Test it once a month when it isnt frozen (if it freezes) and bring it back to SLAM. It will still have some FC the next month once it gets cold out. It will take you 10 minutes to brush the chlorine around. 
CYA is a CURSE!
- Thread starter Mike Stevens
- Start date
HA! Great point...I have no idea what high CYA is causing, other than needing more chlorine. I am just reacting to everything I read, "high CYA is bad"!
Well, when my pool (fiberglass) was installed last spring they told me the pump needs to run year-round (though not as long per day) to keep it clean. Also, the pump is set to come on if the water gets to be a certain low temp (not sure what offhand, maybe 38 degrees F) to keep the water moving to avoid freezing.
Orion7319
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- Jul 1, 2020
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- Hayward Aqua Rite (T-15)
I run mine 24/7 365. In the winter I put the safety cover on and just run it at a very low speed.
Orion7319
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- Jul 1, 2020
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Lots of people run their variable speed pumps 24/7. They are designed to be able to do this. It’s one of the main advantages of having a variable speed pump. The pool has never frozen over, I only put the cover on because of leaves in the fall. I also never open to a green pool. It also lets me run my SWG 24/7, which means I’ll never have a drastic drop in chlorine, which means I’ll never get an algae bloom. If I was willing to deal with a green pool, I wouldn’t run my pump 24/7. Running it in the winter is just good measure to make sure the pipes don’t freeze.
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That's like saying you change your oil in your car every month and you've ever had an engine failure. You wouldn't have a green pool running it 6 hours a day either.
Why not post your pool chemistry, according to you and according to your pool store. Last check I has 106 CYA and it's really not a problem
Orion7319
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- Jul 1, 2020
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You don’t know the environment the pool is in, you also don’t seem to have a grasp on the differences between salt water pools and pools chlorinated with liquid chlorine. You also seem to think that your fine with a CYA of 106. And I did have a green pool only running it 6 hours a day, because at the time I really didn’t understand the differences between chlorinating with a SWG vs liquid chlorine.
Running 24 hours at a low speed is much cheaper on electricity than running 6-8 hours at a high speed. That's why a lot of people do it. People with SWGs also need to run sufficient amount of time to keep the pool chlorinated.
Orion7319
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Does this guy have a Salt Water Pool? He's clearly a babe in the woods; maybe hone your advice more carefully because he may take it wrong.
106 CYA is not a problem if you actually understand pool chemistry. Most pool professionals don't even test for cya regularly.
Wow, this is just... wow.
I have no doubt most pool professionals don't test for CYA. Which is why there are so many screwed up pools and people coming here to fix them.
We don't follow the Pool Store gospel here. If you're here to preach that, then you are gonna have a bad time. We'd be more than happy to help show you why we don't follow those old and broken ways, if you are open to listening and learning.
Orion7319
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It won’t hurt anything to run a VSP 24/7 if anyone wants to. If I didn’t have a SWG and still had a sand filter I would still choose to run it 24/7. A CYA of 106 means more chlorine just to keep the pool properly disinfected, and it’s going to be less forgiving of drops in chlorine levels. If you get algae that’s an insane amount of chlorine your going to need to clear the algae. CYA levels that high make it very difficult to maintain a clear pool.
I highly recommend it and have been doing it for three years. Starting an electric motor is the most taxing part of a motors life. Same thing for computer hard drives. You can many times get longer life by leaving them running rather than turning them off every day. And with variable speed pumps, the power consumed is much less than the single speed pump.
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Waiting to get my test kit any day now, until then I am still using test strips and occasionally the Leslies's test. Both methods have shown that lately my CYA is very high--the test strips showed 300! So this past weekend I replaced water in the pool and got the CYA down to less than 30. Oddly enough all the other levels were OK according to the test strip except for the chlorine levels. SO, replacing water is a pain in the butt but now I have a "clean slate." Now I am faced with, what's the BEST combination of chlorine materials to start using? This is the mysterious part for me. I have regular 3" tabs with CYA in them, liquid chlorine, and as of yesterday I also have the non-CYA 3" calcium hydrochloride tabs. I don't even know what to put in first. Let me also say that for a few months my chlorine tab feeder does NOT work (clogged? will worry about it when it's not 100+ out) and so I have been using a floating dispenser, which works just fine and to be honest seems more hands-on and easily dealt with than the feeder.
- May 3, 2014
- 59,317
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- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Might have been premature on the full drain but that is water down the gutter now!
Keep adding 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine each day until you get your test kit.
Keep adding 5 ppm FC worth of liquid chlorine each day until you get your test kit.
I guess this is a dumb question but how do you determine parts per million? (BTW, wasn't a full drain but pretty close.)
