SLAM Help

Jump to latest Follow Reply
A

aimee457

Well-known member
Apr 25, 2018
68
Middletown oh
Hello!

We are in our 6th season with our pool and I'm having issues this year. We inherited a mess when we bought this house, but had great success cleaning up the pool following the SLAM method. I haven't figured out how to open clear, so each year we battle algae upon opening, but then we are able to clear relatively easily and have no issues through the summer.

This year I'm at a loss. We opened green, did all my testing and I think I messed up on the CYA. I know I wasn't at 30, the test water definitely was a little cloudy but I could still see the dot at 30. I figured I must be around 20, and added enough to get me to 40. I think I overshot but I have done the test multiple times and can't figure out if I'm at 30, 40 or 50. Sometimes I can see the dot at 40, sometimes 30. This morning I think I measured it to be 50. I've tested in bright sunlight multiple times over the last week-10 days. So I think my first issue might possibly not enough FC.

I admit, we weren't being too aggressive with the FC for the first week or so because we were having issues with our filter. The pressure was rising to the point of loss of water flow within an hour of cleaning the cartridges. Even with the algae, we haven't had this problem before. We were cleaning cartridges multiple times per day and making no progress. This was frustrating because we had bought these new a few summers ago. The original ones we had were pretty old but they cleared the pool so fast and didn't need cleaned near as often. So we bought new cartridges and they seem to be working much better. But after a week still no real visible progress with the cloudiness of the pool. We took them out and cleaned them last night and they had plenty of dead algae on them, so I know they are filtering but is it normal to go this slowly? This is my 6th SLAM and it's never gone this slow.

Based on my CYA test this morning I did bump my FC level to 20 because I have a feeling I misread my tests. My concern is that if I take the FC too high will I damage my liner and equipment? My liner has faded a TON since our first summer so I'm concerned about a sustained FC level that is too high.

Thank you in advance for any help or direction you can offer!
 
Sounds like the CYA test is your nemesis. Maybe this will help.

CYA Testing:
Proper lighting is critical for the CYA test, so you want to test for CYA outside on a bright sunny day. Use the mixing bottle to gently mix the required amounts of pool water and R-0013 reagent, let sit for 30 seconds, then gently mix again. Recommend standing outside with your back to the sun and the view tube in the shade of your body at waist level. Then, begin squirting the mixed solution into the skinny tube. Watch the black dot until it completely disappears. Once it disappears, record the CYA reading. To help the eyes and prevent staring at the dot, some people find it better to pour & view in stages. Pour some solution into the viewing tube, look away, then look back again for the dot. Repeat as necessary until you feel the dot is gone. After the first CYA test, you can pour the mixed solution from the skinny view tube back to the mixing bottle, gently shake, and do the same test a second, third, or fourth time to instill consistency in your technique, become more comfortable with the testing, and validate your own CYA reading. Finally, if you still doubt your own reading, have a friend do the test with you and compare results.
 
Texas Splash said:
Sounds like the CYA test is your nemesis. Maybe this will help.

CYA Testing:
Proper lighting is critical for the CYA test, so you want to test for CYA outside on a bright sunny day. Use the mixing bottle to gently mix the required amounts of pool water and R-0013 reagent, let sit for 30 seconds, then gently mix again. Recommend standing outside with your back to the sun and the view tube in the shade of your body at waist level. Then, begin squirting the mixed solution into the skinny tube. Watch the black dot until it completely disappears. Once it disappears, record the CYA reading. To help the eyes and prevent staring at the dot, some people find it better to pour & view in stages. Pour some solution into the viewing tube, look away, then look back again for the dot. Repeat as necessary until you feel the dot is gone. After the first CYA test, you can pour the mixed solution from the skinny view tube back to the mixing bottle, gently shake, and do the same test a second, third, or fourth time to instill consistency in your technique, become more comfortable with the testing, and validate your own CYA reading. Finally, if you still doubt your own reading, have a friend do the test with you and compare results.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I saved the sample to repeat my CYA test several times today just to be sure I'm consistently getting the same result. Should I be concerned that I put too much chlorine if I overshot the CYA? My gut tells me I haven't been adding enough liquid chlorine, but I am just worried about doing damage by adding too much.
 
Even with increased FC to 20 based on CYA of 50, we have had no progress whatsoever. I feel like I'm missing something. Every time I have had to SLAM in the past we have made progress each day. Even if it was slow it was visible. I'm at a loss this time. We opened our pool 5/3, have used almost 50 gallons of liquid chlorine and we aren't any closer to being able to use our pool than we were 2 weeks ago. Does anyone have any ideas to help me trouble shoot?
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
- Do you have a pool light with a niche behind it? If so, has it been removed?
- Does that ladder come out so you can inspect the steps and clean it all out?
- You noted having difficulties with the CYA test. Are you still sure about 50 or could it be higher?
 
I asked my husband to remove the ladder, I am hoping we can this evening, same with the light. I feel pretty certain CYA is not above 50 but will retest today to be 100% sure. We have been running the robot since the beginning and aren't really picking up much of anything at this point so I don't believe there is a lot of leaves or anything left in the pool.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Texas Splash
Our cartridges are brand new. We just bought them less than 2 weeks ago. Since we put them in, the pressure has stayed consistent at 10 psi. Prior to the new carts going in we would go from 12 psi clean pressure to 25 with barely any water flow within 2 hours. We figured our cartridges were bad (although they were only a few years old and did that from the beginning).

Even though the pressure was good we did clean the cartridges on Sunday. They had a lot of dead algae on them.

I was able to get the ladder out and it looks like there is mold on the bottom of the steps. How should I go about cleaning them? I won’t put them back in until the pool clears.
 
Now we have a new issue that must have just happened because I noticed it for the first time this afternoon and we have been out there a ton! There is about a 12 inch tear in the liner right above the water line. Is this something we could patch to get us through until we can buy a new liner?70664652143__635E99EB-19D5-46ED-ACCB-8DB8FF8316AD.jpeg70664652143__635E99EB-19D5-46ED-ACCB-8DB8FF8316AD.jpeg
 
I did the OCLT and we did not lose chlorine overnight. The clarity of the water has not changed but I took some pictures just now and it looks like the color has changed to be more blue. Is this a good sign? I would have thought I would see a bit less cloudiness by now.IMG_5894.jpgIMG_5895.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply