Water softener connected to auto fill, and new plaster start up.

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kimkats said:
A clear pool:

-you can see the heads of the screws on the main drain and see if they are standard or phillips.

-you can tell if a coin is heads or tails while in the deep end.

-it looks like gin

-"At night, I turn on the pool light, and if the water is still, I can't see the water at all. It looks like an empty pool."

The shimmer/sparkle.........that will be when the sun is bright and the water is moving. It will look like there are diamonds on your pool surface. You will need sunglasses to look at your pool.

Have you added the salt yet? If not wait until it is warm enough for your Grands to be able to get in the water. We call salt adding day "diamond day" as the salt looks like diamonds as you add it and the kids love to swim under water to look at it and they can help mix it in!

CYA test---------oh how I hate this test---------here is how I came to terms with it. GLANCE!!!!! Do not stare or you will see the dot.

Here is how I do it:

-Make sure it is a sunny day

-make up the mixture and let it sit while you do the rest of the tests

-stand with your back to the sun

-hold the tube at your tummy

-pour the mixture to the first line (100) GLANCE in then look away. If you still see the dot go to the next line.

-Keep pouring from line to line until you cannot see the dot at a GLANCE then call it good.

You can do and redo the test with the same water. Just pour it back and forth as many times as you want/need to.

Kim:kim:
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Yep, I'm pretty sure it's crystal clear. And thanks for the tips. But I have no drains, and I can't throw a coin in, as no one is going to fish it out at 45°! I will go drink some gin out there later and see how it compares to the pool! That seems like the most reliable test, especially after a few!! ;)

But you did give me a good idea. I'll compare what my pool brush looks like at 1' down, then 6' down... Seems like that would reveal any cloudiness...

No salt yet. Good tip. The g-kids will like that. They all swim with goggles, so that'll be fun for them. I've read here about the right salt to use. I'll likely use one of the water softener options you all list, as it's much cheaper than "pool salt."

I'll save your CYA test tips for spring, when I'll be adding more (for the salt water). But curious... Do you think I can replicate your method indoors? I test my water inside, in my laundry room. It has no windows and a bright LED under-cabinet light, plus a bright fluorescent overhead light, that makes for a very consistent color-comparing environment, light-wise. So I get very reproducible results as the light in there is 100% constant, day or night, cloudy or bright. And the counter in there is about "tummy level." That's where I did my first (and only) CYA test. But one gallon of CYA into 12300 gallons of pool would have been around CYA 30. Plus, I'm pretty sure I didn't wait long at all to do the test. I saw the dot when the vial was full, and then kinda gave up, thinking 30 wasn't going to register well enough, or that it hadn't been in the pool long enough (I tested only a few days after I added CYA). I've just been relying on the 1-to-12300 gallon ratio to get CYA 30. And Marty determined for me that my chlorine is evaporating at about the expected rate for this time of year, which kinda corroborated my CYA was OK. But when I go salt, I'm hoping to add just enough CYA to bring my pool to the minimum recommended CYA level. (That's when I'll retest.) That way, I'm thinking, I can keep my chlorine level at the low end of the range (for swimmer comfort) and so run my SWG as little as possible (save on electricity and SWG wear and tear) and protect my plaster as much as possible. Any logic to that thinking, or am I worrying too much about CYA? I'm coming off ruined plaster, remember, and one "expert" that has been involved in the repair explained that 6 years of pucks (and the likely resulting CYA level) were instrumental in the early degradation of my pool plaster. So I'm thinking "no pucks" and "minimum CYA" for my pool.

During the winter, I'm getting very little splash out (none, really, because nobody's been in the pool, and it's not raining at all) so the CYA level should still be at 30. And so I figured I could set CYA in the spring pretty close to whatever level I choose, just with Pool Math. I know there's a gallon in there now, and I know 12,300 is very accurate because I measured my first pool fill with a water meter. So my next CYA adjustment is going to be pretty close to accurate, closer than that CYA test would reveal, for sure. But it's the splash out from the kids I don't have any way to calculate, which means eventually I'll have to be testing for CYA...
 
shhhhhhhh but I test inside also...........I use my stove hood light as it is bright (60 watts) and low enough to really shine into the tube good. My thinking is like yours. It is a controllable situation and can be repeated over and over. If my CYA is off a little then it is off by the same amount each time I test. I can live with that.

Kim:kim:
 
Ugh, I wish Taylor could come up with a better test. How translucent an inch or two column of water is?! Really? That's the best they could come up with? It seems to me that CYA is too critical for the wide margin of error that the current test allows... :(
 
Dirk said:
CYA is too critical for the wide margin of error that the current test allows... :(
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Ahh you see, to the majority of the pool industry (pool store), CYA is "good" from 50-150. With FC from 1-3 ppm. We know that is not "good". So the accuracy of the CYA test is not critical to the majority of consumers.
 
Right. As long as there is no demand for a better test, there won't be one.

Where did the science come from for TFP's FC to CYA ratio data? Was that somewhat anecdotal, over time, what worked worked? Or was there some actual chemistry research done at some point, by a recognized entity?
 
Have you removed the metal ionizer from the Jandy SWCG? I suggest doing that soon.
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Marty, I just read this comment of yours on another post. Inspired me to ask a few questions about my SWG that I've been concerned about:

I have an IntelliChlor. It's never worked correctly. Probably not setup and adjusted correctly since installed. Not sure. Anyway, I'll be pinging you in the spring when I add my salt and fire up the SWG. In the meantime, this is what I've done:

There is no breaker for it. It's tied into some other circuit that needs to be on. So I dialed it down to zero, both using its interface, and in the settings in the EasyTouch. So it's at zero. Plus, my pool's at 46° or so, so it wouldn't fire anyway. But it still lights up every day, when the pump is on. Indicating zero, and cold, etc.

Is there anything else I should do to "winterize" my IntelliChlor?

Should I install a breaker and "depower" it in the winter? Or is setting it to zero enough? Am I losing longevity by not powering it down? Or does it "wear out" only when it's producing chlorine?

Should I take it out of the loop all together? (I understand there is a blank that can be used in its place.)

What would you do?
 
My view is if it is not needed it should be powered off. Beauty of automation I can do that. Does it last longer? Not sure. The plates are only activated when generating. So technically it is not using up the life they have.

With our mild winters, compared to those in the east, I doubt there is harm to leaving it in place. You can get a dummy cell and remove it, but then need to protect it so the flow switch, etc do not get damaged.

Is there any way you can simply disconnect the wiring for the winter?
 

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Well, the way it was installed, its wire runs right to the transformer, with no connector. So I can't just unplug it. I could disconnect the wire inside the transformer housing, or I could rewire the transformer to a dedicated breaker (or both). Both of which I'm capable of, no problem there.

cfherrman voted the blank, but I'd still have to disconnect it somehow, as it would still be wired to the transformer.

When you say "Beauty of automation I can do that." what do you mean? Does your controller somehow shut yours off, completely? (And another "grudge" against Pentair if it can't, because it seems it sure aught to be able to do that.)
 
Within the easy touch I turn off the pump circuit and set up a feature circuit to run the pump in the winter. The SWCG is only powered on when the pump circuit is energized.

You have an easy touch but the 'light' model. Can you set up feature circuits?
 
I just had a conversation with my pebble guy. I wanted him to come by and evaluate the slight color variances that are starting to reveal themselves in my new pebble. I think they're probably normal but just wanted to hear the pebble guy say so (warranty and all). It seems my deep end is growing lighter, and I just wanted to make sure the way I'm expressing chemicals into the pool, or the pool's circulation system, is not causing an issue that could easily be resolved (by adjusting my methods or perhaps the return eyeballs). I refuse to believe its calcium, based on my rigid TFPCing.

Anywho... he asked if I was monitoring LSI. I told him I was using CSI. He hadn't heard of it. I explained (what I think I've been told) that CSI is "the new, improved" LSI and does a better job at monitoring your pool's water condition in terms of plaster/pebble health and longevity. He claimed that he was just at some sort of big pool or plaster symposium where LSI was a hot topic, and that if there was something better, he'd know about it.

Can any of you weigh in? Is there some scientific article somewhere that explains CSI and how it compares to LSI?

Is anybody here monitoring LSI in addition to CSI? And would there be any legitimate reason to?

I've managed to keep my CSI within 0.1 of zero, with very few exceptions. It got as low at -0.4 once, and -0.3 a few times, when I was lowering pH to manage TA, but other than that it's never been too far away from 0. My overall plan is to keep CSI between 0 and -0.1. As I understand it, slightly negative is slightly better than slightly positive, for both the plaster and the SWG. Do I have that right?

Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated.

(Marty, does this warrant its own thread?)
 
The saga continues!! Yay! It's actually raining here in Central California!! As promised, my FC-pH-TA-CH-CYA-Salt-Borate-free fill system in place. It's half my roof and one of my patio overhangs, so it's flowing pretty well:

rain-into-pool.jpg

I let the water level drop just before a rain (let it out if I have to), and then let it refill with oh-so-good-for-my-pool rainwater. I'm goofin' up my CYA, but that's my trade off for the reduction in salt, TA and CH. It's much easier to add a little CYA then it is to reduce the others. FC and pH are easy to fix afterwards as well.

The vac is waiting patiently to suck up any roof dust, but so far it's running very clean.

This is mostly proof of concept for now. My levels are all pretty good. But as salt and CH creep up in years to come, I'll have this in my bag of tricks. If it ever rains again in CA, I'll use this to postpone my water changes (or so I think)... :blah:
 
kimkats said:
Look at that bad boy flow! That is a good stream of water for sure! LOL on the cleaner waiting RIGHT there to clean!!
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That's just where it ended up this morning, but I thought it might be fortuitous. I like the idea of topping off my pool with rain water, but I'm not quite sure it's going to be worth the effort, especially considering what might be running off the roof. It's concrete tile, and painted metal for the patio cover, so I've guessed that it won't amount to much. A lot of the residue settles in the gutters, which I can purge every couple years. I'm not yet seeing any sort of muck pile just below that drain. I guess my filter will eventually tell the tail.

This will likely amount to nothing, but all I had to do was drill a hole in the main gutter that runs over the top of the patio roof, and then slip on that drain pipe. $10 or so, total. Oh, I did seal up one of the downspouts, so all the water would run into that pipe, so that was another $8. But sealing off that downspout was a two-fer, because it was putting rain water onto the ground close to my foundation (which is never a good thing). Now, with or without the pool diverter in place, the roof's water makes it all the way out to the field way below my house. So I'm not really counting that $8 as part of the pool water improvement project... :blah:

PS. You've got your cool little "kim" smiley. I've decided this one best suits me, so I'm adopting it!!
 
Well that was interesting. Rain's stopped. Pool looks a tiny bit less clear, but I'm not sure if that's because it's still gloomy out, or if the "gutter dust" got circulated around. I just checked, chlorine and pH are right where they should be, and CC is 0. Maybe too soon to tell in that regard?

Does rain water typically drop or raise pH?

I have some leaves in the pool, slightly concentrated under the drain pipe. Bit of a mystery. Most came off a nearby tree, not sure they'd get up on the roof, but also not sure why there'd be more of them right under that pipe. No pile of dirt under the pipe, that's good, but it was raining mostly during my filter cycle, so it could have all got mixed in. No matter. If the vacuum get's all the leaves tomorrow morning, and the water looks clear, I'll consider this a tiny success.

I did gain almost an inch of water, so that was cool. I'll let that mix in, then drain an inch off just before the next rain later this week. After that rain, I'll check my TA and CH and see if any of this made a dent.

I've had my soft water auto-fill system off for about a month, so at least I'm getting a water bill break for the season (and no additional wear'n'tear on the softener). With my solar heater and PV solar, I've pretty much eliminated energy costs for the pool. TFP has eliminated monthly maintenance costs. And I just re-pebbled. So I'm sittin' pretty just now, and for the foreseeable future. Water and water replacement expenses are what I'm after next. So far, so good... :blah:
 

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