New to me pool, confused owner(not sure if I should follow Pool Store Recommendations)

[Av642]

Hey All!

Just bought a house and have inherited a new pool. Just put in a new liner and opened in May. Previous owner was a frequent visitor to the local pool store and apparently purchased a lot of chemicals from them - the pool store seems to think they have another fish on the line with me.

Luckily for me - I have been reading up on this forum a lot and have found a lot of great information.

So here it goes - I have gone twice to have the water tested at the local store - I am looking into purchasing my own test kit(recommendations welcome - leaning toward the TF-100).

New Changes
Changed liner 5.6.21 - started fill and pool officially opened 5.14.21 by pool guy. Only thing was added to the water was 600 pounds of pool salt. Salinity shows in line on my RJ60+ which requires 3-4000 ppm of salt.

Typical daily maintainece is running the RJ60 SWG at 100%/pool pump for 8 hours a day.
Skim the top of the pool for 15 minutes at night and clean skimmer basket.
Run aquabot 1-2 times a week as needed.

Test Name	5.19.21	5.29.21
FC	0.27 ppm	0.28 ppm
TC/CC	0.29 ppm/ 0.02 ppm	0.28 ppm/ 0.28ppm
pH	7.6	7.7
Hardness	42 ppm	43 ppm
Alkalinity (w/ Stabilizer Correction)	52 ppm	50 ppm
CYA	OVR 5 ppm	OVR 5 ppm
Copper	0 ppm	0 ppm
Iron/Phosphate	0.1 ppm/2598 ppb	0.1 ppm/Not Tested
Salt	3678	3867

Pool Store Recommendations
5.19.21 Recommendations - 25 lbs of calcium hardness and 3 gallons of shock or super chlorinate(SWG). What I did - Super chlorinate for 6 hours.
5.29.21 Recommendations - 25 lbs of calcium hardness and 3 gallons of shock. What I did - Nothing as of yet - looking for advice before putting in any chemicals!

My concern is that the SWG at 100 percent can't increase chlorine enough - did I make a mistake, was I supposed to shock the pool then do a chlorine loss test and then adjust the SWG after?

Regarding the recommendations from my pool store - they didn't mention CYA at all - isn't that the most important thing for me to correct first?

Completely lost - hope someone can help, thank you all!

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome to TFP! First questions since it's been a while since you filled. Is the water hazy yet or still crystal clear? That will drive our responses.

Here are some preliminary starting points:
- New water has no CYA to protect the FC, so if you didn't add any stabilizer/conditioner, you need it. Depending on the question above about water condition, if there are no signs of algae or cloudiness, the CYA needs to be 70 for a salt pool. Use the sock-soaking method. If you see any haziness, only take the CYA to 30 for now. Let us know. You can use the PoolMath APP to help you with the dosage amount of stabilizer.
- You need a TF-100 kit ASAP. Perfect choice, but don't hesitate.
- Don't add any calcium since vinyl really doesn't need it.
- Until you get the test kit, do your best to keep the FC in the 3-5 range. Supplement with liquid chlorine or regular bleach. Don't add teh powdered shock and junk. The cell is struggling so it needs chlorine ASAP.
- Keep the pH in the 7 range as best as you can.

Don't worry about the other levels until teh kit arrives and we'll go from there.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[Av642]

Welcome to TFP! First questions since it's been a while since you filled. Is the water hazy yet or still crystal clear? That will drive our responses.

Here are some preliminary starting points:
- New water has no CYA to protect the FC, so if you didn't add any stabilizer/conditioner, you need it. Depending on the question above about water condition, if there are no signs of algae or cloudiness, the CYA needs to be 70 for a salt pool. Use the sock-soaking method. If you see any haziness, only take the CYA to 30 for now. Let us know. You can use the PoolMath APP to help you with the dosage amount of stabilizer.
- You need a TF-100 kit ASAP. Perfect choice, but don't hesitate.
- Don't add any calcium since vinyl really doesn't need it.
- Until you get the test kit, do your best to keep the FC in the 3-5 range. Supplement with liquid chlorine or regular bleach. Don't add teh powdered shock and junk. The cell is struggling so it needs chlorine ASAP.
- Keep the pH in the 7 range as best as you can.

Don't worry about the other levels until teh kit arrives and we'll go from there.

Pool Care Basics Archives

Your one-stop shop for all things TFP to include: ABCs of Water Chemistry, Recommended Chemicals/Levels, Test Kits, Troubleshooting, and much more!

www.troublefreepool.com

Texas, thank you so much!

Water is crystal clear.

I have found and bought liquid chlorine to supplement, I will add it tonight if the rain lets up.

Waiting on stabilizer since my local stores were out. Should I add the chlorine or wait until I can find some stabilizer first?

Re calcium - thanks, I finally found a bag of calcium chloride - I'll just use it for my driveway for winter time.

So my action plan for now will be:
1. Find stabilizer and add slowly/order a tf-100 test kit
2. Supplement chlorine once stabilizer is in
3. Anything else for now?

Also, the old owner has left some hth chlorine tabs. Will they be of use or should I just give them to a friend?

 

[mknauss]

Should I add the chlorine or wait until I can find some stabilizer first?

Chlorine is king.

- Until you get the test kit, do your best to keep the FC in the 3-5 range. Supplement with liquid chlorine or regular bleach. Don't add teh powdered shock and junk. The cell is struggling so it needs chlorine ASAP.

The tablets can be used when you go on vacation.

 

[Av642]

Chlorine is king.

The tablets can be used when you go on vacation.

Got it - will add chlorine tonight.

I found 5 pounds of stabilizer - will start that as well tonight.

I'll hang on to the chlorine tabs.

Thanks for the suggestions.