SLAMing and trouble getting CC below 1.0

[bkkari]

We have been in the process of SLAMing our pool since Sunday.
Our test values were as follows just prior to SLAMing:

FC 3.5
CC .5
TA 120
Ph 7.2
CH 325
CYA 50.

Our SLAM level of Chlorine is 20 and we've been able to maintain or be slightly above this well.
SLAMing process has been going ok. We have passed 2 of the 3 tests: We've passed the OCLT the last three nights in a row and have not needed to add any more chlorine. Our water is clear (no problems with that). However our CC has continued to remain at 1.0 (the first night it was a little higher, but since then has stayed at 1.0).
We have been keeping our auto cover on at night (to help keep heat in the pool since our nights are getting chilly), and we are gone during the day time from 8:30am-5:30pm, so the cover has remained on during those times. We have the pool open to air from 6:30am-8:30am and then again when we get home at 5:30pm to about 9:00pm.
I'm wondering if this could have any affect on why our CC isnt moving?.... Any thoughts on what else we should be doing, or do I just need to continue to wait this out? (again, we havent had to add any more chlorine...so not sure what to do).

Also I have been brushing the pool 1x/day everyday and have had our automatic pool cleaner/robot on during the nights.

Thanks for your help. We really appreciate it.

 

[pwrstrk]

I'd let the cover off the pool all day and let it get some sun. That'll probably burn off the CC's.?

 

[bkkari]

Ok, We'll do. Thanks much!

 

[bkkari]

Ok, sow eve been at this for a little over a week and still having troubles with getting our cc to become and stay less than 1.0. Have passed the two other tests ( OCLT and clear water). One evening did hit .5cc but the next morning back at 1.0. Followed recommendation to keep pool cover during day to air out. Have still had the auto pool cover on at night to help keep heat in. Wondering do you think this could be the problem? Or do you think we still have something brewing in our pool that we haven't gotten rid of yet. We've turned the heat off our pool and likely will not be swimming in it any more this season. Officially will be closing it in two weeks, but hope to have these issues taken care of before then. Any thoughts or suggestions? Appreciate any help/ advice you may have.

 

[pwrstrk]

Try leaving it off at night also.
When your doing the CC test , are you doing it as soon as your done with the FC test ? Go to the CC test quickly. Make sure your at shock level. ?

 

[bkkari]

Yep, I'm doing the CC test immediately after testing/checking the FC.
Left the pool cover open all day yesterday and last night.
FC dropped .5 and the CC actually went up to 1.5 (the highest it's been throughout the SLAM).
Have continued to maintain at shock level (of 20).
Outside temperature of air was 42 degrees this morning. Weve turned the heat off in our pool for the season. Pool temp has dropped to 72 degrees (and I imagine it will continue to drop each day/night). Just wondering does the outside air and pool temperature have any affect on SLAM process? Even when it starts to get really chilly out, will this slow down or possibly increase this process any? Feeling a litttle discouraged that we're on day 10, and still havent passed on 3 tests (darn CC).

 

[pwrstrk]

The weather will have little effect in SLAMing.
Maintain the shock level and leave pool open. Hopefully we can get rid of the CC.
If you have a light niche pull the light and make sure nothing organic is in there or anywhere else things could hide. ?

 

[bkkari]

Overnight had a 1.5 FC loss (so didnt really pass the OCLT). CC was also 1.5 again! Had to leave pool cover on last night because of rain. Were suppose to get rain the next few days (so I'm assuming we'll leave the pool cover on during this time.... Unless you think it's ok to still leave it open during the rain?).
Our stairs and ladder in our pool are permanent and do not come out. I've been scrubbing/brushing them daily. I've also been using the automatic pool cleaner daily too, hoping this would help. At this time, our pool looks completely clean with no signs of residue or algae anywhere. I was really hoping to find another option/answer before taking out the light and cleaning the niche area (like you recommended). The thought of this idea, really scares me because I'm not familiar with how to do this. I did google it, so that has helped a bit, but my fear is that I wont be able to put it back together right. Or that I'll somehow not get a tight seal and create a leak of some sort. Any chance you can help ease my anxiety about this, and/or possibly walk/talk me through this process?.... Can i just unscrew the screw and scrub the ring around the light, or do I actually need to take the light out of the niche and set it on the pool deck to scrub this? Also should I be using a diluted spray of bleach or should I use a spray bottle with just concentrated bleach and spray it directly? Im sorry for the uneducated questions.. This is just a little foreign to me.

 

[PAGirl]

Have you cleaned the cover well?

 

[bkkari]

No, we really havent. It's an auto cover. So I was assuming that since it's sits partially on the water itself, that would take care of things being the chlorine level is at shock level.And
I dont think it's possible for us to clean to underside of the pool cover. However, never really thought about cleaning the top part. Any suggestions on how to do this (like can I use bleach on this?....Never done that before.

 

[pwrstrk]

The light should seal back up just fine. Like you said remove the screw and take ring off and light out. I've seen where there's some pretty nasty stuff in there and will stop you from passing the OCLT and the CC requirement. If everything else looks good ya gotta check there. Check your filter also. Something is somewhere.
Keep your FC at shock level.
The weather will have little effect. Good idea about the auto cover. ?

 

[swoopman]

I just recently cleaned behind my light for the first time. I removed the screw and brought the light up on deck to clean it and the cover. It has a coil of wire/conduit/whatever-the-right-term-is wrapped around the light and was plenty long enough to reach for placing the light on the deck for cleaning.

I cleaned everything with a diluted solution of bleach and various sized brushes, even toothbrush to get in tight spots.

I also cleaned in the niche itself.

Wrapped the wire/conduit/whatever back around the light and screwed it back in.

I found it to be easy to do, much easier than I had imagined before tackling it.

Wish you well with yours.

 

[bkkari]

Thanks for the suggestions/advice. Ill keep you all posted.

 

[pwrstrk]

Yep keep us posted so we can end this ! ?

 

[bkkari]

Update: We took the pool light out and cleaned in the Niche last night. First of all...Burr!!! the water was 62 degrees!!..... You were all right though, that this was not a hard process and fairly easy. Thank you. There was some algae/green residue and dust like material in the niche. I scrubbed and cleaned this out, and sprayed diluted bleach in that area. FC was at 21 this morning (down from 22 last night). CC was again 1.5. I'm thinking though that should be what to expect being that I opened up that area and some of the algae in the niche then transferred into the pool area, as I was cleaning it out. I'm really hoping to see some improvement in the next day or so. If not, my next two steps for this coming weekend are to clean the filter (which we've already done twice this season and both times they were not that dirty) and possibly scrub/clean the top of the pool cover. If no change after that, i'm at a loss for ideas. Wondering if would it help to elevate the FC to a higher level? (weve been keeping it between 20-23 during this SLAM process). Of note: Since starting this SLAM 11 days ago, I have not tested any of the other labs (since my main concern has been FC and CC, and I know the pH would be inaccurate). Wondering should I also be checking and adjusting any of these other labs (CYA, TA, CH) during this SLAM process?
Were leaving the pool cover off as much as possible, even in the rain....
Hopefully will have better news to report in next few days.
Again, any advice/suggestion you have is greatly appreciated.

 

[pwrstrk]

Glad it went well getting the light out. Hopefully that was enough stuff in there to get this finished up. Couldn't hurt cleaning it out.
I don't think there's any reason to test any of your other parameters. You didn't add anything to change things have you ? 20-23 FC is fine. I wouldn't go any higher as you start to get out of the shock range that the CYA is bound to. Just wasting bleach at that point.
Keep us posted. Fingers crossed !
One more thing. When you doing the CC test, it's taking 3 drops to make the sample clear correct ?

 

[bkkari]

Glad it went well getting the light out. Hopefully that was enough stuff in there to get this finished up. Couldn't hurt cleaning it out.
I don't think there's any reason to test any of your other parameters. You didn't add anything to change things have you ? 20-23 FC is fine. I wouldn't go any higher as you start to get out of the shock range that the CYA is bound to. Just wasting bleach at that point.
Keep us posted. Fingers crossed !
One more thing. When you doing the CC test, it's taking 3 drops to make the sample clear correct ?

Have not added anything.
Yes, 3 drops.

 

[duraleigh]

That's a puzzling story. You are certainly doing everything carefully and seems like you should be rewarded with better results.

While we seldom suggest it, I think if it were my pool I would take the FC up as high as 26-30 on a one-time dose......leaving the cover off the whole time and then test for CC's again in 24-48 hours.

A caution to others....we almost never suggest going too far over the guideline for SLAM value but, IN THIS CASE, I believe it will be fine to do and may finally knock out this stubborn problem. I would not suggest that high FC as a common fix in most cases but it sounds like you may need it this time and it is cheap and easy to do.

 

[pwrstrk]

That's a puzzling story. You are certainly doing everything carefully and seems like you should be rewarded with better results.

While we seldom suggest it, I think if it were my pool I would take the FC up as high as 26-30 on a one-time dose......leaving the cover off the whole time and then test for CC's again in 24-48 hours.

A caution to others....we almost never suggest going too far over the guideline for SLAM value but, IN THIS CASE, I believe it will be fine to do and may finally knock out this stubborn problem. I would not suggest that high FC as a common fix in most cases but it sounds like you may need it this time and it is cheap and easy to do.

I was stating to run out of ideas. Hope this does it as it is puzzling. ?

 

[duraleigh]

I was stating to run out of ideas. Hope this does it as it is puzzling.

I agree completely.

I want to emphasize again to other newbs that TFP is not suggesting to blast chlorine in your pool in indiscriminate amounts. We are simply suggesting that, IN THIS CASE, it is safe to try this extra FC to see if we can get rid of a stubborn problem.