Just let our pool guy go, need a bit of help.

[Jason.L]

Alright so I stumbled on your site a while back and I have been doing a ton of reading and learning about my pool. I ordered the tf-pro salt with slam test, borates test strips, and the C-600 PH + salt meter. I got my test kit this past Monday (Dec 2nd) and came up with these numbers:

FC: 33
PH: 8.1
TA: 120
CH: 675
CYA: 80
Salt: 2400
Temp: 68 degs f
CSI: 0.68
Borates: 0 (thankfully, we have some cats that like to drink from the pool)

So a little bit of background. I have a salt water pool that that has been managed by a local company. They told me one day that it was losing salt, long story short we had a leak and it took time to get it fixed. The pool company started treating it like a normal chlorine pool until it was fixed. During that time our salt cell stopped working, maybe not enough salt, but it was also older and at the end of its life so who knows what killed it. Regardless the leaks have been fixed and I ordered a new cell but it has not been installed yet.

I got my test kit and the numbers above is what I got on Monday, just two days ago. I immediately removed the chlorine puck float.

Yesterday the pool guy came out and added some kind of dry powder and poured a liquid in the skimmer. I went to the store and got some acid and salt. According to this sites app it says I needed 4 bags and 9lbs to bring the salt up to 3200 ppm I added 3 bags last night.

This morning here are my numbers:

FC: 34
PH: 8.4
Salt: 2870

Now I should say that I am using the PH and salt meter to measure those two values. According to what I’ve read the super high FC can mess with the drop PH test.

So my questions are can I trust the PH meter even when the FC is so high.

How long is it going to take the FC to drop?

I know my alkalinity is too high so I did the test again this morning but it turned yellow instead of red? I must have done something wrong.

 

[Bperry]

Alright so I stumbled on your site a while back and I have been doing a ton of reading and learning about my pool. I ordered the tf-pro salt with slam test, borates test strips, and the C-600 PH + salt meter. I got my test kit this past Monday (Dec 2nd) and came up with these numbers:

FC: 33
PH: 8.1
TA: 120
CH: 675
CYA: 80
Salt: 2400
Temp: 68 degs f
CSI: 0.68
Borates: 0 (thankfully, we have some cats that like to drink from the pool)

So a little bit of background. I have a salt water pool that that has been managed by a local company. They told me one day that it was losing salt, long story short we had a leak and it took time to get it fixed. The pool company started treating it like a normal chlorine pool until it was fixed. During that time our salt cell stopped working, maybe not enough salt, but it was also older and at the end of its life so who knows what killed it. Regardless the leaks have been fixed and I ordered a new cell but it has not been installed yet.

I got my test kit and the numbers above is what I got on Monday, just two days ago. I immediately removed the chlorine puck float.

Yesterday the pool guy came out and added some kind of dry powder and poured a liquid in the skimmer. I went to the store and got some acid and salt. According to this sites app it says I needed 4 bags and 9lbs to bring the salt up to 3200 ppm I added 3 bags last night.

This morning here are my numbers:

FC: 34
PH: 8.4
Salt: 2870

Now I should say that I am using the PH and salt meter to measure those two values. According to what I’ve read the super high FC can mess with the drop PH test.

So my questions are can I trust the PH meter even when the FC is so high.

How long is it going to take the FC to drop?

I know my alkalinity is too high so I did the test again this morning but it turned yellow instead of red? I must have done something wrong.

Hey there,

First off, just want to confirm your FC=33 test. You used the smaller 10ml sample and it took 66 drops of R0871 to make the sample turn from pink to clear?

Second, the pH test in the Taylor kit is not accurate when the FC is above ~10ppm. If the pH test result came from the meter, then it doesn’t have that problem. But the pH meter requires careful calibration, cleaning and storage. So the question would be how confident are you in the calibration?

 

[wireform]

Also, be sure you used the 10ml line on the test vial for the salinity test.

 

[Jason.L]

Hey there,

First off, just want to confirm your FC=33 test. You used the smaller 10ml sample and it took 66 drops of R0871 to make the sample turn from pink to clear?

Second, the pH test in the Taylor kit is not accurate when the FC is above ~10ppm. If the pH test result came from the meter, then it doesn’t have that problem. But the pH meter requires careful calibration, cleaning and storage. So the question would be how confident are you in the calibration?

Monday December 2nd I came up with a FC of 33, counting over 60 drops. I am brand new to all of this so Monday was the first time I read about and learned how to do the tests. I didn’t know any numbers for my pool so I ran every test, including the comparator block test. I didn’t realize that that the FAS/DPD test measured chlorine similar to the block test.

The block chlorine test was off the charts being an orange peel color on Monday. Once I realized how high it was I removed the floating chlorine puck dispenser. Tuesday I did the block test coming up with the same results, Wednesday I didn’t test because I knew the pool guy was coming that day. Thursday (today) I did the block test still coming up with orange peel color, and then the FAS/DPD counting all 66 drops getting the values of 34 for FC. I am 100% sure that I’ve done the test correctly, as I’ve read, re-read, and read again just to make sure.

I probably should have given a bit more history. Three weeks ago the pool was cloudy and had been cloudy for around 2-3 weeks. I contacted the pool guy they came out and did their thing. Before he left, he recommended cleaning the filter, which they did later on that day. (Cartridge filter)

That was about three weeks ago. My pool has an attached hot tub that I’ve been in a couple of times since. The chlorine smell is strong, the steam coming up even burns my eyes. The pool has been cloudy on and off for around 3-4 months so I finally decided to take over and just do it myself.

So if I was to guess the pool guys came out when I complained about cloudy water and probably hit it with everything, shocking it and recommending a filter cleaning. That was around 3 weeks ago and I only removed the puck float only 3 days back. But that’s just a guess so take it for what it’s worth.

As far as the PH meter it was suppose to be ready to go without calibration. So no I haven’t calibrated it.

 

[Bperry]

Monday December 2nd I came up with a FC of 33, counting over 60 drops. I am brand new to all of this so Monday was the first time I read about and learned how to do the tests. I didn’t know any numbers for my pool so I ran every test, including the comparator block test. I didn’t realize that that the FAS/DPD test measured chlorine similar to the block test.

The block chlorine test was off the charts being an orange peel color on Monday. Once I realized how high it was I removed the floating chlorine puck dispenser. Tuesday I did the block test coming up with the same results, Wednesday I didn’t test because I knew the pool guy was coming that day. Thursday (today) I did the block test still coming up with orange peel color, and then the FAS/DPD counting all 66 drops getting the values of 34 for FC. I am 100% sure that I’ve done the test correctly, as I’ve read, re-read, and read again just to make sure.

I probably should have given a bit more history. Three weeks ago the pool was cloudy and had been cloudy for around 2-3 weeks. I contacted the pool guy they came out and did their thing. Before he left, he recommended cleaning the filter, which they did later on that day. (Cartridge filter)

That was about three weeks ago. My pool has an attached hot tub that I’ve been in a couple of times since. The chlorine smell is strong, the steam coming up even burns my eyes. The pool has been cloudy on and off for around 3-4 months so I finally decided to take over and just do it myself.

So if I was to guess the pool guys came out when I complained about cloudy water and probably hit it with everything, shocking it and recommending a filter cleaning. That was around 3 weeks ago and I only removed the puck float only 3 days back. But that’s just a guess so take it for what it’s worth.

As far as the PH meter it was suppose to be ready to go without calibration. So no I haven’t calibrated it.

OK, I just wanna make sure you didn’t use the 25 mL water sample for the FAS- DPD test. It can be a common mistake for new users and will make your free chlorine look high like that. If it really is 33ppm, then don’t add any more chlorine as it’s at the top end of the safe range for that CYA level. You can ignore the block chlorine test in the future.

The pH meters need to be calibrated, cleaned after use with special solution and stored in a special solution. They aren’t my favorite tool because of all that. But I wouldn’t trust the meter out of the box. Edit: looks like the ad says it’s factory calibrated. Maybe I have to alter my reply in that case.

 

[Jason.L]

OK, I just wanna make sure you didn’t use the 25 mL water sample for the FAS- DPD test. It can be a common mistake for new users and will make your free chlorine look high like that. If it really is 33ppm, then don’t add any more chlorine as it’s at the top end of the safe range for that CYA level. You can ignore the block chlorine test in the future.

The pH meters need to be calibrated, cleaned after use with special solution and stored in a special solution. They aren’t my favorite tool because of all that. But I wouldn’t trust the meter out of the box. Edit: looks like the ad says it’s factory calibrated. Maybe I have to alter my reply in that case.

Any idea how long it will take for the FC to fall? The next week here in Houston will be cloudy and rainy.

Also when should I replace the salt cell? It looks simple enough.

 

[sande005]

Did you run the second CL test for Combined Chlorine?
What is the current condition of the pool? Still cloudy? Still stinky? Still burns your eyes?

Your FC of 33 is just barely out of range of the SLAM level at your CYA amount. It may have already drifted down to that goal of 31, which is safe. In summer, it might take 4 or so days to drift down to the recommended routine level of 6-11. With less daylight, and lower temps, it may take twice as long.
The symptoms you note seem to indicate a very high level of CC. That's what stinks and makes eyes burn.

 

[Jason.L]

Did you run the second CL test for Combined Chlorine?
What is the current condition of the pool? Still cloudy? Still stinky? Still burns your eyes?

Your FC of 33 is just barely out of range of the SLAM level at your CYA amount. It may have already drifted down to that goal of 31, which is safe. In summer, it might take 4 or so days to drift down to the recommended routine level of 6-11. With less daylight, and lower temps, it may take twice as long.
The symptoms you note seem to indicate a very high level of CC. That's what stinks and makes eyes burn.

I added the extra drops for the cc and the color never changed, so 0

ETA: Apparently I replied with out reading your entire post.

Currently the pool looks good. It’s much better than what it was 3 weeks ago. Yesterday it was a bit cloudy but that was after the pool guy came and added stuff. The pumps run at night so this morning it looks much better.

 

[pjt]

How long is it going to take the FC to drop?

My FC demand is ~0.7 every day. It will take several weeks for your FC to drop to normal levels.