FC too high even with low SWCG settings??

[dfiletti]

Folks-

Been having a bit of a mystery with my SWCG. It's a Jandy Aqua-Pure 1400. Three weeks ago, I was humming along quite nicely with a 30% setting on the control unit and salinity of 3300 yielding right around 4.5 ppm FC -right where I wanted it. Had this steady-state for several weeks prior, and chems were about as they show at the bottom -about where I want them.

So we had a couple of big rains for which I dumped some water out to waste to get the water level right, and then later, a lot of swimming/ splashing/ evaporation, for which I added a bit of water. So my Salt level dropped to 3000 ppm, I shoot for 3300 so I added the right amount of salt to get that level right two days before vacation. The morning I left for vacation the salinity was right at 3300, 30% setting on the control unit and a FC of 4.5 -happiness and light!!

I got back from vacation a week later and my FC had spiked to 9.5 -everything else was in-line (+/- as below) so I bumped the control unit down to 20%. Testing 3 days later the FC was 10.5 -wrong direction!! So I bumped it down to 15% and figured there may just be latency in the SWCG so I'd give it some time. That was Tues. It's been running at at 15% since then, we've gotten some rain and I had to dump a little water yesterday, but otherwise nothing else has changed. I added no salt and only the requisite amount of MA to keep pH in check.

I just tested and my FC was 10. :?: So I set the control unit to it's lowest setting: 5% and I'll test again on Sun I guess, but it really is a bit of mystery to me. Every time I bump the control unit % down precipitously I keep expecting to see abysmally low FC level all of the sudden, but It's not happened. I'm a bit perplexed.

I run my pump 24/7 so I guess that could influence things, but that has not changed -so, why did I have an apparent steady-state @ 24/7: 30% for several weeks before vacation?

I use the salinity tester built into the Aqua-Pure control unit to test salt levels -perhaps that's a factor??

Could the control unit be acting up?
Could having added salt be influencing things?
Chlorine Rain??

My numbers as of tonight (TF-100):

FC: 10
CC: 0
TC: 10
pH: 7.7 -added MA
TA: 110
CH: 200
CYA: 50 (Jandy recommends 50-80 ppm)
Temp: 83
Salt: 3100ppm

As always, help is appreciated.

Dan

 

[JasonLion]

Did you add any CYA recently? Assuming you didn't, the control unit is probably broken. I suspect that the relay that controls the cell is stuck in the on position. Some times you can unstick it by giving the control unit a sharp, but not really hard, bump. It's either one of those two, or the local kids are coming over in the middle of the night and adding bleach

 

[dfiletti]

Did you add any CYA recently? Assuming you didn't, the control unit is probably broken. I suspect that the relay that controls the cell is stuck in the on position. Some times you can unstick it by giving the control unit a sharp, but not really hard, bump. It's either one of those two, or the local kids are coming over in the middle of the night and adding bleach

I do see it cycle on and off, or at least the "Cell On" "Cell Rest" lights come on alternately. I last added CYA about four weeks ago could that have any impact?

Although I would not put it past them, I gotta figure the local kids would simply swim....

I'll try the gentle bump method...

Thanks,

Dan

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Did you add any CYA recently? Assuming you didn't, the control unit is probably broken. I suspect that the relay that controls the cell is stuck in the on position. Some times you can unstick it by giving the control unit a sharp, but not really hard, bump. It's either one of those two, or the local kids are coming over in the middle of the night and adding bleach

I do see it cycle on and off, or at least the "Cell On" "Cell Rest" lights come on alternately. I last added CYA about four weeks ago could that have any impact?

Although I would not put it past them, I gotta figure the local kids would simply swim....

I'll try the gentle bump method...

Thanks,

Dan

It's the latest craze of juvenile delinquency....sneaking in to add bleach! LOL

 

[JasonLion]

At higher CYA levels you lose less chlorine to sunlight. If you run the cell just as long as you did at the lower CYA level you will have higher FC levels.

 

[dfiletti]

At higher CYA levels you lose less chlorine to sunlight. If you run the cell just as long as you did at the lower CYA level you will have higher FC levels.

Don't think that's the issue. CYA has hovered around 50ppm. Four, maybe five weeks ago I added a small amount to ensure I had the minimum. It was negligible. And the pump has always run 24/7. I had at least two, if not three weeks of consistent FC with 30% on the control with the CYA unchanged.

I'm thinking the 'stuck relay' idea is most likely. I just went out and give it a 'love-tap' on two sides -maybe that will do it??

Be calling the PB on Monday am either way.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[crabboy]

Be calling the PB on Monday am either way.

Good idea. I've been running my Aquapure at about 50-60% and I'm able to maintain about a FC of 3 with a 12 hour pump time. My CYA is pretty low at around 30, I've been meaning to go and pick some up.

I'd suggest testing your salt content with strips so it can be compared with the Aquapure's reading. My strips are showing about 3800 while my aquapure shows about 3.1. The cell is clean, sensor is clean, not sure why there is such a large discrepancy.

So far I'm concerned about the reliability of the Aquapure. It's less than a year old and the main PCB has recently been replaced, the salt reading is off and just this week I have seen that the flow light is sometimes not on even though the pump is on. I noticed this because by FC had dropped to 1.5 on Wednesday. I did a visual of everything and now the flow light is back on, but I'm keeping a close eye on it now.