Re: High pH and no Chlorine generation... help.
Aut1180 said:
I am having the same issue, but I also have algae in my pool. I am assuming it is due to no chlorine being made. My PH level is 7.4 so it is ok I think. I have almost no chlorine or free chlorine in the pool though (total chlorine 0.2 and free is 0). My SWG is running 11 hours a day. I live in Texas where the temperature has been over 100 degrees for 32 days now so I'm not sure if that is part of the problem. Please help! I don't know what to do! We have been to the pool store over and over and have done everything they said and spent over $100, but cannot get the algae to go away! How do I make the SWG produce more chlorine? (My husband did just clean it)
Forgot to add...My CYA is also low. It is now at around 14 which is lower than it was last check despite having floating socks with stablizer in the pool for a week or so.
It would be best to start your own thread so we can keep your pool and conditions/advice in one place for reference.
I assume mods will move this.
Moved to a new topic. JasonLion
First and foremost, stop buying things from the pool store.
Second, consider getting your own test kit. Make sure it's a FAS-DPD kit, the best deal around is at
http://www.tftestkits.net. Save yourself some time and hassle looking, you won't find a better deal. Without a test kit of your own everything is in serious question and it's nearly impossible to give sound advice or get you going towards sparkly cuz everything is virtually unknown.
The store CYA results are almost certainly invalid. 14?? And you've added CYA? Not a chance. CYA does not disappear unless you drain and refill. I bet they used a fancy dancy test strip that they stuck into a machine huh? <<--ERROR-->>
How much CYA have you added? What is the volume of the pool? Use
http://www.poolcalculator.com and find out exactly what the amount of CYA you put into the pool translates to in PPM for YOUR pool volume. Then stick with that number till you can get a proper test. You will want to assume it's in there. Unless some trolls came when you weren't looking, emptied your CYA socks before it dissolved, and snuck away... the CYA you put into the pool is in the pool.
You talk of algae, and that leads me to think you're seeing green. Green is as good an indication of the need to shock as combined chlorine so right now you'll want to shut that SWG off. Go buy liquid bleach (regular bleach, no additives or splash-less 6% sodium hypochlorite off the laundry shelf). Without knowing the volume of the pool I'd say you'll want at least 10 bottles on hand in storage ready to be used as needed.
In the pool calculator, if you plug in your current CYA value into the now column it will automatically adjust the bottom pink chlorine section for your pool. Make sure to enter the pool volume at the top. The shock level listed in the pink section is what you're aiming for.
Now... take a few moments after you go out and turn off the SWG to read pool school. Your SWG will never produce enough chlorine to shock the pool, give it a rest for the time being. If you have bleach in the laundry room, go pour a gallon in the pool and run the pump 24/7. Sit down and read pool school (upper right of this page, white button), paying particular attention to the algae section, and the information about shocking your pool. Read it a few times. Or more... Then go buy bleach.
Accept that to shock, you will not be able to dump some powder shock product in and walk away. Shocking is a process, not a product or a one time event. You will have to maintain chlorine at shock levels till you complete the process, it will require frequent (hourly at first) testing and a commitment to follow through.
To answer your burning question as to why the SWG isn't working, it simply can't keep up with the chlorine needed to battle the algae and the algae is now winning with the SWG giving everything it's got and it gets eaten up immediately by the algae. The manual addition of chlorine and going through the shocking process will allow your SWG to function much better in the end when you turn it back on, and you won't need to run it 11 hours a day to maintain chlorine.
Post your questions as needed. There are lots of pool peeps around here to help you out.