My test kit is here!

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Wheelie said:
Okay I went up to 10 at 5pm. At 8pm I had 7.5 FC. Do I leave it there for overnight or should I try and take it back up to 10. I'm not going to test it afterwards so I'm guessing I leave it?

Why does FC seem to disappear faster at higher quantities?
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It's the nature of the beast. In your case, you still have something creating demand and you must overcome it. SLAM takes time, and lots of Chlorine. Don't stop until you are able to get the upper residual for the test.

Repeating:

Dont stop at 8 or 7, or 9 Get it to 10 bare minimum...or even 12 and let's see what you get on the OCLT.
 
Well predictably I didn't get the pool back up to 10.

Have decided that the pool is like having a third child. And since it's the least noisy it gets the least attention.

So the pool was at 7.5 and this morning is at 6.5 with no CC. I'll raise it again tonight and see if I can get it higher before leaving it.
 
Wheelie said:
Well predictably I didn't get the pool back up to 10.

Have decided that the pool is like having a third child. And since it's the least noisy it gets the least attention.

So the pool was at 7.5 and this morning is at 6.5 with no CC. I'll raise it again tonight and see if I can get it higher before leaving it.
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Wheelie,

You are one persistent lady!!! You've had more than your share of obstacles with the filter problems, ladder issue, valve issue etc. that have made it impossible in some cases for you to do a proper SLAM. In spite of all this you're finally making progress. I respectfully offer this observation that may be helpful. You seem to be adding the calculated amount of chlorine to get the pool to your SLAM level and sometimes you barely get there and a lot of the time it never gets there or doesn't stay there long at all. I'm no expert so I have had to go back to pool school school frequently to maintain my pool. As I read the details it appears to me the intent is to add whatever it takes akin to the "overwhelming force" concept. And possibly that could be much more than the calculator is showing... here's the excerpt from SLAM details that I'm referring to:

"Higher FC levels will oxidize contaminates more quickly, but levels that are too high can cause damage to the pool or the pool equipment. Recommended shock levels are designed to break down contaminates reasonably quickly while posing minimal risk to the pool. It is impossible to know in advance just how much chlorine will be required to SLAM the pool. Instead, chlorine is added to maintain shock level until testing shows that the process is complete."

Unless you're going to test continuously (no more than once per hour is even recommended) this means you need to be sufficiently above SLAM level after you add that you'll not be below next time you add. So if you're at say 7 or so then you need at least 3 more ppm than you got to last time you added. So you could well need to be at 13-15 ppm. Some of your readings indicate the level needed to be even 20 ppm which could be double to triple the amount you were adding. This seems like a brutally huge amount of bleach but it also dramatically reduces the time to complete the SLAM. And once you get to normal the amount of bleach required will be tiny compared to what you've been doing. During the hot months here in Florida I only need .5-1 L (16-32 oz) per day and my pool is just a hair bigger than yours.

As I said at the intro I'm very much a newbie here so I'd make sure a couple of experts chime in before you take this advice. So what say you experts out there?

Wheelie, I also want to thank you for the frequent communications and candid comments. You're not only solving your issues but you're helping the rest of us newbies learn too. I've learned a LOT about how to care for my pool by just following this one single thread!

Good luck, and thanks!

Chris
 
MarianParoo said:
Wheelie: what is your plan tonight?
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I'm just waiting for the sun to set then I'll test, add some more bleach and test an hour or two later. I'll add enough to raise it to 15 (so hopefully it gets up to 10-12) and see how we go.

How does that sound?

What's the thought process on going to even higher levels than those suggested for the SLAM?

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks Chris for your encouragement :p

I do feel like I'm moving in the right direction (albeit slowly) but it's so hard to tend to the pool with a baby in the house!! At least we now have a shiny new working pressure gauge!
 
Good for you Wheelie- let's see how your reading is in the morning. Glad to hear you have the new pressure gauge on!!

IF you need to SLAM, the most important thing is to MAINTAIN the FC level above the shock level for your CYA as much as you possibly can, hence the need for frequent testing at the start when the algae is rapidly consuming the chlorine. As has been suggested it is a good idea to overshoot by a couple of FC to allow yourself some breathing space between the retesting/addition cycle. IMO I wouldn't go too far overboard however as the Australian summer sun can hammer your FC. FC loss to sunlight is a percentage based on your CYA level rather than a set number. (i.e if you are losing 50% FC, at 5FC you lose 2.5FC whereas at 10FC you lose 5FC. Better to be able to retest and add more often if practical.

I am still interested on how your CYA will measure up. Did you mean the dot disappears below you at the 30 mark?
 
Right at 8.30am I have FC 11.5, CC 0.

However, husband turned the pump off at midnight and put the cover on so not sure if it counts....?? The pump was running for about 7 hours after adding the chlorine.

I still don't get a reading above 30 for CYA - I can go all the way to the top of the CYA testing tube and only then does the dot just about disappear. I tested yesterday. I added some more stabiliser two days ago to raise it by another 5. We're going into a hot period this week so I'm going to wait until my CYA is above 30 before I start adding lots of chlorine in the day.
 
SLAM away Wheelie- 8.30am is almost a little late for doing your morning test for OCLT. I know that it's not always practical but if you can do the morning test just before the sun comes up or as soon after that it would be ideal.
 

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I am "lucky" in that my pool house shades my pool first thing in the morning so I have a little extra time in the morning to sleep in when I do my OCLT. See I do one about once a month just to make sure things are where I think they should be.

I hope wheelie can sleep in!

Kim
 
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