SWG not producing chlorine? Help!

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twinkiesmommy2009

twinkiesmommy2009

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Aug 12, 2015
1,683
Cypress
How long does it take an SWG to start producing chlorine? They just turned on our IC40 on Monday and added the salt. The IC40 was registering 3500 later the same day.

Yesterday, there was only 1 FC so PB checked settings on IC40 to make sure all was okay and it was at 50%. He bumped it to 70% and we added 1/2 gallon of chlorine because I was concerned with my CYA at 60 to have so little FC. Today we still don't seem to be getting any output from the SWG even though everything seems normal.

Here are my test results today: (I haven't added anything yet.)
PH 7.8
TA 110
CH 340
FC 1
CC .2
Salt Test 3600-3800
IC40 registers 3650

I asked PB why we don't have more chlorine yet and he suggested adding more salt and, "We can try doing a 24 hour salt boost kind of like shocking the pool with the salt cell"

That doesn't seem like a good solution to me, especially with my twins' bday party on Saturday. I asked him to wait and let me ask here. Thoughts???




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Bring your FC up to 6 ppm manually by adding chlorine now. I have no idea what is wrong with your SWG but you must chlorinate your pool if you're planning to swim Saturday.

Fixing the SWG is not your priority.

Bringing the FC up to 6 ppm and keeping it there is.
 
Capture some water coming out of one of your returns (take a ziploc bag and open it under water in front of return, take a hose hold one end over return collect water from other end, figure out some other way) and test it and see what the CL level is.

For what you built PB should be slappin' in a new one.....and your pool surface is AMAZING!
 
Looks to me like your pool is about 33K gallons. I believe that makes your IC40 much too small for your pool. My guess you will need to run your pump 24/7 and the SWG at 70% just to stay even.

mgmoore7 has a SWG calculator which should be more specific.

I'd tell the PB you should have gotten the IC60.

Jim R.
 
Adding salt will not produce more chlorine...use that salt to leave a perimeter around the house that will hopefully keep the pool builder away. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard and good for you for not going along with it.

Don't use the cell to "boost" chlorine levels, use liquid chlorine. Its cheap and the results are immediate without shortening the life of your cell.
 
Okay, so my pool is just under 14,000 gallons so the IC40 should be appropriate. I have the Taylor 2006c but I don't have anything in it for testing CL? How do I do that?

I'm adding about a quart left in one gallon and another whole gallon of 8.25% now to start getting my FC up manually.

What next?


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twinkiesmommy2009 said:
Okay, so my pool is just under 14,000 gallons so the IC40 should be appropriate. I have the Taylor 2006c but I don't have anything in it for testing CL? How do I do that?

I'm adding about a quart left in one gallon and another whole gallon of 8.25% now to start getting my FC up manually.

What next?


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Click to expand...

Did I miss it, how many hours are you running the cell?

What do you mean you don't have anything to test CL?
 
bdavis466 said:
Did I miss it, how many hours are you running the cell?

What do you mean you don't have anything to test CL?
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell he's been running it at 50% 24/7 since Monday until yesterday when he turned it up to 70% since I only had 1 FC (which I still think came from the half gallon I had him add of liquid chlorine).

My kit tests FC & CC (FAS-DPD), pH, TA, CH, and CYA. Am I mixing CL up with another abbreviation?

I have ScreenLogic if that helps but I don't know how to use the configuration yet since pool is still technically under PB. She didn't teach me during pool school.

I went to the EasyTouch and found diagnostics for the chlorinator. It says Salt: 3650 ppm and Status is [OK - NO ERRORS]

On the SWG itself the Salt Level light is green for Good, and Status is Cell and Flow. All green, solid, and not flashing.

How do I check how long it's running?

I have my pool running on max right now to get chlorine worked through. I'll get hubby to add a little MA when he gets home (I don't want to do it with my asthma today) to make sure pH stays okay since I'm going to turn on all my water features to make sure the chlorine gets everywhere since I've been very low a solid two days now. How long does the pool need to run before I can see an accurate FC test?




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FC = Free chlorine
CC= combined chlorine
CL= chloride?

FAS DPD measures chlorine. Add enough liquid chlorine to get to 6ppm and check back this time tomorrow.

Log into ScreenLogic, go to schedules, POOL. What times are present?
 
Jimrahbe said:
Ok, maybe just me, but when I put 38 x23 in pool math it says your average depth would have to be about 2' and I doubt that is true.. ??? I'm puzzled. Are your numbers in your signature correct?

Jim R.
Click to expand...

Yes, but I think they include my shelf which is like 11'x9' or something and 9" deep. I was confused by this at first too but they had it calculated by the newest version of Pool Studio and my chemical tests and additions based on 14000 seem to be working out accurately in Pool Math. My depths are 3.5' - 5'.

bdavis466 said:
FC = Free chlorine
CC= combined chlorine
CL= chloride?

FAS DPD measures chlorine. Add enough liquid chlorine to get to 6ppm Ave check back this time tomorrow.

Log into ScreenLogic, go to schedules, POOL. What times are present?
Click to expand...

I was thinking maybe CL was Chlorine Level.. . Is it Sodium Chloride for the salt then? I have that test and did it already though it had to be purchased separate from my kit. I went back and looked at all of my papers from Pool School on TFP and can't find an abbreviation of CL. I think that's why I'm confused about it. [emoji23]

Does the SWG just run on the same schedule as my pumps or is it separate?

Will we be good to swim on Saturday? We have 20 or so kids coming. What happens now that I've added all this liquid chlorine if the SWG decides to start producing? [emoji15]



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JamesW said:
When it's producing chlorine, you should see hydrogen bubbles coming out of the returns. They look like tiny Champagne bubbles.
Click to expand...

I don't see bubbles of any kind. Just the usual water movement. It is almost dark out but I turned the pool lights on and got down near the water even to try and see. I can't actually see anything coming out of the returns, just the movement further out in the water from them. I didn't notice anything earlier either.


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The SWG is active when the POOL or SPA circuit is active. Yours is currently running for 11 hours which if the lower gallonage estimate is correct, should be plenty time to maintain the chlorine level you desire.

With 60 ppm of CYA, your water is perfect safe to swim in at chlorine levels up to 24 ppm...no way your cell can produce that in a day regardless of what you feed it (pool builder salt?).

So long as all of the lights on the cell are on and happy, you should be producing chlorine. The cell does cycle throughout its runtime. Are you sure it isn't cycled off during the time you were looking at the returns.

Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is salt
 
SWG's are great at maintaining a chlorine level, but not so good at starting from zero and raising chlorine levels. Hit it with enough bleach and it shoyld be able to hold your value.

Adding bleach will also rescue your Saturday, it will be a great party!
 
bdavis466 said:
The SWG is active when the POOL or SPA circuit is active. Yours is currently running for 11 hours which if the lower gallonage estimate is correct, should be plenty time to maintain the chlorine level you desire.

With 60 ppm of CYA, your water is perfect safe to swim in at chlorine levels up to 24 ppm...no way your cell can produce that in a day regardless of what you feed it (pool builder salt?).

So long as all of the lights on the cell are on and happy, you should be producing chlorine. The cell does cycle throughout its runtime. Are you sure it isn't cycled off during the time you were looking at the returns.

Sodium Chloride (NaCl) is salt
Click to expand...

That makes me feel better. What is the lowest level it would be safe to swim in (just in case) and where kind I find that information for the future?

I'm pretty sure it was on when I looked because there was a lot of movement from the returns but just in case I went out now and turned it all on, waited for all the lights to go green on the cell and looked at all the returns. Even turned the flashlight on my phone on to look closely but I don't see any bubbles of any kind.

Griswald said:
SWG's are great at maintaining a chlorine level, but not so good at starting from zero and raising chlorine levels. Hit it with enough bleach and it shoyld be able to hold your value.

Adding bleach will also rescue your Saturday, it will be a great party!
Click to expand...

Good to know! Thanks! I hope so!




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