SWG seems to be working harder with less output

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That is very similar to my setup.. my pool is slightly larger. Your fill water is likely a lot better quality (FL water is pretty soft). My T-15 clone "F-15" Circupool Si-45 cell actually puts out more chlorine than you'd think for a 40K pool.. I run mine about 9 hours a day at 40% and it's peak season now. So I wouldn't be surprised if the slightly smaller real T-15 would work at 30% or slightly less for a 12.2K pool, especially enclosed like that... I could believe 20% in that case...
 
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Rattus Suffocatus said:
That is very similar to my setup.. my pool is slightly larger. Your fill water is likely a lot better quality (FL water is pretty soft). My T-15 clone "F-15" Circupool Si-45 cell actually puts out more chlorine than you'd think for a 40K pool.. I run mine about 9 hours a day at 40% and it's peak season now. So I wouldn't be surprised if the slightly smaller real T-15 would work at 30% or slightly less for a 12.2K pool, especially enclosed like that... I could believe 20% in that case...
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Yes and that’s what it was doing. It’s not doing that any longer. It’s running 24/7 at 50% + to keep my FC at 5. If I turn it down to 30% my FC drops to 2. I’m very confused. I’ve never had a drop in FC and my CYA has been 70 except for a few days after emptying some water after a lot of rain a couple of weeks back. I added liquid stabilizer and got it back to 70. Been trying to stabilize my FC since. I’ve had it on 100% since yesterday morning and have made it back to 5. I’m leaving it on 100% today as well trying to get a head start and get the FC to 7 before turning it back down again. I’ll then move to 60% and see how that goes. It was running on 10-15% before and keeping pretty stable. I don’t know if I should slam - but I don’t know why I would have an issue as I’ve kept the pool pretty perfectly balanced and tested at least twice a week since it was filled. Worried I’m going to get algae.
 
TeenaTeens said:
Yes and that’s what it was doing. It’s not doing that any longer. It’s running 24/7 at 50% + to keep my FC at 5. If I turn it down to 30% my FC drops to 2. I’m very confused. I’ve never had a drop in FC and my CYA has been 70 except for a few days after emptying some water after a lot of rain a couple of weeks back. I added liquid stabilizer and got it back to 70. Been trying to stabilize my FC since. I’ve had it on 100% since yesterday morning and have made it back to 5. I’m leaving it on 100% today as well trying to get a head start and get the FC to 7 before turning it back down again. I’ll then move to 60% and see how that goes. It was running on 10-15% before and keeping pretty stable. I don’t know if I should slam - but I don’t know why I would have an issue as I’ve kept the pool pretty perfectly balanced and tested at least twice a week since it was filled. Worried I’m going to get algae.
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The amount of chlorine loss is dependent upon the time of the season as well. I assume this isn't your first year and you know that. If not it's pretty much how many hours of UV the water sees will determine how much extra you need to generate versus in the fall, etc.

Your cell could be getting weaker too.. it happens. It's probably happening to mine and it's only 2 years old but our water is terrible in AZ and my CH is now up to 700-- so it's been scaling up like crazy despite my CSI being -0.2 ish. It's been raining a lot and I tend to lose CYA and less salt (I assume the CYA stays diffused but the salt settles when the torrential rains cause a overflow of my pool in some instances) right now. I imagine that you have something similar with the afternoon thunderstorms there in Florida.

Keep on it. You can't run a pool completely "open loop" (though you can for a short time with a SWCG, but I certainly don't encourage it) so you should expect some tweaks and repairs from time to time. The Trouble in Trouble Free doesn't mean maintenance.. it means from disaster....
 
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Rattus Suffocatus said:
The amount of chlorine loss is dependent upon the time of the season as well. I assume this isn't your first year and you know that. If not it's pretty much how many hours of UV the water sees will determine how much extra you need to generate versus in the fall, etc.

Your cell could be getting weaker too.. it happens. It's probably happening to mine and it's only 2 years old but our water is terrible in AZ and my CH is now up to 700-- so it's been scaling up like crazy despite my CSI being -0.2 ish. It's been raining a lot and I tend to lose CYA and less salt (I assume the CYA stays diffused but the salt settles when the torrential rains cause a overflow of my pool in some instances) right now. I imagine that you have something similar with the afternoon thunderstorms there in Florida.

Keep on it. You can't run a pool completely "open loop" (though you can for a short time with a SWCG, but I certainly don't encourage it) so you should expect some tweaks and repairs from time to time. The Trouble in Trouble Free doesn't mean maintenance.. it means from disaster....
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Well lucky - because I really enjoying looking after it so that’s no trouble for me. Yes it’s my first season. Thanks for the info - I appreciate it.
 
Ok so feeling like a numpty right now. Water is cloudy today. Chlorine still not where it should be. Put in 4 cups of 10% liquid chlorine this morning. Just tested again and I’m at 6 FC and it’s still ready 0 CC. I thought over it and realized I hadn’t check my filter cartridge for a few weeks - and we had some really heavy rain a couple of weeks ago. Well low and behold - it was dirty. Even though the pressure was still ok. I’ve washed it. Turned the filter on high and the SWG on high and I’ll leave it that way for at least 24 hours.

Anything else I should do? Should I shock it? Do I need to SLAM? Could I have algae? I’m super annoyed at myself - I just completely forgot the filter even existed. Even tho it’s only been a month, I assume the heavy rain makes it dirty? Anyway, I have set a reminder for myself to check it bi weekly as part of my pool care routine.

I hope I haven’t ruined everything - I’ve been so diligent in testing and caring for this pool.
 
I would suggest you add two gallons of 10% liquid chlorine and see if it clears up.
Do an OCLT tonight.
 
0 CC reading is a good sign... probably your cloudiness is either from something inorganic or you are just on the verge of having issues. The 2 gallons of LC isn't a bad suggestion.

Turn the SWCG to Super chlor in addition. It'll shut off if you forget in 24 hrs. If crud got in due to weather there isn't too much you can do about it anyway, so don't beat yourself up. FC of 4 in normal cases is enough to keep an algae bloom from happening normally even though we like to run ours higher here at about 6. Hit it hard for a day or two and likely it will be okay if all else is in line.

The cloudiness could be from you disturbing stuff in the filter casing when you cleaned and it being temporary. I actually use a wet or dry vac on "wet" to completely drain mine out or this does happen for a day or so, it is hard to clean the bottom out of the Hayward cartridge filter tanks otherwise.

I think you got this, honestly. This is the joy of having a pool and maintaining it yourself (which is the way to go if you are going to have a pool).
 

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Rattus Suffocatus said:
0 CC reading is a good sign... probably your cloudiness is either from something inorganic or you are just on the verge of having issues. The 2 gallons of LC isn't a bad suggestion.

Turn the SWCG to Super chlor in addition. It'll shut off if you forget in 24 hrs. If crud got in due to weather there isn't too much you can do about it anyway, so don't beat yourself up. FC of 4 in normal cases is enough to keep an algae bloom from happening normally even though we like to run ours higher here at about 6. Hit it hard for a day or two and likely it will be okay if all else is in line.

The cloudiness could be from you disturbing stuff in the filter casing when you cleaned and it being temporary. I actually use a wet or dry vac on "wet" to completely drain mine out or this does happen for a day or so, it is hard to clean the bottom out of the Hayward cartridge filter tanks otherwise.

I think you got this, honestly. This is the joy of having a pool and maintaining it yourself (which is the way to go if you are going to have a pool).
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It’s part of the learning journey for sure. I just didn’t notice. I noticed I didn’t like the color the past few days. I noticed that I was struggling to get my FC back to 5-6 which is where I normally keep it. And then today I noticed it was a bit cloudy - I could see the bottom just fine - but it didn’t look right. Checked the forum and bam! Have you cleaned the filter?! No. No I hadn’t. It’s clean now, the chlorine has cleared the pool already - a bit more to go, but normal color and clarity are returning by the minute. I’ll do an overnight chlorine test tonight - I did one two weeks ago after all the rain when I first started having issues and it was fine but I’ll do another one. And fingers crossed it’s ok and I’ll just keep the chlorinator and filter running on high for a few days. If it’s not - I just went and got some more chlorine and I’m ready to slam. Won’t be making this mistake again! Thank goodness I’m using this method for my pool otherwise I think I would be in a full algae bloom right now!!! Thanks for the words of encouragement. We live and learn!
 
mknauss said:
I would add it now. Run the pump and SWCG today. Then this evening, turn off the SWCG, test, and do the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
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Ok so we just had a huge downpour. Filled the pool. Should I go ahead with the overnight test? The pool has cleared up. Well it was clear and blue before the rain… haven’t checked post rain yet. Just wondering if it will impact the test. Storms expected this evening as well.
 
Rain water is almost like RO water or distilled. I guess if it's "acid rain" it maybe isn't but in most cases lower pH will help and not hurt! (at least for me! :) ) I think it is highly likely that cleaning the filter did it for you but it's probably good to hit it with a slug of extra chlorine periodically anyway. Glad to hear it. It sounds like you have it (nearly) fully under control! Good job!
 
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mknauss said:
Up to you. As long as well mixed, the rain does not do much to water chemistry.
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Sorry just one more question. If I need to slam, my CYA is 70 which says not recommended in the slam instructions. Do I need to empty the pool some and refill it to lower the CyA before starting the slam? I’ve got a perfectly clear pool right now with a FC level of 18 and 0 CC. Hopefully it won’t drop overnight and I can move on with my life, but if it does, just want to be sure what to do as I get up early LOL.
 
You can run a SLAM at 70 ppm, just takes some chlorine to get to SLAM level FC and then lots of reagents to test.

I suspect you are fine. Should be able to move forward tomorrow.
 
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TeenaTeens said:
Sorry just one more question. If I need to slam, my CYA is 70 which says not recommended in the slam instructions. Do I need to empty the pool some and refill it to lower the CyA before starting the slam? I’ve got a perfectly clear pool right now with a FC level of 18 and 0 CC. Hopefully it won’t drop overnight and I can move on with my life, but if it does, just want to be sure what to do as I get up early LOL.
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You can slam at 70. Those with 70-80 CYA for our SWCG can slam at those levels, just not recommended. Why? It will a) take a lot of chlorine, and more than a SLAM at 30-40, and b) you really need to test and replace chlorine often, and c) will take more reagents. If you don't care about using more chlorine and can test/replace often...you can do it.

For CYA of 70, you need to maintain FC of 28.

This pool was 13K gallons (close to your size), SLAM took 30 gallons with CYA of 70. 30 Gallons at $5 is $150.

SLAM ing with CYA at around 70

Ok, so I “inherited “ this pool with the new house. When I moved in it’s quite the green pond, and CYA tested up around 160(. I had to do the half tap water method to get a result I could read). I drained around 3 feet of water and replaced with fresh, and now CYA tests around 70. Is it ok to...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

If you do decide to replace your water, I suggest a "no-drain water replacement." See Section 3.5 in the link below. If you replace 40% of your pool that will get you to ~40 CYA.

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
PoolStored said:
You can slam at 70. Those with 70-80 CYA for our SWCG can slam at those levels, just not recommended. Why? It will a) take a lot of chlorine, and more than a SLAM at 30-40, and b) you really need to test and replace chlorine often, and c) will take more reagents. If you don't care about using more chlorine and can test/replace often...you can do it.

For CYA of 70, you need to maintain FC of 28.

This pool was 13K gallons (close to your size), SLAM took 30 gallons with CYA of 70. 30 Gallons at $5 is $150.

SLAM ing with CYA at around 70

Ok, so I “inherited “ this pool with the new house. When I moved in it’s quite the green pond, and CYA tested up around 160(. I had to do the half tap water method to get a result I could read). I drained around 3 feet of water and replaced with fresh, and now CYA tests around 70. Is it ok to...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com

If you do decide to replace your water, I suggest a "no-drain water replacement." See Section 3.5 in the link below. If you replace 40% of your pool that will get you to ~40 CYA.

Draining - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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Ok so I think it will be easier to just slam at a higher chlorine usage than drain half the pool. If it’s not going to hurt anything I’m ok with the cost. And I’m home to test. I think if it’s needed it won’t be for too long as with todays chlorine the pool became clear and blue within an hour. Just wasn’t sure what not recommended meant and wanted to be sure before I started that I was doing the right thing. Thank you. Fingers crossed the FC isn’t going to drop tonight.
 

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