New SWG: do I need to add CYA before covering pool for the winter?

[funrunner]

New to using a SWG. I over salted my pool and finally got around to draining and refilling. Now my latest pool chem values are:
FC: 6.5
CC: ~.2 (guess since it's less than 0.5)
pH: 7.6
TA: 90
CH 250
CYA ~20 (guess since it's below <30 and i was at 40 before draining)
Salt: 3400
Temp: 75

The advice that I read at TFP say's I should add CYA to get it to 70. Do I really need to do this given I run my pump continuously at low speed (1000 rpm) while the pool is uncovered and I am planning to turn it completely off during the winter when I cover it with a vinyl cover?

Also my pH rises very fast. Went from 7.3 to 7.6 in 1 day. I'm trying to get the water balanced before covering. Should I aim to lower TA and add CYA? What's the advice you would give me living in Phoenix, AZ given my settings?

 

[Oly]

What will be your expected water temps in winter? You may want to rethink closing your pool and not running your pump over the winter.

 

[funrunner]

I didn't take the temperature last winter, but I can't image the water breaking below 60. Last winter I covered it up around Christmas and had the pump running for a few hours once a week and I had no issues. However back then I had CYA 90-100.

My question is, do I really need to add CYA before the winter when the water will be shielded from sun light? I did read the the higher CYA allows me to run my SWG less, but I'm already running it at 20%.

 

[Oly]

... do I really need to add CYA before the winter when the water will be shielded from sun light?

No reason to raise your CYA now, wait until spring. Will you continue to run the FC generator through winter with the pool covered?

 

[funrunner]

Thanks for the replies. I think I got enough knowledge from this discussion to monitor it. I added 1lb of CYA. I will slowly decrease my pump/ and generator usage and continue to monitor my FC. I'll hold off on adding more CYA until next Spring.