CPSC36 Installed, Foam on the Water

[sturge33]

I finally got my CPSC36 installed yesterday. It ran through the startup process and showed the salt level at 4000ppm. I had already read that this may not be accurate, especially in the first few days of operation. Anyway, the unit showed that it was operating on Polarity 2 which I assume means that it is producing chlorine. I let it run last night starting at 8pm. I checked it this morning around 7:30am and now the water has a foamy white substance floating on top of it. The filter pressure was up from 12psi to about 16psi so I shut off the power since I didn't have time to backwash before work. With the foam on top and increase in pressure does this mean that everything is working and the algae is dying?

 

[Bama Rambler]

That's what it means, BUT you shouldn't rely on the swcg to kill the algae, you should perform a proper shock process using liquid.

 

[sturge33]

I've got the bleach ready to go in today when I get home. It just surprised me to see all that foam this morning.

 

[Bama Rambler]

What percentage do you have the swcg set on? If it was 100% and it ranfor ~12 hours then it produced a lot of chlorine and that's why you saw the result you did.

 

[sturge33]

I've got it on 50% right now. How can I determine what percent to set it to once the pool is clean? Is it just trial and error by testing until the correct FC is holding or is there some guideline I can use to get started? The CompuPool manual is not very helpful with operation of the unit although the CPSC36 itself seems pretty impressive so far.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It's just trial and error. If the FC gets too high dial it back and if it's not high enough bump it up a little. You'll find a happy medium before long.

 

[thadius65]

Are all systems "trial and error"? So none can be set at 3-5ppm? Not even Pentair?

 

[Bama Rambler]

There are reliable systems out there where you set the ppm FC and they maintain it, but those have enough zeros in the price that it scares off all but a few industries.

The consumer systems that atempt to adjust FC use ORP sensors and they have real issues in most pools. Even then you're not setting FC you're looking at the ORP and trying to maintain a mv setting. A lot of things interfere with the ORP value.

So, yes, even Pentair is trail and error.

 

[thadius65]

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[Dryfly]

How many gallons is your pool?

 

[sturge33]

Pool Calculator estimates it to be around 13000 gallons.