Working on getting everything balanced and I have a few questions

[jtwo]

I am working on getting my pool into shape after having a pool company taking care of it. A perfect example for "if you want it done right, do it yourself". which seems to be the motto here.
I have a Jandy Tru Clear SWG, their spec sheet says CYA should be 30-50, TFP CYA/FC chart says 70-80. Are there any potential problems increasing the CYA above Jandy's recommended levels?

I also have a tendency to have high chlorine levels. I think part of that problem is that when I checked the salt level it was at almost 4200 and Jandy recommends 3300 with high of 3500 and low of 2700. So it is probably breaking out more chlorine due to the high salt level. I would have to empty out about 3000 gallons, which I really don't want to do, (occasional heavy rains displace some of the water, but less this time of year than in the summer)so I have reduced my generator to 20%. I have never change the timer on the pump from what the builder set it on and it is currently running 12 hrs.day, which seems to be a turnover rate of about 3.3 times per day for the 9600 gal. pool. Should I reduce that before cutting back on the generation %?

And my third area of concern is my pH level. To keep the pH in range I need to add 1-2 cups of acid daily. Yesterday I dropped the pH to between 7 and 7.2 and ran my water fall to aerate the water some and today my TA was 80 (down from 90) and my pH 7.6. Any thoughts on stabilizing the pH or is this just something to live with using a SWG.

I am using a Taylor K-2600 C test kit for chemicals and eSeasonGear SALT-3050 Salt Meter

Any and all help appreciated

 

[Jimrahbe]

j,

You can control the amount of chlorine that a SWCG makes by adjusting the pump run time, or adjusting the output percentage, or a combination of both. The cell does not care, so whatever works for you, is what you should do.

You should run your pump for a reason.. Like the amount of time it takes to generate the chlorine you need, or the amount of time it takes to skim your pool the way you want. You should never run your pump based up the "Turnover" myth. There is no need or requirement to turnover x amount of water per day, it is just not true.

Any TA over 50 will work just fine. Quit trying to change it. Aerating just brings your pH back up.

We recommend that saltwater pools have a CYA of 60 to 80. This will not hurt the cell in anyway. It will just make the FC (chlorine) burn off slower, especially in the summer.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[jtwo]

Thanks, Jim R, that's good to know. I think the first thing is to adjust the run time since utility company estimates pool pump and heater are 50% of my monthly bill. Just shutting the heater off in Jan., since I wasn't going to swim, cut my electric bill by $45., so hopefully limiting the pump running time will decrease it more.
I dropped the TA based upon the pool app recommendation, but I will take your advice and leave it alone.
I'm glad I found this site. At this point I can probably recite most of the pool information that is not necessarily correct, inaccurate and/or just plain wrong.

Thanks again,

Jeff