Having problems with SLAM / OCLT; FC fine during the day, losing it at night

Jump to latest Follow Reply
T

TroubleFreePat

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jun 5, 2013
191
Philadelphia, PA
Surface
Fiberglass
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
I'm in the process of SLAM'ing because our FC dropped to 0 and then the pool got cloudy.

We have an auto-cover, and to help(???) the process, I've been keeping it closed during the day. I've read a few threads where people said this was fine if you weren't battling CC, which I'm not.

During the day, we have no FC loss at all (With the cover on). I check the pool as early as I can (Though over the weekend, slept in a little - so around 8 or 9am the pool was checked, and there's no direct sun on it at that hour yet.) I would check it once or twice through the day, and it was perfect. Then I'd check it when I went to bed for the night. At this point, I would open the cover and leave it open for the night.

So all day during the day yesterday, we had 21 FC. This was from about 9am until 9pm with the cover closed. This morning at 7:30am, I'm down to 18.5 FC. This is the second day in a row this has happened.

Water clarity is a 9.5 out of my usual 10 at this point.

Any thoughts? Everything else is in check.

FC 18.5
CC <.5
pH 7.5
TA 80
CH 230
CYA 55
 
I thought above the cover previously and went under half of it. Clean, not slimy, etc. I figured I'd keep it closed so if that was a source, the high fc would help clean it. Plus wouldn't I be chewing up fc when the cover is closed if that is an issue?

No ladders etc because of the auto cover. Lights are LED and flush. Nothing else I can think of.

Leaving the cover open today for good measure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm sorry, I'm a little bit lost. Not sure about the "niche". I looked at some Youtube videos, and most are converting a standard or fiber to LED. We had LED from day one, so it wasn't a retrofit.

Do I just remove the light and clean around where it goes? I figured I had to drain the pool below where the light is though. When the electrician was doing the install, the junction for the lights at the pad is about 3-4' above ground level, which he said is in case water ever got in the pvc pipe. My concern was also if water got in, will it freeze and crack the PVC?
 
Here's my pool light. I believe it's a Savi Melody. On their site, it says -

•NO Niche. NO Grounding. NO Bonding.
•Flush Mounts / Can Run Dry
•No Water Required for Cooling

So not sure there's anything I can clean, other than the light itself.

2015-08-10 11.33.55.jpg
 
That is a neat looking light! NO niche? That IS nice! How does it get power?

That is a new one for me. I thought all of them had niches so it was time for me to learn something new. I would just run a toothbrush all around it and call it good.

I bet it is bright with all of those LEDs.

Thanks for the pic. that helps me learn a lot!

Kim
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
There's a PVC pipe behind it that runs back to my equipment pad. From there it's connected to a 12v transformer. Picture below shows behind the light before everything was backfilled. Bottom right hand corner is where the light is.

2013-05-07 15.59.07.jpg

Back to SLAMing. I'm aggravated. Still consuming FC. Not at an alarming rate, but enough to not pass slam. Water is almost crystal clear now and no CC. I've also just about run out of r-0871 due to how often I'm checking FC. Ordered more, but won't have it until tomorrow.

For now, I added in the last of my chlorine. Was at 14 this morning and added enough chlorine to bring FC to 20/21. I'm going to test it in an hour to make sure, because I think this bottle of chlorine (While not old) may not be doing much. While it was sealed, the seal was soggy and I'm wondering if it wasn't 100% sealed or what.

I also have been reading everything I can on here and never knew I had to clean my filter with dishwasher soap or TSP. Oddly (HA!) my pool installer never informed me that, and I guess I never saw it on here before. I figured the hose was it. So I'm going to try that overnight tonight. I have a beverage cooler that I think might just fit it. Could that be causing me issues? I have noticed it seems a little "slimy" when I slide a finger through the pleat. Also found (for a second time this season) that my skimmer, above the water line, has a some white/yellow slime, with some of it raised. Hard to describe; I'll have to take a picture next time. I cleaned all of that off with a paper towel so I could keep it from going in to the water.

Only other mystery to me is what has been floating around my pool for awhile (Little white particles in the pool) . I thought maybe pollen or something, but we generally keep the pool closed and there's been more and more of this this season. I really only notice it when in the water with goggles; you really don't see it outside of the pool. I haven't been in the pool since I started SLAMing, so can't say if it's still there or not. Could this be causing me problems too? I did take my SWG out last week and inspected it. Very hard to see in there with the white guards, but looks clean to me. I don't see any build up. I ran the hose through it for good measure to get any larger dirt that might be hanging around.
 
The light web site HERE states they are nicheless. It does not appear to have the same removable cover as mine, so I suppose you can just leave those lights alone for now.
It is important that you clean your cartridge filter somewhat regularly. When your water is clean & clear, you may get by with cleaning every 2-3 weeks if you use a skimmer sock as well. When you are SLAMming though, you'll want to rinse it out more often because it's trying to trap the dead algae. You should also scrub the inside of the filter housing once you have the lid off. I have an old cartridge I keep as a back-up if I ever chose to clean/soak one overnight in some Cascade or TSP. But honestly, after all the effort and mess, it's almost just as easy to order a new one on-line. I got my filter through Amazon for half the price locally ($50).
It is going to be important to keep that FC at or slightly above an FC of 24 to successfully complete your SLAM. I just did a SLAM because I was experiencing a slightly higher FC loss than I like. It took me a couple nights to pass the OCLT with crystal clear water. But stick with it. It works.
The particles you see floating might be dead algae. Another reason to keep the pump on 24/7 and continue to brush and sweep to get the particulates into the filter.
And while you are SLAMming, you still have your SWG off correct? Save the SWG's cell life and reply solely on bleach to conduct your SLAM.

Hang in there and be consistent. By now you may see a pattern developing when adding bleach (time/amount), so even if you run-out of drops, continue to add the same amount of bleach at the frequency you have been doing to keep the SLAM going. Pressure washing the filter and doing all the other things will start work for you.

Good luck!
 
It sounds like it might still be cloudy. If so there is still something in the water eating your FC. I hate that it is taking so long for you but it will get done. Just keep it up. You are on on the downside of the hill now!

Kim
 
I'm not sure my water can get any clearer at this point. It's a 10/10. But it's been rainy all day, so that will probably screw things up a little for me. I've basically given up for today. Once I get my reagent tomorrow I'll see where things are. I haven't seen much of a pattern because I was using the auto-cover initially. When the cover was on, FC never budged. When I left the cover open at night, it would drop 3-4 points. Weird.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply