New to Pools - Pool Closed for FOUR YEARS.....HELP!

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Heather, when you go from Traditional Pool to TroubleFreePool.com on the drop-downs, it's just automatically updating those to the TFP Recommended Levels in the pre-loaded "Goal" blocks. Of course you would still need to manually enter your current readings and desired targets. When looking at that, make sure to also update your "Pool Type". The CH of 0-350 should be for vinyl. Yours should be 250-350. :) Your low CH won't interfere with the SLAM, but you do want to bump it up closer to 250 afterwards. You could start now I suppose, although sometimes the CH increase clouds the water a little for the first day or two. Just didn't want you to be confused by that if it happened. Your numbers look great, and you appear to be on-top of thing there. Very nice work. :goodjob:
 
Texas Splash said:
Heather, when you go from Traditional Pool to TroubleFreePool.com on the drop-downs, it's just automatically updating those to the TFP Recommended Levels in the pre-loaded "Goal" blocks. Of course you would still need to manually enter your current readings and desired targets. When looking at that, make sure to also update your "Pool Type". The CH of 0-350 should be for vinyl. Yours should be 250-350. :) Your low CH won't interfere with the SLAM, but you do want to bump it up closer to 250 afterwards. You could start now I suppose, although sometimes the CH increase clouds the water a little for the first day or two. Just didn't want you to be confused by that if it happened. Your numbers look great, and you appear to be on-top of thing there. Very nice work. :goodjob:
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OK great! That makes me feel better [emoji2] Thank you!!

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SCARED TO ASK:

So, I just got done vacuuming the pool and sure enough, visibility is getting a little better each day.

Well, most of you have heard me talk about the white cloud or blob. Well, today, I could actually see that it's on the bottom of the pool and when I push around with the vacuum, it remains undisturbed. It actually is hard to brush that area.....almost rough like. The texture is not smooth like the rest of the pool.

When I pulled my brush up, it was almost like a fiber or stuffing material you would find in a doll or something. Could this be my liner deteriorating? I really, really hope not. There is a lot of it down there and since the pool has been covered and unused for four years, I don't know what else it could possibly be. If it's the liner, I probably don't want to go scrubbing on it further. It probably makes up 1/3 - 1/2 of the 8 foot flat surface bottom area. It is all around the main drain. There was also a dead mouse......



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I was in your shoes Heather a few weeks back. Ive learned a ton from these folks. I have the same test kit. One mistake i made and hopefully your not is calculating FC. Every drop i added i was counting as 1ppm. After a week i was scratching my head wondering why FC was so high. These folks pointed out that if your testing fc with 25ml tube make sure you multiply by .2. If you use the 10ml mark to test fc then multiply each drop by .5.
 
moreira85 said:
I was in your shoes Heather a few weeks back. Ive learned a ton from these folks. I have the same test kit. One mistake i made and hopefully your not is calculating FC. Every drop i added i was counting as 1ppm. After a week i was scratching my head wondering why FC was so high. These folks pointed out that if your testing fc with 25ml tube make sure you multiply by .2. If you use the 10ml mark to test fc then multiply each drop by .5.
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Wait......what? I have been using whichever one was clean [emoji15] [emoji15] [emoji15]. Are you saying that although they have the ML marks on them, I calculate them differently? 10 ml in one isn't the same as 10 ml on another?

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Your good on the ml, 10 is the same on both.. They were saying just remember to multiply by .5 using the 10ml mark

I am using my phone so please excuse any spelling errors and short response. :)
 
cowboycasey said:
Your good on the ml, 10 is the same on both.. They were saying just remember to multiply by .5 using the 10ml mark

I am using my phone so please excuse any spelling errors and short response. :)
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Oh yes. OK...phew! I am making sure to use the 10 ml mark. I don't always use the same cylinder but always measure to the ten ML line. Thanks for the clarification.

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I would always use the cylinder that says chlorine only on it for the FAS-DPD testing. The test can discolor the tube some. Then use the other one for all the other tests.

There should not need any cleaning beyond dumping it in the sink and rinsing it a couple times.
 
jblizzle said:
I would always use the cylinder that says chlorine only on it for the FAS-DPD testing. The test can discolor the tube some. Then use the other one for all the other tests.

There should not need any cleaning beyond dumping it in the sink and rinsing it a couple times.
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Good point. I think I have been switching around so I will make sure not to do that going forward. Thanks Jason!

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Good morning, serenity ;)

I'm just going to take a wild guess that the blob at the bottom of your pool may be floc congealed with dirt and debris...some real estate agent or freddie mac maintenance guy may have thrown it in at some stage of foreclosed life...have you tried to vacuum it to waste, or does it clog? Or can you try to bring some up with a good leaf rake?

If it were the vinyl, you'd have to change the liner anyway...and changing the liner is always a relatively possible scenario with a foreclosed pool....sitting in acidic conditions for so long really can degrade an aging liner.

I was lucky and have gotten another 5 years outta mine, which still isn't leaking, (but by now, at age 15, has worn a lot on the bottom from the robot) but in my case I'd have changed it by now were if not for the extra expense and hassle of dewatering (high water table) and then another grand for two trucks of water (am on well).

I will send you the mojo that you have the same luck...

Either way, i highly doubt the fibrous goo you're encountering is the liner itself. Another possibility causing the "white" appearance would be if the print on the bottom of the liner has faded out. For roughness, its also possible the vinyl has wrinkled from acidic conditions.

With respect to the following conversation:
Regarding overshooting the SLAM target for FC, how much over is OK? If we are trying to keep the FC at or above the SLAM target, but we do not want to go over the target, that makes for a very very narrow window to hold the FC. Or is the SLAM target such that it is effective even if we drop several ppm below the target before the next test and dose of chlorine?
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I have found that using the upper "mustard" shock value as the high limit (eg dosing below by a point or two, but above regular) had no negative effect in swamp recovery...and definitely would not consider dropping BELOW regular slam target remotely ideal as that's how IMHO many stall or prolong slams for weeks.

In warm-enough water with algae, it will simply outpace the slam if the "kill zone" is not maintained. That's why color change is a helpful guide...if the color is not changing at least slightly, daily, you are not gaining ground. Sometimes that's because the cya level is higher than read, and sometimes its because if you dose to 12 and its below 12 in the first hour and you're away for four hours, you've spent 3/4 of your "slam" not "slamming" ;)

But that is not to say that maintaining slam/shock value AT mustard algae rate for prolonged periods is ideal either...the mustard algae slam level is meant as short-course elevation. You can determine the mustard shock value by entering your numbers into pool math calculator.

Hope that helps clarify.
 
Swampwoman said:
Good morning, serenity ;)

I'm just going to take a wild guess that the blob at the bottom of your pool may be floc congealed with dirt and debris...some real estate agent or freddie mac maintenance guy may have thrown it in at some stage of foreclosed life...have you tried to vacuum it to waste, or does it clog? Or can you try to bring some up with a good leaf rake?

If it were the vinyl, you'd have to change the liner anyway...and changing the liner is always a relatively possible scenario with a foreclosed pool....sitting in acidic conditions for so long really can degrade an aging liner.

I was lucky and have gotten another 5 years outta mine, which still isn't leaking, (but by now, at age 15, has worn a lot on the bottom from the robot) but in my case I'd have changed it by now were if not for the extra expense and hassle of dewatering (high water table) and then another grand for two trucks of water (am on well).

I will send you the mojo that you have the same luck...

Either way, i highly doubt the fibrous goo you're encountering is the liner itself. Another possibility causing the "white" appearance would be if the print on the bottom of the liner has faded out. For roughness, its also possible the vinyl has wrinkled from acidic conditions.

With respect to the following conversation:


I have found that using the upper "mustard" shock value as the high limit (eg dosing below by a point or two, but above regular) had no negative effect in swamp recovery...and definitely would not consider dropping BELOW regular slam target remotely ideal as that's how IMHO many stall or prolong slams for weeks.

In warm-enough water with algae, it will simply outpace the slam if the "kill zone" is not maintained. That's why color change is a helpful guide...if the color is not changing at least slightly, daily, you are not gaining ground. Sometimes that's because the cya level is higher than read, and sometimes its because if you dose to 12 and its below 12 in the first hour and you're away for four hours, you've spent 3/4 of your "slam" not "slamming" ;)

But that is not to say that maintaining slam/shock value AT mustard algae rate for prolonged periods is ideal either...the mustard algae slam level is meant as short-course elevation. You can determine the mustard shock value by entering your numbers into pool math calculator.

Hope that helps clarify.
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So, here is my white fuzz...... pretty weird, right? It is super stuck on the floor. I can barely get any off which is why this sample is so small.

uploadfromtaptalk1462902674777.jpg

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