SLAM - Does not seem to end

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S

Schneiam

Member
May 18, 2022
9
Minnesota
Pool Size
17000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Moved from here.
I have this same issue. I've been at slamming for about 2 weeks now. Just bought the house and i think there was some neglect at the end of last year... Green cleared up in a few days, but still cloudy. I vacuum and brush daily(followed by a backwash of the filter after vacuuming), and check FC is up roughly 5 times a day since I work at home. It would be very helpful to at least see the bottom so I could see if there were spots I was missing while vacuuming.

I've been adding bleach in accordance with pool math numbers(testing with Taylor K-2006 kit) and FC levels still seeming to drop 2-3 points each time. I had a CC of 0 for a few days last week, but it showed back up a few days ago(still under .5).
Hoping it clears up soon as i'm close to $100 worth of bleach at this point.
 
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CYA is somewhere around 30, was 40 but i've had to add a few inches of water after all my backwashing and rinsing the filter.
At beginning of Slam got PH down to 7.0, Alkalinity is close to 200 so PH may have gone up a bit since starting Slam.

Pool is an above ground 27 foot round pool, 4 feet deep. Hayward pump and a sand filter. I have a Hayward CL200 chlorine feeder i was going to pipe into the setup once pool is cleared up and slam process is done to use with chlorine tablets.
 
Welcome to TFP! :wave: A pool in your starting condition is simply going to take a bit longer. Everything you are saying sounds correct, right down to the proper test kit. One day at a time now. If you know nothing about the filter's history or chemicals the previous owners used, it may need a sand change or at the very least a deep cleaning. But for now, it's all about chlorine and brushing. Be sure to take a pic of the same area each day to track your progress. Steps or a ladder are usually good places to review.
 
Texas Splash said:
Welcome to TFP! :wave: A pool in your starting condition is simply going to take a bit longer. Everything you are saying sounds correct, right down to the proper test kit. One day at a time now. If you know nothing about the filter's history or chemicals the previous owners used, it may need a sand change or at the very least a deep cleaning. But for now, it's all about chlorine and brushing. Be sure to take a pic of the same area each day to track your progress. Steps or a ladder are usually good places to review.
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Thanks! The pool was only 3 years old. I have some of all the chemicals the old owners left and they are all things that seem to be legitimate based off what i've read here(just not during a SLAM). I had a friend with almost the same pool come help me deep clean the filter right a few days into the SLAM.

What are your thoughts on adding stabilizer during a slam? From everything I've read you arent supposed to add anything, but like i said, i have had to add water a few times due to backwashing and rinsing. Using the K-2006 test kit, the tube gets right up to the 30 mark before the dot becomes not visible, but it is for sure not visible before the tube is all the way full(there is such a tiny difference between the 30 mark and full tube). The pool is southwest facing so it get a LOT of sun in the afternoons and evenings.

Hopefully it clears up soon with this heat wave about to hit the midwest next week!
 
Schneiam said:
What are your thoughts on adding stabilizer during a slam?
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Not a problem. They idea is to maintain a lower CYA for the SLAM only because it requires a lower FC level which equates to less chlorine (hopefully). :) So we always go to the FC/CYA Levels to confirm.
 
We're almost there! CC of 0, and I can now see the bottom! Only test not passing is the overnight chlorine loss test. Last night i added bleach right at sunset and checked about an hour later. This morning I got up just as the sun was starting to touch the corner of my pool and tested and the FC level dropped by 2.5.

Now that i can see the bottom i see a little bit of sand or something fine left down there. Going to get that all vacuumed out today, get my chlorinator piped into my setup this weekend, and hopefully by the end of the weekend i can bring my FC levels down and we can start our swimming!
 
I got everything perfect. All slam tests passed! I got my chlorinator piped in and am using 3inch chlorine tabs in it. CYA is currently at 30, PH is at 7.5, CC is 0, and trying to keep FC at 5.
Any tips for when to run pump? I was shooting for 12 hours a day(thought i would do like 3-9am and 3-9pm), but today I had it off from 9-noon and FC dropped to 3, is it better to run the pump during the sunny periods so the chlorinator keeps up with the sunlight? Does that mean i have to run more than 12 hours a day? or do like 9-9 during the day and have pump shut off at night?
 
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Schneiam said:
Any tips for when to run pump?
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The priority is to skimmer the water's surface, vacuuming, and/or when adding chemicals. The link below has more info as well. Congrats on passing your SLAM. :goodjob:

www.troublefreepool.com

Determine Pump Run Time

To figure out how many hours you need to run your pump, you need to know how fast your pump works. You can find this here.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Note that chlorinators need water running to add FC. I don't know how fast they add FC (and CYA) to your pool, so you'll need to judge that. We don't recommend their use here because it can cause CYA to get out of hand and they typically don't add FC fast enough to keep it up where it needs to be.

Pools usually use 2-4ppm of FC daily just to sun exposure. Let's say you only use 2ppm, the low range. That's 5oz of trichlor. 5oz of trichlor will also raise your CYA by 1.2ppm. So in one week you'll use 35oz of trichlor to get 2ppm of FC, which raises your CYA by 8.6. Over four weeks, your CYA will have increased by 34ppm, and your FC target keeps going up. If you use more than 2ppm daily, then those numbers go even higher.

That's why liquid chlorine (or a SWG) are the recommended chlorinating methods. They don't add CYA. Cal-Hypo adds calcium, which can build up too.
 
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IceShadow said:
Note that chlorinators need water running to add FC. I don't know how fast they add FC (and CYA) to your pool, so you'll need to judge that. We don't recommend their use here because it can cause CYA to get out of hand and they typically don't add FC fast enough to keep it up where it needs to be.

Pools usually use 2-4ppm of FC daily just to sun exposure. Let's say you only use 2ppm, the low range. That's 5oz of trichlor. 5oz of trichlor will also raise your CYA by 1.2ppm. So in one week you'll use 35oz of trichlor to get 2ppm of FC, which raises your CYA by 8.6. Over four weeks, your CYA will have increased by 34ppm, and your FC target keeps going up. If you use more than 2ppm daily, then those numbers go even higher.

That's why liquid chlorine (or a SWG) are the recommended chlorinating methods. They don't add CYA. Cal-Hypo adds calcium, which can build up too.
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So using liquid chlorine for less long term CYA related headaches, i would add enough in the morning to bring my FC level up to about 7(since my CYA is at about 30 currently) and by the end of the day it would still be in the recommended 4-5ppm? Do you have to test and add liquid chlorine more than once a day?
That would be roughly a 3rd of a gallon of 12.5% liquid chlorine each day(according to pool math if the FC loss is ~3ppm). Is that normal to go through a few gallons of liquid chlorine a week?

What do you do if you go out of town for a week?
 
Schneiam said:
Do you have to test and add liquid chlorine more than once a day?
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Once a day should suffice. My pool, a little larger than yours, would normally take half a gallon (2.5 ppm) of 10% chlorine each evening after work. Almost like clockwork.
 
Schneiam said:
What do you do if you go out of town for a week?
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For those who dose manually, a couple options:
1 - Increase the FC to SLAM level and put a couple tabs in a floater.
2 - Have a friend or neighbor add x-amount of chlorine every day or two and check the skimmer basket.

Ideally, go to an automated system like an SWG. :)
 
Texas Splash said:
For those who dose manually, a couple options:
1 - Increase the FC to SLAM level and put a couple tabs in a floater.
2 - Have a friend or neighbor add x-amount of chlorine every day or two and check the skimmer basket.

Ideally, go to an automated system like an SWG. :)
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Thanks! Ideally i will go to an SWG system but i dont know if it's in the cards this year. The reason we have a pool is because it came with the new house we just bought right before having a baby so life has been busy and money short, maybe ill try to upgrade to that next year.

Is it a good idea to throw in a tab or 2 after adding a few inches of water due to evaporation? or do tabs for a while in the spring after adding back the water you drain for winterizing(since everything freezes here in Minnesota) if adding that new water lowers your CYA too much? or best to just stick with straight stabilizer to bring it back up?
I piped in the chlorinator(that i didnt have to buy) because i thought it would be more convenient since the previous owners left a bunch of 3inch tabs. But now that i finally have a clear pool, i've been doing more research and would rather keep it that way than have it go green or have to drain it due to CYA levels getting out of control.
 
Schneiam said:
Is it a good idea to throw in a tab or 2 after adding a few inches of water due to evaporation? or do tabs for a while in the spring after adding back the water you drain for winterizing(since everything freezes here in Minnesota) if adding that new water lowers your CYA too much? or best to just stick with straight stabilizer to bring it back up?
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Using tabs is fine as long as the pool owner knows their current CYA. If the CYA is elevated, don't use them. By contrast, tabs also lower pH and TA, so watch those as well. In cooler areas or places that see a lot of water exchange, they can use them more often.
 
Texas Splash said:
Using tabs is fine as long as the pool owner knows their current CYA. If the CYA is elevated, don't use them. By contrast, tabs also lower pH and TA, so watch those as well. In cooler areas or places that see a lot of water exchange, they can use them more often.
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I think i get it! I've had a pool for all of 2 months and almost half of that was getting a neglected pool cleaned up and slamming.... I think i can get this down!

If my pool is south facing and gets a LOT of sun, is there any way that FC can drop from 7ppm(from adding liquid chlorine) down to 2ppm or below in 24 hours given that my CYA is at 30? should i bring CYA up to 40 to be safe and then bring FC up to 8 or 9 each day? I can keep FC and CYA both slightly higher if that reduces the 24 hour period loss, i'd rather have to bring it from FC of 6-8 each day with an FC of 40, than to keep the FC at 30 and have to bring it from 2 back up to 6 every day.

I know a lot of it is dependent on my specific situation and it sounds like it might just be some trial and error, but i am trying to learn as much as i can!
 
Schneiam said:
is there any way that FC can drop from 7ppm(from adding liquid chlorine) down to 2ppm or below in 24 hours given that my CYA is at 30? should i bring CYA up to 40 to be safe and then bring FC up to 8 or 9 each day?
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Once you pass an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test to confirm you are algae-free, then an excessive loss of FC (more than 4 ppm in 24 hrs) would point towards the CYA being a bit low. Increasing the CYA by 10 ppm would be a reasonable step from there.
 
Schneiam said:
Is it a good idea to throw in a tab or 2 after adding a few inches of water due to evaporation? or do tabs for a while in the spring after adding back the water you drain for winterizing(since everything freezes here in Minnesota) if adding that new water lowers your CYA too much? or best to just stick with straight stabilizer to bring it back up?
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It's not necessary to add CYA when water is lost due to evaporation. While the water level drops, the CYA remains. So just add fresh water.

Splashout is a different story. If you have kids constantly splashing water out of the pool, this water will take the CYA with it. So you could lose CYA that way. Overflow due to rain is another way to lose CYA.

My CYA breaks down over the winter so I always have to dose it back to the desired level upon opening each spring. But I find tabs too slow so I always add the desired amount using granulated pool stabilizer.
 
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jeffchap said:
It's not necessary to add CYA when water is lost due to evaporation. While the water level drops, the CYA remains. So just add fresh water.
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This is a good fact to know. I checked my CYA this morning and it does appear a little low. I will have to bring that back up.
Its just my wife and I with a baby, so no splash out yet, but I guess the water loss isn't due just to evaporation, but also due to backwashing and rinsing my filter. I supposed i will have to watch CYA closer the more i backwash. How often does everyone tend to backwash their filter, weekly?
 

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