Issues after starting my own pool maintenance

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Still SLAMming today. Thought I would be done now and pool looks great, but FC dropped 5 last night. Here are my readings starting from just before the start:

Date Water Temp FC CC
1/10/15 8:10 AM 70 20.5 0.5
1/9/15 6:43 PM 70 25.5 0.5
1/9/15 7:42 AM 70 22.5 1
1/8/15 6:27 PM 70 22 0
1/8/15 12:22 PM 81 27.5 0
1/8/15 7:53 AM 81 19 0.5
1/7/15 8:23 PM 81 22.5 0.5
1/7/15 3:54 PM 81 21 0
1/7/15 7:36 AM 81 23 0.5
1/6/15 10:30 PM 81 25 0.5
1/6/15 5:48 PM 81 20.5
1/6/15 12:30 PM 81 24.5
1/6/15 11:19 AM 81 3

The temperature has dropped a lot with the cooler weather. The reading on 1/8/15 at 6:27 PM was suspect since the FC went UP the next morning. I believe the powder was sticking to the plastic spoon and I did not get enough in the sample, or the sample size was off as it was hard to see in the dark. Now I bring the evening samples inside so I have more light.

Can the kids swim if they want today? I assume I cannot put on the solar cover until the SLAM is done and FC drops some?

Tim
 
I personally would not swim until the pool passes all the tests for the SLAM process and the FC level drops below 20 ppm.

I highly suggest to put the solar cover on for a day and let it get exposed to the SLAM level FC to help kill off any algae that might be on the solar cover.

Is the SWG turned off? I do suspect slight testing errors in some of the FC test since it did rise overnight. I like to make sure I've waited an hour for the chlorine to mix in before the final test at night.
 
You're doing well Tim!

Just keep it up and I would honestly wait until you are done before you let the kids swim in this one. Better safe than sorry. If your Cya holds at 50, let the FC come down before they swim...once you are finished. If it were my family, I would want it 10 or below with Cya 50. Overkill on the safe side, but it never hurts to err that way. Good work man.
 
Getting frustrated as I thought I would be closer after 6 days but instead had an FC drop of 5 last night. I ran a couple of CYA tests yesterday as I thought maybe my CYA was higher but it came out at 55 and 50 so I don't think that is the issue. The pool looks very clear and has for a few days. I will have to buy more chlorine and more FC tests so this has now been more expensive than the having the pool guy do it this month. I know in the long run it will be cheaper, but it just seems like I am not getting anywhere. Here are my test results since the start of the slam, keep in mind the only test I am running is FC and CC except for the 2 CYA tests yesterday:

Date Water Temp FC CC PH TA Borates CH CYA Salt ppm CSI Comments
1/12/15 7:36 AM 70 18.5 1 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.64
1/11/15 10:44 PM 70 23.5 1.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.65
1/11/15 7:27 AM 70 18.5 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 55 4000 -0.64 Accidently let pump turn off overnight
1/10/15 7:49 PM 70 22 0 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.64 If FC >=21.0 tomorrow, SLAM is complete
1/10/15 8:10 AM 70 20.5 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.64
1/9/15 6:43 PM 70 25.5 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.64 If FC >=24.5 tomorrow, SLAM is complete
1/9/15 7:42 AM 70 22.5 1 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.64 Questionable test last night, SLAM for another day
1/8/15 6:27 PM 70 22 0 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.64 If FC >=21 tomorrow, SLAM is complete
1/8/15 12:22 PM 81 27.5 0 7.5 80 40 200 50 4010 -0.54 Cleaned filter- salt level is from strips
1/8/15 7:53 AM 81 19 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54 Added 3/4 gal shock, unsure if enough powder got in for test
1/7/15 8:23 PM 81 22.5 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54
1/7/15 3:54 PM 81 21 0 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54 Adding shock @ 4PM to get FC back to 25
1/7/15 7:36 AM 81 23 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54 FC overnight drop was 2 ppm so another day of SLAM; added 1 qt shock around 10 AM
1/6/15 10:30 PM 81 25 0.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54 if FC >= 24 tomorrow, SLAM is complete
1/6/15 5:48 PM 81 20.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54 adding 1/2 gal shock
1/6/15 12:30 PM 81 24.5 7.5 80 40 200 50 4000 -0.54 1 hour after SLAM start
 
Don't be fooled by the clear water, something is in there and it is eating up the chlorine and it needs to be completely eliminated. Your SWG will not have to work nearly as much after this is cleared up. Remember every pool is different and from what I've seen a SWG pool can take over a week to pass all the SLAM requirements even though it looks clear.

I would remove the navigator if you haven't already and manually brush the entire pool from here on. Make sure you are brushing at least once a day.

What is the pressure doing on the filter? It might be time to give the filter a good cleaning if the pressure has risen 20% above the clean pressure.

Patience is key.
 
Why would you remove the navigator? I have been using it daily to sweep the bottom. FYI, my brush has no suction, just a brush on a pole. I have been brushing the unreachable spots for the Navigator once a day, but will do the entire pool if that will help.

The pressure did go up on the filter 3 days ago and I cleaned it. The filter pressure has remained steady since then.
 
Just want to throw something out at ya. It's been mentioned, but you didn't say if you checked. If you have a light in the pool remove it and check the niche to make sure nothing is hiding there. I've seen lots of times algae in the light niche causing FC loss over night with clear water. This may not be your problem but it wouldn't hurt to check it out.
One other thing. If you could list your test results like this, that will make it a lot easier for everybody to read.
FC.
CC.
PH.
TA.
CH.
CYA.
 
Good suggestion Jeff, it makes the data much easier to pick up. Tim, if you don't mind giving that a try it will help. Also, just test and report FC/CC for now. It's really all you're concerned with at the moment.

There is no reason to remove the cleaner, so leave it in.
It will help to brush everywhere, so continue to do that. Don't get discouraged on it Tim, it takes many
days to do a proper SLAM sometimes. Very normal, and for some it takes a couple of weeks or more. Just keep pounding it with high FC as you are and it will come around.
 
Sorry for the formatting, was trying to paste from Excel and the columns do not line up. I have attached a screen shot instead.

I do have a pool light and have been brushing it. I do not know how to remove it and it does not appear to have any algae.

Capture.JPG
 

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Is there a single screw at the top or bottom of the trim ring around the light ? I would think there has to be a way to remove it if it would need to be replaced. Do you know what type of light it is ?
 
timinswfl said:
Why would you remove the navigator? I have been using it daily to sweep the bottom. FYI, my brush has no suction, just a brush on a pole. I have been brushing the unreachable spots for the Navigator once a day, but will do the entire pool if that will help.

The pressure did go up on the filter 3 days ago and I cleaned it. The filter pressure has remained steady since then.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, the navigator is only a suction cleaner and does not scrub the plaster. The plaster needs to be scrubbed to get at any algae that might be sticking to it. I just would not expose the cleaner to SLAM levels for very much longer than what you have done so far, just my .02.
 
If you remove that screw the light fixture should come out. Make sure to throw the circuit breaker off first. There should be enough wire to bring it up on the pool deck. Then check inside the niche where the light was and make sure it is algae free.
 
I noticed at Home Depot today some pool brushes are metal. The one I have is not, but I assume it should still work. I will attach a picture of it. And to be thorough, I will use it on the entire pool and clean out the light. I should turn off the breakers at the pump first, take out the screw, and pull the light to the surface? The water is chilly now so I want to do this from the side if possible. What is the procedure for cleaning the light- just use the pool brush on everything?pool_brush.JPG
 
You should be able to pull the light without getting in. Yep just pull it out and lay it up on the deck. If there is anything in there use a small brush, hand towel or whatever works to clean it out.
 
ping said:
I like to use an unused toilet brush to brush light niches.
Click to expand...

Hey, whatever works right? :goojob: :cheers:

That brush you show is fine for the rest of the pool Tim, no problem, and like ping says, something smaller that will fit in the niche.

Metal bristle ones shouldn't be used on new pool finishes (less than 1 YO) but that isn't your case. They are used more for tough stuff like black Algae, "cream" spots, and scaly pool surfaces.
 
I got the light cleaned out last night. A little hard from the pool deck as I can't see inside the cavity, but I think I got it clean. There was some stuff in there including sand in the bottom which is from the pavers we had installed last summer. I also scrubbed the entire pool. I had a 1 ppm drop in FC last night and a CC of 1. I was re-reading some stuff this morning and realized I was not doing the FC test quite right- I have been putting the drops in too fast (drip-drip-drip) instead of pausing a half-second between each drop which gives inconsistent results. So I will do it more carefully tonight and tomorrow and we'll see where I am at.
 

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