Low FC, But Stable. Still Need Help!

[w1sp3rs]

Hi All,
Let me start off by saying the pool looks, and feels, great! The only problem I have is the FC. Per PoolMath, I should be around 10 or 11 ppm, but I cannot keep it above 4-5ppm. I bought a brand new slat cell, thinking that might be the problem since I don't how old the last one was, but it's still the same.

The generator runs four hours a day at 86%. I can't bring it up any higher. Something went wrong with the control panel, I guess, and I can't increase the percentage. It won't save. I was adding Clorox to the water to bring it up to the recommended level, but it would only last s few days. I didn't want to keep adding bleach because I figured a new salt cell should be doing the work and take car of the issue. I ran the generator at 100% for several hours yesterday, checked it this morning and it's still at 4.5 ppm. What gives?

I've had this problem for over a month and a few weeks ago I performed the OCLT. Brought the FC up to 11ppm and 9pm, then checked it at 6am the next morning and the FC was still at 11ppm, so I figured nothing was growing in the water. And like I said, this whole time the water has looked great and I've had a lot of bathers. We were in the pool even yesterday. It's been hot here in SoCal the last couple of weeks. Could it just be the heat?

My salt is now high too. Is it from adding all the bleach? At one point it was low so I added a bag.

This morning's test:
FC - 4.5
pH - 8
TA - 80
CSI - 0.48
Salt - 3800 (generator reading), 4000 (Leslie's test strip), 3300 (AquaChek test strip)

P.S. - I don't have enough solution left to test the CH and CYA, but I know they are both high. CH is around 800 ppm, and CYA is 90 to 100.

 

[mknauss]

Your SWCG is rated for 40000 gallons. You have a pool with 26000 gallons. So you need to run the SWCG at least 12-14 hours each day at 100% to generate sufficient chlorine to combat your normal 2-4 ppm loss.

So increase your run time. Add bleach first to raise your FC to at least 10.

 

[jblizzle]

With a SWG, you should not need the FC that high. You minimum is 4-5ppm, so I would try to keep it at 6-7ppm. If you can't increase the % output, then increase the run time.

 

[Akathisia]

With a CYA of 100 you need higher FC (see FC/CYA chart in my signature) until you get the CYA into acceptable range (60-80) for SWG. Nothing wrong with helping out the SWG with bleach once in a while. This summer I'm running a similar-size SWCG at 80% for 10 or more hours per day(currently 09:30-19:30) to keep up with daily demand. However, while I was dialing in the % and time I was using bleach to keep the FC in line.

 

[w1sp3rs]

Okay, I'll try to increase the run time. With a new variable speed pump, I was hoping not to run it so long to save money. I guess I'll have to figure out the sweet spot to run longer at a speed that will generate FC.

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry I didn't answer back right away. I love this site!

 

[kabutotx]

Your options are to increase run time depending on electric rates at lowest your VS pump can produce, use liquid chlorine, or get a bigger SWG (Pentair IC60, Circupool RJ45 or RJ60)