tedinelkgrove

Richard, I order the FAS-DPD Chlorine test kit you recommended. That should really help out with determining how much chlorine (FC, etc.) I have in the pool. I also added a gallon of 10% bleach (from Lowe's). The Pool Calculator said I need to add 2 gallons based on my current chemical levels, but I'll hold off on adding more until I get he FAS-DPD test kit. Thanks for everyone's help. Ted

How do I drain the pool? I assume I need a submersible pump and a hose long enough to go to the street/storm drain.

Thanks for the advice Richard. I am going to dilute the pool tonight and fill it to the top tile. My auto-fill seems to always keep it low (middle of bottom tile, 3 tiles total, even at high setting), so this gives me an excuse to fill it all the way up. I'll check FC/TC/CC in the morning, along with pH, CYA, and TA. Just to see if there is any change and I'll adjust according to the pool calculator. That is a great tool. My supply water is relatively low in Ca/CaCO3, 18 and 78ppm respectively. This is according to a Sac County water report. I would imagine a refill when the temps cool will be warranted. Is it better to drain/refill during cooler weather? Ted

Imnay, I appreciate the advice but you are comparing apples and oranges. You live in humid Florida which gets plenty of rain and dilutes your pool. I live in the dry Sacramento Valley of California where it doesn't rain from May until Nov, the humidity is very low, and I get direct sunlight all day long (no shade). Plus my pool is plaster, so TA and the use of algaecides does matter with respect to staining and care of plaster. I may be new to pools, but I have a degree in Biology and I am a LC mass spectrometer field service engineer. So I actually enjoy taking care of the pool and doing the necessary testing. Richard, please see my post on FC level in Water Chemistry.

My CYA is really high. According to my test kit it is around ~200ppm. From reading posts on the forum, I need to keep my FC high in order to combat the high CYA level. But being my test kit only shows a maximum color index equivalent to 5ppm for chlorine, how can I tell what my true FC level is? I use the Leslie's Complete Poolcare DPD Test Kit. I just did a Chlorine test and FC and TC had same color (a little darker than the 5ppm level), so CC is ~0. After I figure this out, what level of FC do I want? I see a lot of recommendations for FC to be at 10% of the CYA level. But 20ppm of FC seems really high. I was using Cl tabs, but I have stopped due to high CYA and CH. I want to start a liquid bleach protocol for maintaining proper FC levels. I will drain the pool when the heat subsides to bring CYA and CH back down. It is 100+ here in the valley and I was reading never drain a pool in hot weather. 16000 gallon pool pH = 7.6 TA = 100 CH = 750...ouch! However, pool looks great and water is sparkling.

That fixed it. Thanks for clarifying the gap issue.

That is the question, what do they mean by the gap should not exceed 1/16"? The wording they use makes it seem like the gap should be less than 1/16". Do you think they actually mean the gap should be greater than 1/16"? Where can I get a Jandy o-ring locally?

I cleaned my Jandy filter cartridges yesterday. There were 4 all together, very dirty. I made sure to put everything back just as I had taken them off. It went pretty easy. Only issue is the tank has a slow leak where the ring clamp goes around. I removed everything and made sure the BIG o-ring is not kinked or has anything on it. All looked fine. I also made sure to tighten the clamp so as not to exceed 1/16th of an inch gap where the ends meet. This is note on the ring clamp. Any suggestions? Do I need to lubricate the o-ring?

Paul, thanks for the replies. The water is crystal clear and sparkling. I guess I'll just buy some bleach when needed.

The weighted avergae of calcium in our drinking water is ~21ppm. That was a 2007 water analysis done for our area by the Sacramento County Water Agency, http://www.msa.saccounty.net/waterresource...2008_Laguna.pdf. So based on that analysis, I would say our supply is low in calcium. Can I drain half the water or just do it all? What about the pool "popping out" of the ground? You know these crazy Californians. I'll have to stop by Leslie's to get some stuff today. I'll see what the name of the so-called calcium reducing product is.

pH was 7.6 Alkalinity ~100ppm CYA was 100+++ (only took a little liquid to hide the black dot) Calcium was ~750ppm...OUCH! FC and TC had same color reading (seemed darker than the 5ppm). I guess no chlorine is needed? I suppose Calcium is what it is until I can drain the pool a bit. Leslie's sells a product that claims to reduce calcium. Any thoughts? To get CYA in normal range, I am taking the chlorine tab out of the pool. I assume the CYA in the tab is a big contributor to my high CYA reading. Any ideas on chlorine?

After my initial testing, I discovered my CYA is way too high, 100+++ according to the test kit, Calcium is 750ppm, and my FC and TC are the same color. My first plan of attack is to stop using those chlorine hockey pucks for the time being which should help getting my CYA under control. Any other suggestions? If FC and TC are same, is that good?

I bought the all-inclusive test kit from Leslie's. It has everything to test for TC, FC, CYA, Calcium, Alkalinity, etc.. As far as shocking the pool, I was told I need to do this once a month to balance out the FC and TC amounts. What kind of shock chlorine do I need? There are quite a few types.

I am a new pool owner since June 1st. I went to Leslie's pool supply today and bought a chemical test kit, muriatic acid, and a pumice bar for removing scale. I still need to get chlorine (granular and tabs). Are there better places to get pool supplies at a cheaper price? Are there certain brands of chlorine that are superior to others? Are there other chemicals I need? The pool is looking great. I had a service get it up and running, but that was just for the first month. I am on my own now.

Well, I called Jandy and they said to get the information of the PCB chip and email it to them. Still waiting for a repsonse. Any ideas on which PDA I can buy? Chip: PORS 4, Rev. PDA 1.2, 8269