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Kellyp,

Get everything out of your mind EXCEPT the absolute necessity to keep your chlorine up. From your posts, it is not clear to me you understand why you are being told to get your FC to 28. Let's make sure you understand that and we'll go from there.

Can you tell us why you are raising chlorine to 28 ppm? Disregard every other test or test result about your pool.....we are going to focus on FC only.
 
I am slamming the pool because it would not hold a FC count at all, for the last 5-7 years the pool stores said I didn't need a FC count. Now I have a FC count but it drops a lot through the day and one night might hold and just drop 1 and then the next night drop 6-9.
 
You must be very careful with your testing. Chlorine depletes over time from just 2 causes......UV rays from the sun and then organics (usually invisible algae).

Nothing else consumes your chlorine so your results should be consistent. Each day, you FC should come down from 28 ppm less and less until you onle lose 2-3 daily.

Tell me what test you are using and what your most current FC test result is. When was that test? Thanks!
 
I don't use a speed stir, I swirl by hand and drop one drop at a time.
CYA is 40 was 80-90 (80 with my eyes and 90 from my daughter in law.)
I'm guessing it dropped because my husband had enough chlorine and he added algaecide this afternoon.
Right now FC 25, CC 0, so I guess I will let it keep dropping to FC 16 and see if that holds.
dont know if algaecide was the answer but it did drop my CYA, which is nice.
 
The Speed Stir may be something you want to consider getting soon. It sure makes mixing much easier and efficient. As for the CYA, that is still odd. I can't imagine algaecides effecting your CYA like that. Have you exchanged much water lately? Some backwashes will do it, but it would have to be almost half your pool to lower CYA by that much. Did you see any noticeable difference in my CYA testing note from post #100 from what you were doing before that may have made a difference?

If 40 is the no-kidding good CYA number, then trust that number and your SLAM level is definitely 16. Going way over that would only result in quick/excessive FC loss.
 
He added a 32oz bottle of algaecide (don't know if that matters) and yes I have backwashed 2 days in a row, we had rain but not a lot, and I added a couple inches of water. I think your right a speed stirrer would be nice. I was testing CYA like you said, but thinks for the input.
 
Sorry, been working late and early.. algaecide should not do anything to CYA.. but, depending on what kind was used you may have added copper into your water... we can deal with that later..

Like Texas Splash said, if your CYA is 40, that may explain why your FC is dropping so much overnight... let your FC drop to 16 and see if it will stay close to 16..

How does your water look now?

(and trust me, the speedstir is worth its weight in gold) :)
 
My water still looks like the last picture I down loaded, so I would say pretty good.
The algaecide he used has no copper in it (at least it didn't say it had copper in it)
I'll test my water at dark again and see where I'm at.
 
Kelly, just to emphasize something noted earlier .... now that you've confirmed the CYA to be 40, your SLAM FC is 16. Now is basically where you drop everything else and focus only on bleach and maintaining that FC of 16. That's the key to your SLAM. Read the SLAM page each day as well to refresh your memory on other tasks, but make no mistake, that FC of 16 is critical okay. Don't get distracted by other products, tests, or chemical issues other than FC. Let us know if you have any other questions later. Good luck!
 

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Kelly,
First off I'd like to encourage you to stay with things! I know it's frustrating to all ends but you'll get there. PROMISE YOU!

That said, were missing some basics here somewhere and I wonder if it's not best to stop really quick and focus on some basics. Let's only focus on the following questions and not worry about anything else for the time being.
  1. Are ALL the test results from the TF-100 you purchased earlier this month? No "pool store" test results are accepted. ;)
  2. Can you please post a full recent set of test results in the following format,
    • pH
    • TA
    • CH
    • CYA
    • FC
    • CC
  3. Can you please post the time and date of this test?
  4. When was the last time you FULLY brushed the pool?

To everybody else,
Let's give Kelly a chance to catch us up with a full set of results so we can focus on the basics of her chemistry. I'm fearing we're starting to go in circles chasing this and we're missing the simple things. Let's hold off on offering more advice for now until we can see her current results and form a game plan.
Lee
 
I have been using a test kit (TF 100)
Here are my test result from yesterday evening at 5:00p.m.
ph 7.8
TA 120
CH 225
CYA 40
FC 25
CC 0

9:00 p.m.
FC 25
CC 0

This mornings test results at 5:00a.m.
FC 23
CC 0

I think everything is in check FC is high for CYA at 40 but CYA was higher when I started this.
I slam level for CYA 40 is 16 so I am just going to see how it drops for the day since it just drop 2 ppm in 12 hours.
i also think everything is now going in the right direction.
I had been brushing at least 4 times a day and sweeping every other day along with backwasing.
I am pretty sure I was doing everything right.
Thanks for all the help.
 
Good morning Kelly. Those look like fairly solid numbers and are beginning to look more consistent. Good job. You lost more than 2 ppm overnight (25 to 23) so you may still have some excessive organic matter in the water. It would be good to compare overnight (OCLT) results next time with a starting FC of 16. So continue to maintain that FC of 16, brush often, and watch your filter pressure and continue what you're doing. You're doing quite well now. :goodjob: Continue to test FC often to ensure it remains at 16 and I think you will begin to see the rollercoaster of a ride begin to smooth-out a bit.

You've had a lot of eyes on this thread lately, but I think you're back on track. I'm going to jump-ship and let the others continue to help you to the finish line. Best of luck and have a nice day.
 
Thank you greatly Kelly! All sounds like things are in good order. For today, lets slack some. :) You're plan of having the chlorine level drop on its own today is a good one. Today, just enjoy a few adult beverages and enjoy how clear your pool looks. Later tonight we will retest your FC level and try another OCLT really focusing on the testing procedure this time.

One last question........
How are you doing on reagents? It appears you've been using a good bit due to your testing. Do you still have enough to complete the SLAM or are you starting to run low??
 
I have a little left (from my second bottle that I ordered) I have more ordered and should be coming today or tomorrow.
I really do appreciate everything you guys have been doing, my pool has not looked this good since probably the first or second year I put it in and I say I'm going on nine or 10 years of the pool. So thanks a lot for the pool stores, they did me no good, and just cost me a lot of money.
Hopefully from here on out everything will go good and it'll be nice and easy to close. But in the meantime hopefully I can join.
Thanks again
Kelly P
 
Well I don't know what to think. :scratch::scratch:
Last night I tested
9:15 PM FC 13 CC 0
9:45 PM FC 16 CC 0
This morning tested
5:00 AM. FC 14.5 CC 0
So since I dropped 1.5 FC, I guess that means another day of no swimming.
We did have 1/2 inch of rain last night after I tested, could that have anything to do with the drop? :confused:
 
Good Morning, I am very happy you are still going :)

The 9:15 and 9:45 tests unless you added chlorine is testing error (a speedstir will help with this more than you can believe) rain may have dropped your FC level ( 0.1/0.2 FC ), just because it added water to the pool, if you added a 1/2 inch using a hose it would do the same thing.

SO, if you are really close to passing the OCLT, you should only lose about 4 FC today (from the sun) and then do the OCLT again tonight..

Also, you can swim up to SLAM level, so as long as your FC is below or up to 16 you can still swim :)

This is always the hardest part of the SLAM, because you are really close it seems like it drags on but you are doing it.. :)
 
You really are extremely close I feel to passing the OCLT. Keep it above 16ppm as much as possible. Your tests showed that you dropped about 10ppm of chlorine from 5am to 9pm yesterday. That's a lot to drop if your water were fully clean. This shows us theres still something consuming your chlorine during the day and the OCLT fail confirms that. Continue focusing on your FC level for now and you'll get it completely clean very shortly!
 

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