Hi everyone,
First, I want to say I have tried to read as much as I could but its pretty overwhelming. So decided to make a post to help get right.
I had a 7.8k gallon fiberglass pool installed by river pools early winter. They closed it when they were done and opened it a couple weeks ago. They told me I have a detailed orientation on how to care for my pool. It really came down to just here is how to turn on your pump and change your filter. They vacuumed it and everything looks clear and doesn't smell like chlorine so I thought I was good but I started reading here and bought a Taylor k-2006c test kit just in case. It seems everything is out of whack or I messed up doing the tests.
Overview of Equipment:
River pools i30 - The install guy said he believes its around 7.8k gallons but I have not been able to confirm River pools I30
1 1⁄2 HP Supermax Variable Speed Pump
Pentair Cartridge Filter
Pentair Bioshield 80W UV system
XL Pro Mineral and Chlorine Feeder Combination Unit Pool Frog XL
Pentair 110kBTU Heater
Pentair Warrior SI robot
From reading on here it seems people really hate the Pool Frog XL systems and UV systems. I was convinced by the pool company that this is the easiest way to maintain my pool so I listened to them. Honestly, I just want to get my pool to a point where my family can use it all summer no matter the effort from me at this point.
Well here is what you guys want. I have either something weird going on with the chemistry or I messed this test up. I'll list the numbers then explain what I saw as I did them.
FC - <35PPM
CC - ~<40PPM
pH - >7
TA - Went straight to Red never was green
CH - 60 ppm
CYA- 45 (Edit forgot to put this in)
When I did the FC test after adding the DPD in it pretty much stayed clear but got kind of cloudy. I used the 10mL and 0.5 PPM calculation. I read a post on here saying that its possible that it maybe bleached and to add drops of the titrating reagent until it becomes pink. I did this and sure enough around 45-50 drops its started becoming pink. The post had also said I should keep going until it becomes clear again. Kept going through 70 drops and it started to clear up real light pink. but I just kind of gave up. That's why its listed as <35ppm. Also because my FC test was wonky I am sure my CC on is not very accurate.
On to the TA and the pH. The pH looked yellow when I followed the instructions and when I calculated the base demand it took 20 drops to get it around 7.6. I believe the pH is around 4.5 or lower based on another thread I read here stating that if my TA never goes green when I do the test and goes straight to red it means I have very low TA and pH.
So far all I have done is order some Soda ash to bring up the TA and pH and also Calcium Chloride to increase the CH. It will be a few days until all these arrives in the mail so hoping to retest mid-week.
What I need help with other then just please give me any advice; Should I turn off the XL pro chlorine Feeder and mineral paks until the FC and CC comes down? Should I just turn them off completely as I have seen suggested before? If I do where do I go from there? What about the UV sanitizer? Is it really doing me any good?
Thanks
Jon
First, I want to say I have tried to read as much as I could but its pretty overwhelming. So decided to make a post to help get right.
I had a 7.8k gallon fiberglass pool installed by river pools early winter. They closed it when they were done and opened it a couple weeks ago. They told me I have a detailed orientation on how to care for my pool. It really came down to just here is how to turn on your pump and change your filter. They vacuumed it and everything looks clear and doesn't smell like chlorine so I thought I was good but I started reading here and bought a Taylor k-2006c test kit just in case. It seems everything is out of whack or I messed up doing the tests.
Overview of Equipment:
River pools i30 - The install guy said he believes its around 7.8k gallons but I have not been able to confirm River pools I30
1 1⁄2 HP Supermax Variable Speed Pump
Pentair Cartridge Filter
Pentair Bioshield 80W UV system
XL Pro Mineral and Chlorine Feeder Combination Unit Pool Frog XL
Pentair 110kBTU Heater
Pentair Warrior SI robot
From reading on here it seems people really hate the Pool Frog XL systems and UV systems. I was convinced by the pool company that this is the easiest way to maintain my pool so I listened to them. Honestly, I just want to get my pool to a point where my family can use it all summer no matter the effort from me at this point.
Well here is what you guys want. I have either something weird going on with the chemistry or I messed this test up. I'll list the numbers then explain what I saw as I did them.
FC - <35PPM
CC - ~<40PPM
pH - >7
TA - Went straight to Red never was green
CH - 60 ppm
CYA- 45 (Edit forgot to put this in)
When I did the FC test after adding the DPD in it pretty much stayed clear but got kind of cloudy. I used the 10mL and 0.5 PPM calculation. I read a post on here saying that its possible that it maybe bleached and to add drops of the titrating reagent until it becomes pink. I did this and sure enough around 45-50 drops its started becoming pink. The post had also said I should keep going until it becomes clear again. Kept going through 70 drops and it started to clear up real light pink. but I just kind of gave up. That's why its listed as <35ppm. Also because my FC test was wonky I am sure my CC on is not very accurate.
On to the TA and the pH. The pH looked yellow when I followed the instructions and when I calculated the base demand it took 20 drops to get it around 7.6. I believe the pH is around 4.5 or lower based on another thread I read here stating that if my TA never goes green when I do the test and goes straight to red it means I have very low TA and pH.
So far all I have done is order some Soda ash to bring up the TA and pH and also Calcium Chloride to increase the CH. It will be a few days until all these arrives in the mail so hoping to retest mid-week.
What I need help with other then just please give me any advice; Should I turn off the XL pro chlorine Feeder and mineral paks until the FC and CC comes down? Should I just turn them off completely as I have seen suggested before? If I do where do I go from there? What about the UV sanitizer? Is it really doing me any good?
Thanks
Jon
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