Back from Winter Hibernation - SLAM time !!

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Salsiccia

Salsiccia

0
Nov 28, 2015
208
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Hi guys,

Apologies for my long absence, I got distracted during the winter down under and vanished from here.
I also failed to "close" my pool correctly and so now am faced with the fun task of a SLAM which I've scheduled for this weekend as I have a day at home on my own so that will keep me amused and it gives me a week to get my numbers up to the starting line !!

Watch this space for reports and feel free to offer the always much appreciated and invaluable tips and advice - this is my first SLAM !!

and Yes, I will be following the very well laid out page on here and trawling the forum for additional tips !!

Sal
 
I was wondering when the Aussie invasion would begin ;)

How's the weather down-under? Warming up?

Good luck on the SLAM, in sure you'll do fine.
 
Thanks for the welcome back guys - I've actually missed your helpful and friendly advice !

Current pre-SLAM measurements are as follows:
FC: 1 (yes, that's low, but its higher than the zero from 2 days ago !!)
CC: 1 (not as high as it might have been, but still warrants a SLAM)
pH: 7.6 - I'm OK with that, might drop it a tad, but reckon that will do for now
CYA: 50 - Surprisingly high after a winter of neglect, but I'm aiming to push it up to around 75 for the SLAM
 
Thanks for the CYA tips (Cover Your A..e in my case :))

So my question would be what shock level should I be aiming for? According to the chart on here the minimum CYA for a Salt pool for a SLAM is 60 and that's also marked as "not recommended" so that's why I said I was shooting for 75. According to that chart the shock level for a CYA of 60 is 24.

BTW I went ahead and added some stabiliser yesterday anyway so we'll see what the new level reads in a few days.

I'm actually going away on holidays for 2 weeks next week so maybe I should leave the SLAM until I get back?
 
Hi Sal,

Welcome back- your not quite reading the FC/CYA chart correctly- when you SLAM the pool you ideally want the CYA level to be low such as 30. Your reading on this is when you are not in SLAM mode. Please don't add any more CYA in!! Higher CYA levels require a much higher level of chlorine to get to SLAM level
If you were going away for holidays I would hold off on the SLAM.
 
Hi Jezza,

Thanks for the clarification mate, will definitely hold off on the CYA then and maybe replan the SLAM for when I get back too.
I can enjoy the nice pristine pools in Bali and forget about mine for a couple of weeks !

Interestingly I added chlorine last night, just to test that my calculations are working (or actually verifying that I know how to use the PoolMath tool correctly) and also because the chlorine that I have isn't the ideal liquid at 12.5% as Bunnings didn't have any so the boss came back with a tub of granulated - turns out its Cal-Hypo at 6.5% - and the Pool Math calculations were spot on. I aimed to push it to 10 and have just measured it at 11 (think I may have slightly over-shot the suggested weight) and the CC is now down to 0.5 (from 1). CH hasn't gone up - yet, still at 60, but will have to keep an eye on that.

I know I really should use liquid chlorine for a SLAM, but will I get away with the Cal-Hypo or should I really go search for the liquid?

Not adding anything more now, just gonna watch it and wait for SLAM day and get rid of debris.
 

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pabeader said:
In general, stay away from ANY powder, granules or non-liquid forms of chlorine.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the confirmation Bob, that's what I thought. I'll park the Cal-Hypo and save it for a rainy day and hunt down some liquid chlorine at the weekend.
My usual local store has it, but the boss was trying out a new one on the weekend so we now know the answer to the new one :)
 
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I think our laws are tighter here in Australia - I have never seen regular bleach higher than 3.3 - 3.5%.
The 12.5% liquid chlorine is freely available at our big Hardware store chain - Bunnings, its just that the store the boss went to on the weekend is a smaller one. Also they were pretty much out of everything - now that Spring has hit here everyone is hitting the stores for pool gear !!!

The liquid chlorine at 12.5% is way cheaper when you do the maths compared to bleach at 3.5%. I just need to go to a "grown-up" hardware store to get it !!!
 
I've just done the maths on bleach vs chlorine in Australia (love the PoolMath page - its brilliant):

Scenario - to raise FC from 3 to 4:
- Using Premium plain bleach (from Coles) at 4.2% requires 779 ml at a cost of $AUD 1.46
- Using Liquid Chlorine (from Bunnings) at 12.5% requires 264 ml at a cost of $AUD 0.23

6 times more expensive to use bleach !
 
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Hey Sal,
If cost is the main factor you may find that the LPS is the cheepest. My LPS sell both chlorine and HCl cheaper than Bunnings and are way closer, they buy their chlorine in bulk and sell it in refillable containers. Just stay away from their chemical smorgasbord.

I don't winterise or close my pool for winter as such, just turn off my solar heater and turn down the SWG a little. If you maintain the appropriate FC through winter there's no need to SLAM come spring.
 

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