Refurb - Sachse Tx w/ Bi-Carb Startup

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It has been a few days since I reported in..

Today was day 31 and I started the Polaris to vacuum the pool the first time. Yes zero plaster dust and faithful brushing along with very low polutants getting in allowed me to not have to use a manual vac. Within a couple minutes of it running the pump volute blew with a 5" crack and water blasting out. Fortunately I was right there when it happened and it is a hot day as it soaked me. So I had to hang my head and head to the Pool Store. Was very hopeful I would never deposit money there again.

The booster pump was hard plumbed so I had to do a little PVC work and add unions to get it back together and operating.

Water status:

A First! Two days in a row the pH has had the same reading! My TA has dropped between 70-80 with the last MA add. Hopefully we are starting to see some leveling off of the pH rise.

I am losing 3.5ppm FC a day when it is sunny. Funny thing in Texas that is almost a guarantee in August, but not this year. This equates to 62oz 8.25% bleach. So I am going to buy a 16 1/2 gallon jugs of chlorine for my daily volunteer chlorine adder to put in while we are out of town. I am also filling small plastic bottles with pre-measured (and calculated) MA and will label them 1,2,3 in the event the pH hits 8.0. I suspect it might once, maybe twice and they will have to just open the top, carefully & slowly pour it in and brush to mix.
 
Back from a wonderful vacation in the Colorado Rockies! My pool person (son and DIL) did great while I was gone. The 1/2 gal per day of bleach worked out perfectly along with my guesstimate on MA add. Everything was perfect sans pH which I expected to be around 8.0, and it was.

Ordered my CircuPool RJ-45 today. Discount Salt Pools is running a $20 upgrade deal. So the RJ-30 + $20 netted me a RJ-45. This is almost 4x my 12,000 gallons but with a single speed pump I will need to run the pump less. If I hadn't just replaced my motor this spring I would consider at least a 2 speed motor.

I need to get my salt test kit and salt so I am ready to install and turn on the SWG next weekend. Woohoo, no more bottles of bleach.
 
Next big step is upon me - adding SWG.

Circupool RJ-45+ arrived - was missing o'rings but Discount Salt Pools had them in the mail before I hung up with them. Awesome 1st customer experience.
K-1766 salt test kit arrived.
PVC fittings purchased
Salt purchased - 320# Diamond Crystal Solar Naturals Salt Crystals (Water softener salt)
Added 160# of salt last evening. Brushed a few times until visibly dissolved - only took an hour or so. Pump running 24x7. I will take reading tonight and add more salt as necessary. The SWG recommended range is 3000-4000. I will target 3500 ppm until I can get a reading from the SWG cell and adjust as appropriate.
Will start plumbing and controller install this weekend.
 

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The SWG is installed and I just turned it on this morning. Pump Run Time Calculator says in order to replace 3.5ppm of chlorine with RJ45+ (2.0 lbs in 24 hours) in 12K gal, run at 70% for 6 hours. I started it at 70% and will run 8 hours (8-4). Will measure FC after sun is off pool this afternoon.

Current Readings:
FC 6.0
CC 0
CYA 60-70 (will bump this up a little to 70- 80)
pH 7.6 (just lowered yesterday from 8.0)
TA 80 (did not measure this morning after yesterday's MA add)
CH 260 (this should come up some to 350. However it seems to be rising on its own?)
SALT 3400 per K-1766 test kit (recommended range of 3000 - 4000). The test kit is pretty consistent. It has measured +400ppm for each of the final two bags (40#) I added.
CSI -0.3

I'll let the pH rise and work to maintain it at 7.8. This will yield a CSI of -0.11 (until I raise the CH).


Pool School - Water Balance for SWGs

To summarize:
FC 4-6 ppm
PH 7.2-7.8
TA 60-80
CH

  • 50-300 for vinyl (Do Not Add)
  • 220-320 for fiberglass
  • 350-450 for plaster

CYA 70-80
Salt 200-400 ppm ABOVE recommended optimum level
Borates 30-50 ppm (optional)


As always comments and recommendations are appreciated.

 
bdavis466 said:
Your calcium level is rising due to your fill water calcium content. The water that evaporates leaves everything behind so any water you add is increasing the calcium content.[/QUOTE

And since the CH only leaves via splash out or overflow..... thanks for re-calibrating my thought process Brian.

Since it is getting late in the season best choice is don't add any CH. it will naturally increase next year.
Click to expand...
 
The calcium range is only there to keep the CSI from becoming too negative. Since you already have a grasp on CSI there is no need to add calcium unless you are having trouble keeping the CSI from being very negative.

I imagine you get a good amount of rainfall where you are so that may warrant adding calcium sometime during the winter.
 
I'll keep an eye on the calcium level and most importantly the CSI. Rainfall is not consistent year by year. Certainly
the evaporation is lessening and reducing the fill intervals. My pH keeps increasing due to the new plaster. I have been closely monitoring it. This seems to be the most impactful element in CSI.
 
Readings this evening
FC 7.5 - cell kept up with daily FC demand (sunny day) and exceeded it by 1.5 ppm. I reduced pump run time from 8 to 6 hours as calculated by SWG Run Time Calculator for tomorrow. I am generating during the day when the sun is on the pool.
PH 8.0 - seems since adding salt? it has crept higher at a faster rate. Are these related? Added MA targeting 7.6.

Interesting note on SWG salinity readings. It provides an "average" salinity reading and an instant. The average was 3200 from the factory and has dropped to 2900 since this morning. The instant is showing ~3500 which correlates well to my K-1766 3400ppm. The unit is not indicating low salt so I will monitor going forward. Recommends 3000-4000.
 
The SWG producing chlorine contributes to pH rise by formation of hydrogen gas (and potentially chlorine gas) outgassing and aerating the water.

This is why it's recommended to have a lower TA and 50ppm of borates when using SWGs.
 
TA is slowly coming down. So time to think about borates add. Adding borates drives up pH also? Moving to 50 ppm in my size pool requires 706oz borax and 337of MA!!! So add slowly over time. Maybe 5 ppm at a time.
 
No, use granular boric acid instead from DudaDiesel - Biodiesel, Chemical & Solar Supplies, Alternative Energy Store.

Boric acid will probably lower your pH by 0.3 and not require any adjustments... Dump it all in and brush it around - done.

Borates provide additional pH buffering especially at pH levels close to 8 and limit scale formation in the salt cell by cutting the reaction significantly.
 

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