Question About Balancing

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kfrench1666

kfrench1666

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Aug 25, 2018
41
Lancaster, OH
Brand new IG vinyl pool and first time pool owner. It's been up and running since last Thursday.
Been working on getting my numbers at the proper level from initial fill (city water from hose)
Here is where I am currently:

pH 7.0
TA 130
FC 8
CC 0.4 (holding here since Saturday's readings)
CH 120
CYA 90
Salt 3500
Water Temp 86 (couple of sunny days kicked the temp up 2 degrees :) )

I started with TA at 300. Using MA, got it down to 80. But, that resulted in a pH drop below 7(no actual number guessed at below 6.8)
Using Pool Math, I added 128oz of Borax to raise the pH. I have no means of aeration besides swimmers. My stupid jets do not rotate so I can break the surface. Hence, the borax
But, this affected my TA.
I'm stuck. If I add MA to drop the TA, my pH is going to plummet again. So, what is my best bet to get these within recommended levels?
And, I'm going to pre-thank the gurus on here for any advice!
 
Since you don't have plaster to worry about, the only main concern with a rising pH would be avoiding scale on the SWG plates. But at this point, your overall water chemistry is not hard enough to worry about that. So I wouldn't do anything right now. Leave the TA alone for a bit. The pH will rise naturally, we know that. Let it get all the way up to 8.0 before you whack it again to lower TA a notch or two. No rush. Eventually you'll find that "happy place" where the TA and pH remain fairly stable.


By the way ..... what type of heater do you have? Does it have titanium, copper, or other inside? If copper, that's another reason to let the pH increase a bit so that water isn't corrosive for too long.
 
kfrench1666 said:
Copper tubing - I believe.
Click to expand...
Yeah, just be careful of that. While you may like the TA lower, you're at a point where you certainly don't want the water too acidic for too long and damage the heater. Eventually the TA will fall. To get another opinion on the numbers, I'm going to tap-in @JoyfulNoise to see what he thinks. Just to be safe.
 
TA is what you mess with once everything else is set and you're bored. And yours may not even be that high-- if your R-009 is new this season, you could have static electricity buildup which will make the drops small so you read higher than actual. The fix is to wipe the tip with a damp paper towel before each drop. Only for a few days, then it will be okay. That could account for you overshooting the acid.
 
@Richard320 - thought I had read that somewhere on these forums before. My TA started high right from the hose (300). Once I got the other numbers reasonably in line, I tackled the TA.
I'm going to let everything sit for a week and see how it goes on its own. I was in the pool today after work. The water was clear, silky smooth and sparkly. I'll continue with the TFP method and see if I can keep it like that all summer long.
I'll post a pic once I get it pulled off the phone
 
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Aerate the water as best you can and maybe look up on TFP for DIY aerator/fountains.

From a purely scientific perspective, your water is way too corrosive (CSI ~ -1.0 and Ryzner Stability Index ~ 8.8). In terms of your vinyl liner and human beings, the corrosivity of the water is irrelevant. BUT, in terms of any metal components you are putting in the water, it’s not a “healthy” environment. Steel submerged in water with an RSI > 8 would be subject to corrosion. Copper is not the same as steel but with a CSI of -1.0 there is absolutely no way a protective carbonate layer can form inside the heat exchanger. Therefore the copper is at risk of corrosion. How bad that risk is would be hard to determine. Are you within days of your pool imploding into a black hole and sucking your precious family pets into oblivion? No, not really. If left that way for an entire season would your heater’s life be shorter? Yeah, possibly.

Raise your CH to at least 200ppm. Get your pH back up above 7.2 with borax and don’t actively try to manage your TA at this point. If your TA is between 100-120ppm, just leave it alone. If you find your pH creeping up faster than you would like, the TA can be lowered later. Keep an eye on your SWG and see if it starts “spitting snowflakes”. If that happens, then the TA can be lowered.
 
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