- Mar 24, 2014
- 2,455
- Pool Size
- 32000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-55
I'm wondering what happens when the liner or the pump reaches end of life. A $70 test kit is nothing compared to those expenses.
Out of the lagoon and into the doghouse
- Thread starter FromTheBlackLagoon
- Start date
Good post.
I am another who bought my test kit before we closed on our house. I cannot imagine not having my test kit with the speed stir. For me it is a necessary item to take care of my pool no different than chlorine or a brush and pole.
I love the letter from Michael!
I see where she is coming from "BUT honey the water looks GREAT right now! Why do you NEED a $70
test kit when the pool store will do the test for free?"
So what you do is this.........get the hth 6 way kit and go from there to keep your family "safe" in the pool. We will call that "baby step 1".
THEN do the tests right in front of her with her reading the directions and writing down the results.
THEN BOTH of you take the same water to a pool store and have them test it! See where I am going??? See what they say. How close are their tests to yours? How much will it cost to "fix" the water using their test results?
If you make her a part of the process she might see where we are coming from.
At least with the hth kit you can make sure the water is safe.
I ruined my first pool doing what the pool $tore told me to do.......my CYA was sky high and PH way off but all they said was "lower your water about an inch and put this and this in the water and you will be fine".......My liner dry rotted with water in it! I was walking around the pool when my foot found a crack in the bottom. I ran my toes over the crack then the whole thing let go! Out rushed the water and almost took me with it! SCARY! Sold the pool and said never again
THEN my husband found TFP and look at me now........a MOD on a POOL FORUM! I bought the test kit BEFORE I ordered the new pool to make sure I could do the tests. Easy and fun.
Oh and don't call it "bleach". Call it "pool shock" or chlorine for now. For some reason those words don't cause as much LOL
Kim:cat:
I see where she is coming from "BUT honey the water looks GREAT right now! Why do you NEED a $70
test kit when the pool store will do the test for free?"So what you do is this.........get the hth 6 way kit and go from there to keep your family "safe" in the pool. We will call that "baby step 1".
THEN do the tests right in front of her with her reading the directions and writing down the results.
THEN BOTH of you take the same water to a pool store and have them test it! See where I am going??? See what they say. How close are their tests to yours? How much will it cost to "fix" the water using their test results?
If you make her a part of the process she might see where we are coming from.
At least with the hth kit you can make sure the water is safe.
I ruined my first pool doing what the pool $tore told me to do.......my CYA was sky high and PH way off but all they said was "lower your water about an inch and put this and this in the water and you will be fine".......My liner dry rotted with water in it! I was walking around the pool when my foot found a crack in the bottom. I ran my toes over the crack then the whole thing let go! Out rushed the water and almost took me with it! SCARY! Sold the pool and said never again
THEN my husband found TFP and look at me now........a MOD on a POOL FORUM! I bought the test kit BEFORE I ordered the new pool to make sure I could do the tests. Easy and fun.
Oh and don't call it "bleach". Call it "pool shock" or chlorine for now. For some reason those words don't cause as much
LOLKim:cat:
You actually can get accurate results with the OTO test 1ml pool water and 4ml city water making sure you test the city water for FC before you do the test. My city water doesnt register FC when i test it. Might not be 100% accurate but it will give you a good idea. You could also do 1/10th pool water too if need be.
Keep in mind pool stores do not give free water testing out of the goodness of their hearts. It is a selling tool, pure and simple. One of these days they are going to decide you need a bunch of chemicals to fix "problems" you may or may not have. Until you are able to get a good test kit your best defense is going to be to study and know what the ideal levels for your pool should be. You should also learn what each chemical's function is in the pool.
For example, you know CYA protects the FC from UV rays that cause it to burn off prematurely and that the recommended level is 30-50ppm for a manually chlorinated pool. The pool store's recommended levels may be 30-100ppm for CYA and some erstwhile employee may decide your level of 30 is too low and makes the recommendation to bring it to the top of their level and wants you to buy and dump enough stabilizer to raise the CYA to 100ppm, thinking it will evaporate out (it won't). If you know how CYA affects the water balance you can look at the result and decide for yourself whether that extra CYA is a bad idea.
Other things a pool store will try to sell based on test results:
Phosphate remover- They say you must get rid of phosphates to prevent algae. We say phosphate levels don't matter if you keep your pool properly chlorinated.
Clarifier and Flocculent- If you come in saying the pool is cloudy they will go to these first. 90% of the time cloudy water is caused by a nascent algae bloom. The other 10% is calcium clouding and filter failure. Increased chlorine will take care of the cloudiness.
Calcium- 250-350ppm of Calcium is needed in a plaster pool. You have a vinyl pool, and only need 125 ppm of calcium.
TA up/down- The main reason to adjust TA is to help stabilize pH. TA has an acceptable range of 70-150. Pool stores like it to be around 120, but if you pH is good and stable there is no need to adjust the TA except to control very high calcium levels (over 350ppm). Most pool store recommendations to adjust TA also will change pH which leads us to...
pH up/down- pH is one of the easiest levels to adjust with grocery store products, and just about the only accurate test on a strip. Don't buy anything to adjust pH from them.
Chlorine- Understand the types of chlorine available. Avoid any dry chlorine product such as tablets or sticks, bags of "shock" containing dichlor or trichlor, and "shock" containing calcium hypochlorite. Dichlor and Trichlor based products (including tablets and sticks) contain CYA and will drive up the CYA level. Calcium hypochlorite contains calcium, too much calcium leads to scale and the only way to get rid of excess calcium is to drain water. Use only liquid chlorine. It doesn't matter if it is the 8.25% from the grocery store laundry isle or the 10-12% from the pool store. They may try to talk you out of liquid chlorine because it adds salt to the pool. This is a non-issue. All chlorine adds salt to the pool.
Also avoid anything with minerals, adding minerals to the pool usually leads to copper staining. Read the labels on the products and make sure they are free of copper and silver and other minerals.
When they do finally hand you that long list of recommendations, walk around the store, price it out, and leave without buying anything. Show the $100+ shopping list to the wife, then explain how you really don't need the majority of it, and if you had the proper test kit you need not set foot in a pool store for anything.
For example, you know CYA protects the FC from UV rays that cause it to burn off prematurely and that the recommended level is 30-50ppm for a manually chlorinated pool. The pool store's recommended levels may be 30-100ppm for CYA and some erstwhile employee may decide your level of 30 is too low and makes the recommendation to bring it to the top of their level and wants you to buy and dump enough stabilizer to raise the CYA to 100ppm, thinking it will evaporate out (it won't). If you know how CYA affects the water balance you can look at the result and decide for yourself whether that extra CYA is a bad idea.
Other things a pool store will try to sell based on test results:
Phosphate remover- They say you must get rid of phosphates to prevent algae. We say phosphate levels don't matter if you keep your pool properly chlorinated.
Clarifier and Flocculent- If you come in saying the pool is cloudy they will go to these first. 90% of the time cloudy water is caused by a nascent algae bloom. The other 10% is calcium clouding and filter failure. Increased chlorine will take care of the cloudiness.
Calcium- 250-350ppm of Calcium is needed in a plaster pool. You have a vinyl pool, and only need 125 ppm of calcium.
TA up/down- The main reason to adjust TA is to help stabilize pH. TA has an acceptable range of 70-150. Pool stores like it to be around 120, but if you pH is good and stable there is no need to adjust the TA except to control very high calcium levels (over 350ppm). Most pool store recommendations to adjust TA also will change pH which leads us to...
pH up/down- pH is one of the easiest levels to adjust with grocery store products, and just about the only accurate test on a strip. Don't buy anything to adjust pH from them.
Chlorine- Understand the types of chlorine available. Avoid any dry chlorine product such as tablets or sticks, bags of "shock" containing dichlor or trichlor, and "shock" containing calcium hypochlorite. Dichlor and Trichlor based products (including tablets and sticks) contain CYA and will drive up the CYA level. Calcium hypochlorite contains calcium, too much calcium leads to scale and the only way to get rid of excess calcium is to drain water. Use only liquid chlorine. It doesn't matter if it is the 8.25% from the grocery store laundry isle or the 10-12% from the pool store. They may try to talk you out of liquid chlorine because it adds salt to the pool. This is a non-issue. All chlorine adds salt to the pool.
Also avoid anything with minerals, adding minerals to the pool usually leads to copper staining. Read the labels on the products and make sure they are free of copper and silver and other minerals.
When they do finally hand you that long list of recommendations, walk around the store, price it out, and leave without buying anything. Show the $100+ shopping list to the wife, then explain how you really don't need the majority of it, and if you had the proper test kit you need not set foot in a pool store for anything.
if you have access to several pool stores, get a single gallon sample from your pool, fill a few old water bottles from it, and take your spouse on a sightseeing tour. see how many different sets of Pool $tore "Results" (each with it's accompanying remedy) you can get out of a single sample of your pool water, that alone should be evidence enough. It is how I've proven this method to doubters in the past.
I would just buy the test kit, we're not talking about a $1000 item here. This is not a luxury item, it's a necessary purchase when you are maintaining a pool.
This is almost exactly what I ended up doing this afternoon. I got the 6 Way HTH test (on sale for $15 at Walmart!) and compared my tests to yesterday's pool store test, demonstrating to her that they were WAY off on the stabilizer level.
She's starting to see the light! She even offered to buy me an expensive electronic Lamotte (sp?) kit she found for ~$120 second-hand. It didn't contain the FAS-DPD test so I politely refused. I'll order the TFTest FAS-DPD soon to complete my kit.
The mad scientist in me is still curious about my idea for deriving CYA from other measurements though. I wonder if there's anything about that in the Deep End...
I know a woman who best not buy a pair of shoes, a new purse or a bunch of make up. Because if she does, you'll know you're walking on a one way street. All her way.
Go buy the kit! The house came with a pool. You need it!
Go buy the kit! The house came with a pool. You need it!
Good job on not letting her buy you the LQ test......several people have found it to not work as well as our straight up drop tests.
I would also get more of the CYA test regent. I THINK you will only have enough to do at most 3 in that little test.
Nice job on showing her the way in such a way there is no conflict. Home buying/fixing is stressful enough without throwing a pool into it!
I have some links for you now that you are able to test. I share these as a set for all new pool owners.
Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
Pool School - Recommended Levels
Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.
Kim:cat:
I would also get more of the CYA test regent. I THINK you will only have enough to do at most 3 in that little test.
Nice job on showing her the way in such a way there is no conflict. Home buying/fixing is stressful enough without throwing a pool into it!
I have some links for you now that you are able to test. I share these as a set for all new pool owners.
Print these out:
Pool School - Basic Pool Care Schedule
Pool School - Recommended Levels
Bookmark these:
Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals
http://www.troublefreepool.com/calc.html
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
Make sure to ask any and all questions you might have no matter how small! We have all been where you are at one point.
Kim:cat:
You don't want anything you have to calibrate, such as the LaMott kit. The Taylor K2006-C or the TF 100 are what you need. The TF 100 is the better value as it contains more reagent of the tests you will run most often. If you order direct from TF Testkits it will arrive in a couple of days.
Oh and don't call it "bleach". Call it "pool shock" or chlorine for now. For some reason those words don't cause as much
I've started calling it "liquid chlorine" now, even though I know it's just a euphemism for "bleach"
Yeah, and add a 2.5 year old, a .5 year old, and two elderly in-laws to the mix and I hope everyone understands my reluctance to "just do it." Thanks everyone for all the marriage advice nonetheless
And thanks, Kim, I appreciate the understanding and pragmatic advice! You rock!
Guys, you're making this too complicated
Save your receipts for a month or two of everything you buy for chemicals for your pool. I have a 25,000 gallon pool, and it costs me $25 a month to run it, crystal clear. Is your pool crystal? Does it cost that much to operate?
How do you guarantee those results? Accurate testing.
A mechanic couldn't fix a car without a set of sockets. Can't mow a lawn without a mower. These are great over-simplified arguments, but the only way I got convinced my father to buy his kit was showing him how much it cost him a month NOT to have it. It bought itself.
Save your receipts for a month or two of everything you buy for chemicals for your pool. I have a 25,000 gallon pool, and it costs me $25 a month to run it, crystal clear. Is your pool crystal? Does it cost that much to operate?
How do you guarantee those results? Accurate testing.
A mechanic couldn't fix a car without a set of sockets. Can't mow a lawn without a mower. These are great over-simplified arguments, but the only way I got convinced my father to buy his kit was showing him how much it cost him a month NOT to have it. It bought itself.
I completely understand! I have a 3.5 year old and a new one to arrive in less than a month. One thing we did a few years ago was get on the same page financially by taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at our church. Best thing you can do to straighten out finances in a marriage. Eliminate the money fights because you both know what is being budgeted for and then there is no more his and hers money because legally that doesn't exist anyway unless you have a pre-nup!
Build your consumables into your maintenance budget and aim high at first until you have a baseline. Next year you can back it down when you know how much you have spent in a season on chemicals.
Great job so far!
Don't forget to order the SpeedStir when you order your test kit! It really is a must have unless you've gotten really really good at swirling!
- Jul 16, 2012
- 7,282
- Pool Size
- 27000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
Yeah, and add a 2.5 year old, a .5 year old, and two elderly in-laws to the mix and I hope everyone understands my reluctance to "just do it." Thanks everyone for all the marriage advice nonetheless
Hey, anytime, happy to give such advice at your request! A lot of us have been or will be divorced though, so take it for what it's worth.
The "how do I convince my spouse..." topics can lead many directions.
Did you tell her you can't do the tests without a SpeedStir?
Actually this isn't true city water contains FC so it isn't zero, so dilution with city water will not work.
The accurate way is to use the FAS-DPD test which will measure the higher levels of chlorine.
Thanks everyone for all the marriage advice nonetheless
And thanks, Kim, I appreciate the understanding and pragmatic advice! You rock!
LOL guess there is a reason we are going on year 32 of marriage!
Kim:cat:
Joey316g
0
Or here's an idea... Tell your wife, "Listen DEAR, I'm buying this pool kit because I want it." And life goes on except now you know your pool vitals ��
- Feb 6, 2015
- 7,834
- Pool Size
- 12300
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
You almost missed your golden opportunity ...... Tell her you will take the ~$120 she was openly WILLING to spend on the LaMotte (there's a reason it's second hand, we can discuss later) and go buy your family and yourself a TF-100 and a SpeedStir. $105 total w/free shipping (add the SpeedStir from the TF-100 details page). Once it comes in, give her the $15 change and suggest she go buy some new pool toys for the kids. Win for you and win for her and the kids!!
If the "bleach" discussion comes up again, go get a bottle of chlorine/pool shock and place the bleach bottle and chlorine bottle side by side. Have HER compare the ingredients.
If all else fails, listen to Kim
above.....