Vinyl liner and CH

[Rumbleehockey03]

I took a water sample from my newly setup pool to the local shop and they measured the CH at 0 and recommended I add something like 33lbs of calcium chloride. I did lots of reading and found one website (besides here) that says CH doesn’t matter in a vinyl pool and many others mentioned that low CH can indeed make a vinyl liner brittle over time. Since the calcium was cheap, I bought 25lbs and added it since I figure it can’t hurt.

Questions is, does CH really matter in a vinyl pool?

Side question: after a week of swimming before adding calcium my wife said her hair was VERY dry. I also read that adding minerals like calcium can make the water less aggressive and I assume that would include stripping minerals from hair perhaps also? Any truth in that?

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Your pool water did not need any calcium added.
pH is the worst offender for irritated eyes, itchy skin, etc. Do you have your own test kit to manage your pool water chemistry?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

 

[Rumbleehockey03]

Welcome to the forum!
Your pool water did not need any calcium added.
pH is the worst offender for irritated eyes, itchy skin, etc. Do you have your own test kit to manage your pool water chemistry?
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry and consider reviewing the entire Pool School eBook.

Thanks for that. I have purchased a Poolmaster 5-way test kit and have been looking at the TF-100 kit that I've seen recommended here a few times already. I'm getting pH reading at 7.2-7.3 or so and have a fountain coming in the mail tonight that I ordered to help lower water temperature and also understand will increase pH slowly as it runs so haven't tried to increase it any with chemicals.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I'd like to suggest you commit to getting that TF-100 kit. Without it you can't get a full set of test results. You have a big pool and need to care for the water well, without having to go to the pool store for their questionable pool testing and often bad advice.
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Those are the results you need reliable access to. Along with the K-1766 Salt Test as I see you have a SWG.

Maddie

 

[Rumbleehockey03]

I'd like to suggest you commit to getting that TF-100 kit. Without it you can't get a full set of test results. You have a big pool and need to care for the water well, without having to go to the pool store for their questionable pool testing and often bad advice.
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA

Those are the results you need reliable access to. Along with the K-1766 Salt Test as I see you have a SWG.

Maddie

Yeah I'll definitely commit to it because I don't want to have to rely on the pool store either. I made a spreadsheet of the various balance and chemical level recommendations and my pool store has the broadest range of everything I've found which makes me believe they'll just always want to sell me something. I went there for the salt reading because the test strip[s that came with the pool are trash and were reading 7000ppm with less than the recommended amount of salt added in the beginning.

Here's that spreadsheet I've been compiling in case anyone is interested. I need to add the numbers from Pool School in there as well:

	poolcenter.com	intheswim.com	thepoolfactory.com	poolcalculator.com	azure
Alkalinity	80-120	70-80	80-120	60-80	100-150
Ph	7.2-7.8	7.6	7.2-7.6	7.2-7.8	7.2-7.8
Calcium Harness	180-220	180-200		0-300	175-350
Stabilizer	20-40	50-80	60-80	70-80	30-150
Chlorine	1-3	1-3		1-3	2-4

 

[setsailsoon]

Rum,

Welcome to TFP! Yes there are a lot of places to get pool advice. Notice that none of the ones in your spreadsheet relate FC range to CYA content. There is clear, established science that indicates your optimal FC range depends on CYA level. TFP methods are based on sound science and methods intended to be easily put into practice by pool owners using cheap, generic chemicals available from box stores. We support people like yourself to learn these techniques and it doesn't take long. Also we sell nothing here so you never need to be concerned about advice that is conflicted like the advice you got from the pool store. You were right, you didn't need the calcium. Probably won't hurt so long as you don't get above our recommended ranges but in many cases people have had disastrous results from something that made their pool a mess and was recommended by a pool store. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good ones. Problem is you don't know which kind you have 'till it's too late.

Please do read the recommended material that Marty suggested and the link in my signature for beginners. Most of us started out just like you then we found this site and the free advice to be a bonanza. I started here 5 years ago. My pool has been the envy of neighbors for about $10/mo of dirt cheap chemicals. There are literally thousands of people all around the world doing this that almost never have to go to a pool store. If we do go it's never for the "free test" that gets you "not-so-free advice".

I hope you'll consider seriously if this is right for you and get the test kit needed to make TFP work. If not, we'll always be here to help anyway. We have experts and enthusiasts for everything pool. Water chemistry, construction, repairs, equipment - you name it and we have at least a couple of experts. Amazingly, all this is done just to help by our volunteer pool expert army.

Good luck and I hope we see you a lot on here!

Chris

 

[Rumbleehockey03]

Rum,

Welcome to TFP! Yes there are a lot of places to get pool advice. Notice that none of the ones in your spreadsheet relate FC range to CYA content. There is clear, established science that indicates your optimal FC range depends on CYA level. TFP methods are based on sound science and methods intended to be easily put into practice by pool owners using cheap, generic chemicals available from box stores. We support people like yourself to learn these techniques and it doesn't take long. Also we sell nothing here so you never need to be concerned about advice that is conflicted like the advice you got from the pool store. You were right, you didn't need the calcium. Probably won't hurt so long as you don't get above our recommended ranges but in many cases people have had disastrous results from something that made their pool a mess and was recommended by a pool store. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good ones. Problem is you don't know which kind you have 'till it's too late.

Please do read the recommended material that Marty suggested and the link in my signature for beginners. Most of us started out just like you then we found this site and the free advice to be a bonanza. I started here 5 years ago. My pool has been the envy of neighbors for about $10/mo of dirt cheap chemicals. There are literally thousands of people all around the world doing this that almost never have to go to a pool store. If we do go it's never for the "free test" that gets you "not-so-free advice".

I hope you'll consider seriously if this is right for you and get the test kit needed to make TFP work. If not, we'll always be here to help anyway. We have experts and enthusiasts for everything pool. Water chemistry, construction, repairs, equipment - you name it and we have at least a couple of experts. Amazingly, all this is done just to help by our volunteer pool expert army.

Good luck and I hope we see you a lot on here!

Chris

Thanks!! I'm definitely excited about this forum as I'm VERY interested in maintaining my own pool. I've read through the Pool School basics as well as some of the more in-depth stuff about the chemistry link between CYA and FC. Looking forward to learning all this stuff in the future!!

 

[IceShadow]

The methods here are a little more hands-on than other places - you do your own tests, you add some liquid chlorine daily (though with a SWG you won’t need to worry about that as much). But it means you know exactly what’s going into your pool and exactly what needs to happen when something goes wrong. And the chemicals can be generic from many different sources, so you can find the best prices.