New Pool with SWG - but No Chlorine

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T

Tortooga

0
May 16, 2012
14
Omaha, NE
We just got an AGP - Intex 18' x 52" set it up last weekend and attached the Intex SWG.
I followed their instructions and added about 175 lbs of pool salt let the filter run, etc. and then the next day (after the 24 hours) turned on the SWG. Added 1.5 lbs of CYA per the Intex manual instructions.
I only have the HTH 6-way test strips - which I think must be garbage after reading on this forum, but that's all I have for now so please bear with me.

After testing - the levels all showed up in the "good" range - except that there was 0 FC. My wife took water sample to pool store and they said that all the levels looked great and SWG won't generate FC until water temp is at least 72*. Gave her a small bag of shock treatment and said to add 1/2 of that to get chlorine level up. Next morning tested and it's around 4 ppm (again on test strip).

Over the weekend it was too cool to swim.
I tested water again yesterday - as it's starting to warm up and the kids want to swim in the pool. The FC was down to the 1/2 ppm on test strips. I have been running the SWG 2 hrs per night - per manual instructions.
I called Intex - they said that I should clean the cell on the SWG (brand new - 1 week old) with vinegar. The guy also said that water temp should not make a difference. I did that, ran it again overnight and this AM still 1/2 ppm on the FC.

Test strip results:
TH: 200
FC: 1/2
pH: 7.2
Alk: 120
CYA: 30-50

Any thoughts or suggestions? Did I get a bad SWG? Am I worrying too much?
Oh -climate: Omaha, NE
 
First, any time you find the FC level too low, you need to manually add some chlorine to bring it up.

Second, for the SWG to really work correctly you need your CYA level around 70 to 80.

Third, if FC is too low you should increase the number of hours that the SWG runs. If FC gets too high at some point, reduce the number of hours that the SWG runs.

By the by, you didn't post a PH result. With TA on the high side, I would expect PH to be going up. You need to keep the PH below 7.9.
 
Thanks for reply!
PH was at 7.2 I thought I had that in there...
So, should I add bleach and CYA to get the FC and CYA levels up. Then up the time on the SWG? Or use the other 1/2 bag of the shock treatment? I apologize ahead of time, I don't have the details on the shock. It's at home and I'm at work.
I am guessing without knowing that, it's hard to say what I need to do, huh?
Thanks again for help!

TH: 200
FC: 1/2
pH: 7.2
Alk: 120
CYA: 30-50
 
Like others have said you need to get the chlorine level up to at least 3ppm if not a bit higher using plain house hold bleach. The cya needs to be higher as well but if you just recently added that I'd wait and see if it goes up any more. It takes several days to a week for it to read properly in a test. The swg will only maintain your chlorine level not drastically raise it. That is why you need to routinely test and adjust as needed with either bleach and then increasing or decreasing the run time of the swg. Also you want to really run your swg when the pool is in full sun to combat what the sun burns off. Water temp really has no effect on it producing unless the water is really cold. On mine over the winter I think the water temp was about 50 degrees before it stopped making chlorine and gave the low salt alarm.
Mine runs around 5-6 hours a day from about 11am to 4pm and really keeps the chlorine level in check. You can see it working when it's on. There is a whitish cloud coming off the cell and usually some small bubbles coming out of the return too. This mornings reading was still at 4ppm as it usually is each morning. Unless I have a heavy bathing load or go a week with junk on the bottom I rarely have to add bleach to bump it up into range again.
Your alkalinity is a bit high and you will probably notice the pH wanting to constantly go up running the swg. If you can get that down below 100 it won't shoot up as quickly.
 
Shocking now, high TA, what next?

I just got my TF-100 for Father's day - thanks wife! And did tests. Looks like my SWG is not keeping up (need to up the run time) but FC dropped way down. I am bringing it up to shock level now - per the Chlorine / CYA chart. My pH is good - 7.5, but TA is about 110 - high for SWG pool, right?

Do I wait until OCLT passes to lower pH and TA? Or should I add MA now to lower the pH?
Or, do I need to worry about the TA as long as the pH is in good range?

Thanks for all of the help. I find myself reading posts on this site 1/2 the day at work trying to learn what I'm supposed to be doing.

FC: 0
CC: .5
TC: .5
pH: 7.5
TA: 110
CH: 250
 
Re: Shocking now, high TA, what next?

TA is what you work on when everything else is balanced and you're bored.

Just keeping the pH down with periodic additions of acid will eventually drive TA down. If the acid intervals get too close together to where it's annoying, then you can get aggressive and follow the how-to in Pool School.
 
Re: Shocking now, high TA, what next?

Thanks for the reply. I will just wait it out then on the TA.

Ok - new question or should I start a new thread for this one? Anyhow, here it is...

Chlorine/CYA chart says with CYA of 70 on SWG pool, shock level is at 28. So, I used poolcalculator.com and entered levels... added 2x182oz (364 oz total) bottles of bleach. After about an hour and a half tested FC and got 66 drops - so FC is up to 33 !??!?!

So... a) how long until it's safe to swim? b) why would it go up so much?

Thanks again!!
 
Re: Shocking now, high TA, what next?

Welcome to the forum. :lol:

1. Keep all your posts under the same thread whenever possible. Topics merged. JasonLion

2. FC can not go up on it's own. Pool size error might be the culprit, but some sort of calculation error has crept in.

3. Safe to swim in a pool where the FC is below shock level.
 

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Thanks for the welcome - great site. I have found LOADS of helpful information here.

Re: 1) I started this new one, because after initial setup, the SWG did seem to start producing chlorine - I believe water temp may have been problem there. This was more of a new issue, but history probably helps.

Re: 2) I agree, not sure how chlorine would have magically appeared. I have measured water depth and it's right at 44" - so 3.6' and I know that it's 18'... poolcalculator shows that adding 364 oz of bleach would raise FC by 25. Even if I was a bit off on the initial test, I know that my FC wasn't at 7 or 8. Weird. Good news is that I didn't lose any FC overnight... I suppose only when I want it to go down is when it will stay high. :?

Re: 3) OK - I guess I need some good sun today so the kids don't yell at me for messing up their pool :evil:

Is there anything else I can do to speed up chlorine evaporation? Would solar cover help or hurt?

Thanks again!!

- andy
 
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