BattleOfYakima
TFP Guide
I just want to say you're doing great. You're learning really fast and you're doing the absolute best thing in asking any and all questions, no matter what. Your pool is lucky to have you!
Taking over pool care, don't know what I'm doing!
- Thread starter hepmama
- Start date
Yes, keep it up, and you will get there.
Thank y'all for the encouragement!
Yesterday it was rainy so I didn't go out there at all. This afternoon the FC is 3.5 and the pH is 7.8.
The SWG is set at 100% and has been since Saturday afternoon. It doesn't seem to be working. It is showing the error codes and also says to add salt. I haven't heard back from the pool guy on the cost to replace the cell and the cord only. I'll check back in with him eventually but for now will use bleach for chlorine.
I have the waterfall on for aeration to lower TA but now I wonder if that is making the pH go up. The pump is running 8 hours. Maybe that is too long since my SWG is not working? I need to do some more reading but wanted to check in! Thanks for putting up with me!
- Mar 24, 2014
- 2,455
- Pool Size
- 32000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool SJ-55
Yes, the waterfall will make your pH go up due to aeration. It does not automatically low TA for what it's worth, lowering TA is a cycle of adding acid and then aerating the water to raise pH, repeat.
Is there a specific reason you are trying to lower TA? Last test I saw in this thread had a TA of 80?
Is there a specific reason you are trying to lower TA? Last test I saw in this thread had a TA of 80?
I guess it's ok but at the top end. I did turn the waterfall off. Thanks for the info on how that works. ?
I wanted to drop in and check up on ya. Looks like you've picked right up on things! Great Job!!!!!
I think you made the right decision in passing on worrying about the SWG for now. Get your chemistry setup and where you understand your chemistry. From there worry about getting the SWG setup. Keep your FC above 7ish as you're now dosing with liquid. This will help you keep away the green.
Speaking of which........how does the pool still look?
I think you made the right decision in passing on worrying about the SWG for now. Get your chemistry setup and where you understand your chemistry. From there worry about getting the SWG setup. Keep your FC above 7ish as you're now dosing with liquid. This will help you keep away the green.
Speaking of which........how does the pool still look?
You are learning so much!
Lets talk about PH and TA. They are friends that go hand in hand. Each pool is different in how much of each it likes. You will find what works best with your pool if you keep a test log to keep track of trends in your testing.
You should run your water features for about 10 mins a day or when you want to listen to and see it be oh so pretty. It will push the PH up but that is easy to "fix" with Muriatic Acid.
Now back to PH and TA being happy. You will know you found the sweet spot for the TA when you PH does not JUMP up. When you do not need to lower PH except about once a week or so unless you have been enjoying your waterfall a lot.
There will be some trial and error to find what YOUR pool likes.
Kim
Lets talk about PH and TA. They are friends that go hand in hand. Each pool is different in how much of each it likes. You will find what works best with your pool if you keep a test log to keep track of trends in your testing.
You should run your water features for about 10 mins a day or when you want to listen to and see it be oh so pretty. It will push the PH up but that is easy to "fix" with Muriatic Acid.
Now back to PH and TA being happy. You will know you found the sweet spot for the TA when you PH does not JUMP up. When you do not need to lower PH except about once a week or so unless you have been enjoying your waterfall a lot.
There will be some trial and error to find what YOUR pool likes.
Kim
Your numbers are fine and you just need to keep them tuned for now. Once the pH reaches 7.8 in my pool I'll add enough acid to lower it to 7.5 and call it good. For now with the TA at 80 you have zero issues and you don't even need to think about lowering it any time soon. Keeping the pH in the 7.5 to 7.8 range will more than likely keep the TA in the proper range.
What is the SWG saying the salt level is at? It should report it like 2.0 or some number like that.
Is the K-1766 salt test showing 2800? I would add enough salt to get this test to read 3200 to 3500.
What is the SWG saying the salt level is at? It should report it like 2.0 or some number like that.
Is the K-1766 salt test showing 2800? I would add enough salt to get this test to read 3200 to 3500.
Lee, the water looks good and thank you for checking in!
Kim, thank you for the pH and TA lesson!
Ping, I ran some tests just for you!
The pH is currently 7.8. Looks like I need to add acid more on that later...
FC is 3 (I'll be adding a jug of bleach today).
TA has climbed back up to 90, more on that later...
The SWG says the level of salt is 2.4, but the K-1766 test says it is 3000. I am not sure why the large discrepancy unless it's because the salt cell isn't working right?
For the acid and TA, PoolMath says: To lower TA you reduce pH to 7.0-7.2 with acid and then aerate to increase pH.
So, since TA has climbed back up, should I try the tip above by lowering pH to 7.0-7.2 with acid and aerate to increase pH? I was thinking of aiming for 7.2. What do you think?
Kim, thank you for the pH and TA lesson!
Ping, I ran some tests just for you!
The pH is currently 7.8. Looks like I need to add acid more on that later...
FC is 3 (I'll be adding a jug of bleach today).
TA has climbed back up to 90, more on that later...
The SWG says the level of salt is 2.4, but the K-1766 test says it is 3000. I am not sure why the large discrepancy unless it's because the salt cell isn't working right?
For the acid and TA, PoolMath says: To lower TA you reduce pH to 7.0-7.2 with acid and then aerate to increase pH.
So, since TA has climbed back up, should I try the tip above by lowering pH to 7.0-7.2 with acid and aerate to increase pH? I was thinking of aiming for 7.2. What do you think?
I think you are one smart cookie! You got it!
It is a process....lower PH with M. Acid to 7.2, Run your water fall to push it back up. Do this until you have your TA down to 70. Let it sit there to see how happy the PH is. If your PH jumps up with the TA at 70 then work on pushing the TA down to 60 and so on and so forth until they are both happy.
Kim
It is a process....lower PH with M. Acid to 7.2, Run your water fall to push it back up. Do this until you have your TA down to 70. Let it sit there to see how happy the PH is. If your PH jumps up with the TA at 70 then work on pushing the TA down to 60 and so on and so forth until they are both happy.
Kim
There are two main reasons to keep the TA in the 60-80 range for pools that have SWG's.
One reason is to keep the pH from rising at too fast of rate and you have to add acid more often than you should. With the TA in the 60-80 range hopefully the acid additions will be once a week or less.
The other reason is to keep the CSI slightly negative to help prevent scaling inside the SWG cell. You need to plug all the test numbers in to PoolMath and see what the CSI is. I like to keep the CSI around -.1 to -.2.
Kim is right on for the process to lower the TA but ,that is something to be done whenever you want to dial in the pool.
I would add one more 40lb bag of salt and see how the SWG responds. My old AquaPure always read 300-400 lower than the K-1766 test so I just kept the salt level at 3400 according to the K-1766 test. This made the SWG happy which is the most important thing.
After adding this salt and the SWG does not start producing chlorine as it should I would say it will need to be replaced. One of the clues that it is failing is that the cell is reading the salt lower than it should.
Thank you, ping!
I do have a couple of questions....
1. When I turned on the SWG before, you said to wait til the FC fell to 6, I believe. I am guessing that the addition of the bleach last night probably raised it to around 7. Should I leave the SWG on? If it is functioning even a little will it hurt anything? Or do I just leave it on and not worry about it?
2. I'm getting ready to go out of town for 6 days so nothing will be done during that time. I don't think I'm going to get to add the salt until I get back because I would need to take the cover off the pool and put it back - I'm crunched for time right now. What would be the best thing to do the day before I leave to give the pool the best shot of not turning green while I'm gone? Should I turn off the SWG? Add bleach? What level of FC should I aim for in the PoolMath? Where should I leave the pH? Right now it is 7.8 so a touch on the high side.
Considering the pool sat for about 2 months with nothing being done to it, I know 6 days isn't a huge amount of time. What would you suggest?
I do have a couple of questions....
1. When I turned on the SWG before, you said to wait til the FC fell to 6, I believe. I am guessing that the addition of the bleach last night probably raised it to around 7. Should I leave the SWG on? If it is functioning even a little will it hurt anything? Or do I just leave it on and not worry about it?
2. I'm getting ready to go out of town for 6 days so nothing will be done during that time. I don't think I'm going to get to add the salt until I get back because I would need to take the cover off the pool and put it back - I'm crunched for time right now. What would be the best thing to do the day before I leave to give the pool the best shot of not turning green while I'm gone? Should I turn off the SWG? Add bleach? What level of FC should I aim for in the PoolMath? Where should I leave the pH? Right now it is 7.8 so a touch on the high side.
Considering the pool sat for about 2 months with nothing being done to it, I know 6 days isn't a huge amount of time. What would you suggest?
Leave the SWG on at 100% until you get back.
Add just over a cup of acid now to lower the pH to 7.5 and see if it measures 7.5 about an hour after you add the acid.
Before you leave add enough acid to bring the pH back to 7.5 if it rises before you leave.
The night before you leave add enough bleach to raise the FC to SLAM level which is 24ppm for your CYA level. Leave the pool covered while you are away. Hopefully you return to a clear pool.
Do you have enough time to do an Overnight FC Loss Test? Read this link and let me know if you can do this now.
I don't like how much chlorine the pool seems to be using right now with it still being cool and covered hence the reason for the above test.
Add just over a cup of acid now to lower the pH to 7.5 and see if it measures 7.5 about an hour after you add the acid.
Before you leave add enough acid to bring the pH back to 7.5 if it rises before you leave.
The night before you leave add enough bleach to raise the FC to SLAM level which is 24ppm for your CYA level. Leave the pool covered while you are away. Hopefully you return to a clear pool.
Do you have enough time to do an Overnight FC Loss Test? Read this link and let me know if you can do this now.
I don't like how much chlorine the pool seems to be using right now with it still being cool and covered hence the reason for the above test.
Okay, just checked FC and it's at 12.5!!! So I looked at the bleach bottle I'd used (it was still in the recycle bin) and dang it was concentrated! Have I screwed it up?
Also the pH looks like it's up to 8.2 now. PoolMath says to add 80 oz of the 31.45% acid, is that correct?
I don't understand where this CSI Now and Target comes from on the PoolMath yet. But it changes both of them when I change stuff. Says Now is .11 and when I hover over that it says "Balanced" in the "Mouse over a field for detail" field. It says Target is -.48 and when I hover over that it says "Potential to become corrosive to plaster" so I am confused.
I'm so bummed I used concentrated bleach. Home Depot was out of the stuff I usually get so I grabbed the Clorox bottle next to it and didn't notice that.
I should be able to do the overnight FC loss test assuming I haven't broken something using the wrong bleach.
The Target for CSI just means that the numbers you have entered in the target column are going to result in something that is more acidic and hard on plaster than is recommended.
So, let's talk about that for a moment. What are your target numbers set to in PoolMath?
Concentrated Bleach, as long as it is unscented and not "splashless" is perfectly fine to use. The only difference from "liquid chlorinate" is that the concentrated bleach isn't as strong. Even if there was scent or splashless formula, it just makes things sudsy for a while - it's not a big deal.
So, let's talk about that for a moment. What are your target numbers set to in PoolMath?
Concentrated Bleach, as long as it is unscented and not "splashless" is perfectly fine to use. The only difference from "liquid chlorinate" is that the concentrated bleach isn't as strong. Even if there was scent or splashless formula, it just makes things sudsy for a while - it's not a big deal.
I have FC target at 7, pH at 7.5, TA at 80, CH at 350, CYA 70, salt 3200, borate 50. I'm getting myself more confused because I don't think the SWG is working, so I am trying to use non-SWG numbers I think?
I did not get to add the acid yet today but I did start the overnight FC loss test. Going to try to remember to set my alarm to get up before the sun hits the pool so I can finish the test.
Thank you for the info on concentrated bleach! I bought more of the regular stuff today.
You're doing great, mama!
I love the education you are getting from the great people here and I am learning right along with you, as mine is still a little confusing to me!
Blessings to you!
I love the education you are getting from the great people here and I am learning right along with you, as mine is still a little confusing to me!
Blessings to you!
Since you're adding bleach, definitely go with the non-SWG numbers for now. What is your current water temperature so I can help you with that CSI?
The 7.5 pH target, along with the low water temperature is what is causing the CSI to drop too low. When your water is colder, you may need to maintain a higher pH to keep the CSI in check. As the water warms, you can bring the pH down farther.
The borates and the salt are also lowering that CSI. If you actually have borates in the pool, that's fine, if you don't, follow the "current" column with borates at 0.
There are two schools of thought here - duraleigh feels that keeping your pH anywhere in the 7-8 range is ok. CSI adherents feel that you really need to keep that number in the correct spot. It's up to you. I, personally, use CSI, so during the winter, I've kept my pH higher, near 7.8-8 to keep my CSI in a "good" spot. If you're worried about CSI, allow your pH to stay up around 7.8 and you should be good. Once your water warms up further, you can use PoolMath to see how much farther down you can bring the pH.
The borates and the salt are also lowering that CSI. If you actually have borates in the pool, that's fine, if you don't, follow the "current" column with borates at 0.
There are two schools of thought here - duraleigh feels that keeping your pH anywhere in the 7-8 range is ok. CSI adherents feel that you really need to keep that number in the correct spot. It's up to you. I, personally, use CSI, so during the winter, I've kept my pH higher, near 7.8-8 to keep my CSI in a "good" spot. If you're worried about CSI, allow your pH to stay up around 7.8 and you should be good. Once your water warms up further, you can use PoolMath to see how much farther down you can bring the pH.