Please help me calibrate my eyes

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This is my first year doing TFP. If you want to get up to speed fast, read Pool School. Then read it again. And again. You'll learn a lot. Then commit to doing it all yourself. I had the basics down in less than a week.

As for pool stores and their free testing, here's something to think about. People start charities to help others out of the goodness of their hearts. They start a business to make money. That free testing is a vehicle to get you in the store to sell you things you either don't need, he can improvise with an equal but cheaper product. Get a good test kit (I had a bio-guard kit too, it's junk) and take control of your pool.
 
Jhsparky82 said:
This is my first year doing TFP. If you want to get up to speed fast, read Pool School. Then read it again. And again. You'll learn a lot. Then commit to doing it all yourself. I had the basics down in less than a week.

As for pool stores and their free testing, here's something to think about. People start charities to help others out of the goodness of their hearts. They start a business to make money. That free testing is a vehicle to get you in the store to sell you things you either don't need, he can improvise with an equal but cheaper product. Get a good test kit (I had a bio-guard kit too, it's junk) and take control of your pool.
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Good advice, thanks! For the record, the pool guy I went to said I was good and didn't need to buy anything with the exception of maybe some algecide (up to me) which he said I may need later in the summer and it's good to just have some on hand. He's an honest dude. That said, i totally understand y'alls point that majority of pool stores are salesmen that love to "help" in anyway they can. This particular store was recommended by a neighborhood Facebook page I belong to. They also told me the stores to avoid. I also understand this guy is old school and you all seem to be dedicated to the cutting edge of pool science and aren't afraid to buck the old school in pursuit of better results.

So what y'all think of the chlorine level? Safe for adults and children today? I think it is but i just want to be sure.


THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!
 
The only way your chlorine is unsafe is if it's too high. Usually when you SLAM. Since you aren't, you're probably good. Hard to say without good test data, but if your CYA is 70 (not sure about that but for argument's sake since you use dichlor shock bags and trichlor pucks) your SLAM FC is 28ppm. You're not getting there with pucks and bags. It's liquid chlorine and gallons of it.

This pool store guy you found seems like a good one. You're lucky, many aren't. The one where I live is a joke.
 
aquaN00b said:
Tbf, the pool store guy never said my FC level was too high and I never said he did. I said I thought that based on my readings yesterday because my FC was zero then I went through like 9 tablets in 2 weeks and now it's appears darker red than my bioguard which only measures to 5 ppm. The pool guy just simply told me my water was safe for swimming more than a month ago shortly after opening and triple shocking it.


I failed to mention, the main thing that set me off on this quest for a second opinion was reading the label on the shock that warned not to reenter if it's over 4 ppm due to "risk of bodily injury". Considering young kids are getting in the pool today, that line gave me much pause in my confidence of my chemical levels.

I just did the bioguard again, the pH is a little low between 7.2 and 6.8 and the FC looks to be 5 or higher. I am going to leave the pH alone for now
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The warning about FC being over 4 assumes there’s no CYA (stabilizer) in the pool. 4ppm with no CYA is far harsher than FC levels suggested on the FC/CYA chart used here. Using the FC/CYA Chart, you can safely swim up to shock level.
 
Also, if nobody has mentioned this already, take the trichlor pucks out of the skimmer. When the pump is off, they keep working, and when the pump turns back on, it hammers the gaskets and other parts with pretty acidic water. Gasket failure isn't something you want. Pucks go in a floating chlorinator or an inline feeder in the plumbing. Nowhere else.
 
Jhsparky82 said:
Also, if nobody has mentioned this already, take the trichlor pucks out of the skimmer. When the pump is off, they keep working, and when the pump turns back on, it hammers the gaskets and other parts with pretty acidic water. Gasket failure isn't something you want. Pucks go in a floating chlorinator or an inline feeder in the plumbing. Nowhere else.
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Yes, I read that elsewhere. I swapped the skimmer basket with one containing no pucks every night when the pump turns off.


Also, not sure if it changes your advice, but both my pucks and shock are trichlor
 
I've never seen powdered trichlor. Granted I don't look for it, but that's a new one on me. Either way, pure chlorine is unstable to manufactures bind it to stuff to stabilize it for storage and transport.

Dichlor and trichlor are chlorine bound to CYA. Cal-Hypo is bound to calcium. Lith-Hypo to lithium. Calcium and CYA build up in pool water and can only be removed by draining water. Lithium is expensive!

Best method of chlorinating is either a SWG (on my wish list lol) or liquid bleach. Bleach is chlorine and salt, nothing more. It doesn't change my advice tho. The difference between trichlor and dichlor is the speed at which they dissolve into the pool water. Trichlor is slow and good for steady maintenance. Dichlor is fast, better to bump the FC quickly. Both have the nasty side effects of CYA building up and locking up chlorine. That's why late in summer people using pucks get algae blooms. Their CYA has gotten so high it's rendering the FC useless. Then they add more pucks to kill the algae and are only making it worse.
 
Jhsparky82 said:
I've never seen powdered trichlor. Granted I don't look for it, but that's a new one on me. Either way, pure chlorine is unstable to manufactures bind it to stuff to stabilize it for storage and transport.

Dichlor and trichlor are chlorine bound to CYA. Cal-Hypo is bound to calcium. Lith-Hypo to lithium. Calcium and CYA build up in pool water and can only be removed by draining water. Lithium is expensive!

Best method of chlorinating is either a SWG (on my wish list lol) or liquid bleach. Bleach is chlorine and salt, nothing more. It doesn't change my advice tho. The difference between trichlor and dichlor is the speed at which they dissolve into the pool water. Trichlor is slow and good for steady maintenance. Dichlor is fast, better to bump the FC quickly. Both have the nasty side effects of CYA building up and locking up chlorine. That's why late in summer people using pucks get algae blooms. Their CYA has gotten so high it's rendering the FC useless. Then they add more pucks to kill the algae and are only making it worse.
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Great advice, thank you!
 
Yeah Aqua, you’ll see around here there are many people that will be willing and able to help you. Everyone on this forum started off being aggravated and frustrated with pool care, like me. But I can assure you, you will look back at this time and laugh.
Once you have a proper test kit and start posting your readings, you’ll be guided by some of the most knowledgeable people in pool care. And you’ll have a TFP in no time!!! :cheers:
 
Thanks to everyone that helped me out today. All the kids and adults had a blast and I felt an immense sense of pride with the look of the first pool I've ever owned. I can only imagine the level of satisfaction and pride I'll have once I'm a seasoned TFP "customer". Taylor kit is on the way and I have some reading to do....

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Honestly, your pool looks great! Few people get to start doing TFPC with a pool in that condition. Mine was a swamp. Emerald green, couldn't see a foot down, no idea what I had for chemistry. And I didn't understand the chemistry either. I had strips, and the same bioguard kit you have now. I bought into TFPC, got the TF100 and it changed everything. It's been crystal clear for months. You're already there.

When you get your kit, post a full set of numbers, and keep up on maintenance every day. 10 minutes or less a day to keep your pool as awesome as it is now, or better. Welcome to the club!
 
Jhsparky82 said:
Honestly, your pool looks great! Few people get to start doing TFPC with a pool in that condition. Mine was a swamp. Emerald green, couldn't see a foot down, no idea what I had for chemistry. And I didn't understand the chemistry either. I had strips, and the same bioguard kit you have now. I bought into TFPC, got the TF100 and it changed everything. It's been crystal clear for months. You're already there.

When you get your kit, post a full set of numbers, and keep up on maintenance every day. 10 minutes or less a day to keep your pool as awesome as it is now, or better. Welcome to the club!
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Mine looked pretty bad when I opened it. It was Green brown and black and a ton of dirt. I spent a good few weeks cleaning and adding chemicals etc. My first and biggest noob mistake was I didn't fully tighten the plug on the hair and lint box and was sucking a ton of air in. My pressure wasn't good for vacuuming so that was a huge waste of time. I was only getting 5 psi on the pump and thought it was normal, then back washed and added DE at 10-15 psi. This led me to buying the Nautilus to get the dirt and acorns out.......oh the acorns. I wish I had all the money in the world to clear all these trees out. Biiiiiig oak trees around. However triple shocking it really cleaned it up nicely. Once I figured out my pump wasn't right and fixed that my psi normal range is 15 and I backwash at 30. People tell me these DE filters are awesome, and they are. I have put a lot of sweat into this thing, it's been an odyssey and lots of learning. The art of pool care "book" was really great TBH, I learned a lot. But the chemical side always confounded me so joining this forum will be great for that.
 
#40Fan said:
The small kit should work for the short season left.
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Any test kit bought now can be used next season provided the reagents are fresh. There have been reports of Taylor test kits bought on Amazon that were fairly old. Thats one of the reasons to prefer the TF-100 Test Kits that always ships with fresh reagents.
 

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