Need Help - I have a new SWG system and am having problems

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niceguymr

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May 28, 2010
119
So I just installed a new SWG yesterday and here are my readings as of right now:

FC = 33.5
CC = 0
Ph = 7.5
TA = Solution would not turn red - Turned yellow
CH = 300
CYA = 100

So my first problem is why is my FC so high?

Second, has anyone had this problem when testing for TA where the solution wont turn red? It turned yellow after maybe 5 drops or so but even after adding another 20 drops is stayed yellow.

I have no idea how my new SWG works so I'm sure I'm going to have to learn to make adjustments.
 
Your FC is high probably because it's producing more FC than you are using. I'd go ahead and turn it off for now and let the FC drift down.

Are you certain that your CYA is 100? It may be higher than that since the test only goes to 100 as the maximum reading. We recommend a CYA of 60 to 80 ppm with SWCG pools.

If you truly don't know how your new SWCG works, you really need to sit down and read the manual. It really shouldn't be too difficult to operate since SWCGs are pretty straight forward as far as the design is concerned. :goodjob:

For what it's worth, on your TA, all you are looking for is a color change. The fact that it turned yellow instead of red only means that you have a really high FC. If the color changed after five drops, then your TA is 50 ppm.
 
257WbyMag said:
Your FC is high probably because it's producing more FC than you are using. I'd go ahead and turn it off for now and let the FC drift down.

Are you certain that your CYA is 100? It may be higher than that since the test only goes to 100 as the maximum reading. We recommend a CYA of 60 to 80 ppm with SWCG pools.

If you truly don't know how your new SWCG works, you really need to sit down and read the manual. It really shouldn't be too difficult to operate since SWCGs are pretty straight forward as far as the design is concerned. :goodjob:

For what it's worth, on your TA, all you are looking for is a color change. The fact that it turned yellow instead of red only means that you have a really high FC. If the color changed after five drops, then your TA is 50 ppm.
Click to expand...

Will the FC drift down at the same pace as it would have when using liquid chlorine? In the case of my pool, that was typically quite slow (maybe 1ppm every day or 2). With the current FC at 33.5, this could take a while, no?

The CYA is definitely between 90 and 100. I rounded it up to 100 in my original post but using my test kit, it's kind of hard to get a very precise reading.

Should I do anything about my TA or will that tend to drift up?

As for learning how my SWG works, I have read through the manual but honestly, I don't think it does a very good job of explaining what I need to be doing. Perhaps it just hasn't 'clicked' with me yet. Right now, it's set to "60%" but it was running for the last 24 hours at 100%. The timer will be shutting it off today and resume a 6 - 8 hour daily cycle beginning tomorrow.
 
The FC will fall at the same rate that it would if you were using bleach, assuming that you have the SWCG turned off.

For me personally, I don't really like having the TA below 60 ppm because pH tends to get a little touchy. Using the Pool Calculator, I would probably figure out how much baking soda I needed to add to bring it up to 60 and see how that does.

Also, I just want to make sure that you are not using the tablet feeder. If so, please turn that off as you don't need the chlorine or the CYA that tablets would provide.
 
It will take awhile to get used to how much to run the SWCG. I havent read the manual for your model, but it should work much like others. The output of "60%" means that for every hour the pump is running, the SWCG is producing chlorine for 36 minutes out of every hour. At 20% is generates 12 minutes out of every hour the pump is on..you get the idea.
The way I do it is to set my pump run time based on what I need for a couple of water turnovers a day and what keeps my pool clean. Then I adjust my SWG percent output to keep my FC at 7-10% of my CYA number. I keep my CYA around 50 ppm, so I try to hit an FC around 5 ppm. As I said, you kind of have to play with it to get it in the sweet spot. Winter will be tough to set it up correctly since FC use is really low. You will need to tune it when the weather warms up and you start using the pool.

As far as the TA, I keep mine around 70 ppm and have no problem keeping the pH around 7.4.
 
257WbyMag said:
The FC will fall at the same rate that it would if you were using bleach, assuming that you have the SWCG turned off.

For me personally, I don't really like having the TA below 60 ppm because pH tends to get a little touchy. Using the Pool Calculator, I would probably figure out how much baking soda I needed to add to bring it up to 60 and see how that does.

Also, I just want to make sure that you are not using the tablet feeder. If so, please turn that off as you don't need the chlorine or the CYA that tablets would provide.
Click to expand...

So you're saying I should just shut off the SWG for (at least) several days being that a 33.5 FC will take me probably 2 weeks or more to come down to 5 - 10ppm.

Yes, I actually removed my tablet feeder. I'm just hoping I can find someone that wants it considering it's only 6 months old :hammer:
 
niceguymr said:
So you're saying I should just shut off the SWG for (at least) several days being that a 33.5 FC will take me probably 2 weeks or more to come down to 5 - 10ppm.
Click to expand...

Yup...if your CYA is truly between 90-100 you are pretty close to shock levels. Shut it of for a few days and let it drift down to around 10-12ppm. With CYA that high, I would be surprised if you would need to run the SWG at 10-20%.
 
dmanb2b said:
niceguymr said:
So you're saying I should just shut off the SWG for (at least) several days being that a 33.5 FC will take me probably 2 weeks or more to come down to 5 - 10ppm.
Click to expand...

Yup...if your CYA is truly between 90-100 you are pretty close to shock levels. Shut it of for a few days and let it drift down to around 10-12ppm. With CYA that high, I would be surprised if you would need to run the SWG at 10-20%.
Click to expand...

Ok, So I've shut off the system and will be monitoring the FC levels unitl it's down to 'normal'. Then I suppose I'll be back here trying to figure out the best way to tweak my system :hammer:
 

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