No Chlorine, AGAIN

[chlorine deprived]

sorry if this is a repeat topic

i cant keep Chlorine , i have a Salt system. ph 7.4 cya 77, Zero Chlorine, mineral level 2500 pool store, 2900 unit and 3300 test strip, my pool is crystal clear i have a 17000 gal.vinyl pool and an over sized pump 3hp, 8 returns ( i have a reversal valve to skim off the warmer top water through the returns while i am heating it, (rarely do i reverse it) I can turn the pool over in about 5 hours.. I figure it pumps about 80-100gpm

Anyway since i installed this pool 3 seasons ago i dont think i EVER had chlorine out of the Salt system or the amounts are being eaten away... I can now hold chlorine for a few ( 3 or 4) days if i throw some in but thats about it since I finally saw in a forum about Phosphates and that seemed to help ( they are now zero) If i add chlorine at night the next day its already dwindling.

My pool was very green at opening this year(mesh cover) ( So Central Pa ) and had an small algae plume. twice early on when after i back washed the sand filter, a white cloud came out of all returns but the cloudiness dissipated in 20 minutes or so. To get rid of the phosphates i used Phos Floc and phos free. Phosphates are now 0

did an ammonia test, that was clear as well

Any ideas?

Mike

 

[anonapersona]

We will want to see full test results, and know the source of that info. I am particularly interested in CYA level.

[edit] oops, missed that!

 

[Bama Rambler]

Well, Hello Mike,
Which SWG do you have and is it showing any errors? Have you cleaned the cell? Are you sure the cell is generating?

Those look like pool store numbers. Do you have a test kit?

Please post a full set of numbers if you can.

I recommend getting one of the ones recommended here if you don't already have one of them.

Have you read through Pool School. That's the single most important thing you can do to help yourself clear your pool.

 

[duraleigh]

Hi, Mike,

Welcome to the forum. Almost surely, you have algae in your pool whether you can see it or not.

Two things consume chlorine....sunlight and algae (or other organics).

With a CYA of 70-80, you have decent protection from the sun so the answer is very very likely organics.

Prove this by doing an overnight FC loss test (You won't be able to do it unless you have an FAS/DPD chlorine test). The directions for that test are found in Pool School. Be sure to shut of your SWG while you're doing the test.

Report back your results and you'll get great advice on how to proceed.

 

[chlorine deprived]

thanks I will do all that.... stand by...

Well, Hello Mike,
Which SWG do you have and is it showing any errors? GOLDLINE , no errors, normal, had tech outHave you cleaned the cell? Yes Are you sure the cell is generating? no

Those look like pool store numbers. Do you have a test kit? yes TF 100

Please post a full set of numbers if you can.

I recommend getting one of the ones recommended here if you don't already have one of them.

Have you read through Pool School. That's the single most important thing you can do to help yourself clear your pool.
will do

 

[chem geek]

Anyway since i installed this pool 3 seasons ago i dont think i EVER had chlorine out of the Salt system or the amounts are being eaten away... I can now hold chlorine for a few ( 3 or 4) days if i throw some in but thats about it since I finally saw in a forum about Phosphates and that seemed to help ( they are now zero) If i add chlorine at night the next day its already dwindling.

If the chlorine lasts for a few days after manual addition, that isn't bad since an uncovered pool exposed to sun will lose chlorine every day -- probably 1.5 to 2 ppm FC drop per day. It's the overnight loss that is relevant, but you didn't give a precise number for that. If the loss is < 1 ppm FC overnight, then your chlorine consumption is probably normal and your SWG cell is bad. You need to use a 25 ml sample size to get a 0.2 ppm resolution in the FAS-DPD chlorine test for the overnight test.

Run the pump at night with a pool light on and see if you can see any tiny bubbles coming from the returns (use a flashlight if you don't have a pool light). If there are no bubbles, then there is no SWG output and you should get your SWG fixed before the warranty expires.

Also, for your CYA level, you should have a minimum FC at all times of at least 3.5 ppm though 4 ppm would be better.

 

[Pontiac]

GOLDLINE , had tech out

This ^ is some great advice you have received.

But my question is...what happened when the Goldline Tec was there to check things out? Did he confirm that the unit was producing chlorine?

I agree, your warrenty after three seasons has probably expired. You should check on this PRONTO :!:

 

[PaulR]

If the SWG looks like it's on, you can collect a sample right from the return jet and test that to see if it's producing chlorine and it just gets used up right away, or if it's not producing.
--paulr

 

[chlorine deprived]

[quote="chlorine deprived":e06bk80p]
Anyway since i installed this pool 3 seasons ago i dont think i EVER had chlorine out of the Salt system or the amounts are being eaten away... I can now hold chlorine for a few ( 3 or 4) days if i throw some in but thats about it since I finally saw in a forum about Phosphates and that seemed to help ( they are now zero) If i add chlorine at night the next day its already dwindling.

If the chlorine lasts for a few days after manual addition, that isn't bad since an uncovered pool exposed to sun will lose chlorine every day -- probably 1.5 to 2 ppm FC drop per day. It's the overnight loss that is relevant, but you didn't give a precise number for that. If the loss is < 1 ppm FC overnight, then your chlorine consumption is probably normal and your SWG cell is bad. You need to use a 25 ml sample size to get a 0.2 ppm resolution in the FAS-DPD chlorine test for the overnight test.

Run the pump at night with a pool light on and see if you can see any tiny bubbles coming from the returns (use a flashlight if you don't have a pool light). If there are no bubbles, then there is no SWG output and you should get your SWG fixed before the warranty expires.

Also, for your CYA level, you should have a minimum FC at all times of at least 3.5 ppm though 4 ppm would be better.[/quote:e06bk80p]

the pool is not "over sunned" IMO and usually has the solar cover on.....

I did a FAS-DPD tonight and will do one tommorow first thing in the am.

BTW the pool is clear

Will check on the bubbles tonight

Goldline tech was not real helpful, but was a decent guy, checked the diagnostics ( which i already did) they were fine, tried to to tell me the cell was prob too small and i should have gotten the bigger one fo a 24,000 gal pool , thats BS. He said " sounds like its not working" Then Hayward had me check phosphates etc etc and here i an today

will post full set of numbers tommorow after 2nd drop test

Thanks a ton to all

Mike

 

[chlorine deprived]

ok here goes.......

Fri at 5 pm I added a bag of shock (pool had no Chlorine) left system run

At 8 pm i shut it down and and did the drop test

FC 6.0 CC 1.5 TC 7.5

PH 7-7.2
TA 130
CH 190
CYA 80
pool temp 86

7am Sat morning FC 3.5 CC .5 TC 4.0

Phosphates 0 Ammonia via test ube test = ok

IDEAS?

ps never going to the pool store again! LOL

 

[duraleigh]

Shock your pool. You lost 2.5ppm FC in the middle of the night....you have organics...not much, but you have them.

Shock your pool as outlined in pool school with bleach or liquid chlorine....it is a process....not a one-time dose.

Shock is a verb. Pool stores would have you believe shock is a product but it is not.

You are finished shocking when....

1. Your pool water is sparkling
2. Your CC's are .5ppm or less
3. You can hold your FC overnight without losing more than 1ppm.

 

[chlorine deprived]

Dave, and others... According to the chart, my pool with a "80" CYA ( my reading over a week ago)reading would have to have a FC of 30 for shock, I have finally gotten to that point last night ( 33.5 FC) and this am it was 30FC and the CYA was 60

The CC is 0
The pool is clear

Keep it at 30FC until i don't lose more then 1 over night?

should i bring the cya up?

 

[dmanb2b]

keep the CYA where it's at...ditto for your shock level. Keep it at 30+ppm FC until you no longer lose more than 1ppm overnight...you're doing great

 

[chlorine deprived]

any idea on how long one would have to keep the FC up at shock level? 5 days? more? less?

 

[Bama Rambler]

There's no set amount of time that you have to stay at shock level.

The criteria for being finished with shocking is:
1) You lose less than one ppm FC overnight.
2) You have no more than .5 ppm CC.
3) Your water is sparkly clear!

How long that takes is anybody's guess. One thing that can shorten the time is to keep the FC level up consistently. The more often you check and adjust the faster the process.