CC=.5 FC=14 Need advice to lower FC

[Glock30]

Tested my water again last night trying to prep the pool for the upcoming long weekend.

FC=14 (28 drops of reagent)
CC=.5 (possibly less)
TA=150
CYA holding steady at 75
pH 7.5

I am new so please bear with me.
I bought my SWG oversize to reduce wear and tear but I am only running it at 20% for 5 hours a day and getting these results.
I reduced the SWG run time last night to 3 hrs. a day and we will see what that does.

Any other suggestions out there as to what I am missing that my FC is so high? Better than alge I guess

I also figured out that I was doing the tests wrong with my TF100 Kit.
It should state in the directions that the bottles should be held upside down and not horizontal when counting drops.
This may seem obvious to some, but I have never done this before and was getting small drops and therefore inaccurate readings.
Results above are with bottles upside down when counting drops.

 

[zea3]

You will need to play with the pump run times and percentages so you get enough pump time to turn the water over once per day and don't over chlorinate the pool. You may try leaving the SWG off for 24 hours and see how much the FC drops.

 

[Glock30]

zea3
Thanks for the reply.
I currently run the pump for about 8.5 hrs. turning over the pool about 1.1 times during this span.

 

[yeggim]

You could double check your Chlorine test results against the simple colormetric test. I forget what color 14 ppm matches but it should be somewhat near orange or at least a very dark yellow. Maybe someone with a better memory than me can chime in.

 

[JasonLion]

14 is high enough that the OTO test should show orange.

Have you been using a solar cover on the pool? That would greatly cut down on chlorine consumption.

 

[jblizzle]

You will need to play with the pump run times and percentages so you get enough pump time to turn the water over once per day and don't over chlorinate the pool. You may try leaving the SWG off for 24 hours and see how much the FC drops.

Wait ... possible conflicting info from the OP.

Do you have a separate timer on the pump and on the SWG? If so, then reducing the pump run time will have no affect on the amount of FC being added to the pool (unless you made the pump run time shorter than the SWG on time).

I believe that 20% is as low as you can go without the automation controller. If so, then all you can do is reducing the SWG on time even further.

 

[Glock30]

Is the OTO test the plastic Cl/Br & pH test in the blue container?
If so, yes is shows light orange.

No solar cover.

Pump timer (schedule) runs seperately from SWG.
Here are the times after I adjusted the SWG run time down 2 hours Tuesday:
Pool Pump Schedule Pentair Intelliflow (011018) RPM / 27 = ~GPM
1) 9:45 AM-10:00 AM @750 RPM ~ 28 gpm x 15 min. = 420 Gal. ( Pump Warmup)
2) 10 AM-10:30 AM @2350 RPM ~ 87 gpm x 30 min. = 2610 Gal. (Skim) SWG ON @ 10:05 AM
3) 10:30 AM-11:30 AM @ 1500 RPM ~ 55.5 gpm x 60 min =3330 Gal.
4) 11:30 AM-1:30 PM OFF SWG OFF @ 11:25 AM
5) 1:30 PM-8:30 PM @1500 RPM ~55.5 gpm x 420 min. = 23310 Gal. SWG ON @ 1:35 PM
6) SWG OFF @ 3:00 PM
29,670 Gallons Circulated in 8.75 hrs.

I dropped about 2-3 ppm in a day running this schedule.
The previous is the same but the SWG runs 2 more hours until 5 PM.

Thanks

 

[jblizzle]

So do people with the intelliflo intentionally make their pump schedules overly complicated just because they can?

Posted with Tapatalk ... sorry if I sound short ... hate typing on phone

 

[Glock30]

Absolutely!!!
My goal is actually to turn my water over as efficiently as possible and utilize the pump features to that end.

Don't be a hatin' on my pump

 

[Glock30]

Follow up.

With SWG on 20% and running 3 hrs a day, I am losing about 3 FC ppm/day (partly sunny).
I will continue this until it reaches ~7ppm and then increase to 30% and see if it holds.

Regards,

 

[bobodaclown]

Glock sounds like a good plan. Why not run at 26-28 gpm for 15 hours and maybe 1/2 to an hour to skim. Save a bit and still do same turnover. Sounds like you are able to set your SWCG to run independently from the pump, so as long as water is flowing it will produce. You'll get the best of both worlds. Less stagnant water an lower electric consumption. 750 rpm = 28 gpm, 26000 gallons/28 gpm= 929 minutes , 929 minutes /60 min hours = 15.5 hours.
What rpm is your most efficient pump rate?

 

[Glock30]

bob,
I do not think I can run at 750 rpm and still ahve my skimmers work well.
Unless you are saying run that low just to filter etc?

I do not think I can answer your "What rpm is your most efficient pump rate?" question as I do not know.

 

[JasonLion]

You want to pick a pump speed based on the skimmers working effectively and keeping the SWG happy. Once you have figured out what that speed is there is no need to use any other speed (unless you have additional equipment, like a heater, solar system, or pump driven pool cleaner). Running the pump faster than that serves no purpose. Then you figure out how long you need to run the pump, based on keeping the water sparkling and providing enough run time for the SWG. This is usually a lot shorter than you think it is. The best way to set this up is as several short segments spread out across 24 hours. That will help the skimmers catch any floating debris before it sinks to the bottom.

 

[bobodaclown]

Depends on what your trying to accomplish, Jason summed it up pretty accurately though. Pool pumps are usually more efficient at lower speeds. That's why I recommended 750 rpm.