My first weekend away went pretty well! :)

[MichaelT20]

Hi all,

Just a quick story, not sure if theres a proper place to post this kinda stuff. Sorry if this isn't it!

This labor day weekend was my first weekend away from my pool since it opened in June. I've been a little manic testing about twice a day (morning and night) to keep everything in line (mostly just monitoring PH/FC and checking the other stuff weekly). For the most part things have been solid. I was, during the hotter summer days with lots of pool use, keeping my SWG at 75% on average. We'd have a dozen (or more) kids in the pool every couple days, and lots of sun. Even with that high setting, I'd see my FC drop towards 4ish, and would let the SWG recover it a little, I aim for 5-6 with my CYA at 60 (I think. Have I mentioned i hate that CYA test?).

I guess I didn't realize what a difference it would make as september hit. Less people swimming and the angle of the sun has my pool more in the shade than not. I left my SWG at 60% on friday with an FC around 5-6 (which is where its been hovering the whole week). My filter runs from 8am->10pm. Poured in a little extra MA since my spillover/newplaster tend to see my PH raise by about 0.2 / day.

Came home today, tested the water first thing. Wow thats MUCH darker pink than I've seen before.....FC's at 10. Tested again, it was 12. So I shut off the SWG (set to 0%) and will let it lower down for a day or 2. I guess its better than coming home to a green pool huh? I know its safe to swim in, but its gonna rain today anyway, so unlikely it'll be used.

I just haven't quite been able to nail the SWG % setting - but I guess thats part of being a new pool owner, figuring it all out.

If my poolMath is correct, my pool BARELY had any FC loss, as 60% at 14 hours is 2.4fc/day for me - and i saw a gain of around 6. So in those 3 days I only lost 1.5ppm of the 7.5 generated.

Anyway, no real question here, just thought I'd share my first experience away from my 'baby' (as my wife calls it).

 

[Texas Splash]

I just haven't quite been able to nail the SWG % setting - but I guess thats part of being a new pool owner, figuring it all out.

Exactly! Being in control of your chemistry is a great thing. You'll get it.

 

[mgtfp]

Don't worry about FC being too high, you are still only half way to SLAM level, perfectly safe to swim in.

Nothing wrong with turning the SWG off for a while to let FC come down. I personally prefer to avoid playing on/off yo-yos, and in situations like that just dial the SWG down to where I think FC should be stable, and then take it eventually down a notch from there to let FC slowly drift down. Like that I am not risking any sharp FC drops, and everything feels more stable and in equilibrium, which helps to keep my testing-OCD in check.

As long as FC is somewhere between target and SLAM, I prefer to do small adjustments, rather than jumping between extremes.

Once you turn your heater back on (?) and those kids are back in the pool, your chlorine demand might quickly increase again.

 

[gingrbredman]

I just haven't quite been able to nail the SWG % setting - but I guess thats part of being a new pool owner, figuring it all out.

I think finding the right percentage is actually harder than the CYA test! Especially in the beginning, and the fact you do have to tweak it during the year between opening, hot and sunny, and now. The best news is the chlorine is a bit "high" but as mentioned, perfectly safe to swim, and as you mentioned, better than a green pool!

Love seeing stories like this. Great control of the chemistry, testing, and the biggest problem is trying to tweak the chlorine levels perfect. Way better than the other way around!

 

[MichaelT20]

Thank you both . Good advice on the slow drop vs the shut off. I’ll try that next time .

Aiming to have one last party this weekend before closing in October so — definitely gonna keep it on the high end to buffer in advance

 

[wireform]

Mike
You're doing great. Just glanced at your poolmath and your latest log has the csi a bit too much negative. There's no reason to bring the PH that low which will make the csi dip more negative.

 

[MichaelT20]

Mike
You're doing great. Just glanced at your poolmath and your latest log has the csi a bit too much negative. There's no reason to bring the PH that low which will make the csi dip more negative.

Thanks yea I was a little heavy handed with the acid yesterday. But my ph goes up pretty quickly.

In addition - I backwashed yesterday and checked my salt cell - there was a small amount of calcium buildup on it. I was gonna make a post about it. Will see what it looks like in a couple more weeks