Starting to look better...but.

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Educate me on vacuuming and brushing. When I vacuum it seems to suck up some of the debris, but a good amount seems to be kicked up into the water, then settle back on the bottom over the next 24+ hours. When I am brushing, is the point to just brush the walls? Or am I brushing everything and trying to push the debris toward the main drain to expel it?
 
Do the walls and floor, when you vacuum go slowly to minimize what you stir up and maximize removal. Usually it's not really needed to run it to the floor drain. When vacuuming how are you hooking it up? Is there good suction?
 
I have both a manual (push vac) and a zodiac mx8 elite automatic suction vac that I just bought. I hook them to the skimmer when I use them. The zodiac had a way to tell if the suction was good enough by counting the rotations that the tire makes, according to them my suction was adequate.
 
Niteowl said:
How much do you consider bulk? I am buying 2.5 gallon jugs and I buy 4 at a time.
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If you have a cool dark place (basement) to store it, then you cannot really buy too much. I usually have 16-30 gallons on hand at all times. When I get down to about 10, I go buy 12-20 gallons at a time. Since LC is how you will be chlorinating, then you will go through probably about 4 gallons a week, minimum.

Last year I ended up with no leftover gallons! I got lucky.

As far as your CYA, if the pool store test is right (and CYA is one of the hardest tests to conduct so take it with a grain of salt) you are right at the top of the recommended range. High CYA means higher chlorine use and consumption. Due to my water situation, I've been dealing with high CYA for the entire time I've owned my pool. It does come down over time so if you are truly at 60 then you should be good. I am in the 90-100 range, down from 130 last season.

Once your testkit comes tomorrow you'll be golden! The only time I even go to a pool store now is for immediate equipment needs, and liquid chlorine! No more $500 trips to the pool store only to have my problems worsen.
 
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Niteowl said:
Educate me on vacuuming and brushing. When I vacuum it seems to suck up some of the debris, but a good amount seems to be kicked up into the water, then settle back on the bottom over the next 24+ hours. When I am brushing, is the point to just brush the walls? Or am I brushing everything and trying to push the debris toward the main drain to expel it?
Click to expand...
During the SLAM Process brushing exposes any aglae present to the chlorine in the water.

Does your floor drain pull adequately to not plug-up with this debris? Until you have your proper testing kit, you won't be sure that the chlorine is able to kill the algae (which is when the filter can "catch it")
Also the vacuum will kick some of the finer particles up into the water column which will hopefully circulate to and through the filter
 
With the vacuum, you want to move slowly and "sneak up" on the stuff on the bottom. Most vacuums also have brushes, so you are brushing the bottom at the same time as well. Brushing then is mostly the sides, ladders, steps, skimmer throat, anything that might hide algae. As others said, even if you don't get everything with the vacuum, hopefully it's kicking up where the filter will get some of it too.
 
How often do you brush and vacuum? The PoolMath app defaulted to every 7 days, is that about right? How often do you use the manual vacuum versus the automatic one? The PoolMath app also defaulted to changing the filter cartridge every 14 days, I was doing it once a week, is every 2 weeks sufficient?
 
How often do you brush and vacuum? The PoolMath app defaulted to every 7 days, is that about right? How often do you use the manual vacuum versus the automatic one? The PoolMath app also defaulted to changing the filter cartridge every 14 days, I was doing it once a week, is every 2 weeks sufficient?
 
Niteowl said:
How often do you brush and vacuum? The PoolMath app defaulted to every 7 days, is that about right? How often do you use the manual vacuum versus the automatic one? The PoolMath app also defaulted to changing the filter cartridge every 14 days, I was doing it once a week, is every 2 weeks sufficient?
Click to expand...

Typically when it comes to filter cartridge cleaning, more is better. However, the general rule is not time based, but PSI based. Do you know what your clean filter pressure is? Once you do, then you clean (or change if you have a spare and rotate) every time the pressure climbs over 25% of the clean pressure. For instance, if your clean pressure is 8PSI, then at 10-11PSI you are cleaning the filter.

Also brushing and vacuuming are better done on a "as needed" basis rather than time-bound. I tend to vacuum a couple of times a week. I have a FG pool so I brush about every month unless there is a need to do more (like at opening time).

One bit advice I like to give is to always keep meticulous notes of when and what you do to the pool, including recording the weather. By doing so you will start to know what your pool does or doesn't need based on weather, pool usage, etc. It almost becomes second-nature by that point.
 

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Niteowl said:
How often do you brush and vacuum? The PoolMath app defaulted to every 7 days, is that about right? How often do you use the manual vacuum versus the automatic one? The PoolMath app also defaulted to changing the filter cartridge every 14 days, I was doing it once a week, is every 2 weeks sufficient?
Click to expand...
Nite,

Every pool's different. Depends on all kinds of things specific to your pool, your location, weather etc. If your pool gets build up clean more often, error on the side of more frequent 'till you know your pool better then back off. Filter cleaning is not really on a schedule. Like many Florida builds your filter is pretty small for your pool size. Look at pressure increase from clean. Please read this information for details.

Chris
 
My pool has a 200 sq ft filter, similar size pool but enclosure so not so much contamination. I clean it every 6 months or so and I really don't even need to do it that often.
 
You all are a wealth of knowledge, but I have SOOO many newbie questions. I am assuming that I should never use the pucks again? unless somehow my CYA drops too low? Since I am buying my liquid chlorine in 2.5 gallon jugs from the pool store, but it only sounds like I need to add about .5 gallons per day, do you use another jug to pour the .5 gallons into or just try to guestimate how much you are pouring out of the 2.5 gallon jug? These are all questions for the future, I am still on the "cease and desist" order to stop all chemicals and testing until my TF-100 comes in. These are just questions that are floating around in my head to be prepared.
 
Nite,

Great questions and that's what we're here for. Don't double handle the chemicals that just creates opportunity for spills and accidents. Just mark off on the outside hash marks with an indelible pen. Don't worry, you'll get good at the pour pretty quickly. Remember .5 gal is a guesstimate 'till you get your kit. Your actual needs will vary with sun exposure and pool use. Keep your tablets for the future. You can use them when you need to be gone for travel or just to bump your CYA level so they don't go to waste. Even after I switched to SWG I keep them around for power losss and/or problems with SWG (not happened so far). But they don't go bad so long as you keep the lid on securely and store in shade or pool box.

Chris
 
Plastic cup is OK but better to do it directly from the jug. You'll most likely be adding no less than 2-3 ppm which will work out to be .25 gal or so. For me this was not a problem direct from the jug. Eventually you'll be able to add chlorine ever other day or every second day and amount needed will be easy to do from the jug. Wait an hour after adding to see how much you test. This confirms your pool volume and dosing. My pool volume must have been spot on as my volume added as predicted by Pool Math is always identical to confirmation FC test.
 
Niteowl said:
You all are a wealth of knowledge, but I have SOOO many newbie questions. I am assuming that I should never use the pucks again? unless somehow my CYA drops too low? Since I am buying my liquid chlorine in 2.5 gallon jugs from the pool store, but it only sounds like I need to add about .5 gallons per day, do you use another jug to pour the .5 gallons into or just try to guestimate how much you are pouring out of the 2.5 gallon jug? These are all questions for the future, I am still on the "cease and desist" order to stop all chemicals and testing until my TF-100 comes in. These are just questions that are floating around in my head to be prepared.
Click to expand...

You should never use pucks for daily sanitation. However, you can use pucks if you need to keep your pool chlorinated while you are on vacation. Just remember that pucks and powders add more than just chlorine. Mainly CYA, so over use will certainly cause issues over time. But occasionally when you go out of town shouldn't hurt as long as it isn't very often.
 
Vacuumed the pool again yesterday, kicked up some debris but not as much as before. So it seems like progress. It all cleared up overnight. The pool is very clear this morning, just waiting anxiously to get the test kit from UPS today so I can get some trustworthy results. Been watching videos this morning on how to test with the TF-100, cant wait to do it now.
 
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