That sounds about right. 7-9 tablets I would venture to guess. I think right now, my intention would be to supplement the tablets with bleach. I guess it depends on how easy it is to make the switch. I still have a few tabs that could be used up, if it takes a while to make the switch to bleach. Honestly I think its going to come down to money. If its cheaper to stay with the tabs I will probably do that. Considering the amount of money I spend in fuel to get to the local pool store (20 miles) versus the nearest Food Lion (5 miles). Couple that with the fact that Food Lion is open 7 days a week and my local pool store is closed Sundays (which seems to be when I need to get there the most)...
Not new to my pool, but trying new tactics!!
- Thread starter psycko069
- Start date
Using the tabs is fine for now since the CYA is low ... but you still need to use bleach to keep the FC in range.
Eventually the CYA level will rise and you may need to switch to bleach completely.
Eventually the CYA level will rise and you may need to switch to bleach completely.
Ok sounds good!! I think I will be making a trip to the grocery store tonight... Thanks again.. Hopefully I will have good news in the next few days..
Be sure to get regular, unscented bleach. Splashless has a thickener, so you don't want that either. And, like harley said, thanks for the work you and your wife do - truly appreciate those who choose that field!
Thank you crek31. Truly it is our pleasure. I started in the career world as a firefighter at 16, joined the United States Marine Corps at 18 to continue to be a firefighter. At some point I got a wild hair, and decided to get away. The money is better in the corporate world they say. Firefighting is a dangerous profession they say. I spent ten years trying to find a fit for me in the corporate world and never did, so I went back to firefighting. Sure the money is better, its less dangerous, and I was able to come home every night, but I will tell ya one thing, I am never leaving the profession again. I thought the grass was greener on the other side, and it wasn't for me... I am thoroughly happy in saying that I am one of the few people in the world that is happy to go to work.... My wife feels the same way about EMS...
So this little gem is like a new toy. I added some bleach and took another test. I love this thing!!
FC - 8ppm
CC - 0.5ppm
TC - 8.5ppm
I added the bleach at about 8pm and took this test just now, so about an hour and a half. I am going to take another test in the morning to see how far it drops. I guess my next step if it drops a bunch is going to be to SLAM the pool? That would be rough because right now I am on break, and tomorrow is my last day off. I go back on a 2 week stint of shift work on Friday...
Oh and it was the "Home 360" (Food Lion Brand) original bleach. The jug said it was 7.85% bleach and 3.29 a gallon... Cheaper than a bag of shock!!!
So this little gem is like a new toy. I added some bleach and took another test. I love this thing!!
FC - 8ppm
CC - 0.5ppm
TC - 8.5ppm
I added the bleach at about 8pm and took this test just now, so about an hour and a half. I am going to take another test in the morning to see how far it drops. I guess my next step if it drops a bunch is going to be to SLAM the pool? That would be rough because right now I am on break, and tomorrow is my last day off. I go back on a 2 week stint of shift work on Friday...
Oh and it was the "Home 360" (Food Lion Brand) original bleach. The jug said it was 7.85% bleach and 3.29 a gallon... Cheaper than a bag of shock!!!
Are the Menards out by you? I know they are in the midwest, but not out here. They have great deals on 12.5% bleach ... or check out the 2013 bleach prices thread.
There is not. Pretty limited as far as that goes. Food Lion, the commissary on base and WalMart. Thats about it... I will check the thread that you mentioned. Thanks again for everyones help...
Yep, if you drop more than 1 FC overnight, you will need to SLAM. SLAmmming is hard under normal work circumstances, but your schedule really presents a bigger difficulty. Best case is you find a babysitter to test and add bleach every couple hours. Good luck!
Well I just checked the chlorine levels, and I don't think its promising....
FC - 4.0ppm
CC - 0.5ppm
TC - 4.5ppm
Thats a loss of 4.0ppm overnight. I guess its time to SLAM the pool....
FC - 4.0ppm
CC - 0.5ppm
TC - 4.5ppm
Thats a loss of 4.0ppm overnight. I guess its time to SLAM the pool....
Alright. A little update. I passed the OCLT!!!!
I started SLAMming the pool on JUly 20th, with a target FC of 15 throughout. I maintained it and checked and added as often as I could when I was home. On the 21st I checked it on my way into work and the OCLT was a -3ppm, so it didnt pass. On the 22nd I bumped the FC to 17ppm throughout the day and maintained it because I was off shift. On the night of the 22nd I checked it at 2100 and bumped it to 16ppm. Checked it again at 2200 to make sure it was good, and it was in fact at 16ppm. That was at 2200 on the 22nd. On the 23rd I had to work shift, so I checked it on my way out the door at 0645. It was at FC-15.0ppm CC-0.5ppm TC-15.5ppm... That is a OCLT PASS in my book!!!!
So I left it be so that it could come back down. I kept the pump running on a 24 hour cycle. I came home this morning, and just ran a full panel. Here are my results.
ph - 7.5
FC - 6.5ppm
CC - 0.5ppm
TC - 7.0ppm
TA - 130
CH - 230
CYA - 30
Looks pretty good, I think? I see a daily loss of about 8.5ppm so is that where I should start for dosing as far as trying to maintain my chlorine levels?
Oh. FYI: I added some store bought stabilizer to try and bring up my CYA before beginning the SLAM process, so that is the reason for the spike in my CYA from last week. Is 30 a decent number? Should I bump it? The pool is in pretty much full sun from sunrise to sunset...
Oh and the pool water looks AMAZING!!!! Im about to hop in and give it a vacuum.. Let me know what ya think....
I started SLAMming the pool on JUly 20th, with a target FC of 15 throughout. I maintained it and checked and added as often as I could when I was home. On the 21st I checked it on my way into work and the OCLT was a -3ppm, so it didnt pass. On the 22nd I bumped the FC to 17ppm throughout the day and maintained it because I was off shift. On the night of the 22nd I checked it at 2100 and bumped it to 16ppm. Checked it again at 2200 to make sure it was good, and it was in fact at 16ppm. That was at 2200 on the 22nd. On the 23rd I had to work shift, so I checked it on my way out the door at 0645. It was at FC-15.0ppm CC-0.5ppm TC-15.5ppm... That is a OCLT PASS in my book!!!!
So I left it be so that it could come back down. I kept the pump running on a 24 hour cycle. I came home this morning, and just ran a full panel. Here are my results.
ph - 7.5
FC - 6.5ppm
CC - 0.5ppm
TC - 7.0ppm
TA - 130
CH - 230
CYA - 30
Looks pretty good, I think? I see a daily loss of about 8.5ppm so is that where I should start for dosing as far as trying to maintain my chlorine levels?
Oh. FYI: I added some store bought stabilizer to try and bring up my CYA before beginning the SLAM process, so that is the reason for the spike in my CYA from last week. Is 30 a decent number? Should I bump it? The pool is in pretty much full sun from sunrise to sunset...
Oh and the pool water looks AMAZING!!!! Im about to hop in and give it a vacuum.. Let me know what ya think....
You are doing great. I would bump you cya to something closer to 50 and see your FC loses be a little more controlled. As for your bleach prices, I know for me, the 10% liquid chlorinator by HTH at Wal Mart is least expensive and the Great Value 8.25% is a pretty good second option. homedDepot and Lowes are pretty close also. That being said, I don't spend $5 in gas to save a dollar on chlorine so I buy what's closest to my everyday life.
You will not lose that much FC when you are at the lower maintenance levels. And raising the CYA will also reduce losses.
Yea, I ran out the other day. I already had to go to WalMart, so I picked up some of their 8% bleach for I think $2.98 a gallon.... Now I need to figure out how I am going to get bleach into the pool when no one is home...
Ok so a little update. I posted a thread in Everything Else, and I was kicking around the idea of either a Stennar pump with bleach dosing setup, or a SWG setup. After much reading and research I decided on a SWG setup, the Hayward Aqua-Trol HP to be exact. I ordered it, and it came in on Wednesday. I just finished the install and got her up and running this morning. Last night I added 240 lbs of pool salt to the pool. I haven't added or checked the pool parameters since the 30th so I knew my FC would be low. Here are my current readings. Mind you, I tested salt with a Taylor K-1766 kit....
ph: 7.5
FC: 0.5
CC: 0.5
TC: 1.0
TA: 130
CH: 220
CYA: 60
salt: 3600
I am going to dose some bleach to bring the FC up to 4. I think all my other parameters are in there. Only question I have is that my test came up with the salt at 3600, but the control box for the SWG is stating its at 2800... Any ideas as to why? Also, I am going to be running it at 4 hours on, 4 hours off continuous. Any input on this schedule??
EDIT: I just looked at the Pool School and it states that I need to have my TA at 60-80... Why is this???
Thanks
ph: 7.5
FC: 0.5
CC: 0.5
TC: 1.0
TA: 130
CH: 220
CYA: 60
salt: 3600
I am going to dose some bleach to bring the FC up to 4. I think all my other parameters are in there. Only question I have is that my test came up with the salt at 3600, but the control box for the SWG is stating its at 2800... Any ideas as to why? Also, I am going to be running it at 4 hours on, 4 hours off continuous. Any input on this schedule??
EDIT: I just looked at the Pool School and it states that I need to have my TA at 60-80... Why is this???
Thanks
How old is the cell? Have you inspected for scale? When they are dirty or start to go bad, they seem to indicate salt levels lower than reality.
SWG and high TA cause pH to rise more quickly. By lowering the TA, the rate of pH rise should slow.
SWG and high TA cause pH to rise more quickly. By lowering the TA, the rate of pH rise should slow.
The unit is brand new, so I assume the cell is clean. Its only been running for a day. I didn't inspect the cell before I installed it....
My new system seemed to read about 500ppm lower than my drop kit as well ... verified on another pool that the test was reading high. Most important to make the SWG happy. You should definitely supplement with bleach while you are dialing in the SWG.
Well lets just say that my experiment was a success?? Maybe, but.. umm yea so... On Friday I installed the SWG, and dosed the pool with bleach to bring the FC to 4.0ppm. I had the SWG run a 24 hour on cycle, at 40% to see if it would generate bleach. I let it run until Saturday morning, where I tested it again. On Saturday morning the FC reading was at 2.0ppm. I dosed the pool again with bleach to 5.0ppm, and turned the SWG up to 100% as an experiment to ensure that it was properly going to generate chlorine... Well the problem was that Sunday I had to work shift, and I totally forgot that I had cranked the SWG up. I had it set on a continuous run, so it ran from Saturday morning until just now...
I just remembered about my experiment, so I took a sample and ran a drop test. My FC is now reading at 20 ppm!!!!!! Umm so yea, the SWG is working, i know for a fact. The SWG is now turned off to try and bring the FC levels down....
How should I go about dialing this thing in?? Any advice??? I am going to post this in the SWG forum as well, but I could probably use all the help I can get on dialing this new contraption in.......
I just remembered about my experiment, so I took a sample and ran a drop test. My FC is now reading at 20 ppm!!!!!! Umm so yea, the SWG is working, i know for a fact. The SWG is now turned off to try and bring the FC levels down....
How should I go about dialing this thing in?? Any advice??? I am going to post this in the SWG forum as well, but I could probably use all the help I can get on dialing this new contraption in.......
Trying to dial in a new Hayward Aqua-Trol HP.... HELP
Merged by moderator. No need to have duplicate posts. Thanks, jblizzle
A little back story if you have not seen my Introduction thread. On Friday I installed the SWG, and dosed the pool with bleach to bring the FC to 4.0ppm, because it was at 0.5ppm. I had the SWG run a 24 hour on cycle, at 40% to see if it would generate bleach. I let it run until Saturday morning, where I tested it again. On Saturday morning the FC reading was at 2.0ppm. I dosed the pool again with bleach to 5.0ppm, and turned the SWG up to 100% as an experiment to ensure that it was properly going to generate chlorine... Well the problem was that Sunday I had to work a 24 hour shift, and I totally forgot that I had cranked the SWG up. I had it set on a continuous run, so it ran from Saturday morning until just now...
I just remembered about my little experiment, so I took a sample and ran a drop test. My FC is now reading at 20 ppm!!!!!!
Umm so yea, the SWG is working, i know for a fact. The SWG is now turned off to try and bring the FC levels down....
How should I go about dialing this thing in?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated....
Thanks
Merged by moderator. No need to have duplicate posts. Thanks, jblizzle
A little back story if you have not seen my Introduction thread. On Friday I installed the SWG, and dosed the pool with bleach to bring the FC to 4.0ppm, because it was at 0.5ppm. I had the SWG run a 24 hour on cycle, at 40% to see if it would generate bleach. I let it run until Saturday morning, where I tested it again. On Saturday morning the FC reading was at 2.0ppm. I dosed the pool again with bleach to 5.0ppm, and turned the SWG up to 100% as an experiment to ensure that it was properly going to generate chlorine... Well the problem was that Sunday I had to work a 24 hour shift, and I totally forgot that I had cranked the SWG up. I had it set on a continuous run, so it ran from Saturday morning until just now...
I just remembered about my little experiment, so I took a sample and ran a drop test. My FC is now reading at 20 ppm!!!!!!
Umm so yea, the SWG is working, i know for a fact. The SWG is now turned off to try and bring the FC levels down....How should I go about dialing this thing in?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated....
Thanks
NOTE: Only post in one forum thread. Posting twice is not acceptable
You are going to need to experiment. You know 100% is too much. Start at 50% for a couple hours and move up or down in either run time or percentage. Adjusting either time or percentage, not both at the same time, until you figure out what works in your pool in your yard. It's different for each installation. You need to determine if run time or SWG is more important to you.
You are going to need to experiment. You know 100% is too much. Start at 50% for a couple hours and move up or down in either run time or percentage. Adjusting either time or percentage, not both at the same time, until you figure out what works in your pool in your yard. It's different for each installation. You need to determine if run time or SWG is more important to you.