1st Time Kit User

[CarlD]

Why would you add Borax if your pH is 7.8? It's already a bit high, and Borax will raise it further.

[chem geek]

Carl,

In this post Sumo1 said that the Borax was to be used to raise the Borates level as in the Tetraborate Experiment. So for every box (76 ounces weight) of 20 Mule Team Borax that is added, 47.6 fluid ounces of Muriatic Acid will need to be added. Probably less than one box of Borax should be added at a time, alternating with acid in the proportions indicated.

Richard

[Sumo1]

Chem Geek, you are correct. I liked the results of the Tetraborate Experiment and plan to duplicate them. Should the 20MTB I'm adding be in slurry form or just poured in dry? Does it matter?
Hal

[waterbear]

I put half the borax in by dissoving some in a bucket of water and broadcasting it over the pool surface and repeating this until it was all in and then adding half the acid in the same way and then repeating with the other half. The borax dissolved fast as long as I didn't put too much into the bucket of water at a time. I rechecked my pH the next day and found that I needed to add a bit more acid to bring my pH back down to 7.6. Not a big deal.

EDIT: I use the AquaChek borate test strips and I have not had to add any more borax since the initial time. My borate levels are still about 50 ppm!