oh and i only spent $15 on 6lbs of chlorine so its not like im stuck with this giant tub of tabs that cost me $80.
pool is up but test kit isnt here yet...what to do?
- Thread starter chinolofus
- Start date
I'm sorry, but I totally LOL'ed at the wife comments.
No offense to the women here who are involved with their pools. It isn't a gender thing. It's just a domain thing.
If my other half wants to dictate whether or not I use BBB then all other duties go with it... vacuuming, skimmer cleaning, etc.
It's the same as if I criticize anything about how laundry is done, then I am "free" to inherit all aspects of doing laundry
My other half suggested that you present it as "this big batch of 'regular' pool chemicals I picked up instead of BBB is one less pair of shoes/purse/etc that you could have had."
No offense to the women here who are involved with their pools. It isn't a gender thing. It's just a domain thing.
If my other half wants to dictate whether or not I use BBB then all other duties go with it... vacuuming, skimmer cleaning, etc.
It's the same as if I criticize anything about how laundry is done, then I am "free" to inherit all aspects of doing laundry
My other half suggested that you present it as "this big batch of 'regular' pool chemicals I picked up instead of BBB is one less pair of shoes/purse/etc that you could have had."
i'll get her to come around, like the saying goes "happy wife, happy life" besides she makes way more money than i do so if she wants to spend it than so be it.
good news is that my test kit will be here tomorrow and the pool is almost full, but Dang its cold. hopefully my solar heater gets here by wed.
good news is that my test kit will be here tomorrow and the pool is almost full, but Dang its cold. hopefully my solar heater gets here by wed.
ok pool is full, chlorine has been floating around since about half full. the pump has been running about 2 hours. should i test now? or do i need to wait a certain amount of time to let the pump work the chlorine through?
As long as the water has circulated for an hour, go ahead and test ... realize that your CYA will still be basically zero, so no point in testing that ... just track the number of tablets you have used
Please add your pool details and location as described HERE to your signature as it will help us help you.
Please add your pool details and location as described HERE to your signature as it will help us help you.
ok here goes...
chlorine...barely changed color. so obviously not enough chlorine
bromine..barely changed color
ph...7.6
total alkalinity...130
so far i have just used 1 3" tablet of course the is still a lot left of it in the floater. i did break it into 3 pieces and put them all in because my floater doesnt fit 3" tabs.
chlorine...barely changed color. so obviously not enough chlorine
bromine..barely changed color
ph...7.6
total alkalinity...130
so far i have just used 1 3" tablet of course the is still a lot left of it in the floater. i did break it into 3 pieces and put them all in because my floater doesnt fit 3" tabs.
What test kit did you buy?
You do not have Bromine ... so ignore that.
So, what is your plan for adding chlorine? If you are going to use the pucks to start, can you fit more in the floater and open up the output? Otherwise you need to be supplementing with bleach to get your FC up to around 2ppm.
You do not have Bromine ... so ignore that.
So, what is your plan for adding chlorine? If you are going to use the pucks to start, can you fit more in the floater and open up the output? Otherwise you need to be supplementing with bleach to get your FC up to around 2ppm.
Grab that bottle of Clorox and start pouring :!:
Water with little to no FC can turn bad quickly. I don't know if you can wait 1-2 days for the pucks to get you there. Avoid having to possibly shock the pool by getting to it now.
Just one guy's free advice and worth as much :blah:
Water with little to no FC can turn bad quickly. I don't know if you can wait 1-2 days for the pucks to get you there. Avoid having to possibly shock the pool by getting to it now.
Just one guy's free advice and worth as much :blah:
i got this one... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00107 ... UTF8&psc=1
i can fit more in. at least 1 more tablet...maybe 2. i'll try that and crank it open. if that doesnt work i can switch to bleach. how long should i give the tablets to work?
i can fit more in. at least 1 more tablet...maybe 2. i'll try that and crank it open. if that doesnt work i can switch to bleach. how long should i give the tablets to work?
Plug all your pool stuff into this website:
http://poolcalculator.com
It'll help you know exactly how much of each item to add based on your test results.
http://poolcalculator.com
It'll help you know exactly how much of each item to add based on your test results.
So you waited that long for a non-Taylor-based and not one of the Recommended Test Kits? 
All that is going to tell you is TC, pH and TA. You have been better off with the 6-way HTH from Walmart at least that has a CYA test.
So you better keep really good track of the amount of CYA you add and you better keep chlorine in the pool because as soon as that water turns cloudy/green ... you are going to have to upgrade to a good test kit or drain and start over.
The required FC is a function of the CYA: pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
For now you should try to stay above 1ppm, but when the CYA gets up to 20ppm, you will need to stay above 2ppm, once the CYA hits 40 you will need at least 3ppm of FC, etc.
All that is going to tell you is TC, pH and TA. You have been better off with the 6-way HTH from Walmart at least that has a CYA test.
So you better keep really good track of the amount of CYA you add and you better keep chlorine in the pool because as soon as that water turns cloudy/green ... you are going to have to upgrade to a good test kit or drain and start over.
The required FC is a function of the CYA: pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock
For now you should try to stay above 1ppm, but when the CYA gets up to 20ppm, you will need to stay above 2ppm, once the CYA hits 40 you will need at least 3ppm of FC, etc.
I would shoot for 4ppm to get started. Without any CYA in there, the sun will break it down more quickly.
im low on funds cuz this pool build sucked more money out of my wallet than i thought it would.
walmart in chicago doesnt carry the hth kit and they wont ship it to my store for some reason. i went with a cheap well reviewed kit on amazon since i have prime...i thought the 5 way kits did test cya.
so how do i keep an eye on the cya if my kit doesnt test for it?
so on that calculator should i put 0 for current fc level and 1,2,3 or 4 for goal? man this all confusing. especially on only a few hours of sleep. fc is the one i should be messing with right?
walmart in chicago doesnt carry the hth kit and they wont ship it to my store for some reason. i went with a cheap well reviewed kit on amazon since i have prime...i thought the 5 way kits did test cya.
so how do i keep an eye on the cya if my kit doesnt test for it?
so on that calculator should i put 0 for current fc level and 1,2,3 or 4 for goal? man this all confusing. especially on only a few hours of sleep. fc is the one i should be messing with right?
Livinright said:
Not sure about that. 4ppm would be VERY harsh so you should certainly not swim unless the FC is below 2ppm with little to no CYA in the water yet.
It is true though that you are going to be losing the FC to the sun very quickly until the CYA builds up some.
chinolofus said:
You track how much you add by counting the number of tablets you use and use the Effect of Adding Chemicals at the bottom of the calculator to tell you how much CYA each tablet adds.
ok im switching to bleach. it seems like it will be much easier to keep track of what i put in. i dont care what the wife says lol.
so if i add bleach. the calculator says 10 oz to get to 1. then what will i need for cya? is that where the borax comes in? the calculator just says stabilizer. i read a link saying borax is a stabilizer but its for ph...so not sure.
fyi im gonna return this kit and get a different one that tests cya. or see if there is at least a single cya kit. not sure if amazon will take back a used test kit.
fyi im gonna return this kit and get a different one that tests cya. or see if there is at least a single cya kit. not sure if amazon will take back a used test kit.