12 days of Slam

[CTFocusST]

Brenda,
I know the frustration you are going through I spent all of last year fighting a swamp. From your poolmath logs you are being much more diligent than I was which probably is why I was going at it so long. I've been following to see if anyone came up with a solution as to why it was taking so long to maybe shed some light what I may have been doing wrong as well. I hope it gets better for you soon.

I unfortunately don't have any definitive fixes but maybe some of my experience may help in some way. I have a very small cartridge filter and it was rising in pressure very quickly, faster than I could keep up with the cleaning. I started to switch off running with and without a filter for periods of time. I started to see some improvement but never quite finished slam prior to closing. I don't know if this was removing a spot algae was growing and allowed chlorine to catch up but it was at least pointing to I wasn't cleaning filter enough. At closing was first time I cleaned filter with dish soap and Muriatic acid per instructions. Since opening up this year it has been pretty much clear all season. I also invested in robot vacuum which always seems to pick up more fine dirt than I can see. Not sure if the the filter deep clean, partial drain, winter temperatures, or robot vacuum was the turning point for me but it's been much better this season

I'm no expert but wanted to share some of things I observed going through the same pattern as you are in case any of it helps. Hopefully some of the more experienced people here can help shed some light or see something else that could be improved

 

[CTFocusST]

Also I hope my story doesn't discourage you that it can be done. I'm sure it can and will clear up

 

[cledee]

Hi all,

Today marks one full month since we installed the new pump and began slamming our pool.
We put in new filters three days ago and I have upped my hourly chlorine to above the recommended dosing for 36 hours now. Nothing.

I am beyond frustrated. What more can I do beyond throwing literal dollar bills in the pool. (I don't want to drain/refill).

Brenda

How's the vacuuming going? With the water being that dark its

Brenda,
I know the frustration you are going through I spent all of last year fighting a swamp. From your poolmath logs you are being much more diligent than I was which probably is why I was going at it so long. I've been following to see if anyone came up with a solution as to why it was taking so long to maybe shed some light what I may have been doing wrong as well. I hope it gets better for you soon.

I unfortunately don't have any definitive fixes but maybe some of my experience may help in some way. I have a very small cartridge filter and it was rising in pressure very quickly, faster than I could keep up with the cleaning. I started to switch off running with and without a filter for periods of time. I started to see some improvement but never quite finished slam prior to closing. I don't know if this was removing a spot algae was growing and allowed chlorine to catch up but it was at least pointing to I wasn't cleaning filter enough. At closing was first time I cleaned filter with dish soap and Muriatic acid per instructions. Since opening up this year it has been pretty much clear all season. I also invested in robot vacuum which always seems to pick up more fine dirt than I can see. Not sure if the the filter deep clean, partial drain, winter temperatures, or robot vacuum was the turning point for me but it's been much better this season

I'm no expert but wanted to share some of things I observed going through the same pattern as you are in case any of it helps. Hopefully some of the more experienced people here can help shed some light or see something else that could be improved

From my experience, the robot vacuum made the biggest difference. There was so much debree in the pool that I couldn't see, i was not getting it with the manual vacuum. It also made the job of filter easier since it didn't have to filter out the dirt that settles on the bottom because the vaccum gets it. I attached pictures so you can see the progress and how my pool looked. I had eggcorns, leaves, dirt, dead mice, squirrels

 

[bff]

Also I hope my story doesn't discourage you that it can be done. I'm sure it can and will clear up

Thank you Eric- Your journey does sound a lot like what I'm going through! I haven't cleaned the filter in a few days because we just put new ones in. The pressure was definitely going high quickly with the old ones, but have held steady since replacing them. I'm going out soon to change them out for the cleaned old filters while I clean the new ones!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

How often are you testing the FC and re-dosing as needed?

 

[bff]

Thank you Cledee! Your pool pictures are great! Mine is currently between your second and third picture.

I am vacuuming every day but not really getting anything. We have an in pool vac system that blows everything down to the vacuum drain in the deep end which has been pulling most of the leaves and pine needles (all green, so they haven't been sitting in there for long).

I was looking into the robot vacs, but how would they work with my vacuum blower jets that pop up on the bottom of the pool in a cycle? Can I turn off the filter while I vacuum thus turning off the blowers?

 

[bff]

How often are you testing the FC and re-dosing as needed?

Hi,

I am constantly rechecking the FC and re-dosing. Every 1-3 hours during the day. It sits for 12 hours overnight. But the overnight loss isn't usually as bad as the sunny daytime loss.

 

[bff]

So, I went to the pool store today..... I needed to buy more chlorine (always buying more chlorine-It's my life now! haha!)

I had them test my water (I know...), but I wanted to see what they got for my CYA. They got a CYA of 22. When I tested a couple days ago I thought it was very near 30 and possibly lower but maybe not quite 30...(It's my least favorite test!) I was treating it as 40, until a few days ago when someone suggested I pretend the CYA is 50 and dosing it at a higher level. I haven't seen any change.

Do I have another chemical off somewhere? Should I try to raise my CYA? I went 4 hours between testing this afternoon and the FC dropped from 18.5 (added chlorine) to 13. It was sunny, but does that seem like it's losing chlorine fast?

Want to know what the pool store suggested I do?

-Do not add chlorine for a couple days
-Add 1 liter of metal free (she thinks I have iron, copper and manganese in the water) Wait 1 hour
-Then add 14 oz. of Ultra Brite (clarifier)

Return in 72 hours to retest
(I'm not doing it)

Brenda

 

[YippeeSkippy]

yeah, take that CYA up a skosh to be sure. Otherwise you're just offering up a lot of FC to the sun gods. Just add 10ppm more, using PoolMath as a guide to how much that would be.

Maddie

 

[bff]

Thank you Maddie! I will go do that now!

 

[Chrissykr]

There has to be something holding you up. I can’t see a pic of the whole pool. Have you checked the back of the weir door? I get in mine with a toothbrush and scrub every nook and cranny when doing a slam. Have you pulled the returns apart and scrubbed inside them. Ladder? Light? Also, my steps have a strip holding the liner in place. If I get algae it starts there every time. All kinds of gook gets caught in there. Are you brushing religiously?

 

[cledee]

Thank you Eric- Your journey does sound a lot like what I'm going through! I haven't cleaned the filter in a few days because we just put new ones in. The pressure was definitely going high quickly with the old ones, but have held steady since replacing them. I'm going out soon to change them out for the cleaned old filters while I clean the new ones!

Eve

Thank you Cledee! Your pool pictures are great! Mine is currently between your second and third picture.

I am vacuuming every day but not really getting anything. We have an in pool vac system that blows everything down to the vacuum drain in the deep end which has been pulling most of the leaves and pine needles (all green, so they haven't been sitting in there for long).

I was looking into the robot vacs, but how would they work with my vacuum blower jets that pop up on the bottom of the pool in a cycle? Can I turn off the filter while I vacuum thus turning off the blowers?

Can you just turn off the Vac system? Is it

So, I went to the pool store today..... I needed to buy more chlorine (always buying more chlorine-It's my life now! haha!)

I had them test my water (I know...), but I wanted to see what they got for my CYA. They got a CYA of 22. When I tested a couple days ago I thought it was very near 30 and possibly lower but maybe not quite 30...(It's my least favorite test!) I was treating it as 40, until a few days ago when someone suggested I pretend the CYA is 50 and dosing it at a higher level. I haven't seen any change.

Do I have another chemical off somewhere? Should I try to raise my CYA? I went 4 hours between testing this afternoon and the FC dropped from 18.5 (added chlorine) to 13. It was sunny, but does that seem like it's losing chlorine fast?

Want to know what the pool store suggested I do?

-Do not add chlorine for a couple days
-Add 1 liter of metal free (she thinks I have iron, copper and manganese in the water) Wait 1 hour
-Then add 14 oz. of Ultra Brite (clarifier)

Return in 72 hours to retest
(I'm not doing it)

Brenda

Even if you had metals in your water, your pool would still clear up so that you could see the deep end. I had iron/copper due to previous owners and I could still see the deep end, but the color of the pool was unappealing.

 

[cledee]

Thank you Cledee! Your pool pictures are great! Mine is currently between your second and third picture.

I am vacuuming every day but not really getting anything. We have an in pool vac system that blows everything down to the vacuum drain in the deep end which has been pulling most of the leaves and pine needles (all green, so they haven't been sitting in there for long).

I was looking into the robot vacs, but how would they work with my vacuum blower jets that pop up on the bottom of the pool in a cycle? Can I turn off the filter while I vacuum thus turning off the blowers?

I have 2 drains and there was soo much debree on top that some stuff wasn't getting through. Do you get eggcorns at all into the pool?
I don't think your existing vac system will affect the robot vacuum at all.

 

[CTFocusST]

Thank you Cledee! Your pool pictures are great! Mine is currently between your second and third picture.

I am vacuuming every day but not really getting anything. We have an in pool vac system that blows everything down to the vacuum drain in the deep end which has been pulling most of the leaves and pine needles (all green, so they haven't been sitting in there for long).

I was looking into the robot vacs, but how would they work with my vacuum blower jets that pop up on the bottom of the pool in a cycle? Can I turn off the filter while I vacuum thus turning off the blowers?

Not sure your electric setup but for me I have to turn pump off while running robot to prevent overloading the circuit since I only have one circuit running out to the pool. I do that by turning intermatic timer off. There is likely a way to turn those blowers off for the 2 hour run time (dolphin series, others may vary) the robot would be going for

 

[bff]

Thanks everyone! There must be some way to turn the auto vacuum off. I'll check out a robot vacuum.

I agree that there is absolutely something holding up my pool from progressing. I am brushing every day. I'm not getting any acorns in the pooI thankfully! I didn't do the weir door because we just put in a new one. I can hit it tomorrow though. The ladder is not currently in the pool. I haven't taken the return ports out yet- but I will tomorrow!

today 8/9

 

[Yev]

I dont have a lot of great advice to offer, other than keep the FC up brush, and stay patient. I would get your CYA up to 40 as a goal, ut no more than this. It will help during the day. This big drop in FC during the sun might be what is doing you in right now, or what has been doing you in over the last weeks.

When you add CYA, put it into a knee high, and put it right in front of a return, hanging right in the flow. Just hang it off of a 5 gallon bucket, concrete block, or whatever else has some weight to get it right into position. NO faster way to dissolve the stuff. Dont be scared to adjust its location as its weight changes.

I want to think outside the box if possible, since I have nothing else to add. Im going to rapid fire out lots of stuff, hoping that something might trigger a solution. Triple check that you are doing the tests exactly right. If you somehow have been doing it wrong all along, this could explain. Are your standards expired (not even sure if that could effect the results). Have you taken a leaf rake net and tried to collect debris off of the bottom? Brush all surface, flat bottom, side walls, if yoru pool has angled walls. skimmer backets, skimmer box, weir door, if yoru pool has a light get that and if that light has a plastic cover get under the cover as well. Are you using a solar cover at night that might have algae on it? Any floats being left in pool. You said you have ought tons of chlorine. Have you tried different brands, and from different stores to rule out bad inventory?

 

[Chrissykr]

I would get in there and scrub the returns, take them off and clean them well. The same with the skimmer, get a toothbrush and scrub around the outside and when scrubbing the inside make sure you hit the top of the box as well. Then I would thoroughly check those steps. Scrub them well, feel around your pool and see if you feel any slime. I would try to scrub around your drain as best you can. I go over and over mine from all angles. Algae could be hiding around the edge by the liner on the drain.

Do you have a light? Also, before you put your ladder back thoroughly scrub those white rubber stops. Take them off, mine get slimy inside and I clean them on a regular basis.

I had to do a slam a few weeks ago, three days before we left on vacation. I got fertilizer in my pool. I was brushing five times a day to help things along. Twice a day a full brush and three times a day I would quickly hit the hopper, steps and floor. It keeps the water moving and helps with breaking anything up that is trying to take hold.

 

[JJ_Tex]

-Add 1 liter of metal free (she thinks I have iron, copper and manganese in the water) Wait 1 hour

Did they test for metals and were they in your results?

 

[bff]

Hi,

Test result:

 

[bff]

I dont have a lot of great advice to offer, other than keep the FC up brush, and stay patient. I would get your CYA up to 40 as a goal, ut no more than this. It will help during the day. This big drop in FC during the sun might be what is doing you in right now, or what has been doing you in over the last weeks.

When you add CYA, put it into a knee high, and put it right in front of a return, hanging right in the flow. Just hang it off of a 5 gallon bucket, concrete block, or whatever else has some weight to get it right into position. NO faster way to dissolve the stuff. Dont be scared to adjust its location as its weight changes.

I want to think outside the box if possible, since I have nothing else to add. Im going to rapid fire out lots of stuff, hoping that something might trigger a solution. Triple check that you are doing the tests exactly right. If you somehow have been doing it wrong all along, this could explain. Are your standards expired (not even sure if that could effect the results). Have you taken a leaf rake net and tried to collect debris off of the bottom? Brush all surface, flat bottom, side walls, if yoru pool has angled walls. skimmer backets, skimmer box, weir door, if yoru pool has a light get that and if that light has a plastic cover get under the cover as well. Are you using a solar cover at night that might have algae on it? Any floats being left in pool. You said you have ought tons of chlorine. Have you tried different brands, and from different stores to rule out bad inventory?

Thanks Yev,

I added the sock of CYA today.

I'm on my third batch of FAS-DPD testing chemicals from TFT and all other reagents are new this year too. I use the leaf rake/skimmer every day and I'm not getting anything (I started clearing debris in April- there was a lot when I started). We don't have a cover on the pool at night and I have been getting my chlorine from 3 different suppliers.
I feel like I'm hitting all the bases and still no improvement. I just can't figure it out.

I'm heading out now with a toothbrush to get all the nooks and crannies again and I'll get the returns too.

Brenda