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)
I have almost no chlorine or free chlorine in the pool
- Thread starter Aut1180
- Start date
Re: High pH and no Chlorine generation... help.
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.
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.
Re: High pH and no Chlorine generation... help.
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.
Aut1180 said:
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.
Please post a full set of water test results. There is almost certainly something out of balance causing your chlorine problem.
Thanks for the advice! I am gonna try to answer your questions...then ask a few of my own.
The pool is 14,000 gallons. The pool store told us to put 3.5 lbs of stabilizer in socks and let them float. We have drained some of the water though since then because they told us to try a Drop N Vac product. We put the socks back in after using that, but they are only about halfway dissolved. Other results via the pool store:
Temp=80
Saturation Index=0
CYA=14
Tot. Chlorine= 0.2
Free Chlorine=0
PH=7.4
Tot Alkalinity=94
Adj Total Alk=90
Tot Hardess=294
Salt=3500
Now for my questions: Is there anywhere I can get a testing kit without ordering it so that I can start now instead of waiting on it to get here? Walmart? Academy? Pool Store? Also, how willl I know how much bleach to use? By testing?
Thanks
The pool is 14,000 gallons. The pool store told us to put 3.5 lbs of stabilizer in socks and let them float. We have drained some of the water though since then because they told us to try a Drop N Vac product. We put the socks back in after using that, but they are only about halfway dissolved. Other results via the pool store:
Temp=80
Saturation Index=0
CYA=14
Tot. Chlorine= 0.2
Free Chlorine=0
PH=7.4
Tot Alkalinity=94
Adj Total Alk=90
Tot Hardess=294
Salt=3500
Now for my questions: Is there anywhere I can get a testing kit without ordering it so that I can start now instead of waiting on it to get here? Walmart? Academy? Pool Store? Also, how willl I know how much bleach to use? By testing?
Thanks
The recommended CYA level for a SWG is between 70 and 80. With CYA as low as you have it there is no way the SWG can possibly keep up with chlorine demand. 3.5 lbs of stabilizer will raise CYA by about 30 to somewhere around 45. You are going to need more stabilizer than that to get up to the 70 to 80 range. Like frogabog, I am skeptical for the pool store CYA test result, so adding 3.5 lbs now, waiting a week for it to fully dissolve and then testing and adjusting from there is your best bet.
Walmart has a six way drop based test kit for around $20 that you can get by with, though it doesn't have a very good chlorine test.
You can use the Pool Calculator to figure out how much bleach you need to use.
Because CYA is currently very low, you will lose lots of chlorine each day to sunlight. Therefore it is best to supplement the FC level in the evening, so the chlorine has all night to work before you start losing it to sunlight.
How does the water look? If the water is clear, you can probably get away with adding 2 ppm of chlorine each evening. But if the water is cloudy/murky you should shock the pool, see instructions in Pool School.
Walmart has a six way drop based test kit for around $20 that you can get by with, though it doesn't have a very good chlorine test.
You can use the Pool Calculator to figure out how much bleach you need to use.
Because CYA is currently very low, you will lose lots of chlorine each day to sunlight. Therefore it is best to supplement the FC level in the evening, so the chlorine has all night to work before you start losing it to sunlight.
How does the water look? If the water is clear, you can probably get away with adding 2 ppm of chlorine each evening. But if the water is cloudy/murky you should shock the pool, see instructions in Pool School.
I have the same issue and was just about to buy a new salt cell. I'm in Texas as well and have been battling algae for three weeks now. No FC but the other chemicals appear fine. I've been shocking with bleach since Sunday and its clearing up and I'm watching the chlorine drop during the day. Temp has been over 105 for almost 30 days.
FC 0
PH 7.4
CYA 40
Salt shows 3250 on control panel, salt strip tested around 3500 and pool store test said 4000
I have a 4 year old Polaris Autoclear Plus and I keep getting an error 91 on the panel which disappears after a reset.
After calling Polaris/Zodiac I was told the limited warranty applies but "I'm sorry, we don't have parts for that anymore. you might try a parter". Partner in Plano Texas says, "I'm sorry, we can't get parts anymore for that unit. Try the pool builder"
I'll up the CYA more and see if that helps. Are you guys saying I should turn off the salt cell and use bleach until I can maintain a steady cholorine count?
FC 0
PH 7.4
CYA 40
Salt shows 3250 on control panel, salt strip tested around 3500 and pool store test said 4000
I have a 4 year old Polaris Autoclear Plus and I keep getting an error 91 on the panel which disappears after a reset.
After calling Polaris/Zodiac I was told the limited warranty applies but "I'm sorry, we don't have parts for that anymore. you might try a parter". Partner in Plano Texas says, "I'm sorry, we can't get parts anymore for that unit. Try the pool builder"
I'll up the CYA more and see if that helps. Are you guys saying I should turn off the salt cell and use bleach until I can maintain a steady cholorine count?