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poolmedic244

Well-known member
Aug 17, 2021
73
Long Island, NY
Pool Size
26500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Autopilot Total Control PPC3
Greetings!

Our pool finally got completed toward the end of last summer. We live on Long Island and have scheduled to conduct our very first pool open for next week - March 29th! We have a loop-loc mesh cover. My question is around chemicals. I've learned already to disregard the sample results from the pool company/pool store, and run my own tests, but I'd like to acquire chemicals ahead of time so that I can minimize costs.

Here are my questions:
1. How long do you have to run the pump/filter for before getting valid chemistry results. For fun, I pulled a sample out of the skimmer basked opening to get a salt reading, and it was of no surprise that it was 500ppm or less (duh, that water is practically the result of rain/snow water fill...I'm sure there's a higher concentration toward the bottom of the pool!).

2. I'm ordering six 40-lb bags of pool salt [it's on sale for $6/bag] to have on hand. (Is this a decent price?)? Is this enough or should I have more on hand?
3. What type and how much shock should I have? (liquid or powder? I assume brand matters less, chemical composition matters more...what's the recommendation)?

That's all for now....looking forward to the recommdations!
 
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poolmedic244 said:
Here are my questions:
1. How long do you have to run the pump/filter for before getting valid chemistry results. For fun, I pulled a sample out of the skimmer basked opening to get a salt reading, and it was of no surprise that it was 500ppm or less (duh, that water is practically the result of rain/snow water fill...I'm sure there's a higher concentration toward the bottom of the pool!).
Click to expand...

I let my pool circulate for 24 hours before testing after opening. You can get away with less but I am in no rush and the water sat there for a few months idle.

poolmedic244 said:
2. I'm ordering six 40-lb bags of pool salt [it's on sale for $6/bag] to have on hand. (Is this a decent price?)? Is this enough or should I have more on hand?
Click to expand...

What brand salt is it?

$6/bag is a good price.

Hard to say how much you need. Depends how much water was drained.

No rush on the salt. Your pool water is not going to get over 50F for a few weeks until your SWG will generate.

poolmedic244 said:
3. What type and how much shock should I have? (liquid or powder? I assume brand matters less, chemical composition matters more...what's the recommendation)?
Click to expand...

Shock? We don't shock.

Get jugs of 10% liquid chlorine to use until the pool gets warm enough for your SWG to generate.

Get solid stabilizer/CYA. You will need some to get your CYA to 30 now and then around 60 once your SWG is running.

Liquid Chlorine - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
poolmedic244 said:
Why won't my SWG work?
Click to expand...

As water temperature falls below 65°F (18°C), the controller will automatically reduce the purifier
% and will reduce the maximum % that can be selected. This feature prevents the controller from
generating excessive chlorine in cold water where it is not needed and prevents premature cell
failure.

At 55°F (13°C) or colder water temperatures, the controller will adjust to a fixed 1% output, thus
preventing over-chlorination and premature cell failure.

poolmedic244 said:
And I am planning on heating the pool...
Click to expand...

You have a pool cover?

Good luck heating the pool and maintaining the temperature until nighttime temperatures get warmer.

While Jandy does not have the corrosive condensation warnings that Pentair and Hayward have I would not continuously operate the heater with water temperatures below 60F-65F.

Heater Condensation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

poolmedic244 said:
Where do you buy your stabilizer/CYA?
Click to expand...

Local pool store. 8 lbs bag for around $25.
 
Yes, I have a solar blanket. The only way I would *ever* spend money on heating a pool, otherwise the night time loss would be tremendous.

I've heard about this condensation thing...tell me more. Why is condensation corrosive?
 
Yes, I've read the link. I probably should have been more verbose...that will teach me to try and multitask with work. One of my deepest concerns/nightmares with this pool is rotting out the heater/shortening its life. The part that I still can't get my head around is this: The whole point of the heater is extend the season. It's my understanding that, in this climate, if you use a solar blanket, then you can [hopefully] relegate using the heater to the beginning and end of the season with some minimal use of it throughout to keep the water at a comfortable temp.

If you aren't supposed to use it with a water temp below 65, then what's the point? Or, am I misunderstanding, and you can use it below, but you must keep it running constantly until you get the water up to the "safe operating temperature" of 65. Would this imply running the pump 24x7 until you do so, and then letting the heater kick on and off to maintain the set point?

Or...

Is this not just about the water temp but about the outdoor ambient as well?

Thank you [all] for your patience with me!
/jmf
 
An occasional cycle with cold water to get the water above 65 will not harm the heater. Once you get the water above 65 you want to run the heater to keep it above 65.

For example using the heater to maintain a water temperature of 55f will likely damage it over time.

Keep the temperature set point above 65F and you will be ok.
 

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ajw22 said:
As water temperature falls below 65°F (18°C), the controller will automatically reduce the purifier
% and will reduce the maximum % that can be selected. This feature prevents the controller from
generating excessive chlorine in cold water where it is not needed and prevents premature cell
failure.

At 55°F (13°C) or colder water temperatures, the controller will adjust to a fixed 1% output, thus
preventing over-chlorination and premature cell failure.



You have a pool cover?

Good luck heating the pool and maintaining the temperature until nighttime temperatures get warmer.

While Jandy does not have the corrosive condensation warnings that Pentair and Hayward have I would not continuously operate the heater with water temperatures below 60F-65F.

Heater Condensation - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com



Local pool store. 8 lbs bag for around $25.
Click to expand...
Good afternoon.

So before I go running to the pool store to buy liquid chlorine (unless there's a place to get it?), there's something that you said that I could use some clarification on. I understand that the SWG drops to 1% because of the cold water to prevent over chlorination. If that's the case - why can't I override the protection and run it higher to effectively shock the pool without the liquid? (yes, I understand that you can't do this in summer because you need ALOT of chlorine in a SHORT amount of time that the SWG can't accomplish).
 
poolmedic244 said:
Good afternoon.

So before I go running to the pool store to buy liquid chlorine (unless there's a place to get it?), there's something that you said that I could use some clarification on. I understand that the SWG drops to 1% because of the cold water to prevent over chlorination. If that's the case - why can't I override the protection and run it higher to effectively shock the pool without the liquid? (yes, I understand that you can't do this in summer because you need ALOT of chlorine in a SHORT amount of time that the SWG can't accomplish).
Click to expand...

First of all because the manufacturer did not give you an override capability.

Probably because the cold water changes the way the electronics sense the water chemistry and to prevent damaging the cell.
 
When it's too cold for the SWG to work, you won't be blowing through liquid chlorine like you would in July / August. A couple PPM could last a week. In just a few weeks the SWG will be taking over, so don't buy 20 gallons. Get 3 and reassess as needed.
 
poolmedic244 said:
It was clorox indeed. I'm THRILLED that you sent me this just now.
Click to expand...
I asked back in post #2 eight days ago.

poolmedic244 said:
That could have been a big mistake...although I do wonder if they've fixed their issue...
Click to expand...
I doubt it…

publicherald.org

Investigation: Clorox Selling Pool Salt Made From Fracking Wastewater

You might be shocked to learn that a Clorox product used to treat swimming pools came from fracking wastewater.Public Herald has discovered that Eureka Resources, a company based in Pennsylvania, has been treating wastewater from shale gas development — a.k.a. “fracking” — and packaging the...
publicherald.org publicherald.org
 
+1. Most of their line of products add copper also, which is never good for pools. Anything 'blue' in the name is the code word. Clorox CYA was the only pure item last I saw.
 
Yea. Pool company opened the pool today and before I could stop them, the threw in two bottles of shock and...yep...algicide. 10% copper. Doh.
No use crying over spilled metal...just hope it doesn't affect anything...
 
Pool opened this morning. What chem results:

Water Temp = 45 degrees
pH=7.5
FC=5.5
CC=1
TA=90

Water is green, can't see to the bottom of the pool. Do I need bring this up significantly to SLAM it? Or with that water temp, we're okay here?
 
Bring the pool up to CYA 30 and follow the SLAM Process

Warm the test sample to room temperature before adding reagent with the CYA test.
 

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