Newb Needs Help With Testing / Chemicals

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Hugs! We have your back now. Take a deep breath and ask us any and all questions you have. There is a LOT of info. that can be overwhelming BUT take a bite at time and it will all be good.

We can help you learn how to do the tests. We have some "tricks" to help you with the color matching. We will work on one test at a time.

When will your test kit be there?

We will also save you SO much money you will be VERY happy!

Kim
 
Thanks everyone. Well to their credit the guy called me today from the pool store and said he would take it back since the tablets are individually wrapped or something which made me feel a little better about the place. I've been doing a lot of reading on the BBB method and I like it. If I could ask one more probably dumb question here, is there a way I can just add chlorine once a week, say half of the 2.5 gallon pool store chlorine? The people at several stores said that was ok and I know that is what the pool guy was doing (not exactly sure how much though). Does anyone just add more 1X a week then say everyday like a lot of people are doing, just curious?
 
pabeader said:
Our recommended way is to do it every day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I understand, ok so if I was to do it everyday is there a "starter" amount of chlorine I can start using at least until my kit comes? Or would I just take about half a jug of my 2.5 gallon and divide it by 7 days in the week? Sorry if someone has already said this and I missed it.
 
As Kim says, your description will help a lot. Pool size, if it is in a screen enclosure and/or the amount of sun you get each day on the pool will determine recommendations given.
 
Oh, sorry about that. My pool has a screen launai that keeps almost everything out of it, I rarely see anything floating in it etc. It is mainly rectangular and I stepped it off at about 25'X13' roughly and is around 3' in the shallow end to about 5' in the deep end. When I did the LXWXAv. Depth X 7.5 it came to right at 10K gallons. I'd say it gets sun for at least half the day maybe a couple hours more. I have my Taylor kit on order, should have it sometime this next week. I've been adding about 2 cups of liquid chlorine daily b/c the bottle said 12oz as a maintainer dose. What it didn't say was how often, but I just did it daily until I can get my test, don't know if I should be or shouldn't be. Hope this helps, thanks.
 
What is your pool made of? Your pool info. should be in your siggy. Here are the directions

-Settings (at the top)
-My settings (on the left)
-edit signature

That way the info is on all of your posts so we do not have go back and look for this VERY important info!

THANKS for doing this!

Kim
 
OK now we have the basic info we need. For right now I would put in one gallon of bleach a day. Make sure the pump is on to mix it in good.

Brush everyday as well.

Do this until your test kit comes in.

How is your water looking?

If you are looking for the easiest way to care for a pool here is a link for you.

Pool School - Salt Water Chlorine Generators

Let us know when your test kit gets there.

Kim
 

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Hi Kats, thanks, test kit should be here in a few days. I have the 10.5% pool store chlorine, would you still recommend that much? Only reason I ask is b/c the jug says that would be "shock" level everyday, unless that is what I need to do? The water is crystal clear, I'm also waiting on my brushes (both stainless and nylon), I just didn't feel like patronizing a store that operates the way I feel like they do so I ordered everything online. Also when I do add a larger amount to super-chlorinate (shock) the pool, is it best to add it at night, dawn, etc? Also how long do I have to run the pump, I've seen everything from 1 hour to 24 hours and everything in between. Currently my pump runs from about 8am to 5pm and shuts on/off automatically, thanks for any help.
 
cfiiman said:
Hi Kats, thanks, test kit should be here in a few days. I have the 10.5% pool store chlorine, would you still recommend that much? Only reason I ask is b/c the jug says that would be "shock" level everyday, unless that is what I need to do? The water is crystal clear, I'm also waiting on my brushes (both stainless and nylon), I just didn't feel like patronizing a store that operates the way I feel like they do so I ordered everything online. Also when I do add a larger amount to super-chlorinate (shock) the pool, is it best to add it at night, dawn, etc? Also how long do I have to run the pump, I've seen everything from 1 hour to 24 hours and everything in between. Currently my pump runs from about 8am to 5pm and shuts on/off automatically, thanks for any help.
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It will not hurt to keep the pool at shock level, but please remember - All of the instructions on pool chemicals as well as advice given in most pool stores fail to take the chlorine/stabilizer ratio into account. They generally say keep chlorine at 1-3 or 2-4 and anything above 5 is "shock" level. Until we know the true stabilizer level in your pool we can't say where shock level really is.

I'll use me as an example. When I purchased my current house I took water sample to two different pool stores. They told me that my CYA was either 80 or 90 depending on the store. Again, they said keep chlorine at 1-3 or 2-4 and everything would be good. When I got my test kit I had to take multiple diluted CYA tests to determine that my CYA was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250. I had to keep my chlorine between 17 and 20 just to be at the maintenance .

I would spend the extra few dollars and if anything be a little high on chlorine until I was sure where I needed to keep it.
 
tim5055 said:
It will not hurt to keep the pool at shock level, but please remember - All of the instructions on pool chemicals as well as advice given in most pool stores fail to take the chlorine/stabilizer ratio into account. They generally say keep chlorine at 1-3 or 2-4 and anything above 5 is "shock" level. Until we know the true stabilizer level in your pool we can't say where shock level really is.

I'll use me as an example. When I purchased my current house I took water sample to two different pool stores. They told me that my CYA was either 80 or 90 depending on the store. Again, they said keep chlorine at 1-3 or 2-4 and everything would be good. When I got my test kit I had to take multiple diluted CYA tests to determine that my CYA was somewhere in the neighborhood of 250. I had to keep my chlorine between 17 and 20 just to be at the maintenance .

I would spend the extra few dollars and if anything be a little high on chlorine until I was sure where I needed to keep it.
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Cool thanks, I put a full gallon of 10.5% pool store chlorine in this evening and am going to run the pump about 5 hours and shut it off overnight. Based on my strip I used (I know they are super accurate but it was the same as the second store that tested it) and the pool store my CYA showed 60 which is why I have stopped any tablets until further notice. I'm also slowly doing some diluting by splashing out water with the spa and swimming and then replenishing.
 
Ok, got in my Taylor kit today and started playing with it. Got to tell you it is pretty intimidating with all the drops lol. Anyway I tested FC, TC, PH and CYA. Based on the color chart on the vile I determined the FC to be 10.0 but since that is the top of the scale what does that really mean? TC was the exact same color so again not sure on that. I haven't been adding very much clorine honestly, maybe 2 cups a day but Monday I did "shock" the pool with a gallon. Any reason it would be high? Also tested the PH and it looked like it was either 7.8 or 8.0, not good with the pink colors, but when I did the acid demand test it took only 1 drop to drop it to a 7.6, does that mean it was 7.8 then? Last test I did was a CYA and this test seems difficult b/c you have to add drops of liquid to the vile and look for a black dot to disapear. To me this depends on how good your eyes are. With mine being 20/20 (good eyesight) it looks like CYA fell between 50 and maybe 45 when the dot was too faint to really see it, but someone with less eyesight probably would have called it more around 60 or so but I could still see the black dot fairly easily if you really looked for it. Guess my question is how can the CYA test be accurate when it really depends on good eyesight? I don't know, that is my first try with this stuff and my questions, thanks for any guidance.
 
Welcome, Cfliman.
I too am confused about which kit you bought...I am hopeful its the Taylor 2006 from http://tfttestkits.net, not the Taylor 2005 that pool stores sell...But if you bought the 2005 instead of the 2006, you can get the "better" Free Clorine FAS/DPD kit as an add on from TFT. Just click on that TFT link.

I am posting a YouTube video to help you fee comfortable with the testing process. You will quickly see what we're talking about with the difference In Testing FC between the wo different kits:
How to Use a Taylor Complete FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit K-2006 - YouTube

I predict with great confidence that in no time your testing skills will far exceed those of the pool store...because I personally got to teach a new pool tech how to read levels with mine ;)

Hope that helps! Cheers!
 
Swampwoman said:
Welcome, Cfliman.
I too am confused about which kit you bought...I am hopeful its the Taylor 2006 from http://tfttestkits.net, not the Taylor 2005 that pool stores sell...But if you bought the 2005 instead of the 2006, you can get the "better" Free Clorine FAS/DPD kit as an add on from TFT. Just click on that TFT link.

I am posting a YouTube video to help you fee comfortable with the testing process. You will quickly see what we're talking about with the difference In Testing FC between the wo different kits:
How to Use a Taylor Complete FAS-DPD Pool Water Test Kit K-2006 - YouTube

I predict with great confidence that in no time your testing skills will far exceed those of the pool store...because I personally got to teach a new pool tech how to read levels with mine ;)

Hope that helps! Cheers!
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Ah, yes I got the K-2005 sorry. I'll look at the add on thing. I'm not really worried about the chlorine b/c it doesn't effect me or my wife when swimming just wondered why it was higher or at least 10ppm when I'm not adding that much chlorine? I guess it would be best to stop adding chlorine and continue to test it until it comes down? I'm more worried about the CYA test b/c even though your "glance" method seems reasonable is that what the manufacturer had in mind? I can see the glance method being off huge numbers depending on who's glancing at it if that makes sense. I figured you were suppose to stare at it until you couldn't see it, in which case I think it is around 45, but if I just glanced at it real quick I might not be able to see it at a much much higher number. I guess that is why the pool stores have such huge swings in the testing procedure I would think. Thanks for the video link I'll watch it. Any other advice you all have on this kit and testing procedures is VERY APPRECIATED.
 
Well, as I've said the only two things that bring down your FC level is organics and UV from the sun. You screen enclosure may be blocking quite a bit of the sun, thus your FC may drop slowly.

The K-2005 will work for you now as it has all the tests you need for now. With your current CYA in the 40-50 I would say you want your minimum FC to be at 3 which is well within the range tested by you kit.

Just for background, here is the footnote from our FC/CYA chart to explain the levels we recomend:

chem geek said:
3Most saltwater chlorine generator (SWG) pools appear to prevent algae at a minimum FC level of 4.5% of the CYA level as compared with the roughly 7.5% of the CYA level shown in the "Min FC" column for manually dosed pools.
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Lets watch your FC drop after you turn off the SWCG to see how fast it drops. We generally recommend a minimum of 70 CYA in a SWCG pool, but your screen enclosure may be providing additional screening of the UV rays. I would not recommend adding CYA until we get a handle on how much FC demand your pool has.
 
tim5055 said:
Well, as I've said the only two things that bring down your FC level is organics and UV from the sun. You screen enclosure may be blocking quite a bit of the sun, thus your FC may drop slowly.

The K-2005 will work for you now as it has all the tests you need for now. With your current CYA in the 40-50 I would say you want your minimum FC to be at 3 which is well within the range tested by you kit.

Just for background, here is the footnote from our FC/CYA chart to explain the levels we recomend:



Lets watch your FC drop after you turn off the SWCG to see how fast it drops. We generally recommend a minimum of 70 CYA in a SWCG pool, but your screen enclosure may be providing additional screening of the UV rays. I would not recommend adding CYA until we get a handle on how much FC demand your pool has.
Click to expand...

Hi Tim,

I have a chlorine pool not a saltwater so would my CYA be ok? I didn't think about the screen enclosure blocking it b/c it still is pretty intense sunlight out there most of the day. I measured it this morning after adding a cup of Hydroclor. acid and the chlorine was down to 7.5 (wife and I agree after looking at it in the sunlight) and PH has dropped down to between 7.6 and 7.8 so I guess that means the average of around 7.7 or so.
 

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