No Available Chlorine

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Mid day readings - FC = 24.5
CC = 1.0

Added 1 container of 10% per PoolMath to get back to 28.0 SLAM level.

In hindsight, I probably caused the issue as I was having to add quite a bit of water regularly due to evaporation (seems like more than usual this summer) and then going to Leslie's to test the water too infrequently probably let my CYA level get too low then my FC level dropped to nothing. When I went to Leslies they advised adding this other 'non chlorine shock' in order to neutralize the high CC level and 'convert that back to usable FC'...whatever!

Thanks to the experts here I will honestly never go back to Leslies to get my water tested again. It's been a bit of a pain with all the bleach but I know it will get there eventually.

I'll have to start another thread on all the horrible dark iron stains I'm afraid of adding ascorbic acid treatment (read the page here already on it) and for that to work I'm going to have to let the FC level drop to nothing again. Once this is resolved I will tackle the other problem.
 
Scott,

Once you get the water cleared up and have it hold FC, we can work on the stains. While it is true that an AA treatment requires lowering the FC, if you do it quickly enough and in a cooler season, the likelihood of an algae outbreak is minimal. I think your previous failures with the stains (if I'm remembering correctly) were probably due to the fact that you did not add the proper metal sequestrant after the AA removed the iron and then raised the FC too quickly. Both of those can cause the iron to come right back out of the water.

Anyway, stick to your current course and get the water clean and stable, then we'll tackle the stains.


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hi,
Thanks Matt I definitely am getting the process down particularly timing the water testing at night and early a.m.
PAGirl, I would say it's been at least 10 days since I added whatever Leslies convinced me to add the 'non chlorine shock' stuff which really didn't do anything except drain my wallet. Lesson learned.
 
scott802 said:
hi,
Thanks Matt I definitely am getting the process down particularly timing the water testing at night and early a.m.
PAGirl, I would say it's been at least 10 days since I added whatever Leslies convinced me to add the 'non chlorine shock' stuff which really didn't do anything except drain my wallet. Lesson learned.
Click to expand...

PAGirl said:
Sometimes some of the pool store chems can really have a negative impact on chlorine levels.
Click to expand...

The junk Leslie's sold you is non-chlorine shock, likely potassium monopersulfate (MPS). It should have all dissipated by now. MPS does not react with FC but it can react with CCs and this typically causes the CCs to show up as FC on the DPD-FAS test (through a side reaction with the DPD indicator dye). It's actually a false high FC reading and Taylor sells a reagent for destroying MPS so you can get an accurate FC reading (MPS is used a lot in hot tubs).

In fact, this is a little trick that the pool stores use to sell people MPS. They test your water and show you that the FC is low (light pink to clear). Then they put a few granules of MPS in the test tube, give it a shake and the water turns shocking bright pink. They then say, "see, the MPS has converted the combined chlorine back into FC. So buy some of this really expensive MPS and add it to your pool." However, it's total BS and nothing more than a trick to sell you something you don't need.

Don't ya just LOVE pool stores.....


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Hi All,
Here are my latest readings as of Friday morning 10/02.

10/1 8:00 pm
FC = 27.5
CC = .5

10/2 8:00 am
FC = 25
CC = 0

I notice my salt level is climbing steadily it's now at 3900ppm. When I started this it was down at 3500ppm. Does dumping all this bleach into the water raise the salt level? I've done nothing else in the last week per the SLAM procedures but I know once the salt level gets too high my SWG craps out and the only option I've had is to drain the pool down. UGH.

Tried to get a couple of pics attached here (apologies I am no photo expert). As I've mentioned earlier in this thread, I have really bad iron metal stains on the liner that is really affecting the color of the bottom so that is the next step in trying to get that resolved.

My FC loss overnight has been reduced to 1.5 which is a LOT better than before.

Since when I tried to upload pics here I get an error saying my quota had been exceeded, I am trying a Dropbox folder for all my pics I take. Hopefully you will all be able to see.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/o899obmbenc8cho/AAB1W9s6L4E1nu6mJI5gP6PYa
 
Scott,

Use PhotoBucket as a picture hosting website then you can cut & paste the IMG links directly into your posts. It works very well. There's even a PhotoBucket app for smartphones that allows you to take pictures and directly upload them from your mobile phone.

How many bleach bottles have you added so far, rough estimate?

Don't sweat the SWG too much. The displayed salinity can fluctuate a lot with temperature. You should be fine. Honestly speaking, I wouldn't run the SWG during a SLAM, it's not really doing much for you at this point.


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Matt, I'd say I've added at least 50-70 bottles of bleach at this point. If I continue to show < 1 CC and this little FC loss overnight I assume I can say 'success' and move forward.
I know one thing I'm adding much much less bleach per day than the initial phase.

I'll dry photobucket. Been using dropbox successfully for years and it seems like everyone can see the pics. When trying to upload I get a 'quota exceeded' error on this site.
will keep trying
 
Scott,

So if we take your range of 121oz bottles of 8.25% bleach and multiply that by 4.4ppm salt/bottle, you'd get an increase somewhere between 220-308ppm. Given that your SWG's salinity probe has an output error or +/-200ppm (it's usually worse than that), I can see why your salt is reading higher.

Don't sweat it though. Most SWG's operate in a pretty wide margin of salinity levels. My Pentair IC-40 quotes 3400ppm as optimal but it give a high salt light at 4500ppm and will operate as high as 5000ppm. High salt is typically not a problem for most SWG's as the output current is limited. Low salt is more of problem.

Yes, it is good new that your chlorine loss is going down. You can now understand why it is so important in the beginning to hit the algae hard and maintain it as much as possible. All that initial chlorine loss is from algae kill and oxidation of algae waste. The three exit criteria for the SLAM are -

1. OCLT 1ppm or less;
2. CC's 0.5ppm or less
3. Water is crystal clear.

So you are getting very close!!

You can't upload directly to the site because your storage limit as a regular TFP user is limited to 250kbytes or something like that. If you donate to TFP and become a member, the storage value increases. However, almost everyone tries to use a image/photo hosting service like PhotoBucket because it's just so much easier (especially for mobile devices). Honestly speaking, I use PhotoBucket almost exclusively for TFP purposes as we have all of our family photos on ThisLife (ShutterFly). So I would say just sign up for the free photo bucket account and use it for TFP. I have DropBox too, but I don't like sharing from it for security reasons.
 
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- - - Updated - - -

Trying to get the photos right! Got photobucket and still messing with the settings so pls be patient. This one was just taken today, water is pretty clear vinyl liner is stained badly though which causes a lot of discoloration look.

Hope this helps!!!
 
When you imbed images from PhotoBucket just copy the IMG link and paste it right into a post. Don't add any additional image codes or use any of the insert picture tools on the message board.

So from the picture it looks like we'll also be dealing with metal stains. Once the SLAM is complete, we can try to get the metal stains out. Look up posts from user swampwoman and posts dealing with MetalMagic. It's a different type of stain remover and, since you have a vinyl liner, it might work better than the ascorbic acid treatment. Read all about it and, if you have any questions, post them. I believe some on TFP have successfully used MetalMagic and it would be good for them to give you the low-down on what works best. I've never had to do a metal treatment before so I have no hands-on experience with it.

Nice pool, by the way!!
 
Thought since everyone has been so helpful on here you might want to see the work my electrician and I did on the LED's. I can change the color, brightness, etc. to anything I want and/or about 100 different effects. It was a bit of a project but everything is waterproof and all the materials I got at www.superbrightleds.com. I'm pretty happy how it all turned out especially at night when it's so dark out there and you're trying to use the pool.

Now I have to finish up and get my pool 100% clean and free of ugly metal stains and will be back to operating!

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I have found that there are a few downsides to a TPFC pool. You see every little speck of dirt, leaf, bug, worm, and flower petal. Another is that the light doesn't have very much to bounce off of and you lose that dramatic glow. The sides and bottom get more light, but the water itself might as well not even be in there. At least that's what I've found with my little pool.
 
pabeader said:
I have found that there are a few downsides to a TPFC pool. You see every little speck of dirt, leaf, bug, worm, and flower petal. Another is that the light doesn't have very much to bounce off of and you lose that dramatic glow. The sides and bottom get more light, but the water itself might as well not even be in there. At least that's what I've found with my little pool.
Click to expand...

Not to mention, once your pool is full TFP, pool water maintenance is just sooooooo boring. Then you start buy all these pool water testing gizmos in an attempt to boost your accuracy and FIND problems with your pool. Next, you start wandering around your neighborhood trying to fix your neighbor's pool. Then you find yourself in the middle of the freeway, with nothing but a clapboard sign covering you up which is inscribed with all kinds of pool chemistry related equations and the TFP logo while ringing a bell and screaming that the end is near.....oh wait, that's just me.....never mind that last part...

:gone:
 

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