New guy, trying to balance

[quantumcosmic]

Hello
Just joined today and was recommended to post my chems in this forum.

Anyway, I had my pool installed/first filled about 1 year ago (Oct-Nov '22 for sure). Just after it was installed we moved cross country (Dec '22) for work and then just came back here in Aug. As you can imagine nothing was done to the pool for about 8-10 months. Luckily for us, nothing happened to the pool, and the water was as clear as day 1. Of course, my chems are all over the place so I'm trying to bring it back in line. The pool itself is 12,000gal, pebble, in-ground cleaning, salt water, and heat pump. My current (09/22/2023) chem levels per Leslie's are: FC-0.06ppm, TC-0.07ppm, pH-8.2, TA-129ppm, Calcium Hardness-26ppm, CYA-54ppm, Phosphates-621ppb, Salt-3496ppm. I just did the first filter cleaning ever 2 weeks ago and there was a ton of plant matter in the filter and of course the sediment on the bottom. I just took the salt cell out today to clean it but it is very clean, with no buildup of any kind. I keep the pool @ 85*F with the heat pump if it matters. My current schedule is running the vs pump @ 3000rpm from 8 pm to 12 am, and then it drops down to 2000rpm until 6 am when it shuts off. There is also a mechanical timer that I guess is for the salt cell. But I took the tabs off of it because I didn't understand why I needed it—anyway, just looking for some info from a larger knowledge pool than just Leslie's. Any help would be awesome.

I just found the welcome kit from the builder and used the Taylor 7way test strips they provided. Chems as of now seem to be:
FC-0-1
TC-0.5
pH-6.8-7.2
TA-80-120
TH-200
CYA-40-70

I'll also add that I added some 30% muriatic per Leslie's test.

edit: a word

 

[Bperry]

Hello
Just joined today and was recommended to post my chems in this forum.

Anyway, I had my pool installed/first filled about 1 year ago (Oct-Nov '22 for sure). Just after it was installed we moved cross country (Dec '22) for work and then just came back here in Aug. As you can imagine nothing was done to the pool for about 8-10 months. Luckily for us, nothing happened to the pool, and the water was as clear as day 1. Of course, my chems are all over the place so I'm trying to bring it back in line. The pool itself is 12,000gal, pebble, in-ground cleaning, salt water, and heat pump. My current (09/22/2023) chem levels per Leslie's are: FC-0.06ppm, TC-0.07ppm, pH-8.2, TA-129ppm, Calcium Hardness-26ppm, CYA-54ppm, Phosphates-621ppb, Salt-3496ppm. I just did the first filter cleaning ever 2 weeks ago and there was a ton of plant matter in the filter and of course the sediment on the bottom. I just took the salt cell out today to clean it but it is very clean, with no buildup of any kind. I keep the pool @ 85*F with the heat pump if it matters. My current schedule is running the vs pump @ 3000rpm from 8 pm to 12 am, and then it drops down to 2000rpm until 6 am when it shuts off. There is also a mechanical timer that I guess is for the salt cell. But I took the tabs off of it because I didn't understand why I needed it—anyway, just looking for some info from a larger knowledge pool than just Leslie's. Any help would be awesome.

I just found the welcome kit from the builder and used the Taylor 7way test strips they provided. Chems as of now seem to be:
FC-0-1
TC-0.5
pH-6.8-7.2
TA-80-120
TH-200
CYA-40-70

I'll also add that I added some 30% muriatic per Leslie's test.

edit: a word

Welcome! Get one of the two Taylor test kits recommended here and post results from those.

The strips and Leslie’s will lead you down a bad path so don’t rely on anything they tell you. Take a look through some of the threads on TFP for what happened to people when they did rely on them.

While waiting on a kit, you can safely add ~5ppm of liquid chlorine to the water each day. If the strips are even remotely close (probably not) you have no sanitation in the water which can lead to bad stuff.

 

[quantumcosmic]

Welcome! Get one of the two Taylor test kits recommended here and post results from those.

The strips and Leslie’s will lead you down a bad path so don’t rely on anything they tell you. Take a look through some of the threads on TFP for what happened to people when they did rely on them.

While waiting on a kit, you can safely add ~5ppm of liquid chlorine to the water each day. If the strips are even remotely close (probably not) you have no sanitation in the water which can lead to bad stuff.

Wow there's a lot to learn. I noticed there are test kits for salt pools specifically (TF-100/TF-pro), I assume I should use one of those? Also, how can I target 5ppm/day? Should I through some chlorine tabs in the floater or add liquid?

 

[mknauss]

Also, how can I target 5ppm/day? Should I through some chlorine tabs in the floater or add liquid?

Set your SWCG to create 5 ppm FC per day. Please show what IntelliChlor model you have in your signature.

You can dramatically lower the rpm of your pump if you like.

 

[quantumcosmic]

Set your SWCG to create 5 ppm FC per day. Please show what IntelliChlor model you have in your signature.

You can dramatically lower the rpm of your pump if you like.

I just updated it in the sidebar but I will update in signature. I have an intellichlor ic-40. On its face it just has 2-4-6-8-10% so not sure how to adjust for 5ppm? What pump speeds would you recommend with the SWCG & heat pump? I already need to update the schedule to run high speed last so this info would be helpful to do at the same time.

 

[mknauss]

5ppm FC --- 10 hours pump run, you will need to set the SWCG at 90% generation.

Do you have automation?

You would need to try rpm settings for the SWCG and the heat pump. With automation you can set a higher rpm when the system calls for heat.

 

[quantumcosmic]

5ppm FC --- 10 hours pump run, you will need to set the SWCG at 90% generation.

Do you have automation?

You would need to try rpm settings for the SWCG and the heat pump. With automation you can set a higher rpm when the system calls for heat.

How can I set to 90% if my SWCG only goes in 2% increments from 2-10%. I assume this means 20%-100% generation.

I do not have automation of any kind. The pump has its schedule that I programmed, the heat pump kicks on when the water deviates from the set temp of 85*F with the pump running. Not sure what the SWCG does other than I can see the lights showing proper function while the pump is running.

Supposedly the heat pump can go as low as 30gpm so with the SuperFlo VST it looks like I can drop my rpm to about 1500rpm. I want the second part of the schedule to be pretty high for the inground cleaning system.

 

[mknauss]

Add the IFCS to your signature. Your pump is small for that system.

You would use the MORE button on the SWCG.

 

[quantumcosmic]

Add the IFCS to your signature. Your pump is small for that system.

You would use the MORE button on the SWCG.

You would know better than I but I haven't had any issues with the pump popping the cleaning heads up (that I know of) or anything. Seems to be working fine to the best of my knowledge, but I wouldn't even know what to look for. Also, it is really close to everything I think if that makes a difference. I will attach an image in a moment.

So I should run my system for the next 10hrs with MORE selected on the SWCG? I will do that in a few when I update my schedule.

 

[mknauss]

Use the MORE button to raise the SWCG generation. You can go to 80 or 100%. That is as fine of a setting as you can get without automation.

A full size VS pump would have run at a lower rpm and thus consume less electricity.

 

[quantumcosmic]

Use the MORE button to raise the SWCG generation. You can go to 80 or 100%. That is as fine of a setting as you can get without automation.

A full size VS pump would have run at a lower rpm and thus consume less electricity.

I'm not too concerned with electricity due to my solar system but I understand.

So I'm going to reprogram the pump to run at 1500rpm for 8 hours and then 2000-2500rpm for 2 hours for cleaning. Now, I will have to manually set the SWCG to 100% when the system starts, correct? Also, I think in my og post I said it was installed with a mech timer. I have found out that is for the salt cell itself but I see back and forth on the forum about using it or not. Is there consensus among you pros using it yea or nay?

 

[mknauss]

You will have to raise the SWCG generation to 100% once the system starts. It will hold that setting until you change it.

Without automation you need a timer for the SWCG. It must NOT be powered on when the pump is not running. It can explode. So set the timer so that the SWCG comes on 15 minutes after the pump is to start and turns off 15 minutes before the pump turns off for the day.

 

[quantumcosmic]

You will have to raise the SWCG generation to 100% once the system starts. It will hold that setting until you change it.

Without automation you need a timer for the SWCG. It must NOT be powered on when the pump is not running. It can explode. So set the timer so that the SWCG comes on 15 minutes after the pump is to start and turns off 15 minutes before the pump turns off for the day.

So I will put the tabs back on the mech timer and reset it. There is a switch on the timer for manual mode on or off, what would I want to use?

I doubt it but it's worth asking: is there a cheap automation solution?

Also I read here not to worry about phosphates which the pool store always freaks out about my ppb. I already bought NoPhos, should I use it or no?

Thanks a ton for your help. Already so glad I joined, I had a feeling the pool store was up to something always trying to sell me something.

 

[mknauss]

I am not real up on timers. Tell us what timer you have and someone can give advice.

Cheap automation. Depends on how IT knowledgeable you are. There are members that have created their own. Otherwise, a basic Intellicenter would be your best bet. It would have been cheaper had you done it at initial install as the SWCG power center would have been included.

You do not need to concern yourself with phosphates. And in your current situation (no FC, likely algae), it would make a mess.

 

[quantumcosmic]

I am not real up on timers. Tell us what timer you have and someone can give advice.

Cheap automation. Depends on how IT knowledgeable you are. There are members that have created their own. Otherwise, a basic Intellicenter would be your best bet. It would have been cheaper had you done it at initial install as the SWCG power center would have been included.

You do not need to concern yourself with phosphates. And in your current situation (no FC, likely algae), it would make a mess.

The timer is an Intermatic T40004RT3 / T104M which I will add to my signature. If anyone else sees this I would be grateful for help.

I will search around for creating my own, any info would be helpful. I know it would have been cheaper during install but hindsight 20/20 etc.

I have no algae and have never had algae, even when we were out of town. I have a camera in my yard that I could easily see algae with. I just assume we got lucky.

 

[mknauss]

With no FC. You very likely have algae. Algae is very present way before you can see it. I suspect when you get a proper test kit, you will have significant FC loss overnight. Which only occurs with algae.

 

[quantumcosmic]

With no FC. You very likely have algae. Algae is very present way before you can see it. I suspect when you get a proper test kit, you will have significant FC loss overnight. Which only occurs with algae.

Good to know. I will get back here with updates once I get the test kit. Thanks for your time.

If anyone else cares to chime in it would be appreciated.

 

[Bperry]

Good to know. I will get back here with updates once I get the test kit. Thanks for your time.

If anyone else cares to chime in it would be appreciated.

Marty has you covered. The pool school articles are super helpful and there’s some videos explaining how and why TFP does things a bit differently than anywhere else. It’s has served me well for the past few years that I’ve been following along.