My question now is should I add the borax to raise the ph? Run another full round of tests? yesterday when I did full tests the ph was 7.2 and TA 40 ... In the past I have added borax and then run the water above ... I've never added baking soda and actually don't have any on hand but I can get some if needed
TF-100 refills, CYA reagent, and My SLAM!
- Thread starter Aprilspool
- Start date
Great progress!! Nice diligent effort being shown!
Yes, having the proper equipment truly makes the difference!
What was your starting PH?
Your water is clear enough to allow the FC to drift under 10, because FC/10+ causes a false higher PH reading. Your PH could be 6.8 or 7, since you have vinyl, it wouldn't hurt to check. BUT you can't m,ake any adjustments with FC over 10, the other tests are considered invalid with higher FC levels...
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I started at ph 7.2, so actually perfect for the slam ... but maybe not so perfect for swimming ... It is supposed to be a sunny day, so maybe FC will be down to 10 by this afternoon
I love my TF 100 and this forum ... all my friends with pools think I am crazy ... but I am not the one making 15 trips to the pool store =)
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,759
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Ahh ... maybe not sunny all day ... thunderstorms this afternoon
And, yes, that picture is accurate ... One of them actually called me when they were having issues with their pool ... but then don't want to get a test kit ... they did pour a couple bottles of bleach in their pool ... but seemed to think that would fix it ... It's been a couple years since I went swimming over there LOL!
And, yes, that picture is accurate ... One of them actually called me when they were having issues with their pool ... but then don't want to get a test kit ... they did pour a couple bottles of bleach in their pool ... but seemed to think that would fix it ... It's been a couple years since I went swimming over there LOL!
and looks like not sunny all day ... chance of thunderstorms this afternoon ... and I think my husband figured out what the mystery sand is ... the people we got the pool from have a masonry company ... the sand is a weird bluish greenish color and much coarser than play sand or the beachy-pool sand ... and the new pressure gauge seems to be working.
I hope so! everyone here is ready to swim ... especially since we have 3 loads of gravel and a load of mulch to spread! I have no idea where all the gravel is going ... at least one load is for the driveway though!
Boy, did I read this wrong. I couldn't figure out why you'd be resentful of a number.
I had to read this at least 4 times before I figured it out
I have a drip coming from where you screw in the pressure gauge ... I removed it and wrapped it again with more teflon tape - wrapped many more times than before, but when you screw it back in you can tell it is not tightening back up. There is a lot of caulk or silicon or something on the surrounding areas, so I am guessing that this was an old problem that previous owners tried to fix that way. My question is - is this something that needs to be addressed? it is not enough waterloss to cause concern - but I am guessing that this would prevent the correct pressure from being displayed?
Yes it's needs to be addressed, for safety & accurate readings, pressure is being released by the leak.
- Jun 22, 2014
- 47,759
- Pool Size
- 17888
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Just something to montor for now. Not earth-shattering. Should have no impact on the gauge's ability to give a good reading. Hard to tell if they cross-threading something in the past or just have sealant gunk stuck in there. At some point after the SLAM, you might try to clean it out real good and look. If you don't see anything odd or damaged threads, you might try only 1-2 wraps of teflon tape along with some plumbers dope. Sometimes one or the other seems to work better for some applications. But in general, if it's just a small drip, it won't hurt anything. It may let some air into your system when you turn-off the pump. So if you hear gurgling or water movning, that's probaby why.
I'll see if I have some plumber dope or putty ... I am slightly afraid that the whole housing is cracked, so I don't want to pull off all of the caulk if I don't need to ... we have never really had any pressure build up on the filter and before all of this I was told it was due to the filter being for an inground pool versus an above ground pool ... but now I think it was due to having the really coarse sand in before and therefore there was no pressure build up ... I did go ahead and backwash this morning - the pressure had gone up approximately 1.5 - from 12.5 to 14
And ... I would probably be more inclined to fix if this pool was newer ... but when we put it up we knew it would only last about 5-10 years due to some rust issues. We repaired the worst rust spots, but this pool is going on probably 20-25 years old ... So we set it up knowing that it was a sort of temporary thing to decide if we wanted to be more permanent pool owners! If I can make this one last for 2 more years that would be great! After that we want to do deck expansion with part of it covered, deeper above ground pool, and maybe a hot tub!
Noon results - added about 1 inch of water after backwashing this morning ... I didn't redo the CH test ... stabilizer added yesterday and overnight to get to CYA 30, so no reading for that yet.
FC 10
CC .5
PH 6.8
TA 40
Do I work on PH first or TA first? Water is clear - not snobbish clear, so still filtering 24/7, but can see all of bottom, even a few small bugs (robot will munch those later)
FC 10
CC .5
PH 6.8
TA 40
Do I work on PH first or TA first? Water is clear - not snobbish clear, so still filtering 24/7, but can see all of bottom, even a few small bugs (robot will munch those later)
Address your PH (target 7.2) with PoolMath soda ash (aka washing soda) and you can add some baking soda to raise your TA by 10. Keep the pump running and retest in 1hr.
Borax will raise the TA slightly
Check PoolMath
4lbs of Borax will add Borates = 5 and raise TA = 11 & likely take your PH to 7.6 (which is fine)