Melnic's Pool Startup

[Melnic]

TF-100 came in today. I already had a salt test kit (drop type).
PH 7.2
FC 9.5
CC 0
CH 200
TA 70
CYA 40
Salt 2400

Temp 58 (will warm up more over weekend with warm weather coming in the 70-80F)

As noted, I'm using SWG. I think I have plaster pool, not sure difference between plaster and concrete
Water is warm enough for the SWG to work again, It was set to 50% and finally kicked on as the water warmed up to 55F today
Pool opener company had thrown in a total of 6 pucks into the skimmers, I pulled those out yesterday and put into a floater.

What do I tackle first?

 

[Jimrahbe]

Mel,

The only thing that I find odd is that your salt level is at 2400, but you say your SWCG is working... The IC40 should shut off if the salt is below 2600 and gives warning lights if below 2800...

I suspect the FC is from the tablets and not the salt cell...

Jim R.

 

[Melnic]

You know, you have something there. I was thinking since it was showing the setpoint and the salt level on my iphone it was running. I did not bother to look at the cell.
The Salt cell is reporting 2300 in the Screenlogic and the RED LOW LED is lit on the IC40 unit.

Yes, the tablets had been in the skimmers for over a week now. I have no idea what they did to the FC during closing. I can tell you this, the pool filled up to the bottom of the skimmers from rain water last month.

Current supplies left over from last year:
3 40 lb bags of pool salt
7 oz of Bioguard Maintain Sodium Carbonate (previous owner left it so its likely 2+years old)
2 gal Muriatic Acid

This is what I was thinkingump the
3 40lb bags of salt tonight (should I be bumping pump Speed up to 2400 overnight to get more water moving?)
Go get some Sodium Carbonate and add 25oz by weight (Pool math says 33oz) and test again tomorrow?
Go get some CYA and add 50 oz by weight (Pool math says 67oz to get to 60) and test again When?


I started thinking about the FC level. Should it be high right now since we just opened the pool? Were the pool guys trying to SLAM the water?
I could do the overnight Chlorine loss test

 

[Jimrahbe]

Mel,

I would add the three bags of salt and do nothing else... add the salt and sweep it around with your brush for a few minutes to get it to dissolve. Let the pump run overnight and then see what the cell does tomorrow...

Do you know the actual salt level in the pool or are you going by the IC40/ScreenLogic???

Why are you wanting to add anything else???

Jim R.

 

[Melnic]

I used both a salt strip as well as the drop kit I have. They all agree with 2300-2400ppm

I don't want to boost the PH and add CYA?

One thing, I don't think we will be using pool until the middle/end of may so I'm 2 months away from usage. I opened early cause a friend of mine suggested I open early and close late to keep pool water quality good. PLus, I knew I had some work to do on the pool and wanted time to deal with problems.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Mel,

If your pH is in the 7's you are good.. pH will go up by itself, soon enough...

You can add CYA if you want, but I like working on one issue at a time... So since the CYA is not a major issue, I would wait until you have the salt system up and running..

If your actual salt level is 2400 then adding the three bags you have now will get you to about 3000. I try to keep the actual salt level as low as possible and yet still make the cell happy.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[Melnic]

Added 3 bags of salt yesterday evening. (Friday 4/13)
Took the 6 pucks have been in a floater.
Measured Salt at 3000ppm this morning, put in 1 more bag this morning.
Test results tonight (taken after dark)
FC 8.0
pH 7.2
TA 50
CH 200
CYA 30
Salt 3200 (taylor K1766)
CSI -1.13
Temp 64F

I pulled the puck floater tonight and will to a chlorine overnight test

CYA and CH are low. Which should I address first?

 

[Melnic]

I'm tackling the CYA next.
poolmath says 6lbs of CYA. I purchased 4lbs.

I put 2lbs into 2 socks in 2 seperate skimmers. When they dissolve, I"ll wait a day, test and put some more.
Pump running 24/7 now.

 

[Melnic]

Latest test results:
FC 6.0
PH 7.2
TA 70
CH 250
CYA 55
Salt 3000
CSI -0.95
Temp 58F

Pucks PB had originally put in at opening in the floater are about 60% depleted.
Salt Cell has been in and out of cold temp shut down here. I have hat it set to 0 for past week.
Water is clear.
CYA had come up some with the 4lbs of CYA but I'm not going to touch it again until the pucks deplete.

I"m expecting to dump some water when the rain hits this spring. I had to dump 1.5inches off a week or so ago.

 

[Melnic]

Added about 2lbs of CYA last Thursday

4/30/18 results w/ Pool Math Targets
FC 8.0 (Target 3.0-9.0)
CC 0.0 (Target 0.0)
PH 7.3 (Target 7.2-7.8)
TA 80 (Target 60-80)
CH 225 (Target 350-450)
CYA 60 (Target 70-80)
Salt 3200 (Target 3000-3600)
Temp 57F
Calculated CSI -0.95

DE last backwashed 18 days ago and pressure is good.
I still need to vacuum the residual DE on the floor from the DE screen leak but will wait one more week to see if the CYA moves up anymore.
Water is crystal clear. The PB pucks in the floater are almost gone. about 1 puck worth of mass it looks like.

Moved the SWG from 40% @ 12 hours a day pump run time/1200rpm to 20% @ 12 hours a day run time/1200rpm

Next week I think I"ll be ready to increase the CH.