New Pool, Post 30 Days Out - Test Results

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Htown_Mark

Member
Nov 9, 2022
16
Houston, TX
Hi all, thanks for all the great info I've been reading. I've been using my new TF-Pro w/ Salt Kit and getting more comfortable with the testing. Once we hit the 30 day mark, we added 8 bags of salt and have been running that in the pool for about 3-4 days now. We're in Houston and the weather has been unseasonably warm and sunny the last week, but is now going to be cooler and cloudier the next 1-2 weeks. I wanted to post my latest results and ask a question or two:

FC - 7
PH - 7.5
TA - 90
CYA - 50
Salt - 3,300

My Questions:

1. Do I need to do anything about my FC and CYA levels? I know they aren't at target. I recently added 5lbs of Stabilizer per the Pool Math app suggestion about three days ago and it changed the CYA from 30 to 50.
2. I have my SWG set at 50% with my pump running 8 hours at 2,500 RPM. Is this reasonable for now? I went down the rabbit hole of that flow rate/SWG spreadsheet tool someone posted but didn't know what my 24 hour FC PPM loss was is.
3. What else aren't I seeing in those numbers?

Thanks in advance everyone!
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave:
1 - As it warms up you will need to increase the CYA to 70. Our TX sun is too intense. No need to do anything with the FC at this time.
2 - You can experiment with lowering the rpm down to about 1300-1400 if all you are doing is circulating water and making chlorine. As long as the SWG's flow switch is engaged, it's fine.
3 - Not much. Later you might see the TA slowly fall a bit more and that's fine. That should help slow the rate of pH increase, but you don't have to get aggressive with the TA just yet. You may find later the ideal TA for your pool is somewhere between 60-80, but time will tell.

Good job testing! :goodjob:
 
Hey all,

I posted about 2-3 weeks ago and got encouraging comments after my post-30 day new pool balance. Here are my current results as of today:

FC - 16.5
PH - 8.2
TA - 100
CH - 425
CYA - 70
Salt - 3200

For the past 2 weeks, I've had to add about 2 cups of Acid each week. The FC continues to rise, though today's number seems EXTRA high. It was 12.5 a week ago. Do I have any concerns with that? Is it because we haven't had a lot of summer sunlight yet and the SWG keeps producing more?

Just want to make sure I'm still on track. Thanks!!!

Mark
 
Turn off the SWCG until you get back to target. You should be testing FC and pH every day or two. Though be careful the pH test in not valid if your FC is above 10 ppm.
 
Mark,

Your SWCG just makes the amount of chlorine you tell it to make. It has no idea if your FC is too low or too high. It has no brain. You have to adjust the SWCG's out and/or your pump's run time to keep your FC where you want it.

What is your cell's % of output? How many hours a day do you run the pump?

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
I was running the pump for 7 hours at 2200 rpm. The SWG was set at 50%. I've since dialed it down to 0% and will test my FC and PH more regularly to see if that gets back in balance. Please let me know if that's the right approach. Thanks
 
Mark,

You have a 13K pool and an IC40 salt cell.

If the cell ran at 100% for 24 hours it would add 13 ppm of FC to your pool. So that is about .54 ppm per hour.

At 50% output that would be about .27 ppm per hour.

Seven hours at .27 equals 1.89 ppm.

Most pools use 2 to 4 ppm of FC in the summer.

This time of year I would think you'd burn about 1 or 2 ppm.

So... I don't see your 50% for seven hours to be that far off. But several cloudy days in a row will allow the FC to build up.

I like the idea of setting the output to zero for a couple of days to let the excess FC to burn off.

The very important part is to never, ever, let your FC drop below your minimum level. I suggest that you try to maintain your Target FC or higher. There is no downside to your FC being a little higher. There is a huge downside to being too low.

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Htown_Mark said:
3 days later, the FC is down to 11.5 So that's a pretty fast drop off.
Click to expand...
It's also a GREAT starting point to know your daily loss is 1.66 FC per day at this point in the season.

According to Jim's math above, 6 hours at 50% would be 1.89 FC a day and give you a little insurance FC.
 

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Hey guys, checking in with an update and a question or two. My current FC is now 10 (down from 16+ five days ago) so we're getting to the top of the target. My last CYA reading a week ago was 70. I will do a full suite of tests this weekend. If my CYA stays at that level then my FC target range is 5-10 based on what I'm reading. So I'm probably close.

Once my FC is in the 8-10 range, I plan to tackle the PH which is still showing as a high 8+ at the moment. Going by what Marty said above, I didn't prioritize that until my FC got back in line. So this weekend I plan to:

- Reenable my SWG and keep it at 50% with the pump running for 6 hours. I will keep a better eye on my FC and PH
- Tackle my PH levels.

Sound like a reasonable approach? I do feel much 'smarter' (for a newbie) about the puts and takes of this. I'm starting to get the hang of it -- thanks to all your help!!

Mark
 
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There's a SWG calculator in the Pool Math app. Go to "Effects of Adding" --> "Chemical Additions" --> "SWG".

What's the minimum RPM that satisfies your SWG flow switch?
 
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