New Pool Build Los Angeles

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Now the hard part. Making sense of all these numbers.

My pool has had water for exactly 14 days. On the 3rd day, they came and did an Acid Bath for my Quartzscape finish. On the 6th day, they told me to raise PH with sodium carbonate before turning on the equipment. (Thank goodness for the PoolMath app.) The equipment has been running 24/7 since it was turned on, 8 days now. When can I reduce the run time?

They came to turn on my IntelliChem system (my plan is to us it just for acid). I know I should have just got the IntelliPh. (That is what I ordered and paid for, but they gave me the IntelliChem.) The Pool Guy said he needed to turn on the IntelliChlor in order to setup the IntelliChem and he left it running. All the lights are Green running at 100%, but the RED low salt light is on. He told me it's fine, and to wait two more weeks before adding Salt.

By the way, my water is pretty clear and my numbers have been relatively stable. I haven't had to add a lot of chemicals (except acid & bleach) to maintain my numbers.

These are my numbers as of 4:15 pm, today.

FC 2.5 (I will add bleach to bring it to 4.0 according to PoolMath)
CC 0.5
pH 7.9 (According to IntelliChem, but 7.5 per the drop test. Which one is more accurate?)
TA 80
CH 350
CYA 20 (I added stabilizer on Saturday, it has all dissolved as of today. I will add more stabilizer tomorrow.)

My concern is my Salt cell. Is there a way to turn it off? I don't want to risk damaging it, even though it looks like most of the plaster dust was dissolved during the 3 day acid bath.

Any advice, recommendations or guidance is very much appreciated.
 
With your CYA what was your target? If you have not reached that level yet wait another couple of days to add any more just to be on the safe side.

I don't know about the salt cell but have read of "dummy" cells when they are not in service aka cold times of the year (55 and under). I will look to see how in my list might know and get them to pop in to help you with this concern (VERY valid concern).

PH-I would trust your Taylor color test over the machine.

Now you get to play with your numbers. This will go deeper in the balancing of your water. We are going to work on the CSI. (WHAT???) This stands for: Calcite Saturation Index

Go to Pool Math (love it as well!) and plug in your numbers. Don't forget water temp. Look for the CSI section and see what it says. THEN play with the different numbers-Ph,TA, CH, etc. See what they do to the CSI and go from there. Feel free to ask questions for someone to look over it if you are not sure or just want to be on the safe side.

Kim:kim:
 
Tony,

With no salt in your pool and the Low Salt light on, your IC40 is not making any chlorine. You should look at ScreenLogic and see what it says under the "Chlorinator" tab... It should look like this...

dbtgallery.php


To shut off your SWCG, just adjust the Pool and Spa output to zero... I can't think of a single reason to run the cell at 100% without any salt in the pool.

Good plan to use the IntelliChem just for adding acid. I am not up on the IntelliChem operation, but I believe that you can just have it deliver acid on a time basis rather than using the pH probe..

Once you get your Saltwater up and running you will need to increase you CYA to 70 or 80.. this will make your IntelliChem probes useless anyway..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
kimkats said:
With your CYA what was your target? If you have not reached that level yet wait another couple of days to add any more just to be on the safe side.

I don't know about the salt cell but have read of "dummy" cells when they are not in service aka cold times of the year (55 and under). I will look to see how in my list might know and get them to pop in to help you with this concern (VERY valid concern).

PH-I would trust your Taylor color test over the machine.

Now you get to play with your numbers. This will go deeper in the balancing of your water. We are going to work on the CSI. (WHAT???) This stands for: Calcite Saturation Index

Go to Pool Math (love it as well!) and plug in your numbers. Don't forget water temp. Look for the CSI section and see what it says. THEN play with the different numbers-Ph,TA, CH, etc. See what they do to the CSI and go from there. Feel free to ask questions for someone to look over it if you are not sure or just want to be on the safe side.


Kim:kim:
Click to expand...

Hi Kim, thanks for the suggestions. Pool Math has my CSI at .25, and says it "looks good", but I know it can be better.

These are my numbers from this morning.

IMG_0497.jpg

I raised my TA this morning, and also increased my CH. I am slowly increasing my CYA, but my FC has been relatively stable, so I am not pushing it since we are going into cooler weather.
 
Jimrahbe said:
Tony,

With no salt in your pool and the Low Salt light on, your IC40 is not making any chlorine. You should look at ScreenLogic and see what it says under the "Chlorinator" tab... It should look like this...

dbtgallery.php


To shut off your SWCG, just adjust the Pool and Spa output to zero... I can't think of a single reason to run the cell at 100% without any salt in the pool.

Good plan to use the IntelliChem just for adding acid. I am not up on the IntelliChem operation, but I believe that you can just have it deliver acid on a time basis rather than using the pH probe..

Once you get your Saltwater up and running you will need to increase you CYA to 70 or 80.. this will make your IntelliChem probes useless anyway..

Thanks,

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

Because I am configured for IntelliChem, my Chlorinator page looks different.

2017-11-11_13-01-59.jpg

I spoke to my PB today, and he said to uncheck IntelliChem and IntelliChlor in the ScreenLogic Configuration and I should be okay. So, that is what I am going to do, until I can add salt in a couple of weeks.

Thank you for your assistance with this.
 
You're going to configure your IntelliChem to think that there is no IntelliChlor present. This way you are not using the ORP probe and you'll control the salt cell like everyone else does with the percentage based settings.

You may need to calibrate the pH probe. The pH side of the IntelliCHem is usually very reliable and accurate but you will still need to test frequently to make sure that things aren't getting out of whack.
 
I would be hesitant to raise your CH any higher and to not raise your TA at all. You will have evaporation and thus your fill water will most likely raise your CH (do you have test results of your fill water?) and your CSI is already positive with your current TA.

Be wary adjusting items that will be significantly affected by your fill water. As you will find yourself in a situation of managing high CH in the not too distant future.

Take care.
 
bdavis466 said:
You're going to configure your IntelliChem to think that there is no IntelliChlor present. This way you are not using the ORP probe and you'll control the salt cell like everyone else does with the percentage based settings.

You may need to calibrate the pH probe. The pH side of the IntelliCHem is usually very reliable and accurate but you will still need to test frequently to make sure that things aren't getting out of whack.
Click to expand...

Hi Brian,

For now I was able to turn off my IntelliChem. However, it was configured to control my IntelliChlor, so I will need to figure out how to "uncouple" them, when it's time to turn on my salt cell in a couple of weeks.
 
mknauss said:
I would be hesitant to raise your CH any higher and to not raise your TA at all. You will have evaporation and thus your fill water will most likely raise your CH (do you have test results of your fill water?) and your CSI is already positive with your current TA.

Be wary adjusting items that will be significantly affected by your fill water. As you will find yourself in a situation of managing high CH in the not too distant future.

Take care.
Click to expand...

Hi MK, I didn't see your post until after I had already raised my TA to 90 and attempted to increase my CH to 350. The CH of my fill water is only 100, and I forgot that I was raising the level of my pool because there was a previously resolved leak, where the IntelliChem tubing connects to my PVC, so my CH level did not budge. These are my numbers from this morning.

IMG_0500.jpg


Next Friday will be 21 days since plastering. I have been brushing daily (sometimes twice a day). I don't see any plaster dust (they did a 3-day plaster bath 3 days after start-up), so I never really saw any. I have family coming for the holiday, and I would like to turn on my heater for the Spa on Nov. 21st (25 days after plaster). Everywhere I've read says 28-30 days before turning on the heater.

Considering I am not seeing any plaster dust, do you think turning on the heater 3-5 days before the recommended wait time will cause any issues?
 
I would suggest checking with your pool builder.

I would think if your water is balanced (beware your CSI is high for a SWCG) you should be able to heat your water.

Take care.
 

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Tony411LA said:
Hi Brian,

For now I was able to turn off my IntelliChem. However, it was configured to control my IntelliChlor, so I will need to figure out how to "uncouple" them, when it's time to turn on my salt cell in a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

You will disable the ORP control of the IC chlorine production. By doing so you should still be able to get an ORP readings (which can be beneficial for quick spot checks of chlorine levels) but still be able to adjust the IC to suit your own testing results and maintain a higher CYA level (70-100).

You are fine to use your heater but not with the pH that high. Lower to 7.4-7.5.

Please do not add anymore calcium. It will rise quickly enough on its own as time passes.
 
bdavis466 said:
You will disable the ORP control of the IC chlorine production. By doing so you should still be able to get an ORP readings (which can be beneficial for quick spot checks of chlorine levels) but still be able to adjust the IC to suit your own testing results and maintain a higher CYA level (70-100).

You are fine to use your heater but not with the pH that high. Lower to 7.4-7.5.

Please do not add anymore calcium. It will rise quickly enough on its own as time passes.
Click to expand...

Hi Brian,

Thank you for the advice. I will leave the CH as is and disable the ORP control in the IntelliChem. I am already working on bringing my pH down to 7.4.

Is there a precedent of anyone falling asleep in their spa after Thanksgiving dinner? :lol:
 
These pictures totally made me laugh, in the middle of all the agonizing over a pool remodel that has been a complete nightmare, this was such a sweet picture to see! Molly and Cooper are sooooo cute! :paddle: We have 2 labs that love to swim, and this will (hopefully) be them very soon!
 

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