New Homeowner - CLEAN POOL [back to shocking.]

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Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 3.7]

cya started around 20 and as of yesterday in full sun the cya test confirmed that.

I don't currently have a way to increase cya unless I add my trichlor tablets which also contain copper, and I won't have an opportunity to get cyanuric acid until this weekend.

I can shoot for a shock level of 12 and go back to hourly testing to make sure i don't drop below shock level - but is the shock process really going to be affected that much if fc drops 2 or 3 ppm below shock level?

I may be misunderstanding something but isn't fc doing its job whether it's at 8 or 11, or is it the cya keeping it from working/slowing it down too much if I'm not at shock level for my cya?

As for the previous owners maintenance methods - I saw no indication of baqua chemicals, just cal hypo, dichlor, and trichlor.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 3.7]

Test 20
fc: 7.5
cc: 2
cya: just above the 20 line.

Screw it. I'm going to add a trichlor puck to the skimmer basket to help maintain fc. It's got copper in it, but at this point I'm more concerned with keeping fc at proper shock level and I just don't have the time to test every hour to make sure I don't drop below it.

I think I'll also use an fc of 12 as my starting point. That'll give me a bit of a buffer in terms of dropping fc as the day goes on between tests.

So, here's what I'm going to add for the moment.

64oz of 12.5% bleach. This should get my FC level up to 10.3 from 7.5. I will also add two trichlor pucks to the skimmer basket which over time will increase fc by 3.6. Between now and sundown that should be enough of a buffer (shock level of 11, going to start at 10.3 and slowly build up to 13.9) to make sure that I stay at or above my shock level until the next time I'm able to test.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

I suppose I should also give an update on the clarity of the water. I won't post a picture because it's not clear enough to show in the pictures, but today I can see the deep end drain while standing at the far end of the shallow end. Yesterday I could see the pool drain, but only if I stood directly across from it on the end of the deep end.

I'm definitely making progress, and now that I'm going to make sure I never drop below my shock fc level I think I should be well on my way to having a nice clear pool... Just in time to swim for a couple of weeks, weather permitting, before I have to close around labor day.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

Test 21
fc: 10
cc: 1.5

I just don't understand why I can't keep my stupid fc levels up. I was supposed to add 64oz of 12.5% to get fc from 7.5 to 10.3 ppm, and I ended up putting in about 80oz and two trichlor pucks in the skimmer - and that was 3 hours ago. I would have expected 11 fc from the chlorine alone, not including the pucks in the skimmer. I'm clear enough to see bottom. Not at all crystal clear, but what is eating up so much of my fc? I'm going to raise shock level to 15 for a few tests to be ABSOLUTELY sure that I've got enough fc in there to do its job.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

It is not so much about raising the FC even higher ... just keep it close to shock level as consistently as you can. Going well above shock level is how people fade their liners.

Since your CC have not fallen, the FC is clearly working on something. This process can take well over a week depending on what is in the pool. Just keep at it, you are doing a great job staying on top of it.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

I just found out I may be doing my tests too slowly, resulting in false high readings. I will try to do my next test adding 1 drop per second or slightly faster as long as I can count the drops accurately.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

Alright. Now I'm livid. Based on the thread I posted over in the testing forum, it turns out that I've been doing my tests WAY too slowly. I had been adding drops at about a rate of 1 every 5 seconds, resulting in extremely high false readings. I just ran the tests properly, adding drops as quickly as I could while swirling w/out spilling and still being able to count properly. 3 times. And all three times the tests played out as:

fc: 3
cc: 8

Which seems much more in line with the SLOWNESS that I'm seeing in clearing this nearly god forsaken pool.

Pool calc says I need 183oz of 12.5%, or 1 gallon 1 quart 3 cups, to get back up to 11. Since it's easier I'm just going to do 1 gallon and 2 quarts and continue testing properly. And now, 4 days in, I should probably add more of the powder and drop reagent to make sure I don't run out after 3 days of wildly wasteful and inaccurate testing.

UGH.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

Glad you got your test procedure worked out!

Your CC level seems really high for the FC level (and the FC level you are maintaining)...are you sure your doing the CC test correctly? CC of 8 means you had to put in 16 drops of R-0871 after putting 5 drops of R-0003.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

linen said:
are you sure your doing the CC test correctly?
Click to expand...
Yes, I added 5 drops of the second liquid reagent, then added 16 drops of the first liquid reagent. I ran the same test three times (rinsed and refilled the cylinder each time) and got the same results each time.

My kit is downstairs. I can go grab it to get the reagent numbers, but I assure you that I am adding the proper ones - I just don't know the names offhand yet.

I run the tests like this now.

1) Rinse and fill with pool water to the 10ml mark on the chlorine only cylinder.
2) Add nice big scoop of powder.
3) Swirl until hot pink, maybe 10-15 seconds or so.
4) Begin adding drops from the big reagent bottle - i do this as quickly as I can while maintaining a spill free swirl and while still being able to count drops accurately. Ends up being about 2-3 drops per second.
5) When color changes to clear, swirl for 5 more seconds maybe add one more drop. If the color still hasn't changed the last drop isn't counted.
6) Quickly add 5 drops of the other reagent, keep swirling.
7) Repeat step 4.

I did the test 3 times before I posted those last results, got the same exact results each time. Before I started doing the tests correctly I would swirl for 5-10 seconds between each drop (except for the reagent in step 6 - those always went in quickly). I have been doing the test incorrectly for 3 full days, so I'm betting that I have never actually been at a proper shock level which explains the slow clearing process. I'll test again in about an hour, which is after the last test posted and after adding another gallon and 2 quarts of 12.5%. Hopefully now that I'm testing properly I'll start to see some real cleaning action and some better test results.
 

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Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

For all intents and purposes, it was my house as of July 11th. I was at the property from the 11th through the 14th and presumably they had maintained it right up until the 10th but I don't know that, went back to San Diego to tie up all remaining affairs, and didn't finally move back until July 29th.

When I was here in the middle of July, the pool was awesome. The owner left me no instructions as to how to maintain the thing, and since the pool at my house in San Diego didn't have the pump/filter on all the time, I figured that would be okay here. We also never managed the pool on our own at the old house - we had a pool service that came once a week, an SWG, and they'd come out if we called them for issues, so I had no idea what really went into maintaining a pool.

My cousin lives a couple of miles away and was watching it for me while I was away. I gave no instructions to him, because I had none, but he's got a spa so he thought he was doing right by me. He dropped a puck in the skimmer every now and again - but without any kind of testing beforehand. I also told him to turn off the pump unless they were there - I don't know what I was thinking.

When I arrived on the 29th, the pool was cloudy but not green but we didn't have time to really deal with it, and it was hot as hades, so we swam anyway. A couple of days later the pool was green, and thus began my escapades of shocking, detailed pretty well from the start of this thread.

How does one test for ammonia? And, how does one abate it once it's confirmed?
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

RockstarNE said:
How does one test for ammonia? And, how does one abate it once it's confirmed?
Click to expand...
You can usually get ammonia test kits at pet stores that sell fish. Good news is Chlorine (lots of it) is the way to deal with ammonia if you have it. If you find you have ammonia, then going to the mustard algae level might help speed things up. Here is a "deep end" discussion on getting rid of ammonia: http://www.troublefreepool.com/opening-a-pool-to-high-chlorine-demand-ammonia-t6711.html
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

Test 23
fc: 10
cc: 2

20 drops of R-871 to get the fc, 4 to get the cc. I'll raise fc up to mustard algae levels starting now.

3 quarts of 12.5% per the pool calc. Into the pool it goes!
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

If you have not seen it yet, read the Extended Test instructions sticky in the Testing forum. It has more details about how to do all the years.

Really sorry you did not see this sooner and wasted all that time.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

jblizzle said:
If you have not seen it yet, read the Extended Test instructions sticky in the Testing forum.
Click to expand...
I did that before I started testing, and again today before I posted my question in the Testing forum. Turns out that I was too much idiot even for the idiot proof instructions. Hopefully now I'll be good to go, and since it's nice and dark out, my chlorine will have several hours to go to work.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 3.7]

at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I'm learning something useful and that my mistake its only going to cost me 20-30 bucks in liquid chlorine. and I'm not being swindled by a pool store anymore, so...

in other news, is there a place in tapatalk to set up a device specific signature or do you type that every time?
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

It is an automatic signature.

Depending on how much of the FAS-DPD reagents you have used ... make sure you order more before you run out. Would hate for you to loose headway.

My responses used to be a lot shorter before I started using Swype again.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short ;)
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

Test 24
fc: 11
cc: 1.5

this is Continuing to get really frustrating. could I really have used 3-4 ppm chlorine in an hour while cc went down half a ppm?

I'm going to add chlorine to get back up to 14 and then I'm done for the night.
 
Re: New Homeowner - Green Pool [shock process: day 4]

Dont feel bad. I made the same mistakes with FAS-DPD. Too slow is not good and gives false high reading.
 

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