Ok to start SLAM in the morning?

[Keblin23]

Hi! We're new to TFP. FAS-DPD K2006 kit arrived last night so we tested and bought bleach (7 gallons) and liquid pool chlorine (12 gallons). We have an inground vinyl pool (36,000 gallons) with a sand filter. Safety mesh cover has been off for a week with the pump running. The only thing we've done so far is crush 3 chlorine pucks in each skimmer basket (2), brush the walls twice and backwash twice a day for 3 days and also have pucks floating. I cannot see the bottom of the pool but it's not as dark as when we opened. Test results from last night were:
FC 3.2
CC .8
Ph 7.5
TA 140
CYA 30
CH btw 100-200 on a 6 way strip (I forgot to test this with the FAS-DPD last night)

We are going to start the SLAM process but don't know if we should wait until tonight to start or can we start this morning? And should we vacuum the deep end first? We brushed the shallow end and deep end but can't see if we got it all in the deep.

Also, once we start, do we test every 30 minutes or so? PoolMath says to add a little over 5 gallons to get to 12. When it drops do I just keep adding another 5 gallons?

 

[Texas Splash]

A few things about yoru SLAM Process:
- Remove those crushed tabs from the skimmer. We never add tabs to the skimmer (too acidic)
- Lower the pH to about 7.2
- Make sure to brush/scoop any large debris off the bottom and out of the pool. Anything behind other than water makes the SLAM go longer.
- With a CYA of 30, increase the FC to 12 now (after you adjust the pH of course). SLAM away!

You'll test fairly frequently at first, maybe an hour or two after the first FC increase, but over the first day or two the FC should begin to hold more steady and longer. You'll see a pattern as you go. Good luck!

 

[Keblin23]

Starting Day 4. FC is 2.5.
Over the past 3 days we’ve added 52 lbs of 10% bleach and 5 lbs of 6% bleach. The FC goes up a little and comes back down. I backwash in the morning and evening and brush the walls every morning. Ran vacuum twice. These pictures are from last night and it’s pretty much looked like this since the 2nd day.
Am I doing everything right? I know it says to be patient but I was hoping to see some changes by now.

 

[zea3]

I just looked at your Poolmath logs. You have to bring the FC up to slam level frequently. Your not going to make much progress only adding chlorine every 6-9 hours. What makes the slam process work is keeping the FC at slam levels as long as possible until the demand for chlorine drops. Try testing and adding FC every 2 hours if you can. If you cannot, then add chlorine first thing in the morning, right after work, after dinner, and just before bedtime. Then the next time you have a day off, if you still need to slam stick to the every 2 hour schedule for the day. Try and vacuum daily and run the filter 24/7 until you complete the slam.

 

[Texas Splash]

m I doing everything right?

Still have a bit of work to do. Can you confirm what you mean by adding x-amount of "lbs" of chlorine? You noted 10% and 6%, so we're assuming this is either liquid chlorine or regular bleach correct? Just want to make sure as that's exactly what you want to be using. Your CYA was last reported at 30, so make sure to keep the FC at 12 as much as you can all day and clean all areas of the pool daily. You may have a large light (niche behind it) and a main drain. You should take a look at those as well if you haven't done so already. Hang in there and keep on SLAMing!

 

[Keblin23]

Day 1 we SLAMMED every 1.5 - 2 hrs until night then started again in the morning. Yesterday went longer in between times. The 10% is pool chlorine bleach and the 6% is household bleach. When you say keep the FC at 12 as much as possible...should I be testing it after I put bleach in to make sure it makes it to 12? The highest reading I've seen after 1.5 hours is 9 and that was 2 days ago.

 

[Texas Splash]

When you say keep the FC at 12 as much as possible...should I be testing it after I put bleach in to make sure it makes it to 12?

Generally that is not required if you used the PoolMath APP correctly. You'll go through too much reagents as well. But you can do that once in a while to ensure your FC made it to the expected goal as determined by the PoolMath APP. If you're not reaching the FC of 12, it may good on occasion to see where the dosage went wrong. Hopefully you are updating the PoolMath APP with the correct % strength as you switch between brands.

 

[Keblin23]

Yes I update every time I add anything.