SWG Newbie

[vanpry]

I'm new to using SWG and I can't seam to get my chlorine levels up.

I have the Intex CS8100 and my pool is 15'x25'x52".

Hardness: 200
FC: 0
PH: 7.8
TA: 120
CYA: 30-50

Salt level is 3260 ppm

Any idea what I could be doing wrong?

 

[pwrstrk]

Welcome to TFP !
Use bleach to bring your FC up to 5-6 ppm. Then let the SWG take over. You have to help the SWG out with bringing the FC up. It won't be able to bring the FC up from zero on its own.
You need to adjust your CYA level to 70-80 ppm for a SWG. You'll get better protection from the sun at that level. Use the FC/CYA Chart to keep your FC in range.
Take a look at this article from pool school. SWG ?

 

[Scsu74]

^ so you can just dump bleach in to bring the chlorine level up? Regular bleach or bleach specifically for pools?

 

[pwrstrk]

Yes. Regular house hold bleach from Walmart. Use Pool Math to figure out how much bleach to add to get to the FC level I gave you. Pour it slowly in front of the return with the pump running to mix. ?

 

[vanpry]

How soon after adding the bleach can you get in the water?

 

[pwrstrk]

Let it mix for 20-30 minutes and you'll be fine. ?

 

[vanpry]

Thx a lot for the help!

 

[pwrstrk]

No prob !!?

 

[vanpry]

Ok so I did the bleach trick and it worked great. Wife tested the pool this morning at 10am and the chlorine was up to 3, not perfect be much better. So I test it again tonight at 6pm and it is back down to 0 plus the SWG was running all day. I need to get my CYA up to the levels you recommended but can I really burn through so much chlorine in a couple hours? Plus it wasn't particularly sunny today.

 

[pwrstrk]

You only had your FC up to three no higher correct ? Did you add enough bleach to get FC to 5-6 ? You can lose 3ppm in a day.
How does your water look ? What test kit are you using ? Your last set of test results there was no test for CC's. Can you give a result for CC's. ?

 

[vanpry]

I added the bleach last night and this morning my wife said it tested to 3. According to that pool calculator you linked above from 0 to 5 @ 8.25% bleach I should add 75 oz. Water is crystal clear. The strips I have are HTH 6 way strips. Thanks for the help.

 

[pwrstrk]

The problem is the test strips are not accurate enough.
I'm going to suggest you get one of these Test Kits. You need to be able to test your levels accurately. The only way to do that is with one of these kits.
Keep your FC levels up as best you can and order one of the kits. Then post up some results. Then we can get things working properly. You need a good test on the CYA level. The strips won't do that.
Just to make sure the SWG is working take a bottle with a decent size opening and see if you can get a sample of the water coming out of the return. Test it for FC. Make sure the bottle is inverted so you only get the water coming out if the return.

 

[vanpry]

K thx

 

[vanpry]

Rest of the bottle of bleach and a bag of stabilizer and my levels have been great for a couple days. Thx for the info.

 

[Xexys]

Add your pool specifications to your signature in your profile so we can help you better. What kind of SWG do you have and what % is it set for? How long do you have it running? Percentage and runtime will affect your results the most, with runtime being number 1.