Oyyy … frustrated

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Emahany

Active member
May 27, 2021
39
Orange County NY
Pool Size
28000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hi , my name is Erik and Thankyou in advance . I have been lurking for years , and love the sites.
I tried testing myself last year but I didn’t have the time or the skill set lol. After years of dealing with constant algae blooms I followed the slam advice last year and went to liquid chlorine only . Last year was a good year. New pool water as well last year.
This year I opened 2.5 weeks ago. Mesh cover , typical nastiness when I opened but I had a few days off and had it clean but cloudy in a few days. The cloudiness didn’t go away and I could not hold the free chlorine at all. For example I could pour 5 bottles of shock in at night , the next night it was .02 . I gave several slam amounts and although the pool is now spotless and sparkling I still cannot hold any chlorine like i did last year.
My cya according to 3 different pool stores is 48 . They are telling me my phosphates are
Very high , but I have read your threads and thought I remembered reading not to worry about phosphates( one store says 500 parts the other 2 say more than 1000 parts per thousand ). 28000 gallon pool , running pool robot twice a day and filter 24/7) . Can anybody give me some advice ?I also tried 5 bags of non stabilized shock one night , and same results. I don’t want tO bring that cya number up !!
 
Emahany said:
I tried testing myself last year but I didn’t have the time or the skill set
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We can help you with this. With the proper test kit, taking care of water is much easier than people think. But we don't know which test kit you have or used in the past. Can you tell us or post a picture of it?

By the way .... welcome to TFP! :wave:
 
Emahany said:
As I said I bought a test kit , couldn’t figure it out . I failed chemistry badly.
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You don't need to know what it's doing inside the tests - just follow the directions on the kit, and it'll let you know what the results are. :)

Here are some videos to show you how it works:


 
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IceShadow said:
You don't need to know what it's doing inside the tests - just follow the directions on the kit, and it'll let you know what the results are. :)

Here are some videos to show you how it works:


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As I said I tried this a zillion times. Without sounding confrontational I give up on the kit. I got 6 different readings every time. Maybe the regents were bad ? I don’t know.
Currently my ph is 7.2 the alkalinity is slightly low . I appreciate all your help , but the fact that the pool is spotless at the moment and won’t hold chlorine has to say I’m doing something correctly.
If anyone wants a free kit , come and get it , lol.
 
Perfect! Great test kit. You did good. :goodjob: No we are sure about helping you get those levels tested and corrected as necessary. If at any time we aren't 100% clear about a test please let us know. We do this so much each & every day sometimes we have to stop, slow down, and be very clear to new members. If in doubt about anything, just ask. :)
 
IceShadow said:
You don't need to know what it's doing inside the tests - just follow the directions on the kit, and it'll let you know what the results are. :)

Here are some videos to show you how it works:


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Thanks. I watched the videos. I must be bad at comprehension . I’m not the only one who has given up on the kit. I love the feedback in the site , but the fact t that I am taking water to 3 different pool
Stores should at least allow some of you to say ok , they aren’t all lying or giving bad test results .( the pool stores) . Only one of them tried to hijack me and I refused.
 

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Emahany said:
I must be bad at comprehension
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I seen quite a few posts over the years. Believe me when I say there is no one we can't coach through a test. Even with video aids and instructions, we can help you one test at a time if needed. We'll break it down for you. If there is one particular test you want help with, just let us know. We'll go one test at a time if needed. Our members, Guides, and Experts are here to help.
 
I'm sorry, but I just don't feel comfortable giving advice on pool store testing. We've had too many instances of giving people advice on numbers they give, having things not get better or even get worse, and then finding out it was because they were giving us pool store test numbers instead of their own. They got their kit, they learned how to use it, gave us new numbers, and things improved drastically.

If you don't want to use your kit, there's not much I can do. We can try to help you out with using it, but it's going to be needed if you want to get good advice from here. :)
 
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Perhaps some off-the-wall suggestions, but..
Maybe you could film yourself doing the test. Just your hands/kit, no need for your face or anything like that. We can try to help figure out where you may be misunderstanding the instructions.
Maybe someone would be comfortable voice chat/video chatting with you to walk you through it.
Maybe even just photos of your vials before and after a test. Just make sure to take the pictures as soon as you make the last additions.

There are only so many ways we can help if you refuse to work with us. I don't think that anyone here will offer advice on chemical adjustments/suggestions with only pool store testing. You have one of the best test kits on the market, and we are more then willing to help you use it.
 
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The kit can seem overwhelming with all those bottles, different color labels, etc. Seriously though, we can help you if you let us, one test at a time. After a few times through, you won't even think about it.
The pool store tests are worth exactly what you pay for them - nothing.
 
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Strawberryshortcake said:
also if you don’t have this device, it can REALLY help the testing process.

Taylor Technologies 9265 SpeedStir Magnetic Stirrer Start-Up Pack with Stir Bar and Batteries https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004BGPC5W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_0790BFQCJ8Z5A9PMFERY

You don’t have to worry about swirling the tubes and all that. Just have to count the drops.
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I’ll have to try and find some time to try again but not very optimistic about it. I spent alot of time with the kit last year.
Somebody make me feel better. If the number you are most worried about is cyanuric . And free chlorine. How would it be possible that 3 different pool stores and the dreaded pool strips are telling me that cyanuric are less than 50 . Normally the pool stores love to tell you that it is high.
Again , new water last year , new liner , new sand and laterals last week.
I’ll try the test again . But does anyone want to take an educated guess on why the pool looks so good but won’t hold chlorine ?
Cmon , anybody. Then you can tell me “ I told you so “ when you are right.
Id be delighted if I can get a test successfully completed and it told me my cyanuric was low , that might cause the lack of holding power.
 
The CYA test with the black dot I think is the hardest in the kit. You have to stand in bright sunlight, back to the sun, hold the tube at waist level, in your shadow, do the hokey pokey, turn it all around, and then find the stupid dot.
How were you chlorinating your pool last season after the new water? With just LC or bleach? Or with tabs? If you used tabs all season, I'm willing to bet that CYA number is higher. For me, the guess strips were horribly inaccurate at measuring CYA - the color never registered any CYA when in fact the CYA was well over 100 because prior owners exclusively used tabs.
 
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V___25 said:
The CYA test with the black dot I think is the hardest in the kit. You have to stand in bright sunlight, back to the sun, hold the tube at waist level, in your shadow, do the hokey pokey, turn it all around, and then find the stupid dot.
How were you chlorinating your pool last season after the new water? With just LC or bleach? Or with tabs? If you used tabs all season, I'm willing to bet that CYA number is higher. For me, the guess strips were horribly inaccurate at measuring CYA - the color never registered any CYA when in fact the CYA was well over 100 because prior owners exclusively used tabs.
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Thankyou … yes the cya test was miserable , and probably the most Important. And like I said I have vision problems even with eyeglasses. Last year I used liquid chlorine exclusively. Same this year except one does if granular shock amd im pretty sure it was non stabilized . I still have the bag. Thankyou for making me feel human again ! Again , none of the pool stores tried to sell me anything with stabilize. . They tried to sell me phosphate remover , but after reading all the info on phosphate remover on this site I decided against and am just dumping money on Liquid chlorine instead. … maybe I should just get the salt pool then I don’t have to worry about the cost of chlorine ? Lol this is torturous. And I’m the only one who swims in the pool all year . But it looks good ☺️🥴
 
Ok so if you were using LC last year, did you add any CYA or stabilizer at all? Your CYA could actually be lower which would mean your FC is getting used up too quick and has no sun protection.
I would love a SWG but we're not at that point yet. If you can swing it, do it. I hear they are amazing.
 
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