High CC. SLAMing yielding no results.

[DWMcD]

This is my first year opening the pool. Last year we moved in around July and once I adopted the BBB method I had no issues with the pool. I've been trying to bring my CC down and just haven't had any luck. My test readings are as follows

FC 1-1.5
CC 10
pH 7.2
TA 160 (working on lowering with aeration)
CYA ? (water barely cloudy when testing, trying to bring up slowly)

my issue is my FC will not come up. At all. I've added 8 gallons of 12.5 bleach in the last 24 hours(during the day and at night). I've checked my chemicals every hour yesterday and twice this morning, my CC has come down a bit since yesterday but why isn't my test kit indicating any FC? The reason I'm concerned is because I don't know when I should be adding additional bleach to maintain shock levels.

My water is crystal clear, aside from some falling buds off trees which I've been skimming. In fact my water was only slightly cloudy when opening a couple weeks ago.

I'm new to the forum so any advice would be great and any other information I can provide I will gladly. Thanks.

 

[pabeader]

This sounds like a likely ammonia case. Here is a way to check/fix it. (I copied it from another post so you may have done some of this already...)

1. Begin a SLAM and dose FC up to SLAM level (FC of 10). If your CYA test is showing as zero (perhaps already converted to ammonia), use a SLAM/Shock FC of 10. Do not add additional CYA at this point.
2. Retest FC at 10-minute intervals.
a. If FC loss is greater than 50% after 10 minutes, add FC to bring back up to SLAM level and continue retesting FC @ 10-minute intervals.
b. IF FC loss is 50% or less, add FC to bring back up to SLAM level. Go to Step 3.
3. If CYA is below 30 ppm, add enough CYA to bring level up to 30 ppm. Use the "sock soaking method" for granular stabilizer.
4. Continue SLAM as directed in the SLAM article until the SLAM Criteria of Done are met. Test as directed in the SLAM article - no longer need to test FC at 10 minute increments at this point.

That should get you rolling. Any questions?

 

[tim5055]

Welcome to TFP!!

Test your FC, then use Pool Math to figure out how much chlorine to add to get from where you are to 10. With the pump running add that amount. Test again for FC in 15 or so minutes and see what your reading is. If yo had CYA last fall when you closed and now have none it may have been converted to ammonia over the winter. Ammonia needs lots of chlorine to clear out of the water.

That you have CC shows that something is being converted, possibly ammonia. Have you tested before today? What was the CC then?

 

[DWMcD]

I had way too much CYA at the end of last season due to adding too much too soon. So I was surprised I had none when i had little/none. When i opened 2 weeks ago I had no FC and no CC. Since I've tried slaming, my numbers have been roughly the same. No more than 1.5 FC and CC around 10. The issue is I'm never seeing my FC come up at all. Does that mean in an hour it's using all the FC. It's been a half hour since I added so i'll check now.

 

[Donldson]

If you went from high CYA to none and getting those results then I am confident saying you had an ammonia conversion. You will not be able to hold any FC and will have high CC until you destroy it all which will consume a lot of chlorine.

Do not add any CYA and follow the instructions pabeader gave and you will eventually eliminate it and be able to hold FC. Then you can add CYA and get things back to normal from there.

 

[DWMcD]

So my FC test is acting strange. After adding R0870 the water turns slightly pink. I add one drop of 871 and swish. After 3 drops the water is clear, but after 3-5 seconds it turns pink again. I'm pretty lost at this point. I'll keep at it. My main concern was just adding too much bleach but I guess that won't be an issue.

 

[pabeader]

I've seen that before, also. It's actually pretty common for the pink to return if you let the solution sit for a few minutes. We just use the first time it goes clear and ignore the re-pinking. If you do the CC test right after the FC test you won't notice it.

Hope you have a lot of chlorine on hand and you did remove the CYA sock, right?

How has the 10 minute test routine been going?

 

[DWMcD]

Thanks for all the help. I ran out of time Sunday. I hadn't yet started adding CYA so I was good there. Sunday night I shocked one last time. Came out Monday and same issue. I shocked again Monday after work and finally yesterday I tested 1 FC and 1CC. Yesterday after shocking again I was at 3.5 FC and .5 CC so I think I'm finally getting things straightened out.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Donaldson was right, you had ammonia. Sounds like you're well on your way to a trouble-free summer