Hi Cliff!
CH: 250 is good. (target range is 250-350). Since you just raised it, let it sit at 250 for a couple of days. See if the CH results change any, and see what happens with your other chem levels. If all is good, then push it up to 300. When you switch over to the salt system, the CH level will change upward. See the charts for the new ranges.
TA: I would leave the TA alone. 70 is in your range for a bleach, plaster pool. When you switch to the salt system, that range changes to 60-80. So 70 is still good. Your pH might become more unstable if you push the TA higher.
I don't know if this thread will help or confuse (see post #7). It helps me to better understand TA and pH. (I don't get all of the chemistry stuff). If the explanation doesn't help, save it for later. You might be interested later.
TA, PH and muriatic acid playing together
pH: Is there a question in this paragraph of post #367. Cliff's quote: "My pH always likes to hang out at 7.8" Does it try to go higher? This may be your pool's happy place. Or does it stop at 7.8 because that's the point you're adding MA?
FC: Why do you like the level 7 for your FC (besides google says 7 is a good #? Lol!!) I keep asking how the girl's skin is doing. I've either missed your answer, or you haven't answered. Does the 7 have anything to do with that? A higher FC level gives you more 'fall space' to hit the minimum. Then again, I don't know if a higher FC is the way to go on such new plaster.
SWG: What will happen when you switch over to the salt system? Birds will sing, flowers will pop up and wave to you, and sweet flute melodies will hum in your head!! Lol!!! Another words, I'm not sure what you mean? (I haven't had my old lady nap yet which could be my problem!)
Today, you are on day 17 of your pool being filled. That's not even the 21 days your PB was originally pushing. I'd much rather see you wait until your PB returns the beginning of August.
When you do switch, most of the chem level ranges will change. So keep your charts handy. For me, I had a new learning curve with the start up of the swg, but it was pretty simple. No nerve-racking worries over hurting the plaster. The first 30 days kind of was my internship of water maintenance. It gave me a good foundation of water chemistry (of course, I'm still learning), and allowed me to focus on that instead of having to learn about the swg system at the same time as the basic chemistry. That worked well for me. Again, the ranges change. You get a break from adding so much bleach so often. But you will still add some bleach from time to time. Remind us and we will help you make those decisions when they come up.
What will you need to do and learn?
** decide on an FC level you want to shoot for. That also depends on your CYA you shoot for.
** How much chlorine is produced by the salt water generator is a combination of the % of the salt cell and the number of hours you run the pumps.
** Someone familiar with the SWG T Cell-15 Plus will help you choose a % to set for your salt cell. (sorry, I have Jandy, and I don't know their differences or similarities yet)
** That person will also help you determine the # of hours to run your pumps.
** The cell only works when the pump is running. So if you set your cell for 50%, it will only produce salt half the time the main pump is running. If that doesn't get your target FC, then you need to adjust either salt cell % or pump run time OR both.
** The more you run your pump, the more electricity costs you incur. The higher % you set your salt cell, the shorter the life of the cell. These are pretty minute unless your electricity is very expensive. In that case, your focus might be more on pump run time.
** Right now in July, I run my pump about 9 hours a day with my cell at 75%. The first year, I had to have higher pump hours on and higher cell %. I can't tell you why.
** There are many factors involved in your FC requirement the same you experienced before the swg system is on: weather, swimmer load and frequency, water temperature, organic debris in the pool, etc
** I had to learn to be flexible and be willing to make frequent adjustments in the very beginning.
** For me, most of my adjustments this past year occur when seasons change causing continual rises or drops in water temperature.
That's all I can think of now. I will or someone else will add more later if I left something out.
I promise you will love having the salt cell once you get into the swing of it.
Suz
Tif grass is normal grass and nothing special, another form of Bermuda...sorry.
