New pool owner getting frustrated with costs

[PoolDoc]

I know this is kind of a random post but I am kind of freaking out and now my wife is giving me those "I told you" eyes.

Yep. We hear that a lot. Not as much as I did 15 years ago, but still fairly often.

You can
+ show her the ingredients on the "Balance Pak 100" -- "sodium hydrogen carbonate" I believe they have it.
+ Then Google and find the definition ( http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sod...ogen+carbonate )
+ Finally, write down the price per lb of the INDUSTRIAL grade of sodium hydrogen carbonate, in Balance Pak 100, and
+ Compare it with the price for the FOOD grade of the same chemical, here: www.walmart.com/ip/10291025

See if she still thinks they are looking out for y'all!

The Maintain 100 is just stabilizer. At $3/lb for Kem-Tek dichor, you are paying $6/lb for stabilizer (it's 50% stabilizer by weight). But, of course, it's also chlorine. The "Maintain 100" is *just* stabilizer, and often sold for around $6/lb.

Regarding salt levels, it's quite possible that your SWCG has some sort of sensing problem. If you post your EXACT make and model, there's a fair chance someone can help you with the diagnostic.

However it's a good idea to go ahead and get the AquaCheck salt test strips -- these are a very innovative test method, that (unlike most AquaChek products) seems to be quite accurate.

[jaff50]

My wife read through the posts and laughed but I think she gets it now.

So, I took your advice and picked up the aquachem salt test strips. I am getting a reading of 4 which translates over to 1160. This is very low especially since I added 240 pounds of salt this weekend.

My SWG is a compupool generic aquarite replacement T cell 15.