New Gunite Pool, chlorine tab placement and heater bypass

[Newdude]

If you put CYA in the water, it’s in the water. I’ve read the powdered stuff is better, but I have no idea why

The liquid stuff clumps at the bottom and no matter how hard you shake it is nearly impossible to measure less than the full gallon. On the plus side with a new bottle it usually means you went under with the add and not over. If the jug was half full to start it may be 80% of the full jugs CYA and then you may overshoot.

 

[SecoSteve]

Mike, I have gone through the same process as you a couple months ago. I found TFP during our build and then, once startup happened, there was the uncertainty of which to follow, pool company or TFP. They were close, but there was some inconsistencies. Mostly, the FC from the pool company was much too low.

I found once the startup occurred, the pool company moved on. TFP will still be here from now on. You got this, and in no time you might even consider yourself an expert. Just keep reading this site and don't rely on the pool store advice.

By the way, is this an A&S pool? Looks like almost the same equipment as mine.

 

[Newdude]

You got this, and in no time you might even consider yourself an expert.

+2. One +1 for each point made. It takes almost no time to be *your* pools pro. A couple of weeks for most.

 

[JerseyMike37]

If you put CYA in the water, it’s in the water. I’ve read the powdered stuff is better, but I have no idea why.

If it helps any, a quart of 12.5% liquid chlorine increases the FC in my pool about 1ppm. So I used about a 1/2 gallon every day back before I switched to a SWCG. So it depends on what you mean by “a lot of sodium hypochlorite” to know if it’s enough. Your pool is a little smaller so I’d guess somewhere around a quart of 10% might be close every day.

The CYA test needs a few days to show up on the test so wait until you get the good test kit and retest it. It may show up as 30ppm if you added 30ppm and your pool volume estimate is correct.

Thanks, pool store test (I know it is heresy but that is the only way to double check until Friday when I get the better kit) shows CYA of 32 so I feel better about it but also shows FC of 0.12 so not so happy about that.

I did add a 1/2 gallon of 12.5% last night based on PoolMath calc for 3ppm...I think I will try adding daily to see where things go

 

[JerseyMike37]

Thanks for all the help everyone who responded....I pretty much got everything within the perfect range that I was going for yesterday and today

I landed in the following ranges for the two days
FC: 2-3
CC: 2-3
pH: 7.4
TA: 80
CH: 150-200
CYA: 45ppm

very happy with these results, pool is crystal clear and I'm right at the NPT recommended ranges....plan to shift over to the full TFP ranges (slight higher pH, higher hardness and double the FC) in the next week or so and look forward to using the recommended test kit that should be here tomorrow

this website and forum have been an immense help

 

[Bperry]

Thanks for all the help everyone who responded....I pretty much got everything within the perfect range that I was going for yesterday and today

I landed in the following ranges for the two days
FC: 2-3
CC: 2-3
pH: 7.4
TA: 80
CH: 150-200
CYA: 45ppm

very happy with these results, pool is crystal clear and I'm right at the NPT recommended ranges....plan to shift over to the full TFP ranges (slight higher pH, higher hardness and double the FC) in the next week or so and look forward to using the recommended test kit that should be here tomorrow

this website and forum have been an immense help

You might want to double check those numbers. 2ppm of CC is bad news. Guessing its the TC.

 

[JerseyMike37]

You might want to double check those numbers. 2ppm of CC is bad news. Guessing its the TC.

whoops, you are right, TC, CC is close to 0

 

[Bperry]

whoops, you are right, TC, CC is close to 0

Makes more sense. Once you use your kit, you don’t care about TC anymore since it’s just a math equation of FC+CC=TC. So just test FC and CC.