OH WEIR DOORS! Dustin remember that one where the weir door had a small crack in it and there was an algae farm inside it??? See if you can pop the door out so you care look it over very closely.
Chlorine isn't working!
- Thread starter tbamy
- Start date
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,576
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Or the foam on the back side that was black and slimy
Pyrate_Mermaid
Member
Are you adding a stabilizer to your pool? Liquid chlorine is unstabilized, meaning it will burn off a lot faster. Adding stabilizer will help lower chlorine burn off.
Update: this issue is (mostly) resolved, so I want to share in case someone else can learn from my experience. There were a few different things.
1. The newest chlorine I purchased was dated March 2023, so relatively new and hopefully still potent. But the older containers that are still in the trash bin were dated June 2022, so almost certainly old chlorine was part of the issue. That link to figure out the date on your chlorine was SO helpful. Chlorine Date Code Decoder - Further Reading
2. I had been overly focused on the chlorine and CYA levels, but I tested everything else and noticed that the TA was pretty high. (TA 180 on 5/20) I added 2 gallons of muriatic acid, which brought my TA down to 120. My testing kit says that's within the range for a chlorine (non-SWG) pool, but PoolMath said I should be aiming for 50-90. Any thoughts on that? I'll search the forum on here as well for ideal TA levels.
3. I was able to add 2 gallons of chlorine on Saturday, and that has continued to keep my FC at SLAM levels. I still failed the overnight chlorine drop test last night, so I'm continuing to SLAM. But the chlorine is working again, so the issue I originally posted about is resolved. It seems to be a combination of old chlorine and lowering the TA.
Thank you as usual. This forum is so incredibly helpful!!
1. The newest chlorine I purchased was dated March 2023, so relatively new and hopefully still potent. But the older containers that are still in the trash bin were dated June 2022, so almost certainly old chlorine was part of the issue. That link to figure out the date on your chlorine was SO helpful. Chlorine Date Code Decoder - Further Reading
2. I had been overly focused on the chlorine and CYA levels, but I tested everything else and noticed that the TA was pretty high. (TA 180 on 5/20) I added 2 gallons of muriatic acid, which brought my TA down to 120. My testing kit says that's within the range for a chlorine (non-SWG) pool, but PoolMath said I should be aiming for 50-90. Any thoughts on that? I'll search the forum on here as well for ideal TA levels.
3. I was able to add 2 gallons of chlorine on Saturday, and that has continued to keep my FC at SLAM levels. I still failed the overnight chlorine drop test last night, so I'm continuing to SLAM. But the chlorine is working again, so the issue I originally posted about is resolved. It seems to be a combination of old chlorine and lowering the TA.
Thank you as usual. This forum is so incredibly helpful!!
- Jul 17, 2019
- 3,718
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Just to clarify, while you are accurate in saying that liquid chlorine is unstabilized, the CYA in your pool will stabilize the chlorine you add and it will NOT burn off faster than adding stabilized chlorine.
The OP has enough CYA/stabilizer and should not add any more.
Pyrate_Mermaid
Member
MITBeta
Gold Supporter
- May 28, 2020
- 1,216
- Pool Size
- 13000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- CircuPool RJ-45 Plus
Have you checked your pH since then? This is a big change to make all at once on a pool your size. PoolMath says this would have lowered pH by 2.7.
Manager pH and not TA. When pH gets to 8, lower it to the middle of the 7s. Over time your TA will fall as well.
Okay I started to check my pH but realized it won’t be accurate while I’m still doing the SLAM. Is there anything in particular to look out for?
- Jun 8, 2019
- 4,576
- Pool Size
- 20000
- Surface
- Vinyl
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
What’s your FC level? Ensuring you don’t have acidic water may be worth letting FC fall below 10 long enough to get a pH reading.