rebalanced (with exception to borates) and the IC60 is chugging along at 30% with my FC holding at 6ppm or above. I’m at 60ppm CYA after adding 2lbs and floating a few tabs (we call those “gold” pucks now …) so I think I’ll leave my CYA where it’s at for now.

Now the fun part - blow off a few hundred thousand cubic feet of nat gas to make the water more swimmable for all us old geezers …

 

[mguzzy]

...
Now the fun part - blow off a few hundred thousand cubic feet of nat gas to make the water more swimmable for all us old geezers …

You are in Tuscon! How cold can it be there? If you are adding 20 deg.. watch the cell production change.. just for fun!

 

[JamesW]

Now the fun part - blow off a few hundred thousand cubic feet of nat gas to make the water more swimmable for all us old geezers

That's 100 million btu.

That will raise the temperature by 750 degrees Fahrenheit

Seems like a bad idea.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

That's 100 million btu.

That will raise the temperature by 750 degrees Fahrenheit

Seems like a bad idea.

 

[mguzzy]

That must be a method of sanitation that is only endorsed in the deep dark dang seedy backrooms of the TFP forum. oooOOOOoooo

 

[JamesW]

It would take about 146,000,000 btu to boil all 16,000 gallons of water.

So, you won't have any water left to swim in.

 

[mguzzy]

So, you won't have any water left to swim in.

And no algae either.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

30lbs of boric acid went into the pool this past Sunday (along with 4 kids) and the water is back to its sparkly clean look. I tested borates yesterday and got 56ppm which was just a bit shy of the 60ppm I was shooting for. PoooMath said to add 31lbs 5oz but I added only 30lbs, so it came up a little short as expected. I’ll add another 3lbs today. I can definitely see the difference between low borates (started below 20ppm) and higher borates - pH would rise rapidly within a few days while the addition of borates holds that down quite a bit longer. I’ve got one more gallon of MA to use but that should last me a while.

IC-60 keeps chugging along making lots of chlorine

 

[Oly]

I'm fascinated by the hydrogen byproduct. Seems like a waste letting it fly away. How about sparking it up for an evening light show of fire bubbles?

 

[JamesW]

Is that the new ghost?

 

[JamesW]

I'm fascinated by the hydrogen byproduct. Seems like a waste letting it fly away. How about sparking it up for an evening light show of fire bubbles?

There is only 0.45 ounces (weight) of hydrogen gas created per pound of chlorine produced.

I have heard of someone injecting natural gas or propane into their returns and then lighting the bubbles as they come out of the pool, but that's an incredibly dangerous thing to do.

Just have some liquid nitrogen ready to put out the fire.

 

[DeanP66]

Count me in as a fan for using borates, especially if you've got a SWG. I just installed a SWG at my home last year and the same unit (RJ45+) at my friend's house after I told her how much I like it. I didn't have any issues at all with mine, but her pool has much higher CH because her fill water isn't connected to a water softener like mine. Because of that, her CH has climbed steadily, so I tried to adjust her other levels to keep her CSI negative (-0.3 to 0). No matter what I did, her cell would have scale on it every week and I'd have to take it apart and hose it out.

I convinced her to add borates with boric acid and oh what a difference. The cell is now clean week to week. Haven't had to take it apart since. It's been nearly 2 months since the addition of boric acid and what's even more impressive, is her CH level has climbed from 600ppm last year to over 750 currently.

The pH seems to have stabilized as well for longer periods of time.

 

[mguzzy]

Just have some liquid nitrogen ready to put out the fire.

That dude needs to post his chem results after that little exhibition! We used to torture flies and cockroaches with liquid nitrogen left over from our labs in the hallowed old halls of Le Conte Hall. We would pour it on the linoleum hallway floor and watch the dust bunnies freeze and pop as the soliton wave of N2 propagated... And if it found a roach hiding in a corner... well... us physics geeks were easily amused.