Slam questions

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Crackerjack4u said:
Yeah, I'm sorry that I can't tell you why it's not dropping yet, but just continue running the filter, backwashing, brushing often, and vacuuming to waste if possible instead of filter. Put a skimmer sock or knee high panty hose in the skimmer basket.

Hopefully it will soon do what it's suppose to do. I just don't want you to risk damaging your pool with any higher FC levels in there than needs to be.

Also if you don't mind can you fill out your signature information here's what they ask you put in it. http://www.troublefreepool.com/content/115-read-before-you-post

You can get to that page from here by going up to the top to the small tab called FORUM ACTIONS, then from the drop down there chose GENERAL SETTINGS, then look down the left side of your page for a Bold print category called MY SETTINGS and then click on EDIT SIGNATURE there. Fill in the info and you are good to go that way we know what size your pool is if its ABOVE GROUND, or In GROUND, what kind and size filter you're using etc. It makes it easier that way. :)

Anyway I would let it ride and check it in the AM to see what the levels are then. Have a nice night, and feel free to holler back with any questions you might have.
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Thanks again. I do have all of that in my signature but it doesn't show by default when I am posting from my phone.

Found it...Have to go advanced...kind of a pain.
 
Possibly some progress:

I tested last night around 6pm and fc was still at 25. After that I cleaned the filter then turned the pump on high speed while I swept the sides and bottom. I left it on high until 10:30pm. Retested then and fc went down to 21.5. It may have been a combination of everything but I am wondering if low speed just isn't enough circulation for the slam in my pool. I put it back to low speed overnight then tested at 5:30 am and fc is still at 21.5. So, before I left for work I put the pump on high. We'll see what the test shows after ~8 hours on high speed. I will also clean the filter then and vacuum to waste as I need to get some water out anyway.
 
That is interesting. Not the pump on low part because that should be okay during a SLAM. But the part about your FC staying at 21.5 overnight. No FC loss at all? How is the water looking today? Did you happen to check your combined chlorine level this morning as well? No FC loss at all might indicate you are getting close.
 
Texas Splash said:
That is interesting. Not the pump on low part because that should be okay during a SLAM. But the part about your FC staying at 21.5 overnight. No FC loss at all? How is the water looking today? Did you happen to check your combined chlorine level this morning as well? No FC loss at all might indicate you are getting close.
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Last night it was green. This morning I am not sure as it was dark. I did test cc this morning and it was at 0.5 or less.

Just looking at the numbers it would appear close but the pool is still completely green. What I still do not know is if this is due completely to whatever this residue is near the bottom.
 
duraleigh said:
I have not followed this thread. Why is their residue still in the pool? That should be vacuumed up and out of the pool before the SLAM ever started.
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I cannot see the bottom so I cannot see if the same cloud comes up when I sweep it. I can only see the steps and when I sweep the steps there is a cloud of something that comes up. Prior to the slam I did run my automatic vac for 6 hours and went over the bottom with my manual vac as well and cleaned the filter. This offered no change in the color so I assumed algae.

If this is all strictly from residue I am not sure how that is possible either. While I was away the pump was running as normal and I did have my wife run the automatic vac as well just as I do. For this to happen I guess would point to it not being caught by the filter which I suppose is possible but I am not sure how it would have accumulated and grown. My pool is completely screened and sees virtually no debris.
 
Later today when you get home, give us a good update on the water clarity and chemical readings and we'll go from there. I'll try to keep an eye out for this thread. Yours would seem like a no-brainer SLAM since everything was fine up until a week a go or so, but to have no FC loss overnight and <.5 of CC is still interesting to me personally. Continue with the SLAM though and we'll re-group later today.
 
Texas Splash said:
Later today when you get home, give us a good update on the water clarity and chemical readings and we'll go from there. I'll try to keep an eye out for this thread. Yours would seem like a no-brainer SLAM since everything was fine up until a week a go or so, but to have no FC loss overnight and <.5 of CC is still interesting to me personally. Continue with the SLAM though and we'll re-group later today.
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I guess my luck if something had to go wrong it would have to go really wrong and stump the experts here lol. In the year I have been maintaining this pool I have had 0 issues and everything has been extremely smooth. So smooth in fact that I would often think to myself that it was too easy and I must be doing something wrong.
 
Not sure this will help but here is my 2 cents.

6pm and fc was still at 25. After that I cleaned the filter then turned the pump on high speed while I swept the sides and bottom. I left it on high until 10:30pm. Retested then and fc went down to 21.5
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so with the pump on high your CL level dropped, but then you switched back to low and it maintained. Why not keep on high for a day and see if CL drops.
Also when you say vacuum are you talking manual vacuum through your pool pump or a robot? The Vacuum to waste sounds like a good idea. If it is a robot is it possible that the filters are not fine enough?
 
Pool Amateur said:
Not sure this will help but here is my 2 cents.



so with the pump on high your CL level dropped, but then you switched back to low and it maintained. Why not keep on high for a day and see if CL drops.
Also when you say vacuum are you talking manual vacuum through your pool pump or a robot? The Vacuum to waste sounds like a good idea. If it is a robot is it possible that the filters are not fine enough?
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I switched it to low speed over last night then put it back to high speed this morning when I left for work. So, it will run on high speed all day today and we'll see what that does.

I have a dedicated vacuum port so no robot, just an automatic suction barracuda. Maybe a terminology difference but when I think robot I think like a polaris or something that doesn't require a suction port. I think this barracuda is a pos but it was there when I bought the house. I picked up a manual vacuum as well but it connects to the same port. I use it to get to areas the barracuda misses which is most of the bottom lol. Either way, it all goes through my cartridge filter.
 

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Another thing you can possible try is to clean out the barracuda, and the vac hose with the water hose to ensure they aren't completely or slightly blocked. You could be running the barracuda, and just wasting your time because if it isn't any good like you said, then most likely it's not doing what it's suppose to be doing.

During my slam I preferred to do manual vacs. As far as if there possibly still being debris on the bottom have you tried to drag the bottom with a leaf rake to see if it picks up anything? If you do get stuff up continue to use the leaf rake until you start getting little to no debris in it. Then use the manual vac to vacuum the entire bottom whether you are able to see the bottom, or not. (vac to waste ensuring you maintain the appropriate water levels).
 
Crackerjack4u said:
Another thing you can possible try is to clean out the barracuda, and the vac hose with the water hose to ensure they aren't completely or slightly blocked. You could be running the barracuda, and just wasting your time because if it isn't any good like you said, then most likely it's not doing what it's suppose to be doing.

During my slam I preferred to do manual vacs. As far as if there possibly still being debris on the bottom have you tried to drag the bottom with a leaf rake to see if it picks up anything? If you do get stuff up continue to use the leaf rake until you start getting little to no debris in it. Then use the manual vac to vacuum the entire bottom whether you are able to see the bottom, or not. (vac to waste ensuring you maintain the appropriate water levels).
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The problem I have with the barracuda is that it does not hit the entire pool. The areas that it does go over it actually functions quite well but it essentially follows a "c" pattern and misses most of the bottom. I have spent days adjusting pressure and hose length and can make it almost jump out of the pool or make small circles in the deep end but never cycle everywhere. A few months ago I replaced almost every piece on the thing and that made it move better but still unable to properly cycle.

I haven't ran the barracuda since before I started the slam. I have ran the manual vac; it's just tough because I cannot see the bottom and am probably missing a ton. I have never had debris due to the screening but I often have "dust" (no idea what it is) on the bottom.

After work some vacuum to waste will be done.
 
Yeah, it is tough when you are doing the manual blind vacuuming. You might be missing some stuff down there for sure, but every little bit that you do manage to get out will help. Hopefully you will be able to see the bottom soon, and get out anything that has gotten left behind. :)
 
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So here's the scoop for today:

Visual inspection, still green. But, it does appear to be lighter. Almost like a murky olive green. Or maybe I just think it looks lighter. The wife says she thinks it is lighter so maybe it really is.

Pump had been running on high speed for around 10 hours. I tested FC as is at 18. CC at 0.5 or less. So, in those 10 hours FC had dropped from 21.5 to 18.

I went ahead and tested everything which I hadn't done since I started the slam process. Results showed the following:

FC 18
CC 0.5
CH 325
TA 50
CYA 40
Water temp 82

Today again mid 90's mostly sunny until I started testing then it rained a little bit. So, CH went up and TA down through the slam process. Is that normal? FC is finally dropping which I guess is good? It is still above slam level so should I just keep my eye on it and only add bleach if it drops below 16?

After this I took the filter out and cleaned it (green residue here) and vacuumed to waste for about 1 hour with my manual vac to get the water level down. Since it was all set up I went ahead and hooked up my barracuda. I plan to leave it like this for about 1 hour then test FC again. Water clarity unchanged after all of this.

So, thoughts?
 
You're on the right track. Yes, keep that FC at 16 or slightly above if you don't have to get in the water. Not so sure your pump needs to be on high the whole time, but you will need to clean it frequently with all that green/algae. I wouldn't bother with any tests right now other than FC. Once in a while you can test CC just to see if what it's at that day. FC dropping is partly due to the sun and converting/oxidizing as it changes to CC before being eliminated. That's a good thing. Continue the sweeping and agitation of pool surfaces to break-up any algae so the chlorine can penetrate it and kill it. Maintain that SLAM and you should continue to see changes. Some people like to take pics of the transformation - especially the stairs.
 
Blivit79 said:
So here's the scoop for today:

Visual inspection, still green. But, it does appear to be lighter. Almost like a murky olive green. Or maybe I just think it looks lighter. The wife says she thinks it is lighter so maybe it really is. Hopefully it is getting slightly lighter a lot of people take daily or frequent pictures usually of the step area, to be able to compare the progress because some times the progress is slow but looking at a day or so before you can see it.

Pump had been running on high speed for around 10 hours. I tested FC as is at 18. CC at 0.5 or less. So, in those 10 hours FC had dropped from 21.5 to 18. Glad to see that it dropped a little bit and isn't still stuck there.

I went ahead and tested everything which I hadn't done since I started the slam process. Results showed the following:

FC 18
CC 0.5
CH 325
TA 50
CYA 40
Water temp 82
It really isn't necessary to check anything other than the FC and CC right now but it's up to you but I'd just save the reagents for the other tests until after the SLAM.

Today again mid 90's mostly sunny until I started testing then it rained a little bit. So, CH went up and TA down through the slam process. Is that normal? I didn't check mine for changes during my SLAM but I suspect it probably isn't uncommon. Maybe someone else will elaborate more on this for you.


FC is finally dropping which I guess is good? I'm glad to see it moving it shows something is going on in there, finally.

It is still above slam level so should I just keep my eye on it and only add bleach if it drops below 16? Add more chlorine BEFORE it drops Below 16. You need to maintain it at 16, or just slightly higher. The 18ppm you are at now isn't bad, and is close enough to the 16 to hold it there if you want to so you don't have to check it as often, so when you add the chlorine, add to HOLD at the current level. Mine pool is pretty close to the same amount of gallons as yours and I THINK lol it took me 1/4th of a gallon of 10% to hold at current level, and a full half gallon of 10% to raise ppm by 1 ppm.

After this I took the filter out and cleaned it (green residue here) and vacuumed to waste for about 1 hour with my manual vac to get the water level down. Since it was all set up I went ahead and hooked up my barracuda. I plan to leave it like this for about 1 hour then test FC again. Water clarity unchanged after all of this. Did you see any debris when you vacuumed to waste?

So, thoughts? You're doing great, Keep up the good job :)
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Have a wonderful night

- - - Updated - - -

LOL sorry Texas we both posted approximately the same thing. You was a posting while I was a typing but hey lol at least we got it covered :)
 
Thanks guys. Affirmation helps. I think I may have just gotten impatient based on other peoples experiences that I have read here.

I don't think high speed is necessary at this point. I do think what really got things moving is that agitation though. I have been doing a lot more sweeping now and that along with the water movement from the pump being on high speed things have really been moving. I will try low speed but continue the sweeping and filter cleaning daily.
 
I do not know why low speed would not give enough circulation to mix chlorine to allow FC to drop just for sun consumption but if at high speed things were working better I would leave it on high. Also, shouldn't CC be reading greater than .5 if you are killing algae, if not are you really killing anything? The FC not dropping during a sunny day and <.5 CC with all that algae just do not make sense to me. Am I missing something? Just curious for my own education.
 
Hello Pool Amateur,
I agree with your low speed/high speed thoughts. Low should provide enough to circulate the pool, and tonight will probably tell us for sure. I think Blivit turned it back down to rest the pump some, save some money on electric, plus he will be able to see if the FC #s would drop this time on low, or if they would again remain stationary. I'm sure if the # fail to move again that he will turn it back on high to provide better circulation.

As far as the issues Blivit is having, they are unusual for sure, and one that isn't following the rules as we would expect it to. I know I'm learning a lot from this one too. It is definitely a thread to follow, if for no other reason, but the learning experience, and how long it takes to clear it. I've been waiting for the CC to increase myself for a couple of days now, and even mentioned it over in comment #18, but so far no change.

As of right now none of the chlorine has combined, which could be because the chlorine levels weren't moving at all for days? That doesn't mean there isn't algae present, it just means the chlorine hasn't combined with it yet. I suspect the CC level will soon start to rise some,now that FC #s are finally moving, but if it doesn't the free chlorine can continue to eat away with out any of it being tied up. The CC doesn't always rise to indicate algae sometimes there are other factors like dropping FC levels, and a bright green pool. LOL I think the pic in comment #5 pretty well assures us there is in fact algae in there. Now that the chlorine has finally started doing what we would have expected it to do in the beginning, but it didn't, we should start to see some changes not only in the numbers, but also in the pool water itself. I'm curious to see what happens to both.

I love learning new things, and this one is really interesting. This thread just goes to show that not everything is black and white, and things don't always follow the rules just exactly like we would expect them to sometimes. Anyway, feel free to hang around, and see what happens because Blivit is working hard to remedy that bright green pool water, and hopefully some day soon will do just that. Have a nice night :)
 
FC this morning 17.5 after running overnight on low speed.

I think for now the pattern will be brush and clean filter once I am home from work then pump on high until I go to sleep. At that time I will put it back to low and repeat the next day. Tests will be done in the morning then twice at night. Vacuum when the pump is on high and try to ride this thing out. This electric bill is going to suck..
 

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